Sbs help before I give up and sell it

[Gunman]

Like everything else you need to learn how to use it. 

As a rule with an O/U you shoot above and below , with a SxS you shoot in front and behind, so you have to adjust your shooting accordingly

So best advice is to have some one check your fit and stance and then a quick session with a coach who knows how to shoot a SxS.

Dont give up but be aware that some guns will suit and some will not , Yeomans can be lifeless to some people so if you get the chance have a go with a decent English boxlock if you can ,

[Wingman]

I must admit I struggled for months with my SxS, and became frustrated with it.  I ended up taking a lesson with the gun and was taught some of the techniques others have mentioned already in this thread.  I still dont shoot it as well as my OU but I can hit things with it and it comes me with me sometimes for pigeons or a wander around the fields.  I wouldnt give up mate and try and get a lesson with the SxS before you make a decision.

[Robertt]

Mount it with your eyes shut at a fixed point, to see where its pointing.

Probably cast, drop or both is out for you.

I hard focus on the head / leading edge and if I see the gun  it means I've stopped the swing and missed.

Edited September 18, 2018 by Robertt

[Mr.C]

I got to grips with mine by shooting a couple of rounds of skeet. Soon teaches you to remember both triggers and you know where the clays are going. if you shoot with someone they can let you know if your high/low whatever, or "missed that behind!"

[MisterGain]

I bought a cheapo T Newton SxS BLNE for fun and the first time I took it out I hit almost nothing - quite depressing!.  If you normally shoot a modern OU then with an older SXS you're likely talking about a different sigting plane, different weight, different stock and two trigers so that's throwing quite a few variables into the mix!  As the LOP was a bit on the short side I fitted one of the rubber butt extenders mentioned above (stop sniggering at the back!) which helped gun fit and also made it more comfortable to shoot with the SXS being lighter than my Browning 725.

Next thing was to pattern plate it and it really did highlight that i was shooting low so I mofified my rib/bead "picture" accordingly.  The butt extender and the pattern plate cost very little and did make a difference.  Now i'm a bit better with it and have "bonded".  I've not shot any game with it but its nice to have a bit of variety on the clay ground and it's fun to play with generally.

Perhaps try those 2 points before moving your gun on as it'll add a bit of variety to your gun cabinet and, as with my Mossberg 500, its nice to have something a bit different on the clayground from time to time!

[ditchman]

if you are not entirely happy with your results...and expected to shoot like archie coats first 2nd time out.....unless you are prepared to sort of start again to learn on a sxs...i should steer well clear of sxs's and stick to o/u's.........

sxs's are not for everyone.......but if you do so choose to get stuck in..and learn..(with a half decent gun)...with the balance and configuration....they are truly a joy to use

best of luck 

[Scully]

I doubt I’d be able to shoot mine as well as I do if it had no pistol grip, feels just like my OU’s. My nephews Joseph Curry sxs never feels right when it comes to pulling that second trigger; it never seems to be where I expect it to be.

[wymberley]

19 hours ago, quentyn said:

my advice, before you do anything else get it on a pattern plate and just check its shooting where you think it is 

i couldn't hit anything with my silenced beretta till i joined my wife on a lesson at Holland and Holland and within 5 mins ( after checking where my shot was going on a pattern plate) the instructor had fashioned a cheek riser out of tape and a cartridge box.... et viola i was hitting stuff. 

 

18 hours ago, motty said:

Best advice.

Some idiot could have done some diy gunsmith work and it could be way off where it should be shooting.

These. Not forgetting as you haven't mentioned it, does the gun still have any choke?

Above all, don't panic. I have just been precisely where you are. With my new to me Webley and Scott which I thought to be the same "spec" as my AYA, I couldn't hit the simplest of decoyed pigeon. This last weekend, neither could I hit any clays but concentrated on one until I could. Have just got in from driving back from Leicestershire and not being a total plonker, we heaved to at UKGR. It took Brian a couple of minutes to confirm what I thought and just a few more to correct the major stock problem. It was like mounting a totally different gun. It now just needs a very minor addition to the cast and the finish restored where the stock has been dropped. I'm absolutely certain when I get it back in a few days, all will be well.

