First time clay shooting

[Kager]

Hi,
Just thought I would file an after action report.

One of the guys at work mentioned that he has always wanted to try clay pigeon shooting (He used to do a fair amount of hunting when a kid). Being the resident Gun nut in our workplace I offered to arrange a shotgun day at my local club. Now I'm a pistol freak, and have never had much interest in or experience with scatterguns. But the more people we can get actively shooting down here in Australia the more political clout we have, so I thought why not.

In the end I was suprised a just how much fun and challenging clay shooting was. Nothing quite like smoking something small and fast... "out there." Chris proceeded to wipe the floor by easily hitting half his targets! Where I struggled to get 1 in 3.
Chris' wife also came along and shot pretty good.

As all we had were full choke single shot 12ga's the recoil was pretty brisk, especially for Amanda. But it was worth it.
Two other ladies have also expressed intrest a giving it a go.

Hopefully I can convince the club to make this a regular event.

Now for some technical stuff, What size shot/weight is best for clays (we used 7.5s), and what are some practical but not too expensive ways of reducing recoil for the gals?

Have a nice day,

Josh

 

[sm]

Which clay game?

Gas Semi operated 20 ga shotguns, choked skeet are best for new shooters for skeet. Being as I are a Skeeter and assisted with many a new person...from kids , to petitie ladies to you name it. Yes even the BIG guy that played football did better with a 1100 in 20ga...

I did/ suggested the same with 5 stand and short sporting clays courses. Rem, Beretta,Browning make great gas guns for learning with reduced recoil.

See if someone at the range will join in that has some of these.

Trap...again I'd go with a gas gun choked Mod. Lighter loads, and though a 20 is not considered a trap gun...my old pard ran a straight with Beretta 303 20 ga with fixed full choke from - back there. ( I dunno, he was back a ways, I was on skeet field giving lessons...just got peek over his way once in awhile).

Gas gun in 12 ga with 7/8 oz loads should work for Trap . Main thing is gun fit, proper instructions so the ladies enjoy and don't get hurt in places that guy don't.

 

[IDriveB5]

7-1/2 is fine for clays, tho a full choke is a little tight, usually want a modified. maybe pick a smaller shot with that tighter choke(im assuming fixed choke)?

for the recoil, getting the lightest load possible and the use of a recoil pad. ive used a limbsaver and that works well.

nice work getting some [formerly] non-shooters out to the range. yes, that is the best way to save our gun rights!

EDIT:
<-- types slow

 

[Dave McCracken]

Good job!! The guys have given some excellent advice. A couple things...

The heavier the shotgun and lighter the load, the less kick. An oz of 7 1/2s, assuming you're using the US scale and not the British one, has about 288 pellets, IIRC. An oz of 8s has about 75 more pellets and busts targets nicely.

See which work best in your shotgun by patterning. Look for a nice even spread and 26-28" of useable density.

A recoil pad one wears like the PAST does wonders for reducing kick, including for females. Browning makes a vest with an insert that works also.

Gas autos are excellent for reducing kick, but I believe your governmental nannies have decided you shouldn't have them. Sorry.

HTH....

 

[Spinner]

Sorry guys, due to government regulations Australian citizens aren't allowed to have semi-auto shotguns (or pumps either I believe). As we all know the only reason to have a semi-auto or pump shotgun is to commit mass murder :banghead:

The heaviest shotgun and the lightest loads are the way to go for beginning .... makes the recoil much more pleasant.

For a self-confessed non-shotgunner 1 out of 3 isn't too bad for a beginning effort. The skills required for blasting moving targets with a shotgun are quite different to pistol or rifle shooting. Sounds like y'all had good fun. The clay games can get quite addictive .... enjoy!!

Spinner

 

[Kager]

Sorry about the late reply, computer has been WIA for the last few days.

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions.

I guess we were shooting something like skeet. (I'm not really up on clay games) going to have to do some reading.

Autos; you guys are on to something there, I had forgotten about it but there is a little known loophole in QLD for competitors who can't handle the recoil of a standard shotgun. Need a medical certificate etc. but it might be worth investigating....hmm.

We were using 28gram loads but we may try 24grams for the gals next time.

"Look for a nice even spread and 26-28" of useable density."

At 30yrds?


What I find interesting is that I keep finding more people who'd like to give shotguns a go. Must be something about them that strikes people's imaginations. Sounds like I will have to organise another day.

Cheers,
Josh

 

[Dave McCracken]

Yes, Josh, at 30 yards. That's what chokes are for.

 

[Kager]

Thanks,

Josh