About Bestshot

Congratulations! With this app you can now easily analyse how optimal the shot pattern from your shotgun is — in a scientific way.

You can also check how well the stock fits you personally. By using the shot analyses for a stock analysis too, you get precise feedback on whether you should adjust your stock to hit exactly where you are pointing.

Whether you are at the clay shooting range or out hunting, it is crucial that you are shooting with the cartridge and choke that give the best shot pattern. This contributes to reduced wounding and secures you that important extra bird in the club championship.

We make it easy for you to analyse the different combinations of cartridges and chokes. The results are stored in your app so you can compare and find the optimal combination for your specific shotgun — completely scientifically. You no longer need to wonder. Analyse the shot and get the facts!

Give yourself the confidence and self-assurance of knowing you are shooting with the cartridges and the stock that bring out your full potential!

Why analyse cartridges and stock?

One might think that when firing a shotgun cartridge at a target at 25 metres, it doesn't matter how the 100–600 pellets distribute themselves in the pattern. But the fact is that an uneven pattern can have such large gaps in the spread that the clay target slips through unbroken, or the grouse is only wounded — even if you shoot correctly. This uncertainty is something clay shooters and hunters want to eliminate. They strive for the confidence that comes from knowing the cartridges they use reduce the likelihood of exactly that.

The Norwegian Hunting and Fishing Association (NJFF) strongly encourages in Jakt & Fiske that you test-fire your own shotgun to find the optimal cartridge for the game you are hunting.

NJFF aims to improve shotgun shooters. The analyses you perform will be an important tool towards shooting better with your shotgun, whether that is at the clay range or out in the forest.

When you test-fire a cartridge on a cardboard plate, the shot pattern you get is the result of a great many components. Broadly speaking, the result depends on four main factors: the cartridge, the barrel, the choke, and the stock.

The shotgun cartridge consists of many parts. Manufacturers regularly purchase large quantities of components. This means that a cartridge with the same name as last year does not necessarily produce the same good pattern this year. It therefore goes without saying that cartridges should be tested annually.

The choke is also a decisive factor in the shot pattern. A choke is designed to open or concentrate the pattern — at close range you want to open it, and at longer range you want to concentrate the spread more. There is a big difference in the quality of chokes. This means that even if you get a nice even pattern with a ¼ choke, you will not necessarily get an equally even but tighter spread with a ½ choke.

In addition there are properties inside the barrel that affect the spread. Here, very small differences between the upper and lower barrel can produce large variations in the shot pattern. There can be small variations in chamber, transition cone, and barrel profile. This is why the same shotgun cartridge rarely gives the same pattern in the two barrels.

Stock fitting

It is equally important that the stock is fitted to you. That gives you the wonderful feeling that the shotgun is just an extension of yourself, and you know you will hit where you intend. The stock analysis gives you the precise measurements for any adjustments that should be made to your stock.

How well the stock is fitted to the shooter is also a very important factor. Not necessarily on the spread itself, but on where the shot lands relative to where you think you are pointing the barrel. A factory shotgun is set up to distribute the shot pattern 60/40 at 25 metres. That is, 60% of the pattern lands above the centre of the spread, and 40% below. This is because when shooting at a clay or flying game, you should not have to cover the target with the barrel. You should see the target over the barrel when you pull the trigger, and the shotgun compensates for this through that distribution.

If the stock comb is too high for you, you see a lot of rib. This means your point of impact is higher than your point of aim. If the stock comb is too low and you can barely see the rib, your point of impact is lower than your point of aim. The lateral fit is also important. When you mount correctly and your sighting eye is to the right of the rib, it means your point of impact falls further to the right than your point of aim. You then have too much cast-off (cast-on for left-handed shooters). If your sighting eye is to the left of the rib, the point of impact will be to the left of the point of aim. You then have too much cast-on (cast-off for left-handed shooters).

All of this a stock analysis can tell you — plus what adjustments should be made to your stock with millimetre precision. You simply use the images from your shot analyses to get a completely precise stock analysis.