Skeet Shotguns

The standard skeet gun is an over/under break action that has screw-in chokes. This configuration is available in just about any gauge from the smallest .410 to the largest 12-gauge.

Some shooters prefer to use a semi-automatic for skeet, also with screw-in chokes.

Either configuration works fine. The most important aspect of a good skeet gun is not the number of barrels it has or its action: it’s the balance and feel of the gun that allows you make smooth swings to hit the crossing targets of most skeet stations.

When talking about balance and feel, intrinsic characteristics include excellent fit, light recoil, consistent shot patterns, unobstructed view of the target and solid reliability. A good skeet gun will give you nothing to think about except the target. It should feel as natural as an arm or a leg, while enhancing your ability to see and hit the target.

Since stations 1, 2, 6 and 7 feature doubles (two simultaneous targets), the gun must be able to hold and fire two shells in rapid succession without any discomfort.

That’s why, of the most common shotguns for clays shooting, pumps are inappropriate for skeet: you would have to pump the gun to eject and then load the second shell into the chamber between the two shots. Not only does that cost you critical seconds, it also often means readjusting the gun mount – making it much more difficult to hit a doubles target.

To enhance a smooth and consistent swing, skeet guns tend to be front-heavy with more weight in the barrel than in the stock.

There is a perfectly sound reason for this: the additional weight in the front of the gun creates the momentum to help you swing through the crossing target and avoid perhaps the most common problem that shooters make, which is stopping the gun before the shot is actually completed.

So depending on the size of the shooter, 12-gauge guns between 7½ and 8½ pounds often have the best heft and balance for swinging completely through a crossing target. From there, the smaller the gauge, the lighter the gun with .410 shotguns hitting the scales at some 6¼ pounds.

In terms of features, the most commonly used skeet gun has a barrel length of 30 inches, screw-in chokes, a comfortable recoil pad, two beads along the rib of the barrel to help line up the shots, an adjustable comb on the stock that lets you raise or lower the portion of the stock that lines up with the beads, and a trigger with a pull of about 3½ pounds.

You can buy a used skeet gun for about $600, a new one starting at about $2,000, with prices continuing up to $100,000 or more for rare and new skeet guns.

Just remember that visual focus of the target must be maintained throughout the entire shot. Any gun that obstructs the target even for split second is not the gun for you. Comfort, balance and feel are vital for maintaining a high level of confidence that’s essential for consistently good skeet scores.

Trap Shotguns

Compared to other shotguns, trap guns have higher stocks and usually higher ribs. The reason: the design makes the gun shoot high to hit those consistently rising trap targets. The higher stock raises your eyes to rib-level for good visibility and quick acquisition of the rising targets.

Trap targets fly straight away or at sweeping angle while rising quite fast. With the high rib and stock, trap guns place the shot string above the actual point of hold, to offset the rapid climb.

The trap gun places the center of the pattern above the point of the aim depending on how the gun shoots. Higher ribs elevate the pattern, and you also want to raise the comb to see over the rib. Otherwise, to successfully hit a trap target, you would have to completely cover it – obstructing the target as you’re ready to shoot it.

Many trap guns feature a Monte Carlo stock. That’s when the comb drops near the heel, in order to allow better contact between the butt of the gun and the shoulder without sacrificing a firm fit at the cheek bone. It’s part of the higher stock design for hitting rising targets.

The traditional trap gun is a break action with a single barrel, since you only shoot one target at a time.

When it comes to trap guns, you may hear the term “unsingle.” Basically, it’s an over/under receiver with a single barrel for trap. You can often swap out the single barrel for an over/under barrel for double-trap. If you get a trap gun (or any shotgun) with a matching single and double-barrel set, that’s called a combo.

Trap combos allow you to fit a single barrel and an over-and-under barrel to the same receiver, so you to have the same sight picture, stock fit, and trigger feel whether you are shooting singles or doubles.

Trap guns also tend to be more adjustable than the skeet and sporting guns. Often you’ll find trap guns with an adjustable rib in addition to the adjustable comb that you can also find on other types of shotguns. The adjustable rib lets you precisely raise or lower the rib with a thumb wheel in very small increments so that you can totally smash those targets.

You may see a few 20-gauge trap guns but they are usually 12 gauge. Since trap guns are not designed for hunting, 12-gauge shells provide maximum breaking power without any fear of tearing apart a game bird, for example. So it’s important when buying a target gun to make sure you can live with the recoil.

Be prepared to spend about the same amount of money as you would on a skeet or sporting gun.

