Stock Drop Thoughts

[Stan Hillis]

I agree that a seasoned shooter can adapt to different dims on guns, but the RIGHT dims will up the score in the long run. I had a dear friend, now deceased, that was a serious sporting clays shooter. He really wanted to improve, but was stuck in the very low 70s, out of 100. He shot a high stocked gun that required floating the bird/target in order to score. A mutual friend tried to explain to him the futility of doing that, when he could shoot a gun that didn't require it. He was insistent that floating the bird was okay, and to prove it he took aim at a pine cone on a limb, floated it the right amount, and centered the pine cone. He turned around, looked at our buddy and said, "See?". Our buddy replied "Yeah, it works about 70% of the time, doesn't it?". Our friend dropped his head and looked embarrassed as the reality of it sunk in.

[Randy Roberts]

Just this spring I tried shooting a gun that had too much drop in it for me. I was able to shoot the first shot successfully by keeping my head a little high, I was even able to be successful on lazy report pairs where I had time to position my head correctly. On true pairs that required a quick second shot I was a mess. Instinct dug in and my head went back down on the stock on the second bird. That stock has now been bent and it is a much more pleasurable Parker to shoot. Others are probably more disciplined than I.