More Steps: Different Guns, Some Techniques, and Reloading

    Welcome back!  As I shot different courses with different people, I became envious of people who could shoot different shotgun gauges and still shoot very well.  It is embarrassing when someone shooting a smaller gauge still beats you.  I was still in the Tim the Toolman mindset that "more power" was better.  Baroom!  Louder, sorer shoulder, throbbing headache, and the "f-word"; flinching.  So, over the period of  two years, I purchased a  Browning Ultra XS 12 gauge, two 20 gauge Storger Condors, a Browning 28 gauge, and a Stoeger 12 gauge - 20 gauge combo.  Phew!  I was really searching for a better way to improve my scores without improving my shooting skills.  I relied on my equipment rather than on my technique.  Men do have their toys.

    As you notice from the above list, I had graduated to over-unders.  I will be the first to admit that my scores did improve by 8 to 10 birds per round, but I was still very  inconsistent.  I also graduated to riding in a golf cart with a friend I had met while shooting.  However, he warned me that I would have to walk and carry my ever larger shooting bag if I beat him!  Ha! 

    Have you ever heard this?

• Locate and visualize the breaking point for the target and place your feet in that direction.
• Hold the gun tightly against your shoulder and point your finger of the nontrigger hand down the forearm of the gun toward the target in a natural pointing manner.
• Keep both eyes open, take a relaxing breath, and swing back to where the target is coming from.
• Crouch slightly and lean forward, but relax.
• Call for the target and swing the gun until you get just ahead of it and pull the trigger.

    I thought this was a simple sport!  As I observed some of the different shooters, I noticed that none of them did all this consistently.  Also, it is difficult to go through this list when a second target is thrown.  Sometimes, shooters will shoot the "show pair" without seeing where the targets are going.  Did you ever notice that they break both targets the first time, but not the next pairs after seeing where the targets are supposed to go?  Humm... maybe this instinctive shooting thing has some promise.  Realizing this has improved my scores and made me a more consistent shooter.  I guess what I want to say is to do what works for you.  I'm sure Joe Expertman or Icabod the Instructor would have heart failure or a brain cramp with this idea.
    By the way, I did keep the sweet Browning Ultra XS and 1187.  I sold and traded all the rest (Not because they were "bad" guns.) and now play occasionally with a 12 gauge Stoeger Competition, a 20 gauge Stoeger Competiton, a 410 Stoeger Condor ("eek!", some say), and my hunting gun, a 16 gauge Stoeger Condor.  More about the Stoegers in a later post.
    So, what is a logical progression for a former science teacher?  I started reloading my shells.  I told my wife I could save money by reloading and have more consistent loads.  Sounds like a good excuse, doesn't it!  Reloading has opened up a new set of variables.  Using the Interent, I studied the different types of powders, wads, shell casings, primers, and reloaders.  All clay shooters who reload have their own favorite recipe for their pet reload.  I do follow manufacturer recommendations exactly, but have settled on Unique powder as the propellent so I can reload 12, 16, and 20 gauge with the same powder. (I don't reload 410 shells....yet!)  I have stayed with MEC reloaders because of their price and availability.
    Some questions for you to think about:

1. Can 7/8 ounce or 1 ounce loads break targets as well as 1 -1/8 ounce loads?
2. Can you decrease the amount of powder you use slightly (or use Lite powders) and still break the same amounts of targets?
3. Why don't more shooters use a 16 gauge?
4. Is changing choke tubes over-rated?
5. Besides hitting most of the targets, can you make a list of what acts or actions make a good shooter a great shooter?

    Enough of my teacher ramblings!  Ha!

   Finally, my pet peeve of the day.  I have read and researched a lot about shooting different types of clays.  I am amazed how arrogant some writers are about the guns they use, the proper ammunition, or the "accepted" techniques shooters must follow.  I guess there are elite thinking, over-bearing people in every walk of life.  Are  we just looking to have fun or is having fun an excuse poor shooters use as a rationalization?  What do you think?
    Come back.  I'm sure you've had many of the same experiences with shooting sporting clays that I've had.