New to clays where to start

[brainwake]

I don't think I have the time to compete....in fact....I am sure I don't.

I just want to learn more and shoot more. I feel pretty good. I was shooting as good and another fella that has a lot of experience. Well...he may have shot a little better. But I was giving good competition and it was my first time. I have always felt that I was a good shot, this is the kind of sport that will show your skills for sure.

I might watch some instructional videos and read some books to try and avoid some bad habits.

 

[btg3]

Ok, you were just asking for hardware advice. Seems you've got a handle on the software.

 

[brainwake]

yeah, I am still a little bit of a dummy trying to figure out how to set up my chokes and which barrel to fire first. I need to break out the manual and take a few notes.

 

[oneounceload]

Go to a good trap club and ask for a NRA certified shotgun instructor for lessons. Better yet, take the NRA basic shotgun class to start

Even better, for trap, find a ATA instructor; for skeet find an NSSA instructor; for sporting clays, find a level 1 NSCA instructor

 

[Deer_Freak]

I have had a trap similar to this one for over 20 years. I have broke the legs so many times I can't remember driving it into the ground. But you can go to any scrap yard to find small pieces of angle iron to repair it. It doesn't take a professional welder to repair, just a little time and a few mild steel welding rods. I cut the metal for the repairs with a sawzall. Any portable trap is going to break from driving it into the ground. A large 3 lb hammer helps preserve the machine because you can drive it down with just a few blows of the hammer. A claw hammer will beat it to death in short order.

In time the throwing arm will get bent. No one will be able to predict where the next clay is going.

Think about where you shoot. While the clays do dissolve after a few rains they hang around for quite a while before they do dissolve.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shoo...g/104269680.uts&WTz_l=DirectLoad;cat104269680

 

[John3921]

I agree with oneounce - find an ATA, or NSSA, OR NSCA instructor. I've been through the level 1 NRA class. The NRA still thinks of shotguns as funny rifles. Get a shotgun coach that knows the games you're learning.

It doesn't really matter which bbl first. Typically you shoot the bottom bbl first - the thinking is that it is a bit more in line with your shoulder and you'll get a bit less muzzle rise which allows you to get on the second target faster.

In skeet, whatever you do, be consistent. If you are loading one shell and put it in the wrong bbl - it is counted as a lost target. Skeet is a game of perfection - you don't want a click - lost. It also helps if you have to borrow a gun say because of a malfunction - you change the bbl setting and then give the gun back to the owner who forgets to check - click - lost. OOOPS.

hunting is a different deal. my fixed choke gune was full over mod. close shots I want the mod, longer shots or going away shots I want the full.

 

[oneounceload]

Skeet AND trap are games of perfection where one miss out of 100 can mean you are tied with several others for about fifteenth place as there were 14 perfect 100s that went to the shoot-off. SPORTING clays OTOH (not that I am BIASED or anything ) is called "golf with a shotgun" because every single place is different, just like every single golf course is different, and the numbers of perfect 100s can be counted on both hands with fingers left over. While in the beginning, the targets were more hunting oriented and realistic, some still are, but many are now called "good technical targets" Whatever the H*** that is supposed to mean. But they are fun, challenging and sometimes downright embarrassing - happened to me this last weekend - just one of those days where I couldn't count my nuts and get the same number twice, let alone hit the birds - oh well, shook it off as I have another tournament coming up this weekend.

Get your feet wet on clays with skeet first, then trap - and when you get bored of the same ol', same ol', find a sporting clays course and go have some REAL fun with a shotgun.........

 

[Deer_Freak]

What got me started is I am instinctive shooter I learned to shoot while hunting. I would go to the local club with a mossberg 500 and win a few bucks off mediocre shots. One day an old man challenged me. I said if you are shooting a 12 ga I will shoot a 5 round freeze out with you. Over the next couple weeks I dropped about $600 trying to beat the old fellow. Come to find out he was an instructor for the US olympic team. He did admit I almost killed him shooting the freeze outs with a 12 ga. After that he took me under his wing. I never paid for a lesson.