Sporting Clays

[9mmMike]

So the lovely Mrs. takes me to a sporting clay course for my birthday and doesn't it turn out to be the nicest weather we've seen in PA for weeks/months? We had a terrific time and we each shot (at ) 100 clays.
She brought her 1100 LT Special Field in 20 ga.
My favorite 870 is out for some million mile maintenance so I took my 12 ga. 1100 magnum which has been outfitted with an English stock and twin-bead 21" 2 & 3/4 barrel - basically a home-grown Special Field with a +3 extension.
I shot various loads from AA light target (2 3/4 dram 1 1/8 of #8) to Heavy Dove (3 1/4 dram 1 1/8 of # 8) and several in between including some "value packs" from Winchester, Remington & Federal with no problems at all.
I better get my 870 back soon because I could get used to this lazy-man's gun quite easily!
It's an expensive sport but one we will most certainly try again. Perhaps a run in the winter would be fun. It sure is a delightful way to spend a few hours on a nice day. I would recommend SC's to anyone who likes clay games.
It is a real hoot to see so many shots, in so many angles & speeds, in one day.
That's about it. Just bragging I guess.
Mike

 

[Dave McCracken]

Sounds like a wonderful B-day present, Mike.

All of the shotgun games are fun, SC is one step up from trap or skeet in complexity. Lots of SC will turn a good shooter into a great one.

The only caveat coming to mind is that with the popularity of SC, some course designers are appealing to the hardcore shooters with very difficult shots. This can be discouraging to someone of modest talent and experience who wants to get into SC, but find lots of the presentations nigh impossible.

I suggest a new shotgunner getting into clay games start off with Trap and Skeet, add some 5-Stand, then move on to Wobble Trap, SC and stuff like Bunker Trap, etc. FITASC may be the hardest game ever, but fun can be had even with low scores.