In my experience the favored technique is to be tracking the target with your eyes and moving the barrels and your body as you mount the gun. Then continue the motion as you complete the mount and shoot.

 

"Butt, Belly, Beak, Bang".....sometimes.

 

Not one answer. Here's another...

 

You can’t do anything until your mount is dialed in

 

You can't go wrong with Move - Mount - Shoot

 

You Can't do anything until you practice your mount and know when it's time to , move , mount and shoot !
The true Mount is when the comb touches your cheek and the butt has found it's true place in the shoulder pocket .
Gun fit makes this easier as the sweet spot of the mount allows the barrel to follow the eyes !
If I was King George , you'd know me but I'm Not ,

 

face first contact point, your already moving.

 

To many presentations to limit yourself to 1 or 2 procedures

 

? how is that possible ? With the eye being the rear sight and the mount being part of the Tri-Angle ?
For those of us who shoot from the Hip , I can see your point .

 

98.625% of all shooters I see at actual tournaments (other than FITASC) shoot gun up or MOUNTED. Thee are times when a slightly lower gun position is better. Various people who have won the World's shoot gun up.

Jeez Louise.

 

98.625% of all shooters I see at actual tournaments (other than FITASC) shoot gun up or MOUNTED.

I don't shoot FITASC. Are shooters required to dismount between shots? I wouldn't think so, but need to confirm. If not then I expect many shoot second targets (depending on the time interval between the first shot and the second shot) with at least the butt of their gun still on the shoulder.

On sporting clays with a tight interval between the shots I sure keep my gun mounted between shots, so in this case the second shot can't be move-mount-shoot.

I personally fully mount my gun on my right shoulder, then while holding the barrels on the target line I'm going to use I simply lower my right shoulder to provide a more uncluttered view. If I have a target I need to immediately get on I will hold fully mounted. If there is some time between shots I'll lower my shoulder between the shots.

 

Just throwing this out there for the OP.

It's a bit iffy to try to shoot with the gun off the shoulder unless you have spent a little time trying to develop the technique, i.e. a consistent good mount of the gun from below the shoulder.

On targets that give you a modicum of time, an unmounted gun will better allow you to see the true path of the target. And it seems on those targets if you start with an unmounted gun, and start to move at your call, by the time you are fully mounted you are on the line, starting to move ahead of the target and ready to break it.

Gun fit is a big factor. If your gun does not shoot where you look, you will need a bit of correction that is best met with a mounted gun, trying to remember what you need to do.

 

MMS is a perfectly valid way to get in front of targets (or birds). BUT there's no requirement except for the 1st bird of Fitasc.

 

I am amused by the coaching that puts so much emphasis on the first target technique in a double target sport. If it is okay to acquire sight of the second target of a true pair with the gun already mounted and move right to the break point, why would it be wrong to shoot the first target that way too? Same for hold points. How important could they be if you have restricted choice where you can hold for the second target due to where you have to shoot the first. Sure you can execute your first shot it a way that puts you as close to where you want to be as possible, but set up for the second shot will never have the freedom of set up for the first.

 

George Digweed does illustrate the foot placement adjustment for the second target in his video's !
He does make the shots look easy . Most who follow his instructions , seem to make the moves look easy , too !

 

Move mount shoot is the way to go, take a look at John Bidwells dvd. Works on all targets.
His results speeks for it self.
Stoffer

 

But they are his results. Not mine.

 

Starting with a low gun...even a "Cheat Mount" will give you a better visual connection with the target as you mount the gun. OTOH, pre-mounting the gun to your face before calling PULL tends to promote looking at the barrel and measuring the lead, which is not the best way to shoot the wide variety of presentations in Sporting Clays.

JMO

Demi

 

I have not read all of the posts, but my general answer to this question is: Each type of shooting method is probably capable of breaking 70% of the targets you see on a typical sporting course. Of the remaining 30%, any of the remaining methods will probably break half of those. However, in that last 15% you very likely could need to be facile with all the remaining methods to best engage each different presentation.

*IMHO, MMS is simply a modified form of "Maintained" lead -- Move and Mount into the proper lead and trigger (Shoot). Traditional maintained lead infers a bit of time "running with the target" to synch up, hence the differentiation from MMS.

 

DOOOD!!!!

FITASC is the shiznit. Absolutely best clays game out there.

 

Is that English?

 

Ben Husthwaite has said the he doesn't use maintained lead. Not using it probably hasn't held him back.

 

How did he do at this year’s World English?

 

It is also known as MOVE, MOUNT, MISS... Just so you know.

 

I believe he shot the same score i did.

 

Be careful in copying what these salesmen are saying they do. They are usually not telling the whole truth.

 

Next time at a shoot, just look at what the top guys are doing. As Sera pointed out, most are either fully mounted, cheat mount (gun barely out of the shoulder pocket), or some form of Bill McGuire's cheat mount, gun in pocket, but shoulder dropped.

 

Also watch the "low gun" shooters in a shoot-off. They are fully mounted.

 

George Digweed has a style that allows him to use a low gun swing through move by foot position and lower body rotation move that suites his swing through method. He frequently mentions his timing. He is on another level and has perfected this method. We mortals have a bad day or not enough practice to keep our timing for move mount and shoot our scores will reflect this. He claims to move his forehand to a different position on the stock to match the speed of the target.

 

What's the infatuation (if there is any) with "low gun" in clay shooting?

 

Using "low" gun feels more natural to me and I shoot for MY enjoyment (tried pre mounted and a no go for me) I may lose a target here or there but maybe not To each their own And depending on the target my draw length will vary.

 

Notch--now that's a real question. Mostly ancient history. It was the rule in SC's in the USA before the mid-90's when the USA wanted to host the Worlds and the Brits would not come over here unless we stopped our low gun requirement.

Some people who have never competed say stuff like" this is supposed to simulate hunting"...well a long time ago sure. BUT --SC shooters got too good for those easy shots. FTR, so was skeet. All that changed , too. Trap was supposed to be a politically correct version of live pigeon races. That was way before anyone invented the term "politically correct."

All games morph as shooters get better and better. Fitasc is "harder" b/c of the requirement of low gun start. Mounting a gun makes it a harder thing to master.

Int'l Trap has gone to 78/th oz loads and in the super-final , only one shot can be attempted. INT 'l skeet requires low gun and delay and 7/8th oz loads and they change the order and the doubles from time to time to make it harder.

the trend will always be to harder and harder targets (and sometimes you will see it go overboard).