Owenwill Posted September 19, 2004 Report Share Posted September 19, 2004 Can anyone help? I bought a new Beretta 391 a couple of weeks back, lovely gun,always wanted a beretta, only prob is, can't seem to shoot a bloody thing with it! I p/xed old Lanber o/u field to buy 391,beginning to regret it, could shoot anything with old gun, after shooting at homemade pattern plate, discovered I was shooting about a foot high at about 30 yards,took it back to dealer (North Wales Shooting School)the gunsmith said in his opinion the gun fitted me perfectly,but for my piece of mind he dropped the stock 10mm, after a below average day at pigeons over stubble, still seem to be shooting high, is this a common problem coming from O/U to semi autos??Gunsmith doesnt advise dropping stock anymore,anyone else experienced same problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted September 19, 2004 Report Share Posted September 19, 2004 I have always found semi autos to be barrel tip heavy, which means they tend to shoot low for me. But, we are all different shapes and sizes, so few things will be the same for everyone.. If you are sure the gun is still firing high after adjustment, I would find another Gunsmith and get a second opinion. It could be something you just have to get use to. A few rounds on sporting clays might also help. Don't forget, not everyone who works in a Gun Shop is a Gunsmith. Some of the ones I have met, know less about guns than I do and thats no compliment. :yp: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owenwill Posted September 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2004 Thanks for advice,Tried it on some sporting clays at the shops range on day i bought it,did best on springing teal, I guess shooting high was helping me on those! My mate just got Silver Pigeon, can shoot fine with that, very annoying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webber Posted September 20, 2004 Report Share Posted September 20, 2004 Forget the gunsmith for now. Go back to the pattern plate. 20 yards is probably a better distance than 30 yards. Shoot at least 6 cartridges at the centre of the plate. Dont aim the gun as you would a rifle; look at the centre, mount the gun and fire. Inspect the pattern on the plate. Beretta semis come with an extended allen ket and a bag of tapered spacers. The instruction booklet will tell you how to make the corrections that may be required. On the other hand, if the gun is sticking the shot in the middle then its upto you to get it right. As Cranfield says, semis can take a bit of getting used to. I also have a Beretta semi, and dont tend to shoot as well with it as I do with my O/U, but then I dont use it as often. I am sure that if you persevere, you will get the desired result. webber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernyha Posted September 20, 2004 Report Share Posted September 20, 2004 I too use the 391 and was getting poor results at first. The first thing i did was use the shims provided to give me maximum cast off and drop. This improved things but still not enough until i realised what the problem was. I was in the habit of using my Browning 425 o/u on days when I thought things would not be exciting and the Beretta when i anticipated a good day. The reason for this was purely that it was quicker to clean the o/u than the semi and I didn't mind the extra time it took to clean the semi if I had had a good day. The result of this policy was that I was not doing any good with either gun. Now the 425 is relegated to the cabinet and I always use the 391 with the result that my shooting has improved considerably. My advice is to stick with it and you will notice a big improvement once you have shimmed the stock and put on the butt pad that suits you best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the last engineer Posted September 20, 2004 Report Share Posted September 20, 2004 as the prior post's say , play with your shim kit first ,if no joy you may try this ,a number of semi users here with the same prob will put a high vis style front sight ,they tend to sit higher on the barrel,this will make you hold the muzzle lower to gain correct "muzzle /target " sight picture ,its asimilart to trap gun with a high rib . good luck with your vending machine :yp: martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owenwill Posted September 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2004 Thanks for advice, showed gun to mate who knows a thing or two about gun fit, he reckoned gun is too short for me, find this hard to believe as I am 5'11" of average build, but i guess it would explain shooting high,he said my cheek should be further back on stock to get true point of aim, I already have the thickest supplied recoil pad on gun, will give shop a ring to see what they can do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the last engineer Posted September 20, 2004 Report Share Posted September 20, 2004 a lot of auto's have what is regarded as shorter stocks ,this is due to the action length ,your buddy is right it probably is to short , going from an feild o/u to a sporting auto is quite a bit differant mind ,so dont give up if its what you want ,you should find a gunshop ,or a good trustworthy shooter who can help you , of cource the other alternative is to invert the gun drive it into the ground and tie a flag to it then get your old lanber back no realy ,hope you fix the prob ,let us know