It depends on the game you're playing.

 

I personally like an Over/under balanced at the hinge pin.

 

I like a heaver barrel. Weight forward, keeps the barrel from whipping all over the place.

 

As said, depends on the game and personal preference.

For most, balance will be less critical for games shot with a premounted gun. Relative to all my other shotguns, my trap guns are quite butt-heavy. The butt is a convenient place to add weight and it's firmly anchored in my shoulder so I don't have to move it around. It takes only 2-3 ounces strategically placed ahead of my lead hand to alter the swing and achieve the gun movement I want. OTOH, since I start the mount from a low gun hold on sporting clays/FITASC as well as hunting flushing birds, balance becomes much more important. I have to lift the entire gun to my cheek and shoulder with as little waste of time and effort time as possible.

As I lift the gun to track the target and mount the gun, a more evenly balanced gun allows my hands to move in synch and keep the muzzle on the target line. Too much weight at either end contributes to a see-sawing movement which robs me of time and precision.

Again, like dozens of other variables in shotgunning, it's a matter of what leads to individual success. And there is no shortcut to trial and error.

 

Ken Lokker, who owns Giacomo's, balances them on the hinge pin.


Doc

 

The hinge pin is about half-way between where you should place your hands.

 

It's all what the shooter likes. It was a lot of trial and error before I decided what I liked.