Need help. My brother's gun is smacking our face.

JAFO001

New member
Baikal O/U shotgun. Yes, Cheap Russian gun. Every time you shoot it, it smacks your face. Right had, left hand, same thing. Other than throwing it in the lake, what can we do to make it stop. I figure that the geometry is the reason. Would shortening the stock cure the problem? Change the angle of the butt pad? Anyone out there that can help? Thanks.
 
MOVE FACE! Sorry, every time someone posts something like this or about brass hitting them in the face, that is my first thought.

However, moving the face may not be completely wrong. How is the gun hitting you in the face? Is it the gun or your trigger hand around the stock that is smacking you? Do you rest your cheek on the stock?

One way to not get smacked is to rest your cheek on the stock. Then, your head rides the recoil as the gun pushes you as opposed to getting slapped.
 
I've shot many a shotgun and never been smacked like this

Well, I can move my face to what does not feel like a natural position and it does not smack. But I have shot a many a shotgun and never had to hold my head in an awkward position when shooting. I feel that the gun's geometry is wrong and I want to correct it.
 
Only thing I can think of is to put a new stock on it. Duplicate of some stock you already know & love. Not a cheap solution, unless you know a smith or shop that has lots of old parts lying around.

As I visualize this, your current stock may be too short. How does it point? If it points high, you want to lengthen the stock anyway. If it points low, lengthening the stock will make it worse.
 
Please explain what you mean by pointing high.

Dave R, Please explain what you mean by it pointing high. You mean when I throw the gun up, it wants to ride up higher than I want? Or how it rests on my shoulder?? Just seems to me that I could change the existing stock some way and stop it from kicking up. Thanks.
 
Assuming you know what you're doing....

Look at the stock next to a shotgun you've shot that doesn't wack you. Is it longer, shorter, have more/less drop? My gut reaction is it's got more drop to it and is shorter than you're used to.

I suggest patterning it, move the stock to correct any shooting off it's doing, and go from there.

Also, leave the turkey loads alone for now and try the lightest loads you have.

HTH...
 
No, don't know what I am doing. But willing to learn.

I have shot lots of guns, but do not know how to accurize a shotgun. I do pretty good with my pistols. What changes do you make to the stock to correct any shooting off the gun is doing? Change the angle that it meets the receiver?
 
JA:
I have the same gun, same situation. I corrected it by shorting the stock 1/2". That was to my specs.

Lay the gun in the crook of your arm, with your finger on the trigger. If the finger meets exactly with the trigger, as you would shoot, it the length of pull is correct.

If the finger comes short of the trigger that is when it is too long.

If the finger is well forward ot the trigger the stock is too short.

In either case, measure the distance to the trigger from your triger placement position, and this will tell you how much to add or subtract.

HJN
 
here's an old skeet shooters two bits

i am what most people call huge, so the average gun doesn't fit me and i have alter a lot of stocks, the process is the same for nearly everyone.

step one: is the gun too long or short? if the thumb of your trigger hand is hitting you in the nose, the gun is too short, no matter what the distance from the crook of your elbow to the trigger. if it is more than about an inch between your thumb and nose, it's probally too long.

step two: once you have the length established, what do you see? the back of the receiver: stocks low, build it up with moleskin, trick pads, a new stock, etc. daylight between the beads, seeing a lot rib or indications of too much height....go see a good stockfitter, let him help on this one.

step three: are you a thick chested person? you might try adding washers under your top screw in your recoil pad so the heel does not dig into your chest. this also affects how the gun recoils into your face.

i have a beretta 687 eell skeet gun that i absolutely could not stand to shoot in the 12 or 20 until i added about 3/8" of downpitch by adding washers and made it quit hitting me in the face as the gun recoiled off the point of the heel of the gun. when you move the place the gun recoils closer to the center of the pad and higher on your shoulder,in other words, make the gun kick straighter back and less up into your face, the gun will be much more pleasant to shoot.

cast-off can also help keep a gun from digging into your chest and get your head aligned behind the barrels.


try the gun after each modification, see if your are heading the right direction. there are more things which you can do, some simple , some not, but these are good basic starting points.

sorry i got so long
 
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