Dave McCracken
Moderator In Memoriam
I had returned most of a box of shells to the earth under my feet and had a pair of quarry pigeons to show for it. I was shooting with friends in a mined out hole big enough to hold a small shopping mall. It was hot as heck, no wind down there and I wasn't hitting very well. I was trying out a different way to lead them, more like pass shooting than the swing through method I used most in the uplands. I told myself to straighten up and started to swing on another bird.I stopped as it veered further away,past what I thought was reasonable range. The next pigeon came whirring by, surprising me a little. I swung the 870 in the classic butt, belly, beak, bang sequence out of habit and the bird folded. AHA, sayeth I, and continued with better success....
The Brits call it "Forward Allowance". We call it leading the target, and there's several different ways to do it. In any case, it boils down to placing the shot cloud or slug where it will intercept a fast moving target.
Here's a few of the most common methods....
The chanciest is called Spot Shooting. No swing to speak of, just shooting at a spot, hoping the shot and target will collide there. It CAN work, but timing has to be right to the millisecond. Best advice I can give is to forget about it.
Swing Through is the most widely used method for field shooting, trap and many SC shots. The barrel starts behind the bird, catches up and the trigger is pressed as the barrel passes the target. Since the barrel is moving fairly fast, timing is important but pattern spread will forgive small errors.
The Sustained Lead method has the barrel starting before the target.The target doesn't pass the barrel. Once the proper distance is established, the trigger is pressed. Skeet is a Sustained Lead game and it's also used for longer range pass shooting.
The Pull Away method has the barrel more or less right at the bird, then the speed of the swing's increased and the trigger pressed an instant later. Some SC and field shots use this in certain circumstances.
There's others, but you get the idea. The crucial part is the shotgun MUST be moving to hit a moving target.
I doubt anyone who solemnly intones something like "Teal at 50 MPH and at 35 yards should be led 2.13 meters for a true crossing shot" knows what they're talking about. I never know exactly how far a shot on game is,I can't tell it's speed to 5 MPH, and my guess as to whether the bird is at a right angle or 10 degrees off either way is worth what you paid for it.
The Rules of Thumb here are something like....
The further the target, the more lead needed.
The faster the target, the more lead needed.
The closer to a right angle the shot is, the more lead needed.
Of course, the reverse is also true.
I see a hand up.
"What do we use in a particular situation?"....
All of them.
Lead has something almost Zen about it. Calculation rarely works. One should go with instinct here, and experience. One learns leads by shooting. Try the different methods and see what works for you. As anyone who has seen me attempt Skeet, I do Sustained Lead not too well, but I do OK as a Swing Through shooter and sometimes do a Pull Away on a crosser.
HTH....
The Brits call it "Forward Allowance". We call it leading the target, and there's several different ways to do it. In any case, it boils down to placing the shot cloud or slug where it will intercept a fast moving target.
Here's a few of the most common methods....
The chanciest is called Spot Shooting. No swing to speak of, just shooting at a spot, hoping the shot and target will collide there. It CAN work, but timing has to be right to the millisecond. Best advice I can give is to forget about it.
Swing Through is the most widely used method for field shooting, trap and many SC shots. The barrel starts behind the bird, catches up and the trigger is pressed as the barrel passes the target. Since the barrel is moving fairly fast, timing is important but pattern spread will forgive small errors.
The Sustained Lead method has the barrel starting before the target.The target doesn't pass the barrel. Once the proper distance is established, the trigger is pressed. Skeet is a Sustained Lead game and it's also used for longer range pass shooting.
The Pull Away method has the barrel more or less right at the bird, then the speed of the swing's increased and the trigger pressed an instant later. Some SC and field shots use this in certain circumstances.
There's others, but you get the idea. The crucial part is the shotgun MUST be moving to hit a moving target.
I doubt anyone who solemnly intones something like "Teal at 50 MPH and at 35 yards should be led 2.13 meters for a true crossing shot" knows what they're talking about. I never know exactly how far a shot on game is,I can't tell it's speed to 5 MPH, and my guess as to whether the bird is at a right angle or 10 degrees off either way is worth what you paid for it.
The Rules of Thumb here are something like....
The further the target, the more lead needed.
The faster the target, the more lead needed.
The closer to a right angle the shot is, the more lead needed.
Of course, the reverse is also true.
I see a hand up.
"What do we use in a particular situation?"....
All of them.
Lead has something almost Zen about it. Calculation rarely works. One should go with instinct here, and experience. One learns leads by shooting. Try the different methods and see what works for you. As anyone who has seen me attempt Skeet, I do Sustained Lead not too well, but I do OK as a Swing Through shooter and sometimes do a Pull Away on a crosser.
HTH....
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