Expected spread for a full choked 12 gauge @ 30 meters?

I agree Marty .????is that an adjustable recoil pad or do i spot two shims fitted between rubber /wood facings .if so why ?

Anyhow regarding recoil pads -im a tight arse -whenever mine have worn out i ferret round till I find a pair of old style jandals -the thicker the better and with a little thought and careful cutting voila back in business
Most of my rifles/ shotties feature my custom pads and they work quite nicely.

My .223 features a rather fetching red recoil pad made from jandals my daughter was dumping. luvly custom touch that.

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Originally Posted by Marty Henry

The pads a couple of mm high but looks to fit the stock correctly, just put on slightly off. I doubt it's the problem though

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Yeah probably not a big deal, I only care about the cosmetics with it. Am going to swap out the correct stock for it, I know where I can get a spare.

Anyway I was in at our shop today to get a rear sight and the fella asked me why I would want one lol.
His advice was the opposite to what I was given here about adding a rear sight and said most shotguns don't have them, but he said to bring in the gun and they will be able to tell me how it fits etc and can take me down to the range for a shoot, so should be able to get sorted.

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Originally Posted by kotuku

I agree Marty .????is that an adjustable recoil pad or do i spot two shims fitted between rubber /wood facings .if so why ?

Anyhow regarding recoil pads -im a tight arse -whenever mine have worn out i ferret round till I find a pair of old style jandals -the thicker the better and with a little thought and careful cutting voila back in business
Most of my rifles/ shotties feature my custom pads and they work quite nicely.

My .223 features a rather fetching red recoil pad made from jandals my daughter was dumping. luvly custom touch that.

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No adjustment here with this limbsaver, but I later learned it's designed for the factory recoil pad stocks that's shorter to begin with.
I kind of wonder if I could go back without the pad as I wonder if it wss the way I was holding the gun as I don't seem to notice the recoil on other shotguns with no pad.
All I do know is I was getting a bruised cheek and shoulder.

I'll add my 2 cents worth,
Shotguns don't have a rear sight, the theory is that you face sitting on the stock in the same place every time, with your eye looking down the rib is your rear sight.
This is what gun fit is all about. As far as stock length goes you don't want it so short that your thumb is against your nose about a 25mm gap between thumb and nose is about right for most people.when you shoulder the gun with your face on the stock you should be looking down the rib,looking slightly down on the rib,ie not flat along the rib.
Pattern board is a good place to start

I wonder if people are thinking of a mid rib bead when saying rear sight. That sort of functions to ensure your eyes are in line down the rib and gives some idea of elevation hold, ie figure 8 the beads, align them or have some daylight between them. With a side by side your eye automatically centres the only variable becomes elevation of your head and cheek weld

Yeah and no re rear sight. On all my older singles there is a notch in rear of action that I've used by default...it really ensures head position it the same every time on bakails with the ramp that's there I CAREFULLY file a notch.

Yip as i mentioned earlier, a mid bead is superfluous and really only there to establish your eye is looking in the right place ie in the middle.
Once proper fit is established it's muscle memory from repetition that makes it all work. Your eye is the rear sight and that's why it's important the gun shoots where you look.
Imagine shifting the rear sight on a rifle.
It doesn't take much to be miles out at a hundy.
If your eye is out even by a few mm consistently every time the you will be struggling big time

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Originally Posted by Skeetshooter

I'll add my 2 cents worth,
Shotguns don't have a rear sight, the theory is that you face sitting on the stock in the same place every time, with your eye looking down the rib is your rear sight.
This is what gun fit is all about. As far as stock length goes you don't want it so short that your thumb is against your nose about a 25mm gap between thumb and nose is about right for most people.when you shoulder the gun with your face on the stock you should be looking down the rib,looking slightly down on the rib,ie not flat along the rib.
Pattern board is a good place to start

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I agree, rear sights seem to be more something ive seen on more modern guns, such as newer over/unders, semi-autos or pump actions, side by sides, not so much.
My old barrel has had the sight removed and on this one its broken off, which possibly was intentional.
The only purpose I see with the rear sight is to assist with windage, or at least help you to aim a bit faster perhaps?
Keeping the rail flat should in theory act as your rear sight as you say.

