Shotgun Forum banner

How to shoot a 40 yard quartering crosser?

10K views 36 replies 16 participants last post by  painter* 
#1 ·
This presentation never looks right to me. At my club it is also a fast target. If you can describe how best to acquire and shoot this beast, please do.
 
#3 ·
Even though the angle of the quartering shot is only about 1/2 that of a full crosser, it still needs about 3/4 of the lead that the full crosser does at whatever speed the target is moving. That is just trigonometry. Make sure you are leading the target enough horizontally. But also don't forget to check whether the target is still rising, at its peak, or starting to drop at your chosen break point. And be sure the vertical behavior you think you see is not an optical illusion due to the terrain. In other words make sure the ground isn't moving up or down rather than the target.

I apologize for not talking in terms of staring hard at the target. I just don't think that way.

Having said all that, I will admit the quartering target gives me fits. I'm hoping that thinking about it on your behalf will help me as well tomorrow when I go out to shoot.

Good luck!
 
#6 ·
moishepipick said:
Even though the angle of the quartering shot is only about 1/2 that of a full crosser, it still needs about 3/4 of the lead that the full crosser does at whatever speed the target is moving. That is just trigonometry. Make sure you are leading the target enough horizontally. But also don't forget to check whether the target is still rising, at its peak, or starting to drop at your chosen break point. And be sure the vertical behavior you think you see is not an optical illusion due to the terrain. In other words make sure the ground isn't moving up or down rather than the target.

I apologize for not talking in terms of staring hard at the target. I just don't think that way.

Having said all that, I will admit the quartering target gives me fits. I'm hoping that thinking about it on your behalf will help me as well tomorrow when I go out to shoot.

Good luck!
You should probably stare harder at the target. HeHe.
 
#7 ·
mdlott said:
moishepipick said:
Even though the angle of the quartering shot is only about 1/2 that of a full crosser, it still needs about 3/4 of the lead that the full crosser does at whatever speed the target is moving. That is just trigonometry. Make sure you are leading the target enough horizontally. But also don't forget to check whether the target is still rising, at its peak, or starting to drop at your chosen break point. And be sure the vertical behavior you think you see is not an optical illusion due to the terrain. In other words make sure the ground isn't moving up or down rather than the target.

I apologize for not talking in terms of staring hard at the target. I just don't think that way.

Having said all that, I will admit the quartering target gives me fits. I'm hoping that thinking about it on your behalf will help me as well tomorrow when I go out to shoot.

Good luck!
You should probably stare harder at the target. HeHe.
Not so much. When I do, I get so busy trying to count the rings and read the writing, I forget to pull the trigger. :D
 
#8 ·
mdlott said:
moishepipick said:
Even though the angle of the quartering shot is only about 1/2 that of a full crosser, it still needs about 3/4 of the lead that the full crosser does at whatever speed the target is moving. That is just trigonometry. Make sure you are leading the target enough horizontally. But also don't forget to check whether the target is still rising, at its peak, or starting to drop at your chosen break point. And be sure the vertical behavior you think you see is not an optical illusion due to the terrain. In other words make sure the ground isn't moving up or down rather than the target.

I apologize for not talking in terms of staring hard at the target. I just don't think that way.

Having said all that, I will admit the quartering target gives me fits. I'm hoping that thinking about it on your behalf will help me as well tomorrow when I go out to shoot.

Good luck!
You should probably stare harder at the target. HeHe.
You can't look at the target while concentrating on the rib and trying to use trig to calculate 3/4 lead of a true crossing target at 40 mph and pick that spot as a break point. You can only look at the target after you miss and have lost bird.
 
#9 ·
drawdc said:
mdlott said:
moishepipick said:
Even though the angle of the quartering shot is only about 1/2 that of a full crosser, it still needs about 3/4 of the lead that the full crosser does at whatever speed the target is moving. That is just trigonometry. Make sure you are leading the target enough horizontally. But also don't forget to check whether the target is still rising, at its peak, or starting to drop at your chosen break point. And be sure the vertical behavior you think you see is not an optical illusion due to the terrain. In other words make sure the ground isn't moving up or down rather than the target.

I apologize for not talking in terms of staring hard at the target. I just don't think that way.

Having said all that, I will admit the quartering target gives me fits. I'm hoping that thinking about it on your behalf will help me as well tomorrow when I go out to shoot.

Good luck!
You should probably stare harder at the target. HeHe.
You can't look at the target while concentrating on the rib and trying to use trig to calculate 3/4 lead of a true crossing target at 40 mph and pick that spot as a break point. You can only look at the target after you miss and have lost bird.
Whether or not you calculate it doesn't much matter. It is still the same amount. As our President likes to say, "It is what it is." Denial changes nothing.
 
#11 ·
This is a tricky presentation especially if the line is off the horizontal. I hold about halfway between the breakpoint and the trap, take my eyes back about halfway from the hold point to the trap, keep the muzzle still as the target passes it then swing through and shoot, starting from a soft mount. Works for me most of the time. Just need to keep the gun moving on the line.
 
#14 ·
You don't measure lead. You apply it. It has been firmly established by Brister that you can't swing through a 40 yard crosser fast enough to not shoot behind it. You are applying lead if you are hitting the target. Denying that doesn't change anything. The sooner you accept the fact, the more targets you will hit.
 
