The month is November, and we found ourselves in Argentina with a group eager to get into the field with their new Benelli Cordobas that they had purchased just for this trip.
We had only worked with one person in the group: Jeff Ward, who set up the trip and had invited some of his friends he had met through YPO (Young Presidents Organization). You can imaging their excitement of being in Argentina for the first time and shooting their guns for the first time too.
Two in the group were fairly tall, and unfortunately the guns they bought were too short for them. Had we worked with them before the trip, we would have gotten them a leather slip on pad that lengthens the gun about 5/8ths of an inch and put a half inch spacer inside of it so the gun would 1 and 1/8 inch longer and fit a lot better. The one we recommend is made by Galco and comes in different sizes – small, medium, large, and extra large. The thing that makes these unique is that they are easy to install and they are deep enough to put an additional 3/4 spacer in it. This gives you the ability to extend the gun from an additional 5/8 of an inch all the way out to an additional 1 & 3/8 inches.
This doesn’t sound like much of an adjustment, and if you were going to an afternoon dove shoot here in the States, it probably would not be as big a deal. But when you travel all the way to Argentina where you shoot as much as you do, having a gun be the right length is a big deal.
Please don’t misunderstand. We are not knocking the Benelli Cordoba shotgun. In fact, truth be known, they are one of the most reliable semi-automatic shotguns on the market today and we have many customers who use them. They have a recoil pad system that allows for a quick user-friendly way to change the recoil pad, and thus change the length of pull on the gun. They also do make a recoil pad that is a little longer, but if you are over 6 feet tall, you had better check to see if the longer pad will make the gun long enough for you.
The reason we are bringing this up is that due to the configuration of the inside of the stock and the way the recoil slips on and off, the gun cannot be lengthened in the conventional way by adding spacers and installing a new recoil pad. You have one of two options: either slip on recoil pad like we mentioned above, or have a gunsmith glue some wood in the hollow butt stock so spacers and a new thicker recoil pad can be screwed onto the butt of the gun. Now, if you are looking for a waterfowl gun and you hunt where it is very cold and you wear a heavy coat, then the shorter length of pull would make this gun work for you.
We still continue to be amazed at the number of people who call us before they go to Argentina to take a lesson and they show up with a gun that does not fit that is either new or they have not touched in two years. What is wrong with that, you ask? Well, nothing if they are leaving on their trip in six weeks. But when asked about when they are leaving, they typically say next week!
We have said it before and will say it again: you might be able to produce hunting accuracy with a rifle by just visiting the range a week before your trip, but the same doesn’t hold with a shotgun. When you hunt with a rifle, your target is typically still, and there is time to either rest the gun on sticks, a tree or something so you can get it all lined up and take the shot. When the target begins to move, the ballgame changes dramatically, because you can’t line up anything when shooting a shotgun. You must focus on the target and point the gun where the target is going to be.
If you can’t mount the gun consistently to your face and shoulder in the same place every time, you are not going to experience much success or get better for that matter. The same holds true for a gun that is either too long or too short. If it is too short for you, the amount of recoil you will feel will be increased, and if it is too long the balance point will be far too forward and you will eventually end up with shifting your weight to your back foot just to hold the gun up, and recoil will increase.
Let’s talk about gun fit for a few lines here and explain that gun fit is not the instant ticket to shooting more consistently. In fact, our experience has shown us that a person who puts in the time and actually learns how to properly mount a shotgun will be a more consistent shooter. They will also be able to adapt to an ill-fitting gun after a few shots, and although they won’t be as consistent as they would be with their own gun or one that fits them, they will be able to hold their own and not get hurt.
While we are talking about guns and gun fit, we might as well throw this out there too: guns that are stocked too low or have a little too much cast are infinitely more forgiving to shoot than guns that are stocked too high or have thick combs that require an extreme amount of cast.
We often hear comments like, “I’ve got to remember to cheek this gun a little harder,” or “I’ve got to roll my head a little more forward and get into the gun a little harder to shoot this gun well.”
Well, let’s just set the record straight right here and now. Any gun that you have to cheek harder to shoot well will produce more felt recoil and eventually bruise your cheek. You will never shoot it well. In fact, this is why we feel the interest in these high rib guns has begun. Last time we checked, the manufacturers did not change the stock dimension to fit the high rib guns. They are using the same stock design and measurements that they put on their low rib guns. With the high ribs, they seem to fit or at least give the shooter a sight picture that allows them to see down the rib. But that is a topic for another day.
Let’s get back to Argentina and talk about what amazed the guys in the field and how they progressed in their shooting as we went through the hunt.
Well, the first thing we tell our students, especially the first-timers, is to not try to get your money’s worth on the first hunt. They should pace themselves and look for the rhythm of the birds where we are hunting. We also explain that in order to be consistent, they must get control of their gun speed and move and mount with the speed of the bird.
When we arrive at the hunting site, they act like a kid that is finally tall enough to ride all the rides at Disneyworld! They end up shooting so much so fast they look like a teenager’s thumbs texting on a cell phone! It is as if we never said anything.
Oh well. We go to work and get them to slow down and move with the bird, take better shots and realize that they don’t have to shoot every bird that comes by; there will be another bird in the same place doing the same thing if they will just wait 30 seconds. Then we hear “Wow, the birds really do slow down when you slow down. At that point that the learning begins.
On this particular trip, we actually had some shooters that spent some time shooting just longer shots, 35 to 45 yards, and made remarkable improvement. We really can’t complain about the over-shooting on the first hunt, especially for the first-timers. But there is one thing you all should remember: that first shoot is typically when we see people hurt themselves by either bruising their shoulder or face or both.
On these hunts, we had the opportunity to shoot a few really high birds along with some that weren’t so high, and we were able to drive home something that we find really helpful.
When shooting the incoming shot, the typical setup is to have the gun stock in the ready position between the shooter’s elbow and ribs and the muzzle pointing just a little above the horizon. The shooter is watching the birds come in and as they begin to come into range, the shooter begins to move and mount the gun.
This all sounds great, but when approached this way there is a lot of movement. The extra movement is seen by the doves. and they often will flair, creating confusion for the shooter. Why the extra movement? Well, let’s think about it.
The muzzle is pointed just above the horizon, but the birds are much higher than the horizon when they come into range. When you begin to move the muzzle toward the birds, you are so far behind you must catch up to the birds, causing the muzzle to move faster than the birds. The birds see this movement, causing them to flair and creating visual confusion for the hunter, to say the least. In fact, we often hear some words that end in hard consonants in these situations. But no need to mention those!
We have found that if the hunter will start their muzzles pointing up fairly high and look at the birds either through the barrel(s) or to the side of the barrels, the muzzles can more easily be inserted in front and on line with the bird in one slow precise movement. When approached this way, as the birds approach if they should change their line either direction, it takes very little movement to shift the muzzle to the line as the gun mount begins. Since the muzzles are ahead of the bird to begin with, it makes it easy to merge in front of the birds at the speed of the bird as the gun is mounted and the shot is taken.
To do this well will take some practice, but will be well worth your while on your next trip. Hope to see you in the hunting fields of Argentina soon.
