How Much Rib Should I See?
- Thread starter Spokerider
- Start date
Before you start rasping off wood, which won't grow back by itself, you need to visit a pattern board. If you are confident that your mount is consistent, this is what you do:
Measure out 16 yards, exactly 48 feet from your eyeball to the pattern board.
Mount and fire roughly half a dozen shots at the same mark. Put a mark on the target to fire at, but don't dwell on your aim, just mount and fire as if it were a live bird.
If your gun mount is consistent there should be a definite centre to the pattern. If your pattern is not centred on the "bird", measure how high/low and left/right it is.
That measurement in inches, will translate into sixteenths on the gunstock. If your pattern is 4 inches high, you need to lower the comb by four sixteenths, or 1/4". If the pattern is 3 inches to the left, the stock needs to be bent 3/16" to the right ( cast off ).
The traditional way an English smith would alter the stock would be to heat in oil, bend it, then clamp it in place until it sets in it's new position. I'm not sure how well that technique would work with a through-bolt.
Measure out 16 yards, exactly 48 feet from your eyeball to the pattern board.
Mount and fire roughly half a dozen shots at the same mark. Put a mark on the target to fire at, but don't dwell on your aim, just mount and fire as if it were a live bird.
If your gun mount is consistent there should be a definite centre to the pattern. If your pattern is not centred on the "bird", measure how high/low and left/right it is.
That measurement in inches, will translate into sixteenths on the gunstock. If your pattern is 4 inches high, you need to lower the comb by four sixteenths, or 1/4". If the pattern is 3 inches to the left, the stock needs to be bent 3/16" to the right ( cast off ).
The traditional way an English smith would alter the stock would be to heat in oil, bend it, then clamp it in place until it sets in it's new position. I'm not sure how well that technique would work with a through-bolt.
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- Location
- Jameson, SK
That's very helpful, thx
Should be a sticky.
Should be a sticky.
winchesterjones
Regular
- Location
- Sharon Ont
Do you have a mid-bead that helped myself out huge. Gives me a point reference everytime. I just line it up right under the front bead!
Unless I am checking fit, I never even notice the beads, I am concentrating only on the target when I am shooting.
Exactly right. I have nice white double beads on my good OU's, from a aesthetic perspective they look very nice. In a practical perspective I never use them as I never consciously see them when shooting.
calvados.boulard
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Victoria BC
Can someone recommend a place/gun-fitter to get O/Us fitted/bent on southern Vancouver Island? OP, who is the one you have heard of?
Thanks,
Cal.
Thanks,
Cal.
- Location
- Muskoka, Ontario
I read an article once that said you should hold your gun up and put a quarter on the rib mid way between your eye and the bead and you shouldn't be able to see the bead, it you can you have too much angle. Then when you remove the quarter you should be able to see the full bead. It seems to help new shooters at my club. If your looking down on the rib too much, it allows for more variation each time you shoulder your shotgun and the key to consistant shooting is to be looking along the rib at the same exact angle each time, hence why practicing shouldering the gun in front of a mirror is helpful as was mentioned earlier.
I thought that was what the mid-bead was for, checking gun fit. I do know some trap shooters who confirm their gun mount with them. I don't look at the beads or pay much attention to the barrels when shooting, just the target.