Waterfowl Shotguns

Back in the good old days, side-by-sides were the only choice for hunting ducks, geese and other water birds. But technology, price and environmental concerns have pushed hunters toward pumps and semiautomatics. And unless you’re a purist at heart, the evolution provides you with a safer, cheaper and more reliable shotgun for taking down these birds.

The best trait a waterfowl shotgun can have is reliability. The gun is going to take a beating. You’re in a partially submerged blind, a small open boat or mucking around by yourself in waders in the fog, rain and sleet. This is no place for your $20,000 side-by-side with Grade VI wood, bluing and old-world engraving.

In short, you want a workhorse of a shotgun that you can use as a paddle if necessary. That comes down to a synthetic stock that you can clean with Windex – and a pump or semiautomatic that never skips a beat.

Usually, the guns have a matte black or camo finish throughout. Forget the bluing…you don’t want to worry about scratching the gun or having it rust. After all, you wouldn’t drive a Mercedes in a demolition derby.

There are several reasons why pumps and semiautomatics have overtaken side-by-sides for waterfowl hunting, but it all started with a Department of Interior study 1976 that prompted the ban of lead shot for waterfowl hunting.

At the time, the Department of the Interior estimated that 2 million ducks died in the U.S. each year from lead poisoning after birds swallowed spent shotgun pellets used by hunters while feeding.

When a ban on lead shot was first proposed in 1976, opponents argued that the switch to steel shot would result in more unretrieved ducks than were dying from lead poisoning.

Since steel is less dense than lead, a steel shot charge would have lower striking energy, making it less effective. But field tests by the Department of Interior at the time showed little difference in the effectiveness of standard l-1/4 oz. lead shot waterfowl loads and l-1/8 oz. steel shot loads.

Other concerns were raised as well by steel-shot opponents:

• Shotgun barrels would burst from the harder steel shot.
• Barrels would be scratched by steel pellets.
• And the steel pellets would actually deform the barrels.

While the Department of the Interior went to great pains to disprove these allegations, the prudent waterfowl hunter leaves his beloved side-by-by side at home when he heads out to the marsh with his shooting party.

Because, in fact, steel shot does not compress in the forcing cone and in the choke like lead shot and in turn creates more stress in barrels of older guns. In addition, most older guns do not have screw-in chokes: they are choked from the factory for mid-range and longer shots, making them more susceptible to pitting, scouring and even bursting from steel shot.

Since the 1976 ban in steel shot, gun manufacturers have developed new-generation waterfowl shotguns that make the best steel shot with little harm to the weapon.

Today, hunters use more open chokes to compensate for the tighter patterns and shorter shot strings of steel (so you want a gun with screw-in chokes).

Environmental issues aside, there are more practical reasons for using a pump or semiautomatic instead of a break-action shotgun.

Pumps and semiautomatics hold more rounds, increasing your odds of actually killing a bird instead of crippling it. And since you don’t have to break open these guns to reload, they are much more convenient in the tight confines of a blind or a small boat.

Because pumps and semiautomatics use the gasses (and recoil) to activate the mechanisms, their recoil is lower than the older side-by-sides, which are infamous for hefty kicks and barrel jumps.

When shopping for a waterfowl shotgun, remember you could be lugging it around all day in tough conditions. Most of these guns weigh in between 5.7 – 7.5 pounds for a 12-gauge model capable of handling most steel loads.

Given their utilitarian designs, the prices for waterfowl shotguns range from $500 to about $1,500 – traditionally much lower than what you would pay for a decent skeet, sporting or upland side-by-side gun.

Of most types of shotguns, technical advancements in waterfowl guns have really paid off for hunters with more reliable and less expensive weapons for hunters.

Upland Shotguns

The first thing you may want to think about is the weight.

After all, you could be trekking for miles waiting for the right opportunity for your trusty dog to flush out a quail, pheasant, grouse, prairie chicken, chukar or partridge from under heavy cover.

So experienced upland hunters generally go for a shotgun that weighs 5.5-7 pounds.

The downside of a lighter gun is that while it swings faster than a heavier shotgun, it also has a tendency to be harder to control. Since a lighter shotgun doesn’t benefit as much as a heavy gun from the swing’s momentum, the lighter gun demands more body English and tighter control.

Like waterfowl shotguns, the upland shotgun traditionally is a side-by-side with shorter barrels – let’s say 26-30 inches. You want a gun that’s lightning quick and maneuverable – hence the barrel length.

