Howdy y'all:

Due to a minor health scare and major lifestyle changes, I've managed to lose about 90 lbs since August. Of course, I've had to purchase many new shoot shirts, jackets, etc. The one thing I haven't changed is the adjustments on my shotgun. I shoot a CG Summit Impact Unsingle and, over the years, have made very minor tweaks until it was really crushing targets. Now, I find that I'm having trouble getting decent scores. Nothing has changed on the gun but there have been many changes in me. Should I try to make adjustments on the comb? If I adjust the comb, should I also adjust the rib? Any thoughts are very much appreciated.

Thanks!

Wow! Good luck with the health issues. That's a lot of weight!

So, I'm trying to think how your gun fit would change with massive weight loss... I'm not sure. The geometry of your body shouldn't change all that much. Do you notice anything different in your sight picture when you mount the gun from before the weight loss?

I'm wondering if your body's balance and shooting position are what has changed more. Are you exercising, or is this all diet? If diet or if you were really sick, maybe you're weaker than you used to be and you are compensating for that.

Anyway, good luck. Just thinking out loud.

Congrats on the weight loss. How did you do it? I shoot the same gun.

Just had this conversation at the club over the weekend. I've gone through a similar process over the past 18 months, though I didn't lose nearly as much - only about 35 pounds. My average dropped about 5 birds last year, as I was trying to get adjusted. Everything felt different - just didn't feel "right". I have had to adjust my comb, since my face is thinner. I did not change the rib, just adjusted the comb to position my eyes the same with my "new" face. And, after several thousand targets, things are starting to feel "right" again.

i generally tell students to go up 1/16 or so for every 20-25 pounds if still not quite comfortable
add 3/16 to length-- if not looking down center of rib then bring comb in 1/16 at a time

as you lose you need to go up and longer to take up slack from padding lost

Odd coincidence. I lost 85 pounds last year myself and I also got a lot fitter. And I shoot a CG unsingle. I found I had to raise the comb. I just did this until I got the same sight picture. I attribute this to losing a lot of mass in my cheek. I did not lengthen the pull because there is no provision to do that and also I never sensed I needed to do that. I did not change the rib angle.

I also had to raise the comb on my 12 gauge skeet gun somewhat more. My 20 and 28 gauge guns do not have an adjustable cheekpiece and I don't think my scores sent up or down with them.

Thanks for all the replies. The feeling on my cheek is the biggest change that I feel. It feels like I'm having to stretch to get down to the comb so I'm going to try raising a bit.

New gun...you deserve it!

I am trying to find a good diet now and don't know what namely to choose.

I also have many changes after weight loss.

Ditto to what the other posters said on the comb adj. with the thinner face. One thing I have experienced with a large weight loss is the less resistance to recoil allowing the muzzle to rise a tad more before the shot exits causes my POI to be higher. You might check that out at the pattern board to see if that is causing you more misses by shooting under the target.

If you look at slow mo of shot exiting a muzzle, you will see that the shot leaves before the gun moves from from recoil.

Thinner face would definitely change your view down the rib. If the gun has shim adjustments for cast on or off, you might look at pulling the stock in towards the receiver a mite. Again an adjustment for the likely thinner face.
Congrats on the weight loss. I wish I had the willpower to follow suit.

Same thing happened to me. Heart issue and 40 pounds later a gun that didn't fit. I ended up with a 2 washer raise on the comb, less cast and left the LOP the same to get my old fit back. Then went through the POI setting procedure to get back in the center of targets. Took several thousand targets and over a month of shooting 3 or 4 days a week to get my averages back.

Broke that stock when I dropped the gun on the concrete last winter. Then ordered a Precision fit Stock and went through the gun fit and POI setting again. Couldn't be happier, but that ugly looking stock takes time to get used to, especially after having several high grade custom stocks in the past. It ain't pretty, but my cap averages are better.

Maltz