In a recent two-day clinic, one of our shooters had a DT-11 and was chasing everything, trying to swing through and pull the trigger as the gun passed the target. This shooter came to us to learn how to stay in front of the target and become more consistent. We will call him Tallguy. Did we mention he was very tall with long arms and a really long neck?
First, we went through all the ShotKam videos and animations in our Knowledge Vault that we use to explain how the OSP system works and what it really looks like to have the gun in front of the target coming from the left and the right. Then we went to the first station.
Upon arrival at the first station, the guns came out, and of course, the question of gun fit came up. But before getting into that issue, we always want to see the shooters shoot first. The reason for this is a shooter’s posture when shooting has a lot to do with gun fit, and most gun fit problems can be cured with good shooting posture and a good gun mount.
Shooters come to us for us to change their game and to put some consistency in their game and learn how to self-correct. If their shooting stance and posture need changing, then better to do that before you address gun fit. When you change one dimension on a buttstock, five to seven other things move.
After a couple of stations, everyone in Gil’s group (including Tallguy) were seeing the target coming to the gun and were consistently matching speed and really began to relax into the OSP system of shooting. Tallguy’s DT-11 was 14 and 5/8” long from the factory, and when we got to the next station Gil mentioned that his stock was about two inches too short. “But the guy at the store said it fits great!” Tallguy countered.
When we broke for lunch, Gil stacked 2” of spacers on the butt of his gun, and with a couple of long screws installed his recoil pad on top of the spacers. Then they went to the first stand of the afternoon. A simple going-away target and Tallguy got in the stand and smoked the first two. Gil mentioned that on the next two, he should make sure his head is down. On the next two shots, Tallguy missed both targets under about 12 inches.
“That is your old sight picture,” Gil told him. “The new sight picture is on the line, so let the gun touch the bottom of the bird.”
Two shots and two inkballs, and Tallguy’s mouth came open and his eyes bugged out. He was shocked at how much the sight picture made sense. He no longer had to float the target to hit it, and his gun kicked a lot less. Well, you can guess how the rest of the day went. And day two with Vicki was even better.
Another shooter in Tallguy’s group then asked about his gun fit. He was shooting a Benelli over and under with 30” barrels. Gil asked if he had the shims the gun came with, which he did.
“Tonight, put the shims in the gun that gives the gun the greatest amount of drop and cast off, and we will look at it tomorrow in the lecture,” Gil said.
So, the next morning when this shooter walks through the door, the first words out of his mouth were, “Gil Ash, you sure know your stuff about gun fit. Yesterday after I got home, I figured out how to install the shims to your specs. I went to another club and shot a target that I had only hit once in 200 shots and hit it the first time with my mod choke. This target was 55-60 yards away and not many shooters at the club could hit it. But when I preloaded the sight picture and matched the speed, I knew it was going to break before I pulled the trigger, and shooters there were mystified. But not me! The OSP system is simple and easily applied to any target out there!”
