Gun add ons ?.

[samboy]

Hi gang.

             I've been shooting for over 41 years. I have never found the need for barrel or stock weights, adj stock , long beads etc.

             The only things i do like are extended chokes . I just pick up a gun and if it feels right i buy it.  Anyone else think like this ?.

              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             

             

[Ultrastu]

Nope .

Not me .

I've added weight. ,Removed weight , reduced length of pull, added rails . Put on red dots . Added moderators . Camo tape .resprayed stocks . Cheek risers . Adjustable combs ,  made my own stocks  .plenty  of stuff to make the gun fit or shoot or look how I want it too .

Edited October 17, 2022 by Ultrastu

[ditchman]

must admit i was the same more or less..........i need to like the gun before i buy it...the only thing i do and have done is the stock length and i always shoot with a rubber bump stop on the rear of the trigger gaurd as it helps me with hand placement on my sxs's

[London Best]

It’s just the same as fishing tackle catching more fishermen than fish.

[Weihrauch17]

Extended Chokes look appalling IMHO and there is no need for them anywhere.  Adjustable stocks are a great idea having got one on my CG I have set it up perfectly just like you can with most semi's.

[JohnfromUK]

My guns have been bought typically with 2 reasons;

First (and foremost) because I like them - and that may be for all sorts of reasons including 'quirky' design (I Have a Darne!)

Second - they either fit me (or can be altered with relative ease to fit me.

What have I 'added/changed' (other than repairs)? 

Well,

• I have removed two rubber 'recoil pads' and replaced with buffalo horn.  - I hate rubber pads which always seem to snag on my clothing unless leather covered.
• I have had one 'wood' extension where about an additional inch was needed. 
• I have removed an old ebonite extension and refinished (chequered butt) remaining stock to correct length. 
• I have had the usual fitting (length, bend, cast, stock rear angle) 'tweaked'. 
• I have never added (or removed) weight, multi chokes (except buying an extra tube for my only non fixed gun). 
• I have had one fixed choke gun that was half and full opened to 1/4 and 1/2. 
• I have had the triggers adjusted (several guns), and I have converted two manual safety guns to automatic (because that is what I'm used to).

[enfieldspares]

14 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

• I have removed two rubber 'recoil pads' and replaced with buffalo horn.  - I hate rubber pads which always seem to snag on my clothing unless leather covered.
• I have had the usual fitting (length, bend, cast, stock rear angle) 'tweaked'. 
• I have never added (or removed) weight, multi chokes (except buying an extra tube for my only non fixed gun). 

I use what the old gunmakers apparently used a 50/50 mix of shellac and linseed oil to "slick" the rubber pad. As you rub the linseed evaporates and leaves the shellac that leaves a "slick" coating on the pad. Always doe that for nearly thirty to forty plus years. Told to me by the late Brendan Kelly who used to stock for Webley & Scott and then set up in Price Street, Birmingham,

I am tall! How tall? Too bloomin' tall so with regret all my guns have to have the stocks longer. On four...my late father's gun, my Powell No2 sidelock, my Powell 3" BLE, my Boss and my Webley 700 I have had them restocked. Nowadays I can't afford to do that so it's either a Silver's type pad or a wooden extension. But I always scour the auction houses for long stocked guns! Even now!

I have had weight removed only to offset the massive weight added by fitting an extension so as to try and restore balance and move that balance point near the centre of the gun.

Edited October 17, 2022 by enfieldspares

[enfieldspares]

28 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

First (and foremost) because I like them - and that may be for all sorts of reasons including 'quirky' design (I Have a Darne!)

This! Odd stuff I presently have are my two French guns, BOTH boxlock self-opener ejectors using a French system similar to Holland's system except with two springs one either side of an additional barrel loop. The Fusil Robust Model 28E. One in 16 bore, one in 12 bore. I also when I disposed of my Boss in December last year took cash and a AyA No4 BLE in .410". I've always wanted a .410" ejector since my father got rid of the one he had back in the very late 1960s after my brother (with me as onlooker) fired it out of the gunroom window. It took fifty-five years but I got there in the end!

 

Edited October 17, 2022 by enfieldspares

[JohnfromUK]

8 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

I am tall! How tall? Too bloomin' tall

Perhaps fortunately (for the wallet), I am not tall and a 14 1/2" stock suits me well.  My gun fitter thinks that is on the long side for me, but it feels right, and he admits I don't have any catching trouble (except with rubber).

[JohnfromUK]

1 minute ago, enfieldspares said:

boxlock self-opener ejectors

I handled two English boxlock self openers today on a visit to a private collection - one was a Baker and can't remember what the other was, but it was a non ejector and used a coil spring in tension for the self opening and mainspring - and tensioned by cams (like the Beesley/Purdey).

I have two sidelock self openers, Henry Atkin and AyA Senior.

6 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

AyA No4 BLE in .410"

I have the non ejector boxlock AyA in .410 - which was my fathers.

[Scully]

The only thing I’m not keen on, are those engineered skeletal stocks on shotguns, but if they help the owner to get where they want to be, then fair enough. Each to their own.

[enfieldspares]

1 hour ago, JohnfromUK said:

I handled two English boxlock self openers today on a visit to a private collection - one was a Baker and can't remember what the other was, but it was a non ejector and used a coil spring in tension for the self opening and mainspring - and tensioned by cams (like the Beesley/Purdey).

I have two sidelock self openers, Henry Atkin and AyA Senior.

I have the non ejector boxlock AyA in .410 - which was my fathers.

I understand that Atkin's system took the best of Beesley's design used by Purdey and refined it to make it easier to close. To be better balanced in that sense. The AyA Senior is a rare beast indeed!

