Question for the shot gunners

pyscodog

Active member
Long time ago, I had a shotgun that just beat my face to pieces causing a bad habit. I raise my head off the stock when I shoot. How do I break this habit? I don't do it on a rifle but just shooting my shotgun.
 
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Get a shotgun that fits you properly. Any gun that slaps your cheekbone unnecessarily hard doesn't fit you. Shooting fast moving shotgun targets demands a properly fitting gun. Rock on the stock and hard target focus fundamentals with a properly fitting shotgun makes the job much easier.
 
I can remember as a kid getting slammed hard shooting my Dads' old 870, I am sure my form was horrible but at the time it was bragging rights to my buddies about shooting a 12 gauge. I switched over to auto-loaders about ten years ago and it made my shotgunning much better. I still shoot some clays with an OU, but I only use my Versamax for coyote hunting. I kill more coyotes with stout loads and it is such a soft shooting gun, less than target loads in my OU. I also found that using a red-dot optic gets me to focus more on the target, than just a general area. Hope this helps.
 
Couple of other things other that proper gun fit is to practice with some 7/8oz loads and make sure that you are on the balls of your feet. I had that issue after shooting a couple 100 rounds of handicaps with some pretty hot loads. Went back to shooting some 1oz loads and really made sure I was on my toes. After 5 or 6 flats of shells and really focusing on doing things right all is good.
 
I'm trying to better my skeet game. I've been in and out of skeet and clay targets for years but lately, I have been wanting to shoot more skeet and raising my head and stopping my gun are my two main problems. I do shoot 7/8oz loads so recoil isn't really a problem. I developed it shooting a Ruger Red Label years ago. That gun was brutal on your cheek. Four rounds of skeet was like 12 rounds with Mike Tyson.
 
A few decades ago, I won a Ruger Red Label 28 ga. and a Remington 1100 20 ga, at the same DU Banquet. I took my two young sons out to shoot the two new shotguns. And everyone commented how the 28 ga. Ruger O/U kicked more than the Remington 1100 20 ga. Both were loaded with Win AA target loads, so other than the 1/8th oz. of shot difference, the velocity was consistent. A friend had a Ruger Red Label 20 ga. and his complaint was that for a 20 ga. it kicked hard. I really like how the Ruger Red Label 28 ga. swings, and fits me, but it does bump one harder than a 28 ga. should. I have a Beretta A400, in 28 ga. and it definitely has less recoil than the Ruger.

If you are shooting skeet, ever consider going to a smaller bore shotgun, and possibly a gas operated semi-auto? I shoot trap with a 12 ga.(A Citori for nice weather, and a Maxus, with added weight, for rain), but for skeet I shoot 20 ga. or 28 ga. depending on my mood for challenge.

I do agree with the recommendations to get your gun fit checked. But starting with a softer shooting semi-auto, gives you a good base line to work from.

Squeeze
 
In 2004 I started lifting my head while shooting Trap, Skeet and Sporting Clays. That year I shot 3800 registered Sporting Clays targets and no telling how many targets at Sporting Clays fund raiser shoots and just shooting practice rounds of Sporting Clays, 5-Stand, Trap and Skeet.

Since then I have shot nothing but 1 oz and 7/8 oz loads at clay targets and in 2005 I had a G-Squared Shockmaster recoil reduction system mounted on the stock of my Browning Ultra XS Sporting Clays O/U.

Shooting a shotgun that has less recoil and shooting loads that kick less helped me to lift my head not as often. But I still lift my head occasionally, about 1 to 4 times per 100 shots.

If you have a very flat shooting shotgun and you have to cover rising targets to hit them, that can also get you to lifting your head so you can see the target break.
 
Good advice above.
Also consider practicing your gun mount, bring the comb tight up into your cheek and of course shoulder. Not getting a gun up right and tight can lead to a good wallop.
 
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Another thing to maybe try and do is go to walmart and go to the craft dept and get some the 6x8 foam pads that are sticky on one side and put a couple 1in wide x 6in long on the comb of the stock and cover it with a 1/2 a sheet. It will soften the comb but it will raise your point of impact. Or it could be the way that the recoil pad is pitched that is or was causing the gun to smoke your cheek. You could get a wedge from midway or brownells to change the pitch. If you need to try it. Try to loosen up the recoil pad and stick a couple of quarters under the bottom side between the recoil pad and the stock and tighten up the recoil pad and try it. If it bites you try changing them from the bottom to the top. Then you can see what size wedge you will need or how many. You will have to grind the wedge down to fit the stock. We have had to do one of these 2 things for the kids on the trap team at one time or another. Most of the time when people start picking their head up is do to them wanting to see the bird or the break. And as soon as they pull their check up slightly they get their cheek smoked and won't stay into the gun.
 
I'm shooting pretty light loads and the recoil doesn't bother me at all. Its just raising my head off the stock. I don't do all the time but I do it. I think I'm trying to watch the break. I just sold my 11-87 and it was a soft shooting gun but I still raised my head up. I'm considering duct tape! LOL
 
I agree with deaddogwalkin. Adjust your check weld with something to take up a little space. That should give you a tighter fit and maybe a little psychological boost of confidence.

Also, never underestimate the value of dry fire training! Retrain yourself starting by pulling the trigger, keeping it depressed while you hold your body position after the shot. Then slowly release the trigger. Muscle memory is the name of the game and dry fire training is free!
 
Originally Posted By: beaglerI use a red dot scope on my scatterguns, wondering if this would help with the issue?

NO...
 
breaking bad habit of raising your head up off the stock and slapping the trigger is tough. You have to have someone beside you to watch you or video tape yourself shooting. It takes a conscious effort to stop both of these very bad habits.

Soft kicking shotguns help raising the head, and putting a piece of memory foam on the stock may help.

Hard kicking shotguns with a high comb, hard kicking loads, end up being detrimental to rifle shooting. I had to break myself of raising my head up when I first started shooting Ithaca 37's and 870's using 3" mag loads on ducks and pigeons where shooting a LOT of shells in one day beat the day lights out of me. I shot skeet and had a friend watch me and tell me when I lifted my head. In about 10 rounds of skeet, I stopped the habit.

I got rid of all pumps and went gas operated shotguns...stopped the mental fatigue of knowing that I was about to get the [beeep] kicked out of me. I had previously went through the trouble to have my pumps properly fit by a master gunsmith, recoil is still recoil...1 5/8 oz of shot at 1300 is going to thump.

Today, a 1 1/4 oz of TSS at 1300 is all a guy needs on coyotes.
 
I shot 5 rounds yesterday and did a lot better keeping the head down and follow through. Its still a work in progress though. My friend who shoots a lot of skeet shot my gun with my loads and seemed to think my loads were a little stiff so I changed my charge bushing to lighten my loads a little. He seems to think that will also help. I didn't think the recoil was that bad but he did. Campaired to my old WingMaster, recoil was pretty mild to me.
 
First and foremost with shotgunning is if the gun does not fit you then it will be difficult to hit and quite often beat the crap out of you in the process. If at all possible go to someone who knows how to check your fit. If not, a good standby is to shoulder the gun with your eyes closed then open them. Your dominant eye should be seeing the back of the full bead with next to no rib visible. You should have roughly 2 fingers width apart from your nose and the back of your thumb on your trigger hand when checking for length.
 
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Gun fits. My good friend is the skeet chairman at our club. He also shoots registered skeet. He checked me out on fitment of my Beretta and says it fits me pretty good. He also teachs a youth program and is coaching me along the way. I'm a slow learner but he's patient.
 
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