Recoil pad for Condor

[jimbop]

Hello everyone. I just purchased my first shotgun, a Condor, on Wednesday and took it to the gun club that night. My first experience with a shotgun was hunting pheasants with a berreta semi-auto and that's what got me hooked. I wanted my own gun, but didn't want to spend an arm and a leg getting into the sport. I like the gun but after only one round of trap my shoulder hurt. Now, it could be the way I'm shouldering the gun, or it could be I'm just a whimp. Either way, I would like to try a slip on recoil pad. There are a couple of nice leather ones a Cabelas that seem they would fit the bill. I thought I would ask for some opinions first before I purchased. Thanks!

[tsully]

not sure that a recoil pad will cure it all. If you're used to shooting trap w/an autoloader, you're gonna notice some additional recoil since there isn't anything to dissipate the recoil in a fixed action gun like a double. Also be sure that you're holding the gun butt firmly onto your shoulder when you're shooting trap (or anything for that matter), and your cheek rests solidly on the top of the stock. The tendency is to let it get a little loose and that's when it will kick and bruise. A recoil pad will help some, but so will proper technique.

You should be aware that adding a recoil pad will alter the guns aimpoint and adding one or removing one may affect your ability to hit targets. If I'm thinking of the same leather lace-on recoil pad that I've seen advertised in Cabela's, it may also change the drop of the stock at the comb (where your cheek rests) which will also alter the aimpoint.

You will probably learn to shoot the gun in the right place if you shoot it enough. You'll adapt to the dimensions of the stock and learn where you have to shoot to hit the targets. But I have also owned guns that had stock dimensions that were more or less suitable for particular types of hunting, i.e. rising flushes (as with pheasants), crossing shots (as with doves and waterfowl), etc. Some guns' dimensions were simply not suitable for every kind of hunting. For example, I have a 20 guage side by side that I can shoot 75% on doves. But I have a hard time hitting a flushing bird. I have a 12 guage over and under that is deadly on flushing birds, but I can't hit 20% of the doves I shoot at.

[jimbop]

Thanks for the advice. I've been reading up quite a bit on felt recoil and will try several things before messing with the pad. I should probably look into getting a lesson or two and find out what I'm doing wrong.