A simple guide to shotgun shells and how to choose what we feel that is the best bang for our GRITS gang.  Please keep in mind that these are just some suggestions below for a good and consistent shotgun shell, especially for the ladies but really most shooters.

We definitely like ammo that doesn’t have much ‘kick’, or technically known as recoil. The kick/recoil comes from a couple of things: How much shot (pellets) that is in the shell in the shell and the speed that the shot leaves the barrel. We like to shoot a smaller amount of shot, at slow speeds, so we have less kick!

The type of ammo you chose to use can be impacted by the type of gun you shoot.  To keep it simple here, lets just think about semi-auto’s and over and under shotguns. An over and under shotgun works with pretty much all ammo but a semi-automatic sometimes needs a little more “bang”, (a bit heavier load), for the gun to function correctly.

First, let’s talk about the over and unders…..Generally we can shoot very light recoiling ammo, Look for a ‘low-velocity load’…. 1200 feet per second (FPS) or less. This is just a measurement of how fast the shot leaves the barrel.  The faster the FPS, the more “kick” you will feel. For a 12 gauge we like ⅞ ounce (metric is 24 grams) the best if you can find them but 1 ounce (metric is 28 grams) works fine. We strongly suggest staying away from 1 ⅛ ounce!!  In 20 ga, we like ⅞ ounce, somewhere around 1200 FPS.

For a semi-autos, sometimes the mechanism that loads the shell for you will need a bit of oomph, provided by the firing of the shell, to reliably cycle the action. Most 12 ga semi’s will reliably run on 1 oz / 1200 FPS ammo. For 20 ga, the baseline is generally ⅞ oz / 1200 fps. You can experiment with lighter ammo, but this is a good place to start.

Regarding shot size (the size of the pellets in the shell), the smaller the number, the bigger the pellets (crazy, right?). Sporting clay ranges limit the shot size to 7 ½’s as the biggest pellets. Also common are number 8’s. There are a few more pellets in the #8’s loads, and while either will work, if you have a choice, we suggest 8’s. The size of the pellets in these shells has nothing to do with recoil. So for 12 ga, look for SLOW- 1200 FPS or less- 1 oz or less. In 20 ga, look for ⅞ oz around 1200 fps, and we feel you will be happy with your ammo!

For a more in-depth description  of ammo please visit the BLOG section of www.FennellShootingSchool.com

Fall is here, finally!  Cooler temperatures, beautiful crisp days and evening fire pits are getting stoked up!  It is also a wonderful time of year to really get out and enjoy shooting! Not only clay shooting but the wing shooting season is in full swing.  Walking through the woods or standing in open fields for either quarry is a fabulous feeling!

Fall brings a big change in the background colors as the leaves begin to change from green to their glorious fall show of reds, oranges, almost purples and a lot in between.  These beautiful backgrounds sometimes make seeing your flying targets a little more difficult! Here is where shooting specific glasses come into play and we reached out to eye expert Dr. Richard Colo for his input on this subject.  Here is what he had to say:

“Simply put, good shooting glasses need to provide the proper balance of contrast and clarity. It is important to remember that we need to let in as might light as possible for our eyes to see well.  The color of the lenses varies and many colors are offered. How our eyes see color is very individual but here are some general suggestions for this time of year. While in a greener environment, purple lenses do an excellent job “dumbing” down the green and making the orange targets show up better.   Headed into fall, you will find the copper colors do an excellent job enhancing the contrast of fall colors without losing the clarity, thus helping you see your targets better through the strobing colors of fall.”

It is never a bad idea to visit a dealer and just ask if you can walk outside and hold up different color lenses to your eye and see how your eyes personally register colors through a variety of options.  If you wear prescription lenses, you can simply hold color options in front of your glasses. Most shooting glasses are offered in both prescription and non-prescription.

This blog sponsored by:

and

Dr. Richard Colo  Suffield Eye Care 

The game of Skeet was originally started in New England during the early 1920’s to practice for wingshooting. It evolved quickly into a game, and while it still can be a great game to use to warm up for hunting season, it is now a very formalized competition of its own, and variations of the American game of Skeet is played around the globe!

For the American version of the game, we use 110mm ‘standard clays’ and the targets fly at speeds between 45 and 50 mph. The scattergun of choice for this task is usually an over and under shotgun with 26- to 32-inch barrels and very open choke. Often, shooters will choose an improved cylinder choke (one with a tighter pattern) or a skeet choke (one with a wider pattern), but this is a matter of preference. Some gun shops refer to this type of shotgun as a skeet gun. Skeet chokes are designed to be a 30-inch circle at 21 yards distance. Many shooters of American skeet use semi-auto and pump shotguns.

