DrillFundamentals

Mounting the gun consistently

Build a repeatable gun mount that lands the comb on the same spot every time.

Time
15 min
Level
Beginner
Equipment
Shotgun
The goal — one sentence
Build a repeatable gun mount that lands the comb on the same spot every time.

A consistent mount is what lets your eye see the bead in the same place on every shot. Until the motion is automatic, your eye is busy hunting for the rib instead of tracking the bird. This drill grooves the motion so it stops being a thing you think about.

Step 1: Set the room

Stand five feet from a blank wall with a small mark at eye level. A piece of painter's tape works. Verify the action is open and the chamber empty. Out loud. Then close the action and bring the gun to a ready positionstock under your forward arm, barrel angled toward the floor at about 45 degrees.

"Verify the chamber" is not optional. Even in the basement. Snap caps go in only after the chamber check, and only after you've confirmed no live shells are in the room.

Step 2: Move from the hands, not the shoulder

Push the gun out and up with both hands together. The barrel rises along the line from your eye to the mark. Your hands carry the gun — the shoulder doesn't reach for it. Keep your eyes on the mark, not the barrel.

A common failure: rolling the shoulder forward to meet the stock. Don't. Lift the gun to your face.

Step 3: Roll the stock into your cheek

As the barrel lines up with the mark, the comb of the stock comes up under your cheekbone. Not the side — under it. Your eye should sit directly above the rib, looking straight down the barrel. If you have to tilt your head to see the rib, the comb is too low or you're cheating with your head.

Step 4: Settle, then dismount

When the mount is complete, freeze for one breath. The mark on the wall should be visible at the end of the rib, with the bead sitting just below it. Then bring the gun back down to the ready position in reverse order — comb away from face first, then lower. That dismount is also a rep.

Three hundred reps total. Five sets of sixty, or fewer if the gun gets heavy. Quality first — a fatigued rep wires in a sloppy habit.

If you log this drill, log these numbers

Mount consistency is a habit, not a one-off. Tracking these three across weeks shows when the muscle memory has set in — and tells you when to stop doing the drill so often.

Reps

How many quality mounts. Stop counting when fatigue sets in — bad reps wire in bad habits.

Comb-hit %

Out of 60, how many landed with the comb fully under the cheekbone on the first try. Aim for 55+.

Eye-to-rib alignment

After settling, did the wall mark appear at the end of the rib? Y/N per rep, then a percentage.

Why this drill works

The theory behind it