Mossberg 500 Shooting question/problem

S

SigP6Carry

New member
I've got an old 500A and I absolutely love it. There's a weird issue: after I shoot: the bolt and slide are always back a little bit, like 1/4 way back. Oddly: my girlfriend doesn't have this problem when she shoots it. At first I assumed it was just the norm, but when I saw her shoot I then assumed it was a problem with how I held the shotgun and thought that this could be costing me accuracy on the trap and skeet ranges. Any advice on this would be very welcome.

Thanks!
 
Ever consider its you pulling on the forend a bit plus recoil is sliding the bolt back, could make for quick racking of next shell ;) i see it as a positive
 
In a situation where it's me verse the Canadian Mafia, I'll enjoy it. For now, I worry that my trap and skeet score is suffering due to some weird issue I have holding the gun.
 
Only thing to do would be to have someone watch next to you exactly what you do over and over and over and figure it out that way, or practice mounting for the shot in the house over and over until you think its perfect.
 
You might be "over gripping the gun" ... I would say in general, your hand behind the receiver on the stock should have 80% of the strength of your grip / your forward hand needs to hold the gun up - but its there as a balance point, not a steering point - and you might be squeezing the life out of the forend and causing this ...

You might not be following thru enough ( pulling the trigger is the start of the shot , not the end of the shot ...you need to keep your grip and follow thru and stay in your gun / watch the pieces disintegrate )....getting out of your gun too soon / may mean you're kicking that forend back a little. Count to 2 ( 1 and 2 ) before you quit moving the gun in a follow thru motion and take it down to eject your spent shell ...maybe it will stop.


There are too many shooting fundamentals --- stance, grip, balance --- hold points, etc for any of us, without watching you shoot, if your grip on the gun is hurting your scores.

There is lots of stuff on the internet about shooting fundamentals - here is one I found quickly .... and all it says is don't overgrip the forend ...

http://books.google.com/books?id=aY...age&q=trap shooting grip fundamentals&f=false

To keep my forward hand from overgripping the gun / I point my index finger - on the bottom of the forend / and point it straight down the barrel toward the muzzle - when I shoot / some other shooters point it toward the muzzle - but they keep it on the side of the forend.

With a pump gun / if I shoot Skeet with it .... I practice shucking the forend - with the gun still on my shoulder / and my cheek on the comb ( so the gun never leaves my face ) as I shuck the empty out / reload the gun - then I shift my eyes to find the 2nd target in the air / then I move the gun to take the 2nd target . Its hard to explain in print ....but it makes the shot and the move to the next target very smooth - and I actually stroke the forend right ast the end of my follow thru on the first shot ... and then take my 2nd shot at the other target. It takes some practice / but it will make a pump gun almost as fast as a semi-auto ...
 
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You can practice this shucking and grip / at home - with a couple of the smooth plastic snap caps.

Start your swing in the middle of the room - and move around the room / when you come to the corner of the room - pull trigger and follow thru .... shuck the gun ... and make a move to the other direction - when you get to the corner - pull the trigger again - and shuck the gun again.

Do it 20 times an evening .......a week in a row .... and you'll be surprised how much smoother you'll get.

Remember ( you can only load 1 shell for Trap singles -- no shells in the mag tube ...) ...
 
My friend, BigJim, may be onto something about over-gripping. In Skeet, the follow thru rule is, "stay on the target until you see it break" -- one of the pitfalls of shooting with a pump is "shucking the cob before the water's boiling." If you've never lived on a farm with fresh corn, it means you're concentrating on the gun instead of the target. It's one of the reasons I recommend against new shooters using a pump. With doubles and a pump, many newer shooters wanna pull back on the foregrip as soon as they touch off the trigger. Consequently, their follow thru and rhythm suffer, and they start doing the same mistakes in single presentations.

IMHO, cycling the action should not be part of shooting singles. Shoot, follow thru until you see the target break, only then do you work the action. With doubles, shoot the first target, follow thru until you see it break, reverse the gun and then cycle the action. Working the pump should be the beginning action on the second bird, not the last action of the first.

I know I'm splitting hairs, but in singles and the first target in doubles, the gun action should be the same no matter what kind of gun you're shooting. What Big Jim and I are saying is, you don't want a dead gun while you cycle it. If you cycle before you move to your second target, then there's a very good chance you'll stop too soon and jeopardize the first target. You can't get a dead pair if you don't break the first one. After you practice for a while, you'll realize that you really do have plenty of time to cycle the action while you're bringing the gun to the second target. Another consequence of practicing your doubles this way, your singles will be much smoother -- your subconscious won't be worrying about getting a forearm death grip so you can instantly shuck when you shoot.
 
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So, I took all of you guys' advice. And today, I'm still not shooting anybetter, but I did notice that my action isn't open as much after shooting. I'm not down to perfect, but, but I'm making progress. Thanks, guys. I appreciate the advice.
 
I trust I speak for the other contributors when I say, you're most welcome, Thomme.
Keep the faith, and keep on practicing.
 
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