doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What makes a shotgun "feel good"?

IMO, there are three main factors in "feels good." They are stock fit, handling fit, and "in the hands feel." Stock fit is based on length measurements needed to properly position the aiming eye. Handling is based on weight, teeter-totter balance, and swing efforts, both unmounted and mounted. Feel comes from the size, shape, and texture of the grip areas.

The more closely the gun satisfies all three the better it feels. The snag in the foregoing is learning what numbers really want/need. One of the big hitter problems is determining whether you will be shooting for fun or seriously trying to hit targets. For example, I find properly (for me) stocked game guns with splinter forearm and svelt wrist to be a delight. However, I shoot pigeon/light fowlers better.

DDA

when you shoulder a gun, guess what it weighs...if your guess is significantly less than the guns actual weight that is a good indicator that the gun feels good...

I couldn't agree more. For me, LOP is not such a simple dimension to ascertain. With this particular Beretta, I'm finding a slightly shorter LOP than what I am accustomed to is better for me. In addition, the extremely light recoil of this particular gun is a huge bonus.

Don's point is often overlooked. What feels good, and is a delight to handle, often is not what we shoot best.

What is the point of handling and using a shotgun if it is not to hit what we shoot at? Don's system of measuring the characteristics of shotguns allows one to choose a gun that can be shot well, regardless of how it may "feel".

There were girls that made me feel good, but they wouldn't have been what I needed over the long haul. Fortunately for me I found one that did both, and it has lasted for 46 years.

SRH

That's poetic re the girls, Stan. Wish I could have said that 1st. But, the Beretta is a tool for me, to crush clay targets. It's a bonus that it feels good. And it's ugly....no kidding and with a funky blue colored receiver, not like a pretty girl, but again, a tool.

how it looks an how it feels is most important if you aint gonna shoot it...

however, if it shoots where you point it, then all else is tolerated...

Ugly indeed.

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

I think they are very good looking guns.

Cole will make you up one in any color Cerakote you prefer, complete with Briley speed closure and op handle to match. He claims a 3.5 lb. trigger is supplied also.

I'm thinking about ordering up a white one, and having a well known custom motorcycle artist do it up in hot rod flames.

You'd better be able to shoot it lights out if you're gonna carry around a flamed shotgun. If you can't you might get some jibes about "all show and no go" .............. remember that line from the 60s about hot rods?

I prefer sleepers. Buddy of mine won a fairly large S X S event at a big sporting clays tournament once shooting a beat up Parker with the forend held on with black electrical tape. He outshot a Purdey in a shoot off for HOA. Now, that is fun.

SRH

I know you like your Beretta Stan, but one that has always worked very well for me in 20 gauge is the XS Sport.

Mine is 30" unported (most of them were ported).

Weighs exactly 7 pounds, and has probably the best overall dynamics I've ever run across.

K-20 has better triggers (which is the only reason for the existence of Krieghoff in my opinion), but scales 3/4 pound heavier than the Browning.

The K-20 handles well, but the Browning XS is better.

They hit the mark with that model, but apparently were not happy with the profit margin. The XS is simply the best of the Citori models, when they can be found without the misguided porting feature.

Shooting well at clay targets isn't quite the same as shooting well at game.

I advocate buying dozens of shotguns so as to make the daily choice as difficult as possible, as well as to provide a ready selection of excuses for when misses accrue.

34" semi auto target guns are difficult to use in the woods.
Mostly because how they are typically used on the range is a slower, much more deliberate style of shooting.

I know when I grip a stock if my wrist will swell from recoil, and I know when the comb arrives at my cheek if recoil will give me a headache. I know from the feel of the butt against my shoulder if it's too long or too short for me.

And of course, experience and the regular use of the tape, show's me that is true.

Of course there is some latitude, but not meters of it.