#15 ·
moishepipick said:
You don't measure lead. You apply it. It has been firmly established by Brister that you can't swing through a 40 yard crosser fast enough to not shoot behind it. You are applying lead if you are hitting the target. Denying that doesn't change anything. The sooner you accept the fact, the more targets you will hit.
Wow. Will I get as good as you?

Too bad you didn't understand what Brister said.
 
#17 · (Edited by Moderator)
drawdc said:
moishepipick said:
You don't measure lead. You apply it. It has been firmly established by Brister that you can't swing through a 40 yard crosser fast enough to not shoot behind it. You are applying lead if you are hitting the target. Denying that doesn't change anything. The sooner you accept the fact, the more targets you will hit.
Wow. Will I get as good as you?

Too bad you didn't understand what Brister said.
Too bad you are wrong. I understand exactly what he said. And I have already quoted it to you. But you refuse to understand it. In plain English he said you cannot swing fast enough to hit a 40 yard/40 mph crosser without applying additional lead. You can fight it all you want, but it is in black and white. Sorry that the truth is inconvenient. But if you give yourself up to it, you will become a better shooter.
Brister_1.png
 

Attachments

#21 ·
moishepipick said:
drawdc said:
moishepipick said:
You don't measure lead. You apply it. It has been firmly established by Brister that you can't swing through a 40 yard crosser fast enough to not shoot behind it. You are applying lead if you are hitting the target. Denying that doesn't change anything. The sooner you accept the fact, the more targets you will hit.
Wow. Will I get as good as you?

Too bad you didn't understand what Brister said.
Too bad you are wrong. I understand exactly what he said. And I have already quoted it to you. But you refuse to understand it. In plain English he said you cannot swing fast enough to hit a 40 yard/40 mph crosser without applying additional lead. You can fight it all you want, but it is in black and white. Sorry that the truth is inconvenient. But if you give yourself up to it, you will become a better shooter.
This the first I have heard of Brister. Is the book a valuable read? AND can you please clarify his statement about "you cannot swing fast enough..... "
Does it mean swing fast and furiously and get way out in front of the target? Thanks
 
#22 ·
Too bad you didn't understand what Brister said.[/quote]
Too bad you are wrong. I understand exactly what he said. And I have already quoted it to you. But you refuse to understand it. In plain English he said you cannot swing fast enough to hit a 40 yard/40 mph crosser without applying additional lead. You can fight it all you want, but it is in black and white. Sorry that the truth is inconvenient. But if you give yourself up to it, you will become a better shooter.
[/quote]

This the first I have heard of Brister. Is the book a valuable read? AND can you please clarify his statement about "you cannot swing fast enough..... "
Does it mean swing fast and furiously and get way out in front of the target? Thanks[/quote]

"Shotgunning: The Art and Science". Written in 1976. A lot of it is very dated, but an interesting read. Brister was the outdoor writer for the Houston Chronicle and then Field and Stream. Credited with bringing English Sporting to the U.S.

Brister was not a fan of the Churchill method. The passage that Robert/Morris refers to was Churchill's theory that if you swung through the target at the proper speed, you could pull the trigger when you reached the target and your gun speed would be sufficient to build lead on a 40 yard crossing target. Brister tested that and proved it wrong by towing sheets behind a station wagon his wife was driving.

If you try to swing through a 40 yard crosser and pull the trigger when you reach the target you will shoot behind it. But you most certainly can swing through it and build sufficient forward allowance to break the target. I think most of us would recommend pull away or maintained on a true crosser, but you can shoot them with pull through. All of us that recommended swing through or pull through were basing that recommendation on the target quartering away, I believe. Sorry I was involved in derailing your question.
 
#23 ·
The most common way in the UK to shoot targets like this is by holding fairly well out but below the line and triangulating to the kill point.

Most avoid swinging through along the line as it often results in over leading - except on slow targets. On super fast quartering, maintained can work too.
 
#24 ·
I found Mike McAlpines' article on Shotgun Sports Mag, It is pre-2017. Here is the quote.

"the best way for most shooters to take a quartering target is to use the "intercept method". The intercept is really a combination of swing-Through and maintained lead, with the exception the muzzle starts farther below the target line, as well as behind it. As your muzzle intercepts the line at your chosen break point, it will be in the right place so pull the trigger"

I drew a rectangle and put the line in it for a visual
 
#25 ·
JerseyJim said:
I found Mike McAlpines' article on Shotgun Sports Mag, It is pre-2017. Here is the quote.

"the best way for most shooters to take a quartering target is to use the "intercept method". The intercept is really a combination of swing-Through and maintained lead, with the exception the muzzle starts farther below the target line, as well as behind it. As your muzzle intercepts the line at your chosen break point, it will be in the right place so pull the trigger"

I drew a rectangle and put the line in it for a visual
That is an excellent description.
 
#26 ·
Swinging through it to the lead required is a good method for me if it is really quartering. I find when some of those targets are far enough away and at an angle that needs more than about two feet I'm going to pull away. If it needs say two feet, I'm going to mount two feet behind and swing through to two feet in front. That helps me stay on the line. I'm no awesome shot but those techniques help me.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top