I just got a new double barrel 12 ga. muzzleloader last night and tried to pattern it today. I have little to no experience shooting a shotgun and need some help or advise. I was shooting #6 shot out of the gun with the max load of powder and shot recommended by the manufacturer. The patterns seemed pretty tight to me but they were consistently low. I'm not sure but I think this is due to operator error and no fault of the gun. OK, here is the dumb question. I tried to aim the shotgun the same way I would aim a rifle. I put my head down on the stock and looked down the barrels trying to see the bead front sight and no barrel. I hope this is clear. I tried to get a sight picture of just the bead asif it were on a flat surface. I put the bead just under the turkey's head on the target. I tried with a full choke and a X-full choke and had similar results. Am I doing something obviously wrong? I will get back out and work on this problem some time after work this week. Thanks for any help you can offer.

you didn't mention how low it was shooting.if you getting a full bead with it aiming just below the head. then try covering the head with the bead and see what happens.
I also have a CVA double in 12 ga. that works great.

you just have to try different points of aim to get it right.I did put some fiber optic sights on mine and love them. they have two green dots at the back and a redbead at the front, really helps on the low light mornings.
you may try that. I took my dermial tool and ground down the hollow in between the two back beads so I can get the front bead to fit tight on the head.

hope some of this helps.good luck,it's fun to shoot and not know if he is down till the smoke clears.

I do similar by blotting out the head........I also use a plastic shot cup to keep my pattern even tighter....

I have a Pedroselli 10 Ga. SxS.

JW

Thanks for the tips. The pattern was only 6-8" low at 30yds so I will try covering the head with the bead. I'll let ya'll know how it works out.