Speedy reloading, break action single shot

[Roundball58]

Not to hijack the OP, but it goes back to Robert Churchill's writing in the 50's and probably back before that. He just put it in print. It does work, unfortunately it gets presented in the gun rags as the "Easy Button" of wingshooting where it just unleashes your natural bird killing abilities without any work/expense on the shooters part. What they leave out is the hand eye coordination needs to be programmed thru proper practice. Same as any hand eye coordination sport (golf, basketball, baseball, etc.). Once its ingrained into muscle memory then you let the "instinct" takeover. Athletes seem to program it in with only a few repetitions, the rest of us require lots of practice. I suspect your father may have been one of the former.

As to the OP. The CAS crowd has been doing that with SXS's (extractors not ejectors) for years. They also single load their pump guns as you can only start out with two shells. Makes that guy look like crap.

 

[DeanMk]

Speaking only for myself here , in regards to aiming / pointing a shotgun...

I focus only on where I hit the target...while putting the front bead on that spot...
I don't really see the bead or even the whole target...everything is a bit of a blur , except the spot that I want to hit.

This may not work for everyone...but it does work for me.
Andy

...leave it to Andy to take my 50GB novel and strip it down to simple 10 kb post.
Exactly what I was getting at.
Put the sights on the target. I do have to close one eye. Maybe you don't, but either way, we're still aiming the gun.
It' a gun. You have to aim it.


Dean

 

[Roundball58]

I do have to close one eye.


Dean

Maybe a cross dominance problem?

 

[DeanMk]

Beats me, but I do know that Instictive Shooting thing is BS.
Its a gun. You still have to aim it.

 

[KKG]

DeanMk: It may not work for everyone but it's been working for lots of people for lots of years. KKG

 

[DeanMk]

But is it instinctive, or is it working as a learned discipline?
If you have practice it and maybe even take instruction on it, its a learned discipline.
If you can hit it, right off the bat, its instinctive.
If you can do that, let me know, but its like Roudball58 wrote, its a product of regular practice, and that makes it a learned discipline, not instinctive.
I read that article over 40 years ago and a lot of people have told me they can do that, but I've never met anyone who fit that definition of "instinctive".

Dean

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Again speaking only for myself...
My style of shooting , I would call "instinctive" because I have practiced enough that way , that shooting like that requires little to no thought....I just do it.

I Practice shooting the same way , each time I go shooting 'til its natural body movement or almost a muscle memory.

In short I have practiced a learned discipline enough to make it instinctive....

Be that as it may...all I know , is that it works for me...call it whatever y'all want...
Andy

 

[thorborg]

I shoot the same way @AndyinEverson

 

[KKG]

Andy; You've got the whole thing down pat. Some of us call it Point Shooting. I learned it from a Shotgun Guy by the name of Jim Gregg. KKG

 

[thorborg]

thor,

It's gorgeous!

Details about it please.

I've always called it my 50 dollar gun. since most of its life that's about all it was worth. Especially now with the mean spirited BG fees added, likely still only a 50 dollar gun.
It is a bargain basement Springfield J. Stevens Arms Co. 12ga. model 94A. found it loaded in an upstairs chimney closet about 1969 while home on leave. I was helping a friend tear down an old farm house that had been window and door less at least 15 years.
Pretty sad condition, I clean it up some, refinished the stock, then put it away because I couldn't hit a dang thing with it.
My uncle gave me a few pointers then told me the rest was all about fit, so I looked into the subject, added a 1/2 " piece of walnut to the base and a 1" limb saver to that. I have rarely missed a clay, bird or rabbit since. (A coyote, a particular nasty raccoon, and a couple rats to its credit too)
When I finished helping out Uncle Sam, it became my truck gun. Been that way ever since.
As an aside, I've always considered it a full choke never been sure, (measures .69) but have shot a lot of slugs through it, Also, this is the third finish I have put on it and that was maybe seven years ago.

 

[Roundball58]

"Instinctive" was probably a poor choice of words when Churchill first used it to describe what he was doing. Point shooting would be a good description. The basic difference between aiming and pointing is what your eyes are focused on. Pointing your focus is on the target. Aiming your focus is on the front sight. I can always tell when someone is trying to aim on the skeet range because their swing stops and starts as they look at the sight then go back to the target to reestablish their lead. It's painfully obvious on station 4.

Dean: You should check your eye dominance.

 

[DeanMk]

As an aside, I've always considered it a full choke never been sure, (measures .69) but have shot a lot of slugs through it...
View attachment 603910

Look on top of the chamber. Does the word "Choke" appear anywhere?
Nice job on the extension piece, too. Not exactly what I'd call "Bookmatched" but it could've been a lot worse.
Your skills are definitely showing.
When that gun is riding in the truck, is it at least in somekind of case, or bag?

Dean

 

[Andy54Hawken]

To check your eye dominance ...
1)... With both eyes open..point at an object with your index finger...
2)... With the right eye open...and the left eye closed...point at an object with your index finger...
3)... Now try it with the left eye open and right eye closed....