how you get on. regards, martin :yp: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owenwill Posted September 21, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 Might be tempted with the flag idea if I don't sort it out soon! It's a field version by the way. Maybe semi-autos just don't suit me, shame, because I like the reduced recoil,lightness and 3 shot capacity of the gun, but might be better to cut losses and see what they'd give me for it in exchange for Silver Pigeon, it's less than month old, payed £770 for it, depends how much it's lost in that time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the last engineer Posted September 21, 2004 Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 Owenwill,hope you dont mind me saying this ,dont give up yet ,look at the possability of finding an old or used stock (wood pref) ,you fit it to the gun should not be a prob as most berretta stocks on the semi will fit with little or no mods , have your knowledged friend look at your mount and plane of sight ,if high take a rasp and remove the top off the comb ,a fair amount please then we can build up in smaller increments ,now the fun part ,get hold of a large can of bondo (car body filler putty,fast dry) mix and lair up on the comb,when dry rasp down to suit your mount and sight picture with the aid of your friend this will be fun and fast (also a learning curve on the amount of differance you will see to your gun as the stock begins too correct itself and your targeting improoves ) the closer you get the less comes off ,if you take too much off,start again no problem, you can also adjust for cast this way but do that later. you said its a field gun ,then dont worry what it looks like make up your own cammo for masking the bondo,the gun is not supposed to look pretty its supposed to function correctly dont you think ?? many shooters here have adopted this cheap easy and fun way to custom fit their stocks to shoot better and more comfortably (hand position on the pistol grip ) a poor hand fit can make shooting 500 rounds a day very tiring . and before the mocking birds take flight on my post ,this works,dont knock till you disproove,i will try to post some pics of stocks as soon as the temps climb and the seasonal shooters come out to play . good luck Owenwill martin PM if you need any more info . :yp: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owenwill Posted September 21, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 Sounds like you've done that a few times! Thanks to everyone for the great advice over the last few days, rang shop today,said they could drastically alter gun but still no guarantee of it suiting plus wont be cheap to do, so decided to cut losses and swap for silver pigeon 1, not going to cost hell of a lot more, should have stuck to what I know to start with I guess, the fella i spoke to said quite a few customers have had trouble adapting to s/a's from o/u's, shame really,I know a lot of guys on this site swear by there 391's, it seems it just wasn't for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurcherboy Posted September 21, 2004 Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 Owen, I patterned my pump action recently and found it to be approx 18" above where I expected. Then spent two hours putting 275 carts through it. I now have trouble with my O/U. You will learn to adjust with time. Don't get hung up about it mate just let it flow. LB :yp: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the last engineer Posted September 21, 2004 Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 (edited) that is a problem with a lot of shooters LB, they tend to get used to one gun and try another and the wheels fall off ,if you have a number of differing guns it can be quite hard to become proficient with all ,there will always be an " old faithfull" and then the other guns (as i've read many times in this forum) , as you said you can adapt/adjust in time,even to an ill fitting gun. good luck with the new choice of gun Owen :yp: regards martin an edit to the first line ,wrong choice of words i think . " that is a problem a lot of shooters find " sounds better Edited September 21, 2004 by the last engineer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurcherboy Posted September 21, 2004 Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 I agree TLE. So many people say " i can hit anything with this gun" and are like fish out of water when giving a different one. We should all be able to shoot different guns. If there is only one available to you ask a friend to swop for an afternoon on clays or similar. LB :yp: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M ROBSON Posted September 21, 2004 Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 I don't want to panic you but over on the Wildfowling forum one of the American members reported that in the States some of the Xtremas had there chokes bored slightly squint and were firing left. I have 2 Xtremas and they are both fine, It may be just a problem at the American factory but may be worth investigating. Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M ROBSON Posted September 21, 2004 Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 This is what was posted. There has been a few reports here in the US on The Duck Hunters Refuge and Waterfowler.Com concerning a some of the Xtremas shooting to the left, in some cases up to 10 inches. Some of the persons reporting the problems have returned the guns to Beretta only to have them returned with the report that they were, "within factory specifications." These shooters often found their problems persisted after the gun was returned to them. Some of the problems have been traced to chokes reamed off center or to uneven choke seats combined with large tolerances in the barrel to cock the choke off center. These problems appear to come from barrels made here, so if the Xtremas imported into the UK don't come from the US, you shouldn't experience the same problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the last engineer Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 good lesson to learn there LB, i have as i said the 2 ultras xs stock's worked by me to as close as i can get to have the 2 guns for sporting clays ,both run 30" one has 2" ext'd chokes (imp mod's), i like the feel of the longer barrel on a long target ,smother flow to the gun ,the 30" s run imp/cyl these i use for all other targets, my 525 skeet and five stand swings nice and smooth 30" again tighter pistol grip , miroku 4 barrel set skeet only , nice to mix it up a little now and again ,and i still use the odd gun or 2 from others . martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greener Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 Had the same problem with my 390. It was shooting high because it fitted poorly. Stock was too long, it tended to hit the armpit when mounting. Look at a picture of a top gun shooting, distance between cheekbone and flesh of thumb is not more than 3 fingers, less is better. Then you have to get your eye, level with the rib,(comb height) and then cast off. It was impossible with the max rear plate I got with the gun(65) to get it right, so here's my bit. I cut 3 similar plates, some 1/8 ply should do, you're not going to shoot with them in place and move the hole half a dia at a a time to the NW so to speak. You are thus increasing both drop and cast. Assemble the gun and find which suits you best. Your cheekbone should be comfy and all you see is the bead and the back of the receiver. When you're happy, you have to make a steel one, I used 2mm stainless. And at whatever you point the gun will drop dead. Then it won't be just a gun you bought for 700quid, but your gun and don't be surprised if you give it a kiss after a good day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the last engineer Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 good example of fixing the problem there greener ,little percy vera nce never hurt anyone ,not to sure about kissing the thing though , fond but not that fond of :*) :*) good shooting guys martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mr Pieman Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 I think any gun can be a 'misfit', regardless of maker. I have shot with a Beretta Silver Pigeon for years and recently brought a 686e sporter - same cast etc. It was hopeless - well, I shot with it like David Blunkett without a dog to coach me!! In the end, after getting my style etc checked by shooting coaches, gunsmiths etc I conceded that the 686e was never going to suit me and sold it on. That used to seem to shoot bizarely high too Some guns just don't suit me, I suspect we will all find a gun to cause us similar problems from time to time Still shoot well with my Silver :blink: Cheers PP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owenwill Posted September 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 makes me feel better hearing i'm not alone in not being able to shoot barn door with certain type of gun! good to hear your glowing report on your silver pigeon Pieman,as seen as i'm picking mine up from shop tomorrow! Sad to see 391 go, half people i speak to say I should persevere with semi auto, the rest say go back to what i know - o/u, went with latter in the end,keep you posted on how I get on with sp, went for fixed choke because rarely change from 1/4 and 1/2 plus 100 cheaper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurcherboy Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 Good luck Owen with the new one. LB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mr Pieman Posted September 23, 2004 Report Share Posted September 23, 2004 Owen, I think you have made the right decision. If it ain't feeling right then all the perseverence in the world won't ever let you feel truely comfortable - I should know, I've been married 3 times :blink: PP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the last engineer Posted September 23, 2004 Report Share Posted September 23, 2004 mr pieman ,,,,,,,,, 3 x what happened to the old saying "once bitten twice shy" i can safely say once was enough ,she's a redhead and firey to boot . only had the one bad habbit i can recall "BREATHING" :blink: JUST KIDDING :*) :*) :*) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owenwill Posted September 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2004 Picked Silver Pigeon up from North Wales Shooting School this afternoon,nice looking gun,lovely bit of wood on it, not had chance to give it go yet, would have tried it out at Shooting School if missus wasn't waiting in car with stopwatch! (still on my first by the way!)Hope to tackle the pigeons on the last of our stubble at weekend before I get plough to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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