Synopsis of a Gun Fit
Just another satisfied customer who had the courage to let me cut on his stock. Storm, along with Dan Paxon in Carolina have both recently begun to shoot guns with the OSP stock dimension on them. Both of them have been blown away by how well they are centering the targets and smoking targets with mod chokes. Read on and enjoy.
Huge Advancements in Hearing Enhancement Technology
Oh, and by the way, we just returned from a meeting with a hearing aid manufacturer in Chicago, and man, do we have a lot to talk about. The world of hearing enhancement has made some quantum leaps in the past 10 years and they are doing things that you cannot even believe. We will be talking about this as we go along this journey together.
As you all know, we are anal about wearing our ear protection. And for our 40 years of target shooting, we have continued to make sure all of you are doing the same. We knew or suspected we had suffered hearing loss just as a by-product of doing what we do, hence the visit to Chicago to talk to the great people of Phonak who make incredible hearing devices.
After our hearing exam, the audiologist and we were shocked to find out that our hearing loss was right in line with other people that were our age – with one exception. The hearing in our left ears was a little worse than our right due to being the closest ear to the muzzle blast, but still well within normal range.
What does that mean? Wearing hearing protection works!
We have been on the leading edge of electronic hearing protection for the past 35 years and have always worn our EAR electronic plugs. And we’ve recently gone to using Pro Ears in the winter and fall and spring when the weather is cold. We wear our plugs when rain dampens our clinics.
We will be doing a lot of research on hearing enhancement in the coming months and will be sharing that info with all of you. But for now, do something we should have done years ago: go get your hearing checked and establish a baseline for you to evaluate your hearing as you continue on this journey.
We wore hearing aids for 36 hours in offices, restaurants, and all surroundings. What they do automatically to isolate voice from the background is just short of a miracle to us. Because it works! We are going forward with getting fitted with some hearing aids of our own. More on this later.
Another Satisfied Gun Fit Customer
For now, read Storm’s synopsis of his gun fit.
“I have enjoyed recreational shotgun sports for many years, shooting for fun on occasion.
Over the past year, after attending the clinic at 74 Ranch, I have become a devotee of OSP shooting. I am shooting more than ever with focused practice sessions and competitive events.
As a left-handed shooter, I have been shooting Benelli shotguns which fit me well due to their adjustable stock/shim system. I recently moved up to an over-under Zoli Z-sport with a left-handed stock. I love the gun. However, even with the “cast-on” stock, the barrel would not line up for me.
I visited with Gil for a gun fitting and he determined three things:
(1) The butt stock was too thick, not allowing my eye to get behind the barrel properly, (2) The LOP was too short, keeping my eye too high on the barrel, and (3) I was not reaching out on the forend grip far enough which (Gil pointed out) prevented me from really getting into the gun.
So Gil took the gun to his shop and shaved down the right-sided face of the stock. This was done in two stages with a trial fitting on the range between cuts. We also added a 1/4 inch spacer to the recoil pad to increase the LOP.
These modifications, along with changing my right hand grip position, resulted in a perfect fit. Now when I mount the gun and sight down the barrel, I see the far sight sitting on the mid bead in the desired figure of eight. The gun is now a pleasure to shoot. Having made the proper adjustments, I have found that the gun has become less a part of the picture. I can trust the mount and fit, which allows me to shift more focus to the target and allows the gun awareness to fade.
Thank you, Gil!”
