Range Report

[MedGrl]

I bought my first gun on Friday. A Remington 870 Express Youth in 20 guage.(pictures below ) I got to try it out for the first time yesterday when Only1asterisk his wife and myself went to a local clays range.

We were there for 2 hours and shot through 4 boxes of shells and started on a fifth. A couple of range regulars gave us some tips and it was a lot of fun. It was a clear beautiful sunny day. The temp was about 30 degrees and there was a slight breeze but still a beautiful day to break plates

They set the machine to throw straight archs rather than for wobble out of defference to my inexperience. I only hit about 10 of the 40 clays that were thrown for me. But I hit six in a row at one point near the end. I didn't try any Report sets, only single plates since it was my first time. I can't wait untill next week when I get to go to the PGC Trap and Skeet Center and shoot with Dave McCracken.

I borrowed a friends digital camera fo rthe trip. Here are some pictures:


First my new baby:







Wasn't it a gorgeous day?




Here is one of me in the stand




Those are realy the only ones I have. 1* and his wife were camera shy. Hope this was an adequate range report...Let me know if i left out any details you'd like.

 

[Bridger]

Whenever it's colder I try to convince my range buddies to shoot shotguns. At least we keep moving that way instead of shivering with rifles in weather below 20 degrees!

Keep practicing and you'll bust more clays. I think that shooting clays really helped with my ability to manipulate the shotgun as well.

 

[308win]

The pic of you shooting looks like your weight is on your rear foot, you need to get your weight slightly on your front foot.

 

[kudu]

Looks great MedGrl, Keep both eyes open so you can judge the targets better, and...

The pic of you shooting looks like your weight is on your rear foot, you need to get your weight slightly on your front foot.

I have to agree with 308win about putting more weight over the forward foot, it helps stabilize you and helps control the gun and recoil. With a rifle you have the gun balanced in the center of your weight, with a shottie you want it stuck out in front of you.


Good luck with shooting with Dave, he should get you busting the majority of your targets.

 

[MedGrl]

Original Posted by KUDU
Looks great MedGrl, Keep both eyes open so you can judge the targets better, and...

Actually, we figured out I have a problem with cross-eye dominance so I have to keep my left eye closed. when i kept my left eye closed i got six in a row. it was odd.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Glad you had fun. A couple things...

First, leaning into the shot does wonders for comfort AND accuracy. We'll work a bit on stance when you're up.

Maybe 40% of women are cross dominant. It's far from insurmountable. You can switch hands, close that eye, or just focus hard on the leading edge(according to Gil Ash).

One thing. PGC has this silly ^&* rule about barrel lengths. 23" is the minimum allowed. Yours, I believe, is 21". Bring it anyways, and I'll have Frankenstein on standby along with nice light 7/8 oz loads.

See ya....

 

[research]

Congratulations on your new purchase and shooting some clays. As I have mentioned to some others: To shoot at clays is fun; to break one is addicting. It sounds like you "got in the groove" towards the end. I love when that happens. Keep it up and let us know how the next session goes.

Research

 

[BozemanMT]

Try shooting lefty.
My wife is right handed, but left eye dominant.
She does everything right handed but shoot rifles and shotguns.
She's a better shot than me.
Oh yeah, lean forward.
The stock (LOP) is probably too long for you which is forcing you to fell like you need to stand back to make it fit.
Get it cut down.
My wife's LOP is 12 3/4. It takes a LOT off the end of the gun, but it works for her and allows her to mount the gun correctly.

 

[Working Man]

Try shooting lefty.
My wife is right handed, but left eye dominant.
She does everything right handed but shoot rifles and shotguns.

Same with me. With my side by side, no problem.... with a pump I need to
move it between shots. With practice you can do either hand.

It's all just one more addiction to feed.

 

[only1asterisk]

Before I say anything else, I'd like to thank Ras and the staff at Hunting Hills. They run a fine place. We would have stayed for dinner if we hadn't had to get home to the kids.
I'd also like to thank the other shooters that were patient and helpful. I'm sure several people skipped warming up for the sporting clays course at the wobble because we were camped out there.

MedGrl did very well for her first time. We would have shot more, but my wife got cold and we wanted to get home before the babies nap. At the end she was hitting much better and more consistantly. While undoubtedly we both have form issues to work on, hers will be easier to resolve because they are less ingrained.

I think leaning into the gun will stop her from smothering her stock. The stock fit isn't perfect, but 13" is plenty short. At least one person thought it was too short until he saw her mount my gun. Since this is a multipurpose gun, I'd rather she erred on the short side. If we need to add a bit, we can always replace the recoil pad or add a spacer. I'll wait 'til after she shoots with Dave and has a better handle on the technique before we make any gun adjustments.

Dave, I can put her stock on my 28ga and send that with her (assuming the parts I need get here in time).

David

 

[Dave McCracken]

That's a fine offer, David. But, better she should shoot her own. I will have a standard 870 on standby, I've a hunch she can do OK with that and some training.

However, I reserve the right to change my mind after I see her in action.

Also, Medgrl, what chokes do you have? Just the standard Mod? Seems I may have an extra Skeet tube just laying around here....

 

[Brian Dale]

I hit six in a row at one point near the end.

Soon we'll be calling you "Clays Grrrl," or similar. Well Done, and keep up the good work.