Beginners Guide To Shooting - Perfecting your gun mount

13-03-2020

Gun mount is fundamental in making sure you are in the best position to hit your target. These step by step guides will help you achieve a smooth and efficient mount every time. It will help you to bring the comb up under the gun sight making sure you are aligning your shooting eye perfectly time after time. Perfecting this will help you when out shooting to focus on shooting the clay instead of worrying about your stance.

A Bad Mount

A bad mount can consist of a few facts. A common factor for people who are starting out shooting is not holding the gun tight enough into their chest. Top tip: don't let the gun control you, meaning don't lean back into the stance so you can take the weight of the gun. Make sure you lean into the gun and pivot from the hips when moving for a target.

Sometimes the stock is low in your chest and you can’t get your head onto the stock. Mounting the gun in this way could cause the barrels to “see-saw”. This would result in ending up miles behind the target, chasing to catch it up or losing control. You could also find on a cross target that the barrels would “see-saw” and the muzzles would slash up and down through the line of the target.

Another case of a bad mount is pulling the stock up into the shoulder and pushing your head over and down towards the stock. This will force your eye line to look down the side of the barrels making your eye position in every shot. Instead you want your eye line to be looking down the barrel down towards the target.

Tips for improving you mount

Start off by making sure your stance is correct. If you are right handed then your weight should be on the front left foot with your toes pointing towards the intended Kill Zone. If you shoot with your left hand then its the same principle but the other way around.

The heel of the stock should be tucked under your armpit. Your head should be erect with your eyes across the muzzle looking towards the target. The gun's weight should be held with your forward arm. Move the gun from left to right to make sure you are comfortable.

Start the mount by placing the gun at 45 degrees and focusing on the target and bring the gun down to position. Do this as your front hand pushes the muzzle forwards the target, whilst pulling your rear hand forwards with the stock. Your head must stay tight against the stock and vertical, it must not push over towards the gun.

As you push the gun forwards the comb of the stock must come to the cheek. Some people may find they need a comb raiser for a better fit. This encourages your head to be higher so your eyes are more inline with the end of the barrel. If you think this may be the case you need to go and have a gun fit at your local gun club. The position should be the same every time when you mount the gun and position it under your dominant eye. This is the most important part of the mount as your eye needs to be in the same position relative to the rib and barrels every time.

As the comb registers on your face, your shoulder pushes forward into the butt and your body and gun become one unit. This gives you control over the gun rather than the other way around. For people who are starting out you can practice your gun mount at home, making sure the gun is not loaded and not in a public place. Practicing this stance will create muscle memory making it a go to position everytime you mount the gun without thinking. It will also make you more ‘gun fit’ meaning you will find it easier to shoot for a longer period of time without having fatigue in your arms.

Advice Shotguns

Katie Roberts

Gunstar Editor

Published on 13-03-2020

Katie is one of our newest member to the Gunstar marketing team. Katie's aim is to build a community on Gunstar to not just be your go to marketplace but a hub of knowledge across all shooting disciplines.