These side-by-sides often have fixed chokes and two triggers in tandem (called a double gun). One trigger/choke combination is favored for closer shots, while the other is for longer shots. Or another way of looking at it is that you have a wide spread for the flush with a tighter pattern for the follow-up shot.

Rule of thumb is that most upland bird shots fall within 30 yards of the gun. So improved cylinder or skeet in the first barrel and improved cylinder or modified in the second is an effective combination for most upland shots.

When it comes to finding an upland shotgun that you like, consider time-honored Rule of 96. According to the Rule of 96, a shotgun should weigh about 96 times the shot weight. Bottom line: 1 ounce of shot requires a 6 lb (96 oz) shotgun for best results. More weight means less portability; and less weight means more kick.

Upland hunters like to savor the challenge (and the prey) by favoring smaller gauge shotguns. While many stores sell “dove load” 12-gauge loads with steel pellets, if you really want to get some meat off that bird common sense dictates a 20-gauge load or smaller.

For upland hunters carrying 16- and 28-guage guns, nothing gives them more satisfaction that to down a bird with such an economic load (plus the smaller the gauge, generally the lighter the gun weighs).

Like waterfowl shotguns, over/unders are making their way into the fields and pastures of upland hunting. Unless the weather turns ugly, the upland gun generally isn’t exposed to the elements as harsh as the waterfowl shotgun. That said, why would you want a gun that’s less than 100 percent reliable anyway?

What the side-by-side offers though is the romance of the hunt. It can be your time capsule back to the great hunts of Europe. It possess a certain aristocracy not found in your over/under that can provide a great deal of satisfaction…your side-by-side and your dog together on a lovely autumn day.


Helpful links:

http://www.mynssa.com/

http://www.shootata.com/

http://www.trapshooters.com/

http://www.ushelice.com/

http://www.nrahq.org/education/training/basictraining.asp

Skeet

Unless you’re in a squad with highly ranked shooters who consider 24 out of 25 a miserable failure, skeet is a great sport for mixing, mingling and shooting.

Cheerful support, gratuitous advice and a few off-color jokes are the earmarks of a happy day of casual shooting on the skeet field…made all the better by a perfect 25.

Skeet got its start in 1920 when three New England wing shooters wanted to polish their hunting skills. So Andover, Massachusetts laid claim to the first bona fide skeet field. The unique game attracted a following – giving impetus to standardizing the shots and keeping score.

The original skeet field was actually laid out as a full circle with a 25-yard radius. The 12 stations mimicked the face of a clock – hence the game’s earliest name “Shooting around the clock.” The trap house resided at 12 o’clock, with birds thrown in the direction of 6 o’clock. Each shooter got two birds per station.

When a chicken farmer set up shop in an adjoining piece of property, the fathers of skeet had to alter the game to prevent any accidental bloodshed of fowl or man. In their wisdom, the fathers of skeet cut the field in half and set up trap house at 6 o’clock. This arrangement gave rise to the high- and low-house configuration that’s used in modern skeet.

As the game became a recurring competitive sport, four sets of doubles and the optional shot became de rigueur.

Finally, in February 1926, the game was introduced to the general public through two popular magazines: National Sportsman and Hunting and Fishing.

At the same time, a $100 prize was offered for the best name of the new sport. One Mrs. Gertrude Hurlbutt of Dayton, Montana suggested “Skeet,” which in Scandinavian of yore roughly translated into “shoot.”

The pent-up demand for the game by American shooters was absolutely incredible. Wingshooters now had a practical and competitive game to hone their shotgun skills without marching off into the field in the pre-dawn chill.

Today, skeet is an Olympic sport. Regionally, shooters of all ages and experience levels step up to the station and call “pull.”

What goes flying past them are fluorescent discs made of pitch that are 4 and 5/16 inches in diameter and 1/8 inches thick. The targets fly at about 45 mph for approximately 60 yards – where if you haven’t already broken the target Mother Nature does it for you.

The course has seven positions in a semi-circle and an eighth position halfway between stations 1 and 7. The trap houses where the birds are launched are situated at stations 1 (high house) and 7 (low house).



At stations 1, 2, 6, and 7 the shooter gets four targets: one high, one low and then a simultaneous pair of a high and a low target. Stations 3, 4, 5 and 8 have only two targets: one high and one low. If you have managed to hit every target when you reach station 8, you make your 25th shot by taking low 8 twice.

The option shot allows you to reshoot your first missed target – but your ultimate score is still only 24 if you hit it.

