Beginner Trap & Skeet Gun

[rob_s]

Got a chance to shoot a round of Clays again yesterday. Or at least 12 out of 14 stations before the lightning shut us down. Only hit 48 which was a disappointment. Need some lessons for sure.

Skipped the pouch and ran the shells out of a cargo pocket. Much happier with that.

In hardware news...
The bead fell off! Not that I was really using it, but not having it became distracting after having gotten used to it. Guess I’ll get a new one and a spare...

Thumb kept getting pinched by the lifter when loading. Not sure if there is anything to be done about that or not.

[ranger]

The thumb pinch should get better with practice. Loading 2 at a time across a 100 round course of clays adds up to a lot of manipulations and opportunities for a pinch. Try a an aftermarket fiber optic front sight - I know you are not supposed to "aim" a shotgun but I did for going away shots and some of the specialty bird presentations. I am a "vest" guy for carry shells and choke tunes - even in South Georgia and Florida.

[Duelist]

Shot two rounds of Skeet yesterday. I suck at it, but it was a good time.

[NuJudge]

A fitter and a little coaching will make a huge difference in your Skeet shooting. I went from breaking 13-15, to breaking 21 or 22, sometimes 25. Assuming you are right handed and eyed, you point the shotgun with your left hand, and it is good to have your left hand forward on the hand guard with your index finger pointing downrange. Assuming a boxing-type stance, with your weight on the balls of your feet, will help prevent you stopping your swing. Visualize where you are going to break the bird, before you call for it. Visualize the lead you will need before you call for the bird: one foot of lead is occluded by about a finger's width on your hand held up with an outstretched arm. My coach had me shoot last in a group, holding out my left hand on an outstretched arm holding up the necessary number of fingers. If you choose to use a constant lead on the bird, you need to focus on the bird, but look ahead of it by the lead you will need, and your shotgun will follow. You have 7 stations on the arc, then one more out under where the birds cross. I find the lead to be about 9 inches at station 1, and for the outgoing bird the right body motion is just bowing at the waist. For station 2 the lead is about a 18 inches, but the angular velocity of the outgoing bird is so high I don't have time to acquire that lead, so just swing through and be pulling the trigger as I do, and about 75% of the time it works. For the outgoing bird, it is really easy to take your head off the stock as you swing outbound, so concentrate on "keeping the wood on the wood". For station 3 the lead is three feet, which is a heck of a lot. For station 4 the lead is 4 feet, which is ridiculous. The rest of the arc, you just reduce the lead in similar fashion. For station 8, just blot out the bird with your barrel(s) and be pulling the trigger as you do.

The typical shotgun sold in the US has a "pull" (distance between the trigger and butt) of about 14 and a half inches. That usually works for a male, 5ft-8in, 180 pounds. I am 6ft-4in and 235 pounds, and I broke out laughing when the first coach I worked with told me I needed a 16 inch pull. Hey, if it's stupid and it works, maybe it's not so stupid.

Remember that the shot cloud is not a disc, but is a tear drop, with a long tail. If you have too much lead, but your elevation is right, the bird will probably break as the tail will get it. If you don't know how much lead to use, guess on the long side.

Good luck.

[Duelist]

A fitter and a little coaching will make a huge difference in your Skeet shooting. I went from breaking 13-15, to breaking 21 or 22, sometimes 25. Assuming you are right handed and eyed, you point the shotgun with your left hand, and it is good to have your left hand forward on the hand guard with your index finger pointing downrange. Assuming a boxing-type stance, with your weight on the balls of your feet, will help prevent you stopping your swing. Visualize where you are going to break the bird, before you call for it. Visualize the lead you will need before you call for the bird: one foot of lead is occluded by about a finger's width on your hand held up with an outstretched arm. My coach had me shoot last in a group, holding out my left hand on an outstretched arm holding up the necessary number of fingers. If you choose to use a constant lead on the bird, you need to focus on the bird, but look ahead of it by the lead you will need, and your shotgun will follow. You have 7 stations on the arc, then one more out under where the birds cross. I find the lead to be about 9 inches at station 1, and for the outgoing bird the right body motion is just bowing at the waist. For station 2 the lead is about a 18 inches, but the angular velocity of the outgoing bird is so high I don't have time to acquire that lead, so just swing through and be pulling the trigger as I do, and about 75% of the time it works. For the outgoing bird, it is really easy to take your head off the stock as you swing outbound, so concentrate on "keeping the wood on the wood". For station 3 the lead is three feet, which is a heck of a lot. For station 4 the lead is 4 feet, which is ridiculous. The rest of the arc, you just reduce the lead in similar fashion. For station 8, just blot out the bird with your barrel(s) and be pulling the trigger as you do.

