Clay shooting technique

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Lhigginsqrb

New member
I may have this in the wrong spot but it looked like the best option available.

I tried shooting clays today. In the past we would use our own thrower. The clays way through went high and were a lot easier to shoot. I like these range clay set ups better because they force you to adapt and get better at shooting.

Anyway I used to be able to sort of draw a bead on them. When I got really good at it I know I wasn’t exactly aiming anymore I was sort of doing it by feel sort of using the barrel to aim. I’d like to know what you guys are doing. Call I’m running with a modified choke right now and I think my targets are 30-40 yards out when I pull the trigger. I’m not sure if you guys are barrel siting or doing it but I feel or watt but what I’m hearing is hardly anyone is drawing a bead. I thought for a while it was just my eyes.

Something to note when I had a red dot on the gun I was doing way better. It basically removes that bead acquisition time.
 
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dahermit

New member
It might help if you told which particular clay target event you are refering to. Sporting Clays, Skeet, Trap are all slightly different disciplines.
 
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FITASC

New member
Your eyes are your sights, do not look at the bead. Outside of skeet, a modified choke is a great all around choice for 16 yard trap singles and most sporting clay presentations.
 
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TBL004

New member
"It might help if you told which particular clay target event you are refering to. Sporting Clays, Skeet, Trap are all slightly different disciplines."

True, each discipline is different. Different target presentations, etc. require different approaches.

"and...what gun?"

No hard and fast rules against using a field gun for skeet, trap or clays. All things being equal, a shooter will get better and more consistent results with a dedicated trap gun, skeet gun and sporting gun.
 
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Lhigginsqrb

New member
I’m using a 12 gauge mossberg 500. I’m using clays to get better with this gun for hunting. I have a cheap o/u ordered for waterfowl and small game. I’m going to use it when it gets here.

I’m shooting trap. Singles. I did one round of wobble tower which supposedly simulates dove pretty well.
 
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darkgael

New member
I started with a Mossberg pump gun. I liked Trap and decided to stay with it. I took the advice given and picked up a dedicated Trap gun, a BT-99. My scores went up.
I also hunt Uplands during the Fall. I use a number of different guns for that. What the two formats have in common is that having a shotgun the fits me makes a big difference. The shotguns may be different but they all have been adjusted to fit me. This allows me to mount the gun and know that it is going to shoot where I am looking
 
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MarkCO

New member
Shooting Clay targets, live birds, it is all hard target focus. I'd not call wobble trap close to Dove, at least the Doves we hunt in CO. Trap is the simplest of the games in that it is prescriptive, but also, unless you are breaking 24 or 25 on a regular basis, the one that will take a good amount of time and dedication to break those 100 targets in a row (4 perfect rounds). I start the kids on my HS team out with IC, LM or Mod from the 16 yard line. Move them to a tighter choke once they get better. Time to break the birds and score tell me when to move them to a different load and or choke.

Skeet typically uses shorter, lighter guns with Skeet chokes, so a few constrictions more open than Trap.

Sporting Clays has variables, like you will see hunting. "Cheap" O/Us are, sadly, mostly a waste of money, but people keep buying them. :(

My son was the 2nd best shooter on the Trap team last year shooting a Stoeger M3000 set up for 3Gun and had several 25s. My best shooter was State Champion and off to College this fall on a shooting scholarship. So my son will be the top shooter this spring, as a Senior and we bought him a Beretta A400 Cole Pro. Might it get him a few 25s instead of 24s and a few 24s instead of 23s? Maybe. It is better balanced and he really liked it the first 25 he put through it. But I am still an advocate of learning to shoot, taking classes, practice, over buying new shotguns. The caveat is that fit is important and I can safely guarantee you that half the people that shot a round of clay targets this weekend used a gun that was not properly fit.
 
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FITASC

New member
Fit is crucial; unfortunately, most folks think fit is just length of pull - far from it and LOP is one of the last measurements a good fitter will tinker with. Drop at heel, drop at cheek, drop at wrist, cast, pitch, toe in/out are more important.
 
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dahermit

New member
Lhigginsqrb said:
I’m using a 12 gauge mossberg 500. I’m using clays to get better with this gun for hunting. I have a cheap o/u ordered for waterfowl and small game. I’m going to use it when it gets here.

I’m shooting trap. Singles. I did one round of wobble tower which supposedly simulates dove pretty well.
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I don't think that there is any "wobble tower" in trap. Skeet maybe?
 
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MarkCO

New member
FITASC said:
Fit is crucial; unfortunately, most folks think fit is just length of pull - far from it and LOP is one of the past measurements a good fitter will tinker with. Drop at heel, drop at cheek, drop at wrist, cast, pitch, toe in/out are more important.
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You said it, I said it, it needs to be said again.

Fit it very important for shotguns. More than with rifles and pistols.
 
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Lhigginsqrb

New member
All I know is it has a big sign saying trap and that’s what the range is calling it. I’m not on here trying to split hairs about the various kinds of matches. My question is specific to shooting technique. I’m seeing that people more or less agree with me about beading not working on clays in most situations.
 
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FITASC

New member
Quote:
Originally Posted by FITASC View Post
No reason a place couldn't set up a tower with a wobble throwing "driven" type targets
My point is that he does not know what the sport of Trap shooting is. Trap has a throwing house in the middle and four shooting positions behind it. He is talking either "Sporting Clays" or "Skeet".
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Actually, trap has FIVE shooting positions, not four......... ;)
 
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FITASC

New member
All I know is it has a big sign saying trap and that’s what the range is calling it. I’m not on here trying to split hairs about the various kinds of matches. My question is specific to shooting technique. I’m seeing that people more or less agree with me about beading not working on clays in most situations.
Click to expand...

Actually, both of the beads on one of my shotguns have fallen off and the only time I ever noticed was when I wiped down the barrel with my oily rag. I never look at them, I look at the targets. Shotgun for clays/birds is the opposite of metallic where you're told to focus on the front sight - you focus on your target by using your eyes as the sights.
 
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dahermit

New member
FITASC said:
Actually, trap has FIVE shooting positions, not four......... ;)
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Yes... Five shooting stations, five shots each, 25 shots in a round.

As to the original post, when I first started out shooting trap, an older guy lent me a video tape that showed proper sighting technique. As an example for station one, align the beads pointing at the top-left corner of the roof of the target house and then shift your focus to the left edge of the house (away from your gun and beads). Etc. I am not going to go any further into that... people can look it up on their computers and internet.
 
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Lhigginsqrb

New member
This one had five stations. Just like you’re saying the middle one is kind of a straight shot that’s more or less easier. The two furthest from the thrower cause tracking right to left and then left to right. What’s funny is a nail those but tend to miss the straight ones.

Those techniques sound about right to me. Like I was saying I had no idea and the guys pulling for me didn’t provide much advice. I didn’t really enjoy the shoot that much because I was getting frustrated trying to bead. I’m going to work up a little training process for myself. Try to build some confidence with the no bead stuff. This all goes totally against how I was taught to shoot.
 
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