Dave McCracken
Moderator In Memoriam
I had this day off, and after doing divers errands, I headed to PGC with an 870,300 rounds, and an urge to work on my shooting.
I'll never be a great shotgunner. Too much history in the Bad Habits section, started early but got serious too late. I am fairtomiddlin' and have fun while getting better at protecting myself, my family and community. Fun trying to be though, and moving the horizon back is good for character.
Anyway, today I set out some goals.
I wanted to get my mount and setup more consistent. Setup here means Stance, hold and break points,etc.
I wanted to work on longer range shotgunning.
I also wanted to see how well my ultra light loads worked at longer range. To that end, I had some 7/8 oz loads of 7.5 shot, about 1225 FPS.
The choke used was the Carlson's tube, giving ostensibly a light full (.0285"). It was much more choke than needed for 16 yard wobble, but lack of spread means I have to hold tight on the bird. Better for practice. I'm either missing or seeing dust and shards. Instant gratification when I do things right.
I had the Wobble trap to myself. First setting up at the 16 yard line, I left the 5 mikes in place and started shooting one shot at each position, low gun. If I hit, I moved to the next position and shot. If I missed, I stayed on post and shot again until I hit a similar shot, then moved. Moving after every shot meant I had to setup with my stance, points and mount all over again each time.
After a pair of rounds of this with scores 20-21, I moved the Number 3 mike back to the 27 yard line and grabbed a box of the loads with 7.5 shot. I shot this round premounted, seeking to find the best break points and seeing how the shells made the breaks. Score, another 21, which surprised and pleased me. I haven't shot much handicap, and doing this meant my Lillyputian loads did make the grade.
Best guess, I was busting them at 45-48 yards. Not bad.
Then, I switched back to my usual loads with 8.5 shot and shot some from the 16 yard line. Moving the Number 1 mike left 10 yards gave me a challenge on fast crossers, I was hitting most of these around 30-35 yards out, so I was way overchoked but on the bird. Did the same with Number 5, again hitting most of them.
Each time, I worked on raising my shotgun to the same place, hitting my cheek and glancing down the barrel as I focussed on the bird and squeezed off the shot.
Finally, I moved 1 and 5 back to the 27 yard line and shot off 50 rounds there.
Hits were chippier than I liked, but I am gratified to see I am hitting some. Like I said, I've done little from that far back.
I could have gone to the range, shot that many rounds and had fun. But, by analyzing my shooting and working on specific problems and goals, I had much fun and got more out of things than just burning up 200 rounds would do.
Questions, Comments, Donations?.....
I'll never be a great shotgunner. Too much history in the Bad Habits section, started early but got serious too late. I am fairtomiddlin' and have fun while getting better at protecting myself, my family and community. Fun trying to be though, and moving the horizon back is good for character.
Anyway, today I set out some goals.
I wanted to get my mount and setup more consistent. Setup here means Stance, hold and break points,etc.
I wanted to work on longer range shotgunning.
I also wanted to see how well my ultra light loads worked at longer range. To that end, I had some 7/8 oz loads of 7.5 shot, about 1225 FPS.
The choke used was the Carlson's tube, giving ostensibly a light full (.0285"). It was much more choke than needed for 16 yard wobble, but lack of spread means I have to hold tight on the bird. Better for practice. I'm either missing or seeing dust and shards. Instant gratification when I do things right.
I had the Wobble trap to myself. First setting up at the 16 yard line, I left the 5 mikes in place and started shooting one shot at each position, low gun. If I hit, I moved to the next position and shot. If I missed, I stayed on post and shot again until I hit a similar shot, then moved. Moving after every shot meant I had to setup with my stance, points and mount all over again each time.
After a pair of rounds of this with scores 20-21, I moved the Number 3 mike back to the 27 yard line and grabbed a box of the loads with 7.5 shot. I shot this round premounted, seeking to find the best break points and seeing how the shells made the breaks. Score, another 21, which surprised and pleased me. I haven't shot much handicap, and doing this meant my Lillyputian loads did make the grade.
Best guess, I was busting them at 45-48 yards. Not bad.
Then, I switched back to my usual loads with 8.5 shot and shot some from the 16 yard line. Moving the Number 1 mike left 10 yards gave me a challenge on fast crossers, I was hitting most of these around 30-35 yards out, so I was way overchoked but on the bird. Did the same with Number 5, again hitting most of them.
Each time, I worked on raising my shotgun to the same place, hitting my cheek and glancing down the barrel as I focussed on the bird and squeezed off the shot.
Finally, I moved 1 and 5 back to the 27 yard line and shot off 50 rounds there.
Hits were chippier than I liked, but I am gratified to see I am hitting some. Like I said, I've done little from that far back.
I could have gone to the range, shot that many rounds and had fun. But, by analyzing my shooting and working on specific problems and goals, I had much fun and got more out of things than just burning up 200 rounds would do.
Questions, Comments, Donations?.....
