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Aurelio Corso
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2019 5:06 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 08 May 2018
Posts: 196

After a terrible day at the trap range I will be going to Aspen to get fitted and measurements taken.Since my old Sauer is original should I not do modifications to it and buy a cheap pump or I got a old savage 440 I can sacrifice.
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tramroad28
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2019 6:26 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 20 Jul 2011
Posts: 625
Location: Ohio..where ruffed grouse were

I considered a lot of options after terrible days.....but better sense normally won out.

I might first consider what goals you have and then take some shooting lessons...it ain't always the gun.
Fitting will help but fitting is but one factor in the equation....lot of folks shoot well enough sans a "fitted" gun. Extremes of ..poor fit...are one thing but not necessarily a reality.
That and give getting better 6 months or so.

It seems you like the Sauer so, cheap pumps and sacrifical lambs would appear a waste of time and money.
Maybe another gun is in order but maybe, not.
Didn't you have primer trouble with one gun?.....that can't but hurt shooting, whichever gun is involved.
Relax...look at the basics beyond what sawdust appears to cure.
good luck.
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skeettx
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2019 6:47 pm  Reply with quote
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Consider this
Reversible and it works
https://www.cabelas.com/product/Triple-K-Leather-Cheek-Pad/706669.uts

Many of the older guns have low combs, and the use of the cheek pad will raise the comb and a bonus is to reduce felt recoil

Mike


Last edited by skeettx on Fri Mar 29, 2019 7:52 pm; edited 1 time in total

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Aurelio Corso
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2019 7:16 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 08 May 2018
Posts: 196

Tramroad28 , it is the sauer that I was having trouble with primers but no problems with federal or winchester shells. The fitting also includes lessons and a trip to shoot some clays for what they charge they should put me up in a hotel and buy my dinner.
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tramroad28
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2019 7:41 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 20 Jul 2011
Posts: 625
Location: Ohio..where ruffed grouse were

Aurelio Corso wrote:
Tramroad28 , it is the sauer that I was having trouble with primers but no problems with federal or winchester shells. The fitting also includes lessons and a trip to shoot some clays for what they charge they should put me up in a hotel and buy my dinner.


I thought it was.....any problems with shells makes the learning curve of a gun more difficult, even if a problem is reckoned solved. Imo

Packaging and bundling services does sell stuff....fitting, a clay trip, lessons.....busy, busy, busy.
Never mind.

I was fitted by Bilinski....great experience but overblown as to advantageous in the field, unless one is at some extreme.
We miss stuff for far more reasons than fit.
Hard to believe that when lucre is laid out but.....we all do enjoy spending money, no matter what we say.
We all, ime, also see benefits when we flop open a billfold....at least, for a spell.

Again, have fun.
The day I was fitted, a father from Georgia, I think it was, brought his son to be fitted after me....I watched.
The kid was not at all interested but dad, naturally, wanted it done...."must have a fiited gun!"
I always wondered if the lad ever found fun...with a shotgun.
I doubt it.
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Chukar60
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2019 7:47 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 31 Jan 2019
Posts: 55
Location: Idaho

I am not a shotgun fit expert, but I can tell you that unless the fit is way off, it may just take some time for your hands and eyes to coordinate your internal computer.
I have more shotguns than I need, but I love them all for different reasons.
For 3 years I shot my 20 ga. Beretta 686 and thought I was in heaven and would never need another upland gun. Then I bought my 20 ga. Superposed and well the Beretta kinda hit the back of the safe for two years. I shot the Superposed a little better so........ Then along came my Franchi 48AL deluxe 28 ga. And I shoot it well and it is a delightful little quail gun. Then came the Citori Superlight in 28 and I love it. Then the SKB 200E in 20 ga. Then the Sauer 16.
The point of this is that I can pick up any of these guns and shoot repsectable with it. Give me a couple days and I am back to shooting well with it. None of them share identical measurements.
The only one I shoot very well no matter which gun I am changing from is the Franchi 48. I shoot that one better than any of the others.
I would invest in some target loads and spend at least a 1/2 dozen rounds of clays or whatever before considering altering your gun.
Just something to think about.
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putz463
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 4:06 am  Reply with quote
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My vote is for an 870, love mine as a one trick pony dedicated Trap gun.

Might be a fit thing, as I understand it the game of Trap will glean out fit issues more than the other clay games, especially as one starts stepping back on the way to the fences.

Have you read; Shotgunning The Art and Science, Brister and/or Successful Shotgunning, Blakeley? If not, maybe while deciding your next move get copies of these, IMO, great books to possibly understand your shooting and the gun a little better. If so, maybe browse through the chapters regarding fit again. Some misc chunks of foam and blue painters tape can make simple movable temporary stock "adjustments".

Best of luck with the project

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16'er
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 4:35 am  Reply with quote
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Another good read, especially for sxs shooting is The Better Shot by Ken Davies. Gun fitting is also addressed.

