Part 3 of a series of 3 articles on how to get the most from your gun.
By Derek Partridge
First published in the November 1995 issue of (England's) Clay Shooting Magazine.
Part 3: those vital little details
Recoil pads
The right pad is very important for competitors. It can be even more important for ladies and juniors, as if one of them fires the first shot, without adequate shoulder protection, it may well be the last time he or she ever fires a gun. A pad should fulfil these requirements: reduce recoil and absorb it fast, reduce
muzzle flip (to facilitate a more accurate and quicker second shot) and, either stay firmly in the shoulder for gun-up disciplines or, slide smoothly into place for gun-down. The only pad I have found in 47 years of shooting is the Kick-Eez, made of pure Sorbo thane and, I came to this conclusion some 20 years before I started selling them!
The Bounce Test
Try this simple test with your present gun, but only if it is fitted with a rubber recoil pad. This must not be done with stocks finished in wood or ebonite, as the devastating result would require a new stock! Hold it upright by the barrels, 3 or 4 inches above a flat, hard surface. Then let it drop, so the pad strikes the ground evenly. It will probably bounce ten or twelve times and, at the same time, 'dance' around an area of several inches or more. For this reason, I cannot stress too strongly the importance of keeping both hands ready to prevent the gun from falling over, as I once nearly lost a friend's unexpectedly bouncy, £40,000 Fabbri! Doing the same test with a Kick-Eez results in one bounce only, as the gun stops dead on the same spot it was dropped. In another test (dropping a steel ball down a calibrated tube onto various pads) the ball only bounced just over 1 1/2"" on the Kick-Eez pad, while it bounced 12"-13" with other makes of pads.
Full information and independent lab test results are available, showing how Kick- Eez absorbs more recoil, and faster, than any other pad. [This information is still available today at www.kick-eezproducts.com and at fine sporting goods dealers throughout the world. — WM.] They are also easy to install and look good when finished.
Triggers
Ever noticed that game guns have angled triggers, yet competition guns do not? Which is more critical, missing a bird or a competition target? A trigger is not pulled at right angles, as the finger naturally lays on the trigger at about a 45 degree angle. Your present trigger can be heated and bent to a more comfortable angle, but let a competent gunsmith do it.Trigger pulls are critical and a bad one can seriously impair a competitor's performance. A trigger can gradually 'go off' over a period of time without the shooter being aware of it. Trigger pulls should be fairly light and, above all, crisp. A light, creepy pull can feel harder to pull than a heavier, crisp one. Triggers, for both shots, should have a minimum of movement before firing, otherwise the shooter may think he's pulled the trigger, when it's only the take-up and the gun won't be fired. Around three pounds is a good, average pull and, the difference between first and second pulls should be not less than half a pound and not more than one pound. Leave this delicate work to a gunsmith.
Chokes and forcing cones
Choke tubes are another whole subject, frequently covered in Clay Shooting. My only comments are that too many choke tubes can cause the confusion of too many choices, thus distracting the shooter from his prime concentration of breaking targets and, that more targets are missed from bad pointing than from the few inches of greater or lesser pattern coverage from different chokes. I believe the best chokes available are Nigel Teague's superb, precision choke tubes. I also recommend the relieving or lengthening of the forcing cones, but, after the reaming, they must be well polished. This both reduces recoil (smoothing the otherwise sharp transition of the pellets from the chamber into the bore) and produces more evenly distributed patterns, with less shot deformation. You will probably only notice the reduction in recoil for the first few shots, as after that, the body acclimatises to the new, perceived sensation of felt recoil.
Ribs and sights
About all that leaves is choice of rib and sight. Sights mostly come in fluorescent pink, red or white, oblong or round. Though probably not of major importance -- your eye should be on the target, not the sight, the peripheral assistance given by the sight is supposedly best enhanced by the fluorescent pink, as it is more visible in most lighting and background conditions. Most competitors have raised, ventilated ribs, but many are puzzled on how to choose between parallel and tapered. The origin of the tapered rib may help: when Churchill came up with his theory of 25" game barrels, he fitted the tapered rib to create the appearance of an extended sighting plane on the short barrels. Thus one could conclude that a tapered rib would not be needed on 30" or 32" "long" barrels. A tapered rib can draw your eye along the rib to the sight, which is not good, as your focus should be at 30 yards, not 30 inches. Step ribs mainly enable long-necked shooters to have slightly higher combs, thus keeping the head and eyes more erect.
Advice ...
Confusion or help? Of course, all this series' well-intentioned advice may as easily confuse (it has frequently done so to the author!), as help the shooter, but hopefully more the latter! Certainly, when many well-intentioned shooters hand out advice, it is often a case of the blind leading the blind, because many shooters, even champions, have little idea what they actually do, let alone have the ability to convey what that is to other shooters! However, this does lead me into my closing observa-tion: for anyone requiring custom work on ribs, I can only advise readers to consult a genuine source on this highly-specialised subject: the world's leading (and possibly only) rib expert, my good friend, the gold-en-ribbed 'Red Baron' Gordon Lee!
In closing, I must stress that, although several of you may be competent to do some work on your own guns, if in the slightest doubt, consult a qualified, professional gunsmith. It is not worth the risk of damaging your gun or endangering your life or someone else's.
The Author: Derek Partridge has been a keen clay shooter for over 40 years and was runner-up to the legendary Joe Wheater in the British Open Sporting Championship as long ago as 1956! He has been many times a GB team member in his favourite International trap disciplines, was the founding Chairman of the British International Board and has been an Honorary Life Vice President of the CPSA since 1976.
First published in the November 1995 issue of (England's) Clay Shooting Magazine
Adapted for the web