[JohnfromUK]

The Atkin is very like the Purdey.  I have not handled enough of each to really know, but Gough Thomas chose Atkin.  It uses a more conventional ejector than Purdey.  There are about 40 of the AyAs.  There are some pics quite early in the side by side club thread.

[Gunman]

14 hours ago, samboy said:

Hi gang.

             I've been shooting for over 41 years. I have never found the need for barrel or stock weights, adj stock , long beads etc.

             The only things i do like are extended chokes . I just pick up a gun and if it feels right i buy it.  Anyone else think like this ?.

              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             

             

It is my personal opinion based on many years of gun fitting ,that may shooters biggest problem is that they think they have a problem !

Many inexperienced or novice shooters are sold or purchase ,too much gun to start with then " add ons" they dont need send will never need although some do like to make their guns look like a prop from a SiFi film .

Manufactures  constantly bringing out new models that are SO SO much better than the last one so if you dont get one your shooting will be rubbish .I partly blame magazines pushing thes and  all sorts of junk in exchange for full page ads and so called shooting instructors who have pre set ideas as to what they like , so you should like it as well even if its not what you need .

The obsession with whether this choke or that choke will improve your shooting , when finding the right cartridge and sticking to it may be a far better bet .

The simple fact some of us , myself included,will never be good shots no matter what we own or what it is fitted with !

 

 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Bravo, some sense at last!   

[Ultrastu]

Why has there been a lack of sense so far? . Pretty sure people have different needs and valid opinions .🤪 

[London Best]

9 hours ago, Gunman said:

It is my personal opinion based on many years of gun fitting ,that may shooters biggest problem is that they think they have a problem !

Many inexperienced or novice shooters are sold or purchase ,too much gun to start with then " add ons" they dont need send will never need although some do like to make their guns look like a prop from a SiFi film .

Manufactures  constantly bringing out new models that are SO SO much better than the last one so if you dont get one your shooting will be rubbish .I partly blame magazines pushing thes and  all sorts of junk in exchange for full page ads and so called shooting instructors who have pre set ideas as to what they like , so you should like it as well even if its not what you need .

The obsession with whether this choke or that choke will improve your shooting , when finding the right cartridge and sticking to it may be a far better bet .

The simple fact some of us , myself included,will never be good shots no matter what we own or what it is fitted with !

 

 

Good post Gunman.

 

7 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Bravo, some sense at last!   

I’ll second that.

 

26 minutes ago, Ultrastu said:

Why has there been a lack of sense so far? . Pretty sure people have different needs and valid opinions .🤪 

See Gunman’s post above.

[Gunman]

3 hours ago, Ultrastu said:

Why has there been a lack of sense so far? . Pretty sure people have different needs and valid opinions .🤪 

You are correct in what you say .

We all have different needs and opinions and yours are as valid as mine .The point I was trying to make was that sometimes people are swayed into getting things they dont need when often a better solution can be found .

 

 

[Ultrastu]

Couldn't agree more .your post was spot on .it was tc 's post that was a bit strange .

[London Best]

8 hours ago, Ultrastu said:

Couldn't agree more .your post was spot on .it was tc 's post that was a bit strange .

Didn’t mean to sound obtuse/strange, sorry. 
I understood what Gunman meant and thought if you perhaps read it again you may understand it better. 
At the end, nothing matters as long as the old gun keeps going off.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

8 hours ago, Ultrastu said:

Couldn't agree more .your post was spot on .it was tc 's post that was a bit strange .

Strange?

Strange to voice a personal opinion on a forum?

Far too many people expect to shoot well almost immediately, they then almost always start to blame the gun, the chokes and the cartridges.

[Scully]

19 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

 

Far too many people expect to shoot well almost immediately, they then almost always start to blame the gun, the chokes and the cartridges.

This. We live and learn. 

[Ultrastu]

1 hour ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Strange?

Strange to voice a personal opinion on a forum?

Far too many people expect to shoot well almost immediately, they then almost always start to blame the gun, the chokes and the cartridges.

Absolutely  .I agree it takes a long time to build the muscle memory and sight picture of different birds .

Sometimes an add on can help with that or possibly hinder the process .

[wymberley]

3 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

 

 

Far too many people expect to shoot well almost immediately, they then almost always start to blame the gun, the chokes and the cartridges.

 

3 hours ago, Scully said:

This. We live and learn. 

Yep, the learning curve will remain flat for longer owing to lack of confidence and knowledge especially when you have no idea of how the gun/cartridge is performing. It seems silly when for the sake of half a day and a few cartridges you can find out and if applicable then concentrate on what you're doing - ideally with some professional help if possible.

[Scully]

1 hour ago, wymberley said:

 

Yep, the learning curve will remain flat for longer owing to lack of confidence and knowledge especially when you have no idea of how the gun/cartridge is performing. It seems silly when for the sake of half a day and a few cartridges you can find out and if applicable then concentrate on what you're doing - ideally with some professional help if possible.

Give me strength!  I can assure you that any lack of confidence I may have felt when first starting out with a shotgun, wasn’t down to how a cartridge/choke was performing! 
As we’ve already established, any miss or hit when out shooting simply isn’t down to either the gun, the choke or the cartridge; it just isn’t. 
A consistent and correct mount is paramount to consistently good shooting ( aka gun fit ) arrived at over long periods of good practise, practise and more practise ( a habit which should never lapse ) then you have issues like eye dominance, footwork, addressing the target, followed by loads and loads of experience. 
If after all that, you were interested enough to find out, you could spend time on a pattern plate to see what your choke is actually choked at with a particular cartridge…..but it wont make one iota of difference between a hit and a miss. The other stuff will.