SC Gun Mount

[dmarbell]

I've been shooting trap for about 3 months now. Before that, I had shot only SC. I had not been to the SC range in about 2 months.

Wednesday I decided to renew my SC membership and shoot a round or two, knowing I'd slay 'em after breaking so many trap birds. Yikes, it didn't work out.

To shorten the story, I ended up with an instructor looking at point of impact (patterning?). It turns out the instructor said my mount was bad, eye below the sight line, and head down so tight I was levering the barrel downward. When I correct the mount, the pattern was dead on.

My question is this: when he said I mounted the gun properly, it was as if I pointed the gun with my arms and pulled the trigger when the comb touched my face. There was no connection between the comb and my cheek, like in trap and skeet, and no connection between the butt and my shoulder.

Is this a good feeling when you make a proper SC mount? Is it as if you are just pointing the gun with your hands and arms, using the comb touching cheek as a pull-the-trigger trigger? Butt not firm against your shoulder, but shoulder just in the way to absorb the recoil?

Point of impact instructor guy said my gun fit was ok, preliminarily, and to work very, very, very hard on my mount.

Danny

 

[Dave McCracken]

The mount is not everything, but it comes closer than most factors, Danny.

I do it backwards, shooting low gun in all games. And, I work on the mount at home also.

The face HAS to be in the same place on the stock each and every time. Contact is the only way I know of.

A couple things for shooting low gun...

Start with the gun butt in the same position. Adjust the muzzle height for the correct gun hold position.ie, high for jumping teal, low for rabbits.Leave the butt where it belongs.

Trapping the last 1/2 inch of pad in your armpit and sliding it up when mounting eliminates a variable.

Using the "Churchill" method of doing the swing with the mount and firing as the face and stock touch works well for most of us. It's a variant of swing through that depends on a consistent mount and swing speed.

On longer shots a pull away method that leaves the gun in place and then "Flicked" ahead to add some lead can work, but this demands consistent gun speed and major concentration so the speed doesn't go away when we d it.
Its so easy to "Make sure" by looking at the gun. The only thing we're making sure of then is a miss.

Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither are good form and techniques. Hang in there....

 

[Rollin Oswald]

Very strange...

I have to wonder about the credentials of your instructor. With that bit of negativity, something seems very apparent. Your gun's stock dimensions do not fit your size and shape, i.e. they do not allow the correct gun mount and the length of your stock appears to be too short.

As was said, your cheek must be consistently on the comb (top surface) of your stock as consistently as possible. Yours is not. Your head is flapping around on the end of your neck without the anchor point of your cheek firmly on the comb.

When a clays gun fits, the cheek meets the comb at the same time the butt meets the shoulder. This is true whether you use weird Churchill's method or a more conventional method; the cheek and butt come to rest at the same time - "weird Churchill" method because neither he nor his advocates can explain how they shoot crossing targets at varying distances without taking varying horizontal leads into consideration. Supposedly, the gun is fired when the muzzle reaches the target or... the gun is jerked ahead of crossing targets (a certain undefined distance) as the muzzle overtakes the target. It's all somewhat weird and very unexplained by Churchillian. (Just my opinion - let's not get into an argument over it.)

http://stockfitting.virtualave.net

Rollin