The event is in part meant to simulate the action of bird hunting. The shooter shoots from seven positions on a semicircle with a radius of 21 yards, and an eighth position halfway between stations 1 and 7. There are two houses that as “traps” that launch the targets, one at each corner of the semicircle. The traps launch the targets to a point 15 feet above ground and 18 feet outside of station 8. One trap launches targets from 10 feet above the ground (“high” house) and the other launches it from 3 feet above ground (“low” house).

At stations 1 and 2 the shooter shoots at single targets launched from the high house and then the low house, then shoots a double where the two targets are launched simultaneously but shooting the high house target first. At stations 3, 4, and 5 the shooter shoots at single targets launched from the high house and then the low house. At stations 6 and 7 the shooter shoots at single targets launched from the high house and then the low house, then shoots a double, shooting the low house target first then the high house target. At station 8 the shooter shoots one high target and one low target.

The shooter must then re-shoot his first missed target or, if no targets are missed, must shoot his 25th shell at the low house station 8. This 25th shot was once referred to as the shooter’s option, as he was able to take it where he preferred. Now, to speed up rounds in the competition, the shooter must shoot the low 8 twice for a perfect score.

Shooting a perfect score of ‘25 straight’ is generally a memorable milestone for a shooter, and not a task to be taken lightly, though experienced competitors often shoot several perfect rounds a day in competition.

5 stand is one of the most common ‘side games’ you will find at a sporting clays club. Think of it the same way miniature golf compares to playing an 18 hole course, that 5 stand compared to shooting a sporting clays course. It’s a compact, faster  version of sporting clays. As a matter of fact, the international version of what we know as 5 stand, is called Compak Sporting, and is extremely popular in Europe where clubs don’t typically have as much space as we do here in North America. But back to the topic at hand……how do you shoot 5 stand.

5 stand can accommodate up to 5 shooters in one round. A ‘round’ of 5 stand is 25 birds per shooter. There will be 5 ‘stands’ or shooter positions, generally space a few feet apart, though sometimes they may be on different elevations, and each shooter will shoot a menu for a  total of 5 birds per stand, then move to the next station until they have completed all 5 stands. So if there is a shooter in each station, Stand 1 will shoot his first bird ( generally a single target ), then stand 2 will shoot his single, then stand 3, then 4, then 5. After that, its back to the shooter in stand 1, who will now shoot his first pair, then each station will follow. Then back down the line for everyone’s second pair. Sometimes the pairs are on report, sometimes they are true pairs. Every menu is different, and the angles from all the stands are different. It makes for a fast paced round of clays with a lot of variation!

5 Stand is a great ‘warm up’ before starting a round of sporting clays. It can also make a wonderful teaching field, and a fun social round. Many 5 stands will have a cover over the stands, creating a great place to still enjoy shooting on a day with bad weather. 5 stand is a great addition for any gun club, and can be one of the most fun things you do with a shotgun!

American trap is the most common clay target game in the USA. It is found in all 50 states but is probably most common in the Midwest and upper Northeast. Trap is a relatively simple game to play, and generally inexpensive compared to sporting clays. There is just one machine per field, and a round of trap is 25 targets, shot on one field. The ’trap house’ holding this trap is 16 yards in front of the 5 evenly space firing positions called ‘pads’. Shooters each shoot 5 targets from each pad for a total of 25 birds.  How it works: The starting shooting shoots one time and then the next shooter goes until each has shot those 5 times then you rotate to the next station. There are several variations of the game of Trap but this is the most common.

The interesting thing about trap is that the machine throwing the birds is randomly oscillating over an approximate 44-degree arc, and throwing the birds at about 45 mph!

This game is best enjoyed socially when a group gets together and shoot a round, then takes a break before shooting the next round. That way you spread your enjoyment over a longer period without the tension and fatigue of banging too many shells in a short period of time, as a group of 5 shooters might finish their 25 targets each in just a few minutes.

Special thanks to Krieghoff for sponsoring this series of blog posts!

Skeet ~ Sporting Clays ~ Super Sporting ~ American Trap ~ FITASC ~ and the list goes on!

Yep ladies, there are many different ways to participate in the shotgun sports!  When folks find out what I do for a living they often say: “Oh yeah, I have shot skeet before” or “I would love a skeet shooting lesson”.  This is a very common response because we often here that term used when people talk about the clay shooting shotgun sports.  Why? Well, not so long ago skeet was the more dominate game played with shotguns and the clays themselves are often referred to as “skeets”.  That’s ok, if we have them talking about it to begin with then we have someone interested enough in knowing more and possibly wanting to pursue the sport!  Yeah! Happy us!

We are going to post a series of blogs for our GRITS members so you all understand the basic concept of each of the different shotgun disciplines.  You should give them all a try just to because it is fun!   

Ready…PULL ~ the word that turns loose all the fun

Special thanks to Krieghoff for sponsoring this series of blog posts!