The Coolidge examiner., 1934-10-05
HOW r8A':.:
SHO or
By Bob Nichols
sooi.nE Editor. F's.4 and Streams

THE stock Is the trIckiest part
Il about the shotgun. Some men
spend hundreds OF dollars fooling
around with this ret theory and
that before they fnd the gun stock
that fts them. such eXper ment
Ing Is fun. OF course. But expen
slve fun. since gun stocks cost real
money Not many Of Us are blessed
with enough extra cash TO inilulge
ourselves In this direction. Il Is
better to know just about what you
need. and then 20 about making In
expensive minor corrections
Most American shotguns dfieen
years ago and beyond were turned
out with stocks that are too crooked
for upland use Technically speak
Ing. they have too much drop at
the heel OF the stock This merely
means that the distance from the
projected sighting plane along the
rlb of the barrel down 10 the top
of the stock ai the butt-plnte Is
too great Such guns are not so.
bad for shooting on high dying wa
tcrfowL Because here the aim Is
usually more deliberate aud more
like rlfe sighting. You have plenty
Of time 10 adjust the crooked gun
TO your shoulder and your eye 70
the sighting plane But take this
same gun into upland shooting.
where the bird more frequently
than not bursts from cover on n
surprise rise. and all too often you
will ind your frst shot missed by
understanding
Most men who become good up
land shots with crooked guns are
usually slow shots Their crooked
guns are frequently heavily choked.
. Their siowness In shooting pre-.
vents them from making their kills
az close range Hence they need
+ the extra range % the fun choke
T A good shot trained 10 the use of
one OF our more modern make ~
guns. with less drop nj the heel of
the butt. will make such a slow
shot look silly. however. because
be viii have the game down dead
before the slow moving gun can get
into action. The crooked-stock gun
does not handle fast In bringing
= up you are too conscious of your
movements and adjustments Shot.
gun shooting becomes an art only
when your movements are uucon-
srlous and instructive shooting
the stralghter. more modern, shot.
gun stock you are on the road to-
wards becoming an artist instead
~ r. ploddlng mathematician After
f sufficient training with the straight
er stock gun, when the bird booms
from cover sou are ready 10 shoot
IN a fash
In my opinion. the Ideal upland
Z gun should never have a drop AZ
heel In excess of two and one hair
inches. Possibly two and one-quarter
inches n better. although the for.
mer dimension Is a pretty good ~
T FOR the average man Don't ~ TO
Z extremes. however. and get too little
drop Too little Is worse than too
much drop. Too little drop viii
canse you 10 miss by oyershooiIng
The next Important dimension Is
the drop at the comb--ihe high
point In the top Of the stock where
4 II rests Up against your cheek. The
drop here should be- just enough 10
7 keep your eye high enough to see
the full length OF your barrel High
enough so that the fore-shortened
view OF your full barrel length will
appear 10 be about eighth TO
I three -sixteenths of an inch. For
the average shooter the drop NJ the
comb should be about one and one
half inches
Next the pitch of the gun. Stand
your gun on level surface with
4 the breech OF the barrel just touch
Ing a vertical wall. The muzzle
should not be more than an inch
or one and one-half inches from
the vertical wall I personally pre-
fer 40 pitch at all In my upland
gun. Others differ. however. and
like just enough pitch In the butt
plate 10 make the gun set well on
the shoulder. Too much pitch will
tend 10 cause you TO miss by under
shooting. Too little pitch may
cause you 10 miss by oyershoot.
Ing. This Is an easy adjustment
10 experiment with. since you can
loosen your butt-plate at the heel
and insert a few layers Of paste
board TO try the effect OF Increased
pitch II you Ike.
I favor the half pistol grip
which fits your trigger hand In its
natural firing position. and helps
] hold the huft more securely against