[Guest]

After many years of not shooting I recently rediscovered the joy of shooting again. In the past I have shot trap and skeet but could somebody explain sporting clays? I hate to sound uniformed but It has been a long time. Plus I have two guns a Model 37 Ithica (full choke) and a Remington model 1100(inerchangeable chokes). Would either of these be suitiable for this sport? Thanks, Ron

 

[Roger Gascoigne]

Ron,

I would go to Google and do a search on sporting clays; you will find tons of information.

SC started in the UK at the beginning of the last century and came to the US in the late 80's/Early 90s. (Depending on where you live)

It started as a simulation of hunting but passed that level about 75 years ago. It is now a tough competitive