Which ever eye , that is open , that has you still pointed at the chosen object is the eye that is dominant .

In my case I am left handed , but right eye dominant ...so I shoot long guns and bows right handed.
Andy

 

[DeanMk]

"Instinctive" was probably a poor choice of words...

See my reply to KKG. This was the point of that article and it seems its a trait we should all possess.
I believe the "test" was to find something flying around in the air and bring your hand up and see if you can't put your finger on it.
If you can do that, then you're supposed to be able to shoot instinctively, too.
Although I don't recall this being stated, I believe the hand you were supposed to use to point at the object was supposed to be the same hand you'd hold the forearm with.
It seems that the action of lifting your hand up so you can put your finger on the flying object, would be the same (or very similar) to lifting the gun up so you can shoot it.
Seen that way, I would agree that this should be something that anyone can do.

The basic difference between aiming and pointing is what your eyes are focused on. Pointing your focus is on the target. Aiming your focus is on the front sight.

At the risk of coming off facetious, how can you hit your target if you're looking at the front sight? You have to see both the sights and the target. Only way to line them up. Seriously.

Dean: You should check your eye dominance.

How do I do that?
Visit to the doc (I've got a physical coming up), or is this something I can do myself?

 

[Roundball58]

What Andy said.

 

[Roundball58]

"At the risk of coming off facetious, how can you hit your target if you're looking at the front sight? You have to see both the sights and the target. Only way to line them up. Seriously."

It's physically impossible to focus on rear, front and target at the same time. People with younger eyes may be able to rapidly shift focus, but they still can't focus on all three. Basic rule of shooting iron sights is the front sight is in focus, rear sight and target are "fuzzy". Seriously.

 

[DeanMk]

To check your eye dominance ...
1)... With both eyes open..point at an object with your index finger...
2)... With the right eye open...and the left eye closed...point at an object with your index finger...
3)... Now try it with the left eye open and right eye closed....

Which ever eye , that is open , that has you still pointed at the chosen object is the eye that is dominant .

In my case I am left handed , but right eye dominant ...so I shoot long guns and bows right handed.
Andy

Hey, that sounds familiar. I think I may have tried this before.
...anyway...with both eyes open, I pointed my left hand at an object about 10 feet away from me.
The object was in focus, but I could see two fingers, hands, arms and they were blurry. The object I was looking at was in between my "fingers".
When I closed my right eye, my finger was on the right side of the object.
When I closed my left eye, my finger was on the left side of the object.
I did this several times. Same results.
I did notice that my finger was slightly closer to the object when I closed my right eye, but while pointing my hand at the object with both eyes open, it seemed I had a propensity to hold the finger on the right closer to the object. If I moved my hand slightly, so the fingers were of equal distance to the object, then that's how it came out when I started closing my eyes. Both fingers were an equal distance away from the object, just on opposite sides.
I did try it with the right hand, too. The only thing that changed is which side of the object the finger appeared when I closed one of my eyes.
So how should I define this?

Dean

 

[DeanMk]

"At the risk of coming off facetious, how can you hit your target if you're looking at the front sight? You have to see both the sights and the target. Only way to line them up. Seriously."

It's physically impossible to focus on rear, front and target at the same time. People with younger eyes may be able to rapidly shift focus, but they still can't focus on all three. Basic rule of shooting iron sights is the front sight is in focus, rear sight and target are "fuzzy". Seriously.

Ok, then, I must be shifting focus. You're right, rear sight is never in focus, but sometimes, especially when deer hunting, I keep target more in focus than front sight. I need to see what it is I'm shooting at....I think we're stumbling across the reason for the great success of Rifle Scopes ( ).

Dean

 

[Andy54Hawken]

@DeanMk
I would suggest that you try again with whatever hand you are...as in left or right handed...
First... with both eyes open and pointing at a object with only the index finger of whatever hand you write with...
Second... try it with the right eye closed...are you still pointing at the object...?
Third ...try it with the left eyed closed...are pointing at it now...?
Which ever eye that has you still pointing at the object , that you pointed at with both eyes is your dominant eye...
Andy

 

[DeanMk]

Andy,

I'm left handed, so I used my left hand and pointed my index finger up, so that only the tip of that index finger was on the object.
I'm still standing in the same spot and the object has not moved, so all distances are still the same as from the prior post.
I got the same results as I did before.
Both eyes open - the fingers split the object.
Right eye closed - my finger is on the right side of the object.
Left eye closed - my finger is on the left side of the object.
Out of 5 tries, 3 came up with the right side finger slightly closer than the left side finger, but neither finger actually "touched" the object.
The other 2 times, the fingers were equal distance from the object.
Again, it seems however I hold my hand that particular time is how the relation of the fingers to the object occurs.
Since it seems that the right side finger is usually closer, it might conclude that I am slightly left eye dominant.
Seeing how I am left handed and tend to shoot left handed (although I can shoot right handed, too), it would stand to reason that over years of shooting that way, the left eye has probably become slightly dominant.
Would you agree?


Dean
P.S. ...and yes, I would agree that this is mildly aggrivating, too. Welcome to my life.