A perfect score is 25 consecutive targets. To celebrate this often elusive level of perfection, whenever a shooter hits a “25” it is acknowledged by making a fist and touching knuckles with your fellow squad members. If someone shoots a 24, they are entitled to a pinky-to-pinky salute all around.

As a rite of passage, you only get to brag about your first 25. After that, the next braggart milestones are 50, 75, 100, etc.

Your typical skeet squad consists of two to five shooters. You need at least two people because someone has to push the buttons on the puller.

Some squads tend to be more boisterous than others – and it’s not good form to tell someone to shut up while you’re shooting. Just grin and bear it and then move on to another squad after the round if the racket makes you uncomfortable.

Hats are strongly advised when shooting skeet (most people wear baseball caps). In addition to shading your eyes from the sun, a hat helps prevent scalp and facial cuts from the target debris. And of course, eye and ear protection are mandatory.

Overall, the most important thing about skeet is having fun.

Trap

When it comes to trap you either love it or you hate it.

Dedicated trap shooters – the folks who live and breathe the stuff – have it down to a science. Even more than skeet shooters, trap aficionados have been known to make the most minute tweaks to their guns between rounds because the targets didn’t break hard enough.

And the very same folks wouldn’t even consider shooting skeet, sporting clays or 5-stand – not wanting to taint the cosmic balance of their trapshooting consciousness.

So, what the heck is it about trap?

Unlike skeet, the trap shooter is essentially a lone wolf.

Whereas with skeet you can smoke and joke with your shooting pals as you congregate around each station, when you’re shooting trap it is only you at the station. The other shooters tend to become mere annoyances – hence the blinders worn by dyed-in-the-wool trap shooters on the stems of their shooting glasses.

When you call “pull” in trap, it seems to resonate through the entire brain cavity of the trap shooter.

But it wasn’t always that way with trap. It was less clinical -- a genuine blood sport.

Trapshooting can be traced back to England in the late 1700s. The earliest targets were live pigeons, released from cages called traps. In the1800s, trap shooting migrated from the auld sod to the new world – when live pigeon shoots were staged across our great land.

Trap historians will point to the year 1831 as the first American live-bird trap tournament at the Sportsmen's Club of Cincinnati.

By 1866 trap shooters were trying to move away from birds to inanimate targets – perhaps as a means to standardize the sport. Man-made targets removed the vagaries of a thinking target – an important development in emphasizing the shooters’ skills. After all, if all the targets are the same, well there goes about 1,000 excuses as to why you missed it.

Over the next 15 years or so, target material evolved from glass to ceramics. In hindsight it would be easy to see that glass targets could never have the sailing dynamics of a clay saucer. But fortunately, the fathers of trap figured it out – or else we’d still be shooting at glass globes filled with feathers (really).

The trap house is 16 yards from the line of 5 stations.

When you walk up to the line and call “pull” randomized targets are thrown at an angle not to exceed 22 degrees. The targets fly at about 41 mph. In a perfect world, the height at which the targets are thrown is a constant 10 feet higher than the trap house.

Five targets are thrown at each of the five stations (using up the entire box of 25 shells). Each shooter takes one shot, then the next shooter on the right has their turn, etc. until a total of five are taken at each station. After each shooter has shot five rounds at a station, they move to the right – with the shooter at the last station (#5) walking to station #1 at the end of the round.



Standard trap is probably the only shotgun sport that uses a single-barrel configuration (since you’re only permitted one shot per target). There are exceptions, which you’ll see in a moment. Trap guns have high ribs designed to smash rising targets.

To make the game tougher, you can move further back from the 16-yard line in a game called handicap trap. By its definition, handicap trap positions you 19 to 27 yards from the trap house. It’s the same 5-station rotation only further back.

Now it’s time to get out your O/U trap gun.

We start getting into two-shot trap with Double Trap. That’s where you stand at the 16-yard line. Two targets are thrown simultaneously along set paths of about 35 degrees left and right and you have to nail them both.

Wobble Trap is also a two-shot game. In Wobble, the targets are thrown at extreme angles – screaming to the right and left and launching skyward at a jet-fighter trajectory. They also oscillate or wobble.

Want an even bigger challenge? Try shooting Wobble from the skeet positions. The angles become even harder and the distance from the trap house grows as you move to the center – peaking at station #4 when you’re about 27 yards from the trap house.

But that’s child’s play compared to Olympic Bunker Trap. According to the rules set by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), you get to shoot a bird launched from the trap house at 76 mph using a 7/8-ounce load – which is anywhere from 1/8 to ¼ of an ounce lighter than the load used in other trap games.