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Originally Posted by Marty Henry

I wonder if people are thinking of a mid rib bead when saying rear sight. That sort of functions to ensure your eyes are in line down the rib and gives some idea of elevation hold, ie figure 8 the beads, align them or have some daylight between them. With a side by side your eye automatically centres the only variable becomes elevation of your head and cheek weld

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That would be a good description, its somewhere about 2 thirds down the barrel roughly, what you are saying would make sense as to why Ive noticed them more on single barreled guns too.

Your overthinking this again.point and shoot. Pattern to KNOW where it's going and you can then point accordingly.

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Your overthinking this again.point and shoot. Pattern to KNOW where it's going and you can then point accordingly.

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Thats what I had been doing after patterning, I know where I should be shooting, but I shouldnt have to compensate and guess should I?

You found it patterned too low= your head is too low.or you putting bead under target.blot target out with bead and try again. As we have all said in different ways you need to lift your "rear sight" in effect lowering the arse of the gun to point barrels higher. Get two sticks,rulers,bits of wood. This is barrel/ where payload goes.the other bit of wood is your line of sight. If the two are perfectly parallel the difference between then is the same to infinity. You want the two to join together at thirty five or fourty yards. At the moment the front of the two is open...this barrel too low,so to make them parallel you need to open gap at the rear up to same as front...as I said many posts back.put a small blob of something...don't care if it's chewing gum at rear of the rib so you HAVE to look over it to see bead. Put bead on target and fire. I bet your left testicle you will now hit where your pointing as long as haven't shut eyes and jerked trigger.

Butt pad looks fine.leave it alone for now.

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

You found it patterned too low= your head is too low.or you putting bead under target.blot target out with bead and try again. As we have all said in different ways you need to lift your "rear sight" in effect lowering the arse of the gun to point barrels higher. Get two sticks,rulers,bits of wood. This is barrel/ where payload goes.the other bit of wood is your line of sight. If the two are perfectly parallel the difference between then is the same to infinity. You want the two to join together at thirty five or fourty yards. At the moment the front of the two is open...this barrel too low,so to make them parallel you need to open gap at the rear up to same as front...as I said many posts back.put a small blob of something...don't care if it's chewing gum at rear of the rib so you HAVE to look over it to see bead. Put bead on target and fire. I bet your left testicle you will now hit where your pointing as long as haven't shut eyes and jerked trigger.

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Yes its patterning too low and too far to the right, thats why I was going to do as you suggest and thought I may as well just fit a sight back on anyway, but will just settle with blue tack or something as you suggest for now.

You saying to cover target with bead? Post #16 suggests the centre of the target should be on the top of the bead, who is correct? That could be affecting my aim too, i typically have been doing just that, aiming with the top of the bead, not covering the centre of the target with it.

Carry out a test as I suggested earlier. Until you do that you’re just guessing where pattern is going in relation to your sight picture. It’s not rocket science. If necessary go to a clay target club, someone will help you out.

I second woods223-get yourself down to the local clay target club and introduce yourself to some experienced shooters .let them see you shoot and hopefully theyllguide you on how to do things correctly .it seems youre jumping all over the place on here.possibly youre a person who actually learns better with hands on guidance .
lastly when I shoot i always lean into the gun ;ie the barrel is tilted slighlty downward -on thriggering the shot thje recoilmakes it rise .in effect bringing the gun to parallel.if you pullthe gun firmly into your shoulder on mounting the shot should feel no more than a firm push ininto your shoulder .if recoil is heavy switch to a lighter load tll you get used to your guns idiosyncrasies

just as an aside with steel ammo most guns willpattern pellets 60/40 ,by this i mean 60%willimpact above line of sight 40%below .my S/A does with certain ammo again its a case of being aware and factoring that in when firing at the target .
atthis stage iwouldnt worry if i was you as youve got ample on ya plate getting your shotgunning methods sorted .good luck.

My 2 cents....... Shoot at large square of paper, cardboard, patterning plate...... I've got 2 shotguns here and they are different to each other. One I've got to cover the target, other one I shoot at it's feet, both shot looking directly down the rib. Until you get something on paper with a good solid stance, and consistently mirror each shot, you're chasing shadows. First job is to set a baseline of where it shoots. Second is to work out where you need to be either aiming at, or padding up or down your cheekweld for consistency.

A solid stance at paper tests the gun, moving targets test the shooter.

Get out there and start flinging some lead at targets until muscle memory takes hold and subconsciously you'll be knocking them over without aiming, or rather thinking of where each variable should be.