20 vs 28 gauge

[Altitude sickness]

I switched to left hand with my traditional bows decades ago, and I can throw a ball left-handed so maybe I’ll just give shooting my right handed shotgun from the left. Oddly I’ve actually never done that. The Westley Richards has 1/4” cast off is that too much to give left-handed a try?

 

[shootist~]

I do tend to squint my left eye, but as you know, that impacts depth perception

Closing one eye also affects the other eye to some extent (IMO) and obviously kills half of your peripheral vision. Everyone is different, but the piece of tape over the dominant eye trick worked best for me over a few decades of registered skeet, plus some sporting clays, trap, etc.

Working with a certified (and well known) instructor is worth it too, but I've never been aware of one that specializes in cross eye dominance. Certainly worth checking into though.

But the first step IMO is to get on the pattern board. Its amazing how much better a shotgun shoots if it's fitted to you correctly.

 

[rookhawk]

I switched to left hand with my traditional bows decades ago, and I can throw a ball left-handed so maybe I’ll just give shooting my right handed shotgun from the left. Oddly I’ve actually never done that. The Westley Richards has 1/4” cast off is that too much to give left-handed a try?

Way too much. That would half the distance between your pupils + 1/4" plus whatever cast-on you need, perhaps another 1/4". That's a very strong angle of deviation.

You can always have the stock bent and the trigger tang reworked and the triggers bent to lefty. <$1000 all-in, to your measurements.

 

[shootist~]

If you do the tape trick, it's exact location will need to be adjusted by trial and error.

It's helpful to stand in front of a mirror while mounting the shotgun. Crawl the stock a bit like you would in the field, to lock in the rear sight - your Rt eye.
My stock fitter called this "doing the turkey-neck".

When the tape is set correctly and with both eyes open, you will see down the rib with the right eye while the left eye is perfectly blocked (no rib). (Otherwise you see two ribs, and the POA shifts as you close one eye at a time.)

Example of a good tape to use:

Amazon.com

 

[Tex .416]

If you do the tape trick, it's exact location will need to be adjusted by trial and error.

It's helpful to stand in front of a mirror while mounting the shotgun. Crawl the stock a bit like you would in the field, to lock in the rear sight - your Rt eye.
My stock fitter called this "doing the turkey-neck".

When the tape is set correctly and with both eyes open, you will see down the rib with the right eye while the left eye is perfectly blocked (no rib). (Otherwise you see two ribs, and the POA shifts as you close one eye at a time.)

Example of a good tape to use:

Amazon.com

A very light dab of chapstick smeared around is all that is needed.

 

[archer36]

@Altitude sickness - If you “Can’t shoot where you’re looking” it doesn’t matter what shotgun you shoot or what it weighs. I assume you’ve tried closing (or covering) your dominant eye —- leaving you ONLY one eye to align over your barrel? You can also wear shooting glasses and “block out” the Center of one lens with a circular piece of tape (about the size of a penny) over your dominant eye to help shift/force your other eye to acquire your target. Blocking out only the Center of your Non dominant eye allows you to see peripheral vision and walk thru the woods relatively easily while hunting.
If it were ME — My starting point would be to take a lesson from a certified NSCA/NSSA instructor, you can find a list of them by State on the NSSA/NSCA website. A few hours with a qualified instructor will save you a lot of time & frustration listening to people like Me (and others). When you speak to the Instructor in advance and explain your problem they will tell you if they think they can help — it is a fairly common problem so you should find some help and well worth the $150-$200 for a few hours of instruction.

My Dad owned one gun. A Beretta Silver Hawk. 12 ga, double triggers, 30" barrel, mod/full chokes. He shot everything from Quail to Canadian Geese and Deer with buckshot. As Anton Shugur said, " you use the one best tool."

 

[rookhawk]

My Dad owned one gun. A Beretta Silver Hawk. 12 ga, double triggers, 30" barrel, mod/full chokes. He shot everything from Quail to Canadian Geese and Deer with buckshot. As Anton Shugur said, " you use the one best tool."

I've never owned a silver hawk, but I have handled several including their deluxe model I think was called the 471. I found them heavy and inferior to other SxS offerings at a lower or equal cost, but I do appreciate the serviceable nature of beretta shotguns. I did have the pleasure to handle the new rounded action beretta 20 bore with 30" barrels that came out about 5 years ago. That is definitely the best SxS that beretta has made to date.