The Olympic target is harder, engineered to handle the higher target speed. It’s also slightly smaller than the standard American trap target.

Let’s see…fast, strong targets using a small load. Why not add another person to the squad and spread the pain?

Instead of five stations, Olympic Bunker Trap features a squad of six shooters who must adhere to strict guidelines about moving between stations.

Rather than shoot five shots at each station, Olympic Bunker Trap requires you to take one shot per station before rotating to the next pad.

Fifteen trap machines throw the exact same targets to ensure consistency among competitors. Each shooter gets two lefts, two rights and one straightaway.

So you may have gathered by now that trap shooters are a tough crowd. That’s why it’s important to follow the rules of etiquette.

First, come properly equipped. Don’t be one of those bozos who places his box of shells at his feet and is always bending down to retrieve one. Make sure you have a pouch.

Don’t pick up spent hulls until after the entire round is over. As you may have gathered, less movement is better when it comes to trap.

And speaking of trap, you’d be well advised to keep yours shut while a game is in progress. Trap shooters really like to concentrate hard. No idle chatter, please.

If you’re using an auto-loader, make sure your ejected hull doesn’t hit the trap shooter next to you (or worse ding their $15,000 Silver Seitz). Get yourself a snap-on ejector guard (they’re cheap).

Don’t walk between stations with a loaded gun, even if your O/U is cracked open. Only load your gun when it’s nearing your turn to shoot.

Basically, be a good citizen and the trap gods will smile favorably upon you.

If trap shooting sounds like a visit to the dentist give it a try before you reach a conclusion. It’s a great sport for getting into the zone and letting the world recede for the next 25 shots.



Sporting Clays

Think of it this way…
Instead of a 9 iron you have a 12 gauge…

Instead of a challenging 18 holes you have a challenging 15 stations…

And instead of a dimpled white ball that sometimes seems to have a mind of its own, you have clay targets that mimic the flight paths of birds eluding your shot…

(And yes, there’s also a golf cart.)

For you golfers, does this look familiar?

Indeed, your typical round of sporting clays is not unlike a round of golf. The biggest difference is you MAKE A LOUD NOISE AND BREAK SOMETHING. So for some personality types, that may be a lot more cathartic than the woosh of a swinging golf club.

Still, clays shooters who never set foot on a sporting clays course may be in for a big surprise.

Unlike trap or skeet, sporting clays targets literally come out of nowhere with flight patterns that can be absolutely maddening.

Sporting clays was a grand Victorian sport created for the tony set of hunters and people who fancied the outdoors.

Today, the sport remains virtually the same.

By simulating wing shooting, targets may suddenly appear through trees, quartering across a field, outgoing, incoming, bouncing, rocketing, left, right….

Orange targets can turn invisible against an autumn foliage backdrop. Overhead targets skim the tops of reeds, making the bird all but impossible to pick up. And believe it or not, you may actually have to wait an eternity before an incoming bird launched from a tower 100 yards away finally comes into range – by which time the tension and anxiety of waiting to shoot has flummoxed your timing beyond reason and you just don’t care if you hit it or not…because you want so bad to pull that darn trigger.

It’s the unpredictability of it all that’s so fascinating. Of course that makes a world of sense, given that like many other clays sports it was created to hone the skills of avid wing shooters.

While there can be lots of cement when it comes to skeet and trap, sporting-clay courses are laid out to optimize the terrain. It can be marshy, flat or rolling hills – mapping the places favored by sport shooters.

Targets can be thrown as singles, simultaneous pairs (a true pair), or report pairs (the second target launched at the sound of the first target being shot at). To heighten the challenge, target sizes range from the standard trap/skeet clay bird to the smaller midi and even smaller mini, or the flat battue.

So depending on the target, the wind, the angle of the machine, the sunlight, the season – you name it – each target has to be taken on its own terms.

A sporting-clays bird might smack of a flushed pheasant, a capricious grouse or a predictible incoming duck.

One-hundred targets tend to be the norm, although if you’re in a hurry many places will be happy to accommodate 50 targets.

The targets are fondly named after the birds (or rabbits) they intent to mimic. A ''chandelle'' angles as it climbs. A ''teal'' flies straight up to high noon and then plunges to the ground.

The only non-feathered target is called a rabbit. It’s bounced along the ground subject to the whims of whatever lay before it. Suddenly, right after you pull the trigger, the rabbit takes a hop and it’s gone.

