12 ga. is too much!

[mopar66701]

roundball,
i just noticed you are from north carolina. i bought this gun last summer from a guy in north carolina...with a stainless 3/8 ramrod no less....could it be your gun?

 

[paulvallandigham]

If you are 6"3" tall, you need a longer stock. LOP should be something like 14 inches min. and that only if there is sufficient drop. With a charge not exceeding 80 grains, the recoil should be manageable. Are you shooting FFg powder? Again, FFFg powder burns much faster, and will give added recoil effect, for no real gain in veolocity, or in cleanliness in the barrel. I shoot a CVA shotgun in 12 ga. that is lighter than yours, but has the butt lengthened with a hard recoil pad( I didn't need the cushion, just the length to the stock). The length of pull on that double barrel shotgun is 14 inches. D at comb is only 1 7/8 and at heel, 2 1/4. On my fowler, the LOP is 13 12/: Drop at comb is 2 12", and Drop at heel is 3 1/4" . the fowler fits me bettern, but then, it was made for me.

I hope you have a better idea of where you need to go with that shotgun to have it fit you better. I know by lengthening that stock, it will kick you less.

 

[BrownBear]

As for rabbit busting, sounds like you need to learn where the edge of your pattern is at different ranges. I almost always try to "fringe" my rabbits with the edge of the pattern, especially at closer ranges. That's true whether I'm using a 410 cartridge gun or a ML. At the very least you'll be concentrating most of your shot in the front half and away from the meaty loins and hindquarters.

Remember, rabbits are awfully frail, and even one pellet is usually enough to stop them or slow them down.

BTW- My prefered shot size is nothing smaller than #6, both to limit pattern density and to assure complete penetration and no trips to the dentist. #5's are my overall favorites for rabbits.

 

[Runner]

Scuff the cheek area of the stock to remove the shine. A soft finish doesn't grab the skin as much. I had a Navy Arms 20 that would swell up the side of your face after a few shots. I used talc on the cheek area of the stock to help out.

 

[ffffg]

sounds like someone cut off the stock and took out the pitch or something.. what is the distance from the butt center to the front trigger.??. when you set it on the ground, with the butt flat on the ground and you touch the barrel by the nipples to the wall( in a corner so your not hitting the nipples or hammers) how far out is the top of the barrel from the wall? when you put the barrel rib flat on the wall measure the front of the comb to the wall and the rear of the comb (on the stock) to the wall.. the measurment should not increase as it goes down the stock towards the butt.. if it does this is where most cheek bashing comes from.. ... most sxs shoot low at 40 yards, does yours?? all this can be fixed by adding lenght to the stock with spacers, probably you need to add some pitch with an tapered spacer and a couple flat spacers... and a comb add on that will put the comb level with the barrel and sight it in at the same time.... if you dont understand this print it and take it to a shotgun gunsmith and he will explain it to you..dave.

 

[hornetk4]

I've got a 12 ga sxs by pedersoli and a while back I was trying to patern it useing various load quantities of powder and shot . One thing that amazed me was how little powder compared to shot I could use and still get good results. I was trying to get a tighter group so I started reducing my powder charge , I was at 1 1/8 to 1 and 1/4 of shot with the same amount of powder at about 20 yards . I reduced the powder by 5 grains by volume and got all the way down to 40 grains befor my patern changed a noticable amount . As of yet I havent tried hunting with it yet but it sure was a lot more managable on recoil . I have one more suggestion as to obtaining different sizes of shot to experiment with without breaking the bank , myself I had a lot of centerfire 12 gage shells of all shot sizes but if you don't have any yourself try bumming or trading with a freind who shoots conventional shotguns for shells of various shot sizes . Then cut off the tops and salvage the shot , it sure beats buying 20 pounds of each shot size . and don't forget to check the scrap metal yards for lead shot , you'd be suprised how many people turn lead shot in for cash . I have found number 2 4 5 6 7 8 and 10 at my local scrap metal yard , they'er not always 20 pounds but 10 to 15 aint bad at scrap prices .

 

[Runner]

As you lower your powder load, be sure to test penetration. Mine shoots great with a 3-4 load of powder to shot. That load also keeps the speed up so that I get good penetration on game.