The typical shotgun sold in the US has a "pull" (distance between the trigger and butt) of about 14 and a half inches. That usually works for a male, 5ft-8in, 180 pounds. I am 6ft-4in and 235 pounds, and I broke out laughing when the first coach I worked with told me I needed a 16 inch pull. Hey, if it's stupid and it works, maybe it's not so stupid.

Remember that the shot cloud is not a disc, but is a tear drop, with a long tail. If you have too much lead, but your elevation is right, the bird will probably break as the tail will get it. If you don't know how much lead to use, guess on the long side.

Good luck.

That consolidates a lot of what I’ve been coached by the guys at the range.

[ranger]

A fitter and a little coaching will make a huge difference in your Skeet shooting. I went from breaking 13-15, to breaking 21 or 22, sometimes 25. Assuming you are right handed and eyed, you point the shotgun with your left hand, and it is good to have your left hand forward on the hand guard with your index finger pointing downrange. Assuming a boxing-type stance, with your weight on the balls of your feet, will help prevent you stopping your swing. Visualize where you are going to break the bird, before you call for it. Visualize the lead you will need before you call for the bird: one foot of lead is occluded by about a finger's width on your hand held up with an outstretched arm. My coach had me shoot last in a group, holding out my left hand on an outstretched arm holding up the necessary number of fingers. If you choose to use a constant lead on the bird, you need to focus on the bird, but look ahead of it by the lead you will need, and your shotgun will follow. You have 7 stations on the arc, then one more out under where the birds cross. I find the lead to be about 9 inches at station 1, and for the outgoing bird the right body motion is just bowing at the waist. For station 2 the lead is about a 18 inches, but the angular velocity of the outgoing bird is so high I don't have time to acquire that lead, so just swing through and be pulling the trigger as I do, and about 75% of the time it works. For the outgoing bird, it is really easy to take your head off the stock as you swing outbound, so concentrate on "keeping the wood on the wood". For station 3 the lead is three feet, which is a heck of a lot. For station 4 the lead is 4 feet, which is ridiculous. The rest of the arc, you just reduce the lead in similar fashion. For station 8, just blot out the bird with your barrel(s) and be pulling the trigger as you do.

The typical shotgun sold in the US has a "pull" (distance between the trigger and butt) of about 14 and a half inches. That usually works for a male, 5ft-8in, 180 pounds. I am 6ft-4in and 235 pounds, and I broke out laughing when the first coach I worked with told me I needed a 16 inch pull. Hey, if it's stupid and it works, maybe it's not so stupid.

Remember that the shot cloud is not a disc, but is a tear drop, with a long tail. If you have too much lead, but your elevation is right, the bird will probably break as the tail will get it. If you don't know how much lead to use, guess on the long side.

Good luck.

"Miss in Front" is the best clay shooting advice I ever got.

[rob_s]

Glad this got bumped as I'd forgotten to replace my bead.

Any reason to do anything other than the standard bead as a "sight"? Also, are all beads the same? If I just go with the standard bead can I just use any bead or do I have to buy a Beretta bead?

[ranger]

There are different threads so must match bead thread to your model

[ubervic]

One should never be looking at the bead during swinging & firing a shotgun. All focus is applied to the target and only the target----this dynamic is virtually opposite of sight picture for firing a pistol, where all focus should be on front sight.

So if you believe that your shotgun fits you well, as verified initially from mounting the fun and glancing at bead alignment, and if you mount consistently, then you don't need really the bead.

[NuJudge]

One more thing that has been helping me is shooting less shot. I handload 12 gauge, and usually shoot 7/8 oz. now, sometimes closer to 3/4 oz. Shooting the full one-and-an eighth oz. fatigues me a lot more than 7/8 oz. With the full charge of shot in a 12 gauge, I shoot a lot worse after two rounds of Skeet. With the reduced load, no problem to shoot 3 and even 4 rounds of Skeet. Another alternative is to just shoot 20 gauge.