Since most sporting clays courses have trappers – usually young men and women who work the machines – you can get a “looker” before you shoot. That way you get to see the target before giving it your best shot.

Here’s what you can expect as waterfowl targets…

• Passing ducks launched from a high tower
• Woodcocks presented as a flushing, outgoing target
• Pheasants on the wing launched from a tower
• Driven grouse as incoming targets that begin low and rise
• Springing teal thrown straight up
• Incoming ducks as a floating target coming toward you

Stories abound of experienced shooters getting so frustrated with sporting clays they slam their gun against a tree (must sound familiar to golfers).

But on a fine autumn day, the air smoky and the sun low, there’s no better way to spend an afternoon with friends.

5 Stand

If you can count cards in poker, you’ll be great at 5 Stand.

That’s because, for whatever reason, most people get completely confounded trying to keep track of what shot comes next.

Many people consider 5 Stand something like sporting clays without the walking.

The 5 stands are arranged next to each other and you move along down the line. The five shooters rotate through the cages.

Here’s where the card counting comes in handy.

Depending on the budget of the place where you’re shooting, the stands can range from a couple of two-by-fours knocked together in a pseudo-cage with three sides, to an elaborate affair that resembles three Dutch doors carefully assembled by Heidi’s grandpa.

There are six to eight different traps of the sporting clays variety arranged around the field. Each stand posts the sequence in which you shoot them. Since the sequence varies with each position, it doesn’t take long to completely lose track of the birds – even though you know them in advance.

So while you’re expecting to shoot the number eight target, for some reason you’re looking at number two. You’d bet the farm you’d know where the number three bird is coming from, then suddenly it flies out of nowhere.

Of course, the more you shoot 5 Stand the more proficient you become (or less nervous) until keeping track of the birds becomes second nature.

In addition to sporting clays, 5 Stand shares some rules from trap: each shooter gets five shots per station before moving along. The round is done after 25 shots.

The first of the five targets per station permits two shots – so you need to load two rounds when you enter the stand. And like sporting clays, the birds can be thrown as a true, simultaneous pair or in a report pair (where the second target is pulled after you shoot the first one).

Of all the clays sports, 5 Stand tends to be the most humbling for many shooters – even the ones you admire most. So to succeed at 5 Stand, don’t beat yourself up when you miss or take all the credit when you make some amazing shots.

Wobble Skeet

If there’s such a thing as extreme clays, wobble skeet fits the bill.

As it implies, you shoot wobble trap from the skeet positions. The end positions of 1 and 7 may bring tears to your eyes they’re so darn hard to hit -- especially if you get a so-called grass cutter that sweeps across the field in a blur.

Generally shot from the 25-yard line, the severe angles of wobble take on the added dimension of shooting at some sort of UFO-like object off in the distance.

Big leads, fast ammo and tight chokes are all you need to win…

And some luck. After all, if you pull a few grass cutters that are almost impossible to see as they fall below the roof of the trap house…well, enough said.

Make a loud noise and break something.

There is something instinctive, even primal, about the satisfaction of seeing a clay target smash after a perfect shot. The smaller the pieces, the bigger the rush. That squirt of dopamine that tells your brain you just experienced a perfect moment.

Of course there were plenty of imperfect moments leading up to it.

There is the mental discipline; the body memory of hold points, foot position and gun mount; and that quest to find the perfect break point. And the frustration of developing your rhythm…until the entire effort coalesces into one perfect shot, then a run of stations and ultimately 25 straight, 50 straight, 75 straight, and oh no -- a 99!

Some folks compare the disciplines of shooting a shotgun with golf. Yes, in fact, the similarities run deep. But there’s one big difference. With the shotgun sports you get to make a loud noise and break something -- an exceptionally liberating, satisfying occasion.

To keep the rush going, here is what you’ll find in our Shotgun Clay Sports section…

• Skeet
  • The Basics
    • Rules & Etiquette
• The Course
  • Technical details like target speed, etc
• International Skeet
• Trap
  • The Basics
    • Rules & Etiquette
• 16-Yard Trap
• Handicap Trap
• Wobble Trap
• Bunker Trap
• Doubles Trap
• Sporting Clays
  • The Basics
    • Rules & Etiquette
• The origins of the sport
• Target types
• Do you need to shoot low gun?
• Special equipment
• 5-Stand
  • The Basics
    • • Rules & Etiquette
• Target types
• Clays
• Discussion of different types of clays
• Places to shoot