Visual Alignment

 

“When I mount my shotgun, should the beads be lined up one behind the other or should I see some rib? I hear different opinions.”

 

Since we point a shotgun rather than aim it, a conscious awareness of bead alignment as we focus on a target is a bad thing. A better question might be, “When I mount my shotgun naturally, if I were to peek at the rib, what should I see as far as my alignment with the rib?”

One of the steadfast principles of shotgunning is that the better the visual connection we have with the target at the break point, the higher the qualityof information the subcon- scious brain has to calculate proper gun placement. Once you have your shot plan, your most important job as a shooter is to feed the brain high-definition target information. It is this high-definition visual information you capture with your eyes and transmit to the brain that enables your brain to subcon- sciously calculate and guide gun placement. Feed the brain, break the target.

The less encumbered your eyes are by the barrel as you apply acute focus to the target, the higher the quality of visual information you are feeding the brain. If, when you mount naturally, the front bead is obscured by the mid-rib bead and you are flat on the rib, you are essentially blocking half of your “lens” with the barrel of your shotgun. Your shotgun is said to have too much drop at the comb because half of your iris is being blocked by the rib. If, on the other hand, your mount re- sults in your iris sitting atop the rib like a marble on a table, you will see a “snowman” with the muzzle bead immediately atop the mid- rib bead. This is proper eye/ barrel alignment.

So, in addition to having your dominant eye aligned with the rib horizontally (proper cast), your eye should be no lower than “snowman.” Will your shotgun still shoot 50/50 or 60/40 if you are seeing even more rib than “snowman?” That depends on your shotgun and your “float.” See the next ques- tion for more.

Don Currie is NSCA’s Chief Instructor, an Orvis Wingshooting School instructor, and Master Class competitor. To get free shooting tips and videos, sign up for his monthly newsletter. You can also see more tips from Currie at www.doncurrie.com.