Time spent in the hands of a skilled professional is always a sound investment.

[williamwansbeck]

Have been a s b s user for 50 years best advice make sure you swing(up or sideways)through it before you pull the trigger ,told as a lad and it works ,pity i do not always do it

 

[JohnfromUK]

A s/s fit is important.  See a coach.

Shooting a s/s should be fast and instinctive and so requires a good fit.

[AYA117]

1 hour ago, JohnfromUK said:

A s/s fit is important.  See a coach.

Shooting a s/s should be fast and instinctive and so requires a good fit.

Very true, it is a completely different style of shooting. The gun comes up to meet you, you do not make yourself fit it.

[motty]

3 hours ago, AYA117 said:

Very true, it is a completely different style of shooting. The gun comes up to meet you, you do not make yourself fit it.

Well, to me, it is no different. The only thing I see as different is the sight plane.

[The Heron]

On ‎17‎/‎09‎/‎2018 at 18:39, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Go to a Coach and get him to check it fits you and to point out what needs changing, money well spent!

Extremely good advice and also have some lessons and you will be well rewarded.

[Gunman]

21 hours ago, wymberley said:

 

These. Not forgetting as you haven't mentioned it, does the gun still have any choke?

Above all, don't panic. I have just been precisely where you are. With my new to me Webley and Scott which I thought to be the same "spec" as my AYA, I couldn't hit the simplest of decoyed pigeon. This last weekend, neither could I hit any clays but concentrated on one until I could. Have just got in from driving back from Leicestershire and not being a total plonker, we heaved to at UKGR. It took Brian a couple of minutes to confirm what I thought and just a few more to correct the major stock problem. It was like mounting a totally different gun. It now just needs a very minor addition to the cast and the finish restored where the stock has been dropped. I'm absolutely certain when I get it back in a few days, all will be well.

Time spent in the hands of a skilled professional is always a sound investment.

.I wouldn't worry about chokes at this stage until you have gotten every thing else sorted.

However when you do start hitting a few check that it is not over choked . Imp and 1/4 should do all you want , a lot of these came heavy choked so may be advisable to have them bored 

[JohnfromUK]

3 minutes ago, Gunman said:

a lot of these came heavy choked

I think Yeomans as standard were half and full.  Mine certainly was.

[motty]

2 hours ago, Gunman said:

.I wouldn't worry about chokes at this stage until you have gotten every thing else sorted.

However when you do start hitting a few check that it is not over choked . Imp and 1/4 should do all you want , a lot of these came heavy choked so may be advisable to have them bored 

I really don't understand why folk would want to have chokes bored out.

[wymberley]

14 hours ago, motty said:

I really don't understand why folk would want to have chokes bored out.

A good point becoming increasingly valid. I only mentioned the 'C' word in case having got it really cheaply, the OP has got his hands on a Star Shot bored gun which in effect for any other purpose is ruined. There are some about and are usually those at the cheaper end were chosen to be modified for that very reason

[JohnfromUK]

When I had a Yeoman, I had it bored out (if memory serves correct to quarter and half).  Full choke is not suited to either the clays I do, or the game shoots I attend (which are 'average' rather than 'super high' birds).  Nothing I normally do needs a tight choke.

[oldypigeonpopper]

38 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

When I had a Yeoman, I had it bored out (if memory serves correct to quarter and half).  Full choke is not suited to either the clays I do, or the game shoots I attend (which are 'average' rather than 'super high' birds).  Nothing I normally do needs a tight choke.

hello, same here john, bored out to improved / 3/4 choke, cost £8 per tube, i watch while the gunsmith did this as the gunshop i knew well and use to frequent often, now its got me thinking of a J Venables side by side 

[wymberley]

51 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

When I had a Yeoman, I had it bored out (if memory serves correct to quarter and half).  Full choke is not suited to either the clays I do, or the game shoots I attend (which are 'average' rather than 'super high' birds).  Nothing I normally do needs a tight choke.

 

6 minutes ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

hello, same here john, bored out to improved / 3/4 choke, cost £8 per tube, i watch while the gunsmith did this as the gunshop i knew well and use to frequent often, now its got me thinking of a J Venables side by side 

The content of these two posts is/was true enough but is also somewhat historical. Currently, if we ignore the possibility of having a gun made to your specification with a particular cartridge in mind (can't escape from history) or the RFD letting you take a selection away to pattern before you buy, then I'm now inclined to look at the tighter end of things if multi chokes are not in the equation. In my - and I acknowledge that this is limited -  experience for various reasons a gun/cartridge combination now seems to shoot more open than was the case in the period that the posts quoted relate to. Although OPP's £8 is most certainly historical, this can always be carried out if necessary whereas even if possible the opposite is somewhat more expensive.

[JohnfromUK]

6 minutes ago, wymberley said:

The content of these two posts is/was true enough but is also somewhat historical.

I do have one multi choked gun with a full set of tubes.  I'm not actually sure what is in the gun at present other than that they are 1/2 or more open than 1/2.  It doen't worry me and I have never changed them and haven't looked since I bought the gun (second hand).  I have never used either 3/4 or full tubes.  I have no need for them in what I do (I don't get the opportunity for 'super high' wild birds, and I don't wildfowl).

I have in the past patterned (properly at 40 yards with a 30" circle drawn afterwards) some of my guns with different cartridges (I only ever shoot fibre) and they behaved much as expected from physical measurement of constriction (using a proper internal bore micrometer, not a muzzle stopper type gauge).  For me - the whole issue is way down the list of things needed to shoot well.  I know that if I put the pattern in the right place my old and openish bored s/s (and actually o/u) guns will break clays well, or cleanly kill game at the ranges at which I shoot.

The real key is in putting the pattern (tight or open) in the right place - and for that a coach and a fitter are the way forward.  Until you can do that, thoughts about choke are just a distraction you can do without.

Once you can put the pattern in the right place well and consistently well - there may be some small gains to be had from fiddling with chokes.

Of course for some types of shooting (super high game, wildfowl etc.) choke and more specialist cartridges are needed, but getting the pattern in the right place still has to come first - and I think that is what was causing the original poster his problem, not choke (or lack of it).

[Doitwithstyle]

Thank you all for you comments . Will have   Ago messing with trying to make it fit . And see how it go’s . 

I like the gun . Light and easy to swing . 

Just depressing when I can hit most with others but not much with this one . 

Edited September 20, 2018 by Doitwithstyle

[mudpatten]

It might be worth remembering that the lighter sbs was intended for use with a 1 ounce - 28 gm cartridge. Using cartridges of as little extra as 30 or 32 gms will significantly increase the felt recoil which will make your second shot even more likely to be off target.

[figgy]

I found most modern clay carts very snappy and can make the butt jump out of my shoulder and the second shot is off my outer shoulder out of my SXS .  24g clay carts suit it or Hull 28g CompX better. Traditional Game cartridges i find ok as they tend be slower burning in the ones i use.

[Walker570]

On 18/09/2018 at 18:31, JohnfromUK said:

A s/s fit is important.  See a coach.

Shooting a s/s should be fast and instinctive and so requires a good fit.

This is the key. Any shotgun improves if it fits you but with a sxs it is even more important. All this business of seeing the rib etc is in my view baloney because I never ecer see either when I shoot.  I am concentrating on where the bird is and maintaining my swing accordingly. Aim a shotgun like a rifle and you will miss almost every time in my view.

The advice to get a GOOD coach/stocker to check the fit is wise BUT of course then you have to give it time and practise until mounting and shooting becomes one smooth operation.

I shoot semi autos, pumps, side by sides and over and unders fairly regularly and never alter my approach. Only my two sxs shotguns are fitted.