Question on shot gun set up

[lonewolf5347]

I like to ask was setting up at 16 yards to see how my 20 ga. shoots O/U will pattern
I loaded some target loads # 7 1/2 and 8
Lower barrel dead on no left to right alignment : Dead center but on the low side
Upper barrel dead center mass on top of the lower barrel pellets
I should of went back to 30 yards ???
barrel length in 28"
shot gun are new to me did pick it up for some sporting clay's

 

[planetcat]

Hey, Nell, still not sure of what the question is.

 

[GunnyGene]

I like to ask was setting up at 16 yards to see how my 20 ga. shoots O/U will pattern
I loaded some target loads # 7 1/2 and 8
Lower barrel dead on no left to right alignment : Dead center but on the low side
Upper barrel dead center mass on top of the lower barrel pellets
I should of went back to 30 yards ???
barrel length in 28"
shot gun are new to me did pick it up for some sporting clay's

Your pattern will spread out more, but you won't see much vertical drop until you get out quite a ways; 50 yds or more. How much it spreads depends on the ammo and what chokes your barrels have.

Here's what happens when the shot leaves the muzzle: The ammo used in this test had a wad (cup) that the shot is contained in for the first several inches to prevent the shot from spreading out too soon due to muzzle blast.

And here's one of many hundreds of charts that give you a rough idea of how much the shot will spread at various distances with a few of the standard chokes in use.

 

[JFB]

If your concern is the "center of shot mass" is low at 16 yards...

aiming a shot gun is more of "fit to the shooter" than "sighting" on the bead. It is not like a rifle.

there are books on how to fit, but the simple basics for me is
1) bringing the gun to the shoulder quickly
2) getting a consistant check placement on the stock
3) putting the bead under the target

It is not lineing up the rib like a rifle sight.

If the "fit" has your point of impact too low, adjusting the stock comb (by bending, shims, check pad) is needed to correct


If this were a "target turkey shoot" gun. then ignore above

 

[wwb]

If your concern is the "center of shot mass" is low at 16 yards...

aiming a shot gun is more of "fit to the shooter" than "sighting" on the bead. It is not like a rifle.

there are books on how to fit, but the simple basics for me is
1) bringing the gun to the shoulder quickly
2) getting a consistant check placement on the stock
3) putting the bead under the target

It is not lineing up the rib like a rifle sight.

If the "fit" has your point of impact too low, adjusting the stock comb (by bending, shims, check pad) is needed to correct

If this were a "target turkey shoot" gun. then ignore above

If you get really serious about shotgunning, it goes even further than that... if you have a properly fitted shotgun, you need to insure a consistent mount. Once mounted, your focus is entirely on the target - ignore the bead completely... the gun will shoot where you're looking.

 

[groberts]

If you get really serious about shotgunning, it goes even further than that... if you have a properly fitted shotgun, you need to insure a consistent mount. Once mounted, your focus is entirely on the target - ignore the bead completely... the gun will shoot where you're looking.

Shotgunning can be a lot of fun but does take a lot of practice. And as mentioned here it is not practice aiming but more practice getting the gun in the same place every time. As I kid I used a single shot 22 nearly every day and got to the point where I could shoot a quail on the fly and a sparrow on a limb or post. It was done with muscle memory to bring the gun to the same point and turning my body/gun to look at the target. Doing it with a 22 is a lot cheaper but still builds muscle memory that can be transferred over to a shot gun. Then again, using cheap target shot for practice can be pretty cheap too and is a much better match to using normal shotgun loads like buckshot.