Also, while I do love my Sauer’s, they are not trap guns. They are great for field work and come up nicely for the pen birds I shoot mostly these days, but for clays and especially trap I’d take my Citori 525 usually.

You’re in luck, since the 16ga 525 is back in production this year iirc... Wink
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Aurelio Corso
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 8:06 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 08 May 2018
Posts: 196

Thanks for the info on books.I am looking forward to the fitting because all three of my guns are printing 70% of the pattern to the left of the target up and down I'm OK.My brownig superposed feels like a tank when compared to the old Sauer hammer gun which will be my go to gun if the can make a minor adjustment.
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Pine Creek/Dave
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 12:17 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 17 Mar 2017
Posts: 2787
Location: Endless Mountains of Pa

Aurelio,

Ken Davies book is one of the best ever written for double gun shooting. I would read it. You can learn a lot from Ken Davies book. He was one of the best instinctive bird shooters in the world.

However you might want to invest in a Browning Citori for your clays shooting and have the gun fit to your needs from the very beginning. Leaving the Good German Best gun for shooting real birds. If you have trouble gunning real birds then have the Sauer gun fit to your needs.

Myself I shoot clays with my 28 Gauge Citori or my Silver Reserve II 28 gauge. I hunt with my good double guns. I also think some shooting lessons are in order for you, you seem to be frustrated. Have a pro give you some shooting lessons and you may find it's not the gun that is your actual problem.

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

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Chicago
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 1:31 pm  Reply with quote
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Aurelio,
Lots of opinions here and you can see some folks shoot a standard issue well and others not so much. If you only shoot one gun you may eventually make the necessary mounting corrections to eventually shoot it acceptably, but I sense you are looking for a little more than that.

I lay in the fitting camp for side x sides, but I am 6’ 3” and need a lot of cast. About 20 years ago I had Brian Bilinski fit me and I found it a very worthwhile experience. I had a stock that was close to my desired dimensions modified to fit me and I don’t miss many pheasant with it (85%+). Shooting grouse and woodcock is another story but I hold my own in that camp. Like a friend says there is nothing but blue sky around a pheasant.

Currently I am having a stock made for another SxS and the stocker will make it fat (to my desired dimensions) and have me go to the range and then we will dial it in. I know from the gun that was fit to within 1/16th" to 1/8th" that this process is going to work.

Go with what your gut tells you is the right thing to do. It sounds like you have been to a pattern board and you know what you are trying to achieve. A good fitting will get you there if you have a consistent mount.

With that said if you have been to the pattern board and done your work at 16 yards then you just need to move the Sauer 1/16th” for every 1” you are off at the board. If memory serves me you already checked the point of aim for the gun. Skeetx provided a cheap correction if in fact the stock has too much drop. Unless your cast is off by more than a couple of inches (at the board) I would not worry too much about that unless your shots are mostly beyond 35 yards.

Good Hunting,
Mike


Last edited by Chicago on Sat Mar 30, 2019 1:55 pm; edited 1 time in total
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tramroad28
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 1:40 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 20 Jul 2011
Posts: 625
Location: Ohio..where ruffed grouse were

May I make one suggestion for your fitting, OP?

Practice your mount prior to the appointment...consistency in mount will make the fitter's job easier.
It actually makes fitting stretch to being possible.
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Chicago
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 1:56 pm  Reply with quote
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tramroad28 wrote:
May I make one suggestion for your fitting, OP?

Practice your mount prior to the appointment...consistency in mount will make the fitter's job easier.
It actually makes fitting stretch to being possible.


+1

Good Hunting,
Mike
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Aurelio Corso
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 2:29 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 08 May 2018
Posts: 196

Dave I will pick up that book but not gaining to shoot clays had to drive 3 hours one way to shoot a round of trap I really wanted to shoot skeet but had to use the trap station because it was voice activated so no one to give me pointers like if I was over or under.Chicago I hope after I get fitted they tell me all I need is a 1/16 cast off .I have been practicing my mount a lot and it shows on the pattern board shot my browning today and it shot to the same point as my sauer just a bigger spread cause its imp c.
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Chicago
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2019 9:34 pm  Reply with quote
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Aurelio Corso wrote:
Dave I will pick up that book but not gaining to shoot clays had to drive 3 hours one way to shoot a round of trap I really wanted to shoot skeet but had to use the trap station because it was voice activated so no one to give me pointers like if I was over or under.Chicago I hope after I get fitted they tell me all I need is a 1/16 cast off .I have been practicing my mount a lot and it shows on the pattern board shot my browning today and it shot to the same point as my sauer just a bigger spread cause its imp c.


If you are happy with where the guns are shooting the fitting is not going to give you any additional information. The pattern board at 16 yards will tell you how far off the guns are shooting. A fitting might give you some lop feedback but if you are happy with where they shoot I would not bother.

Good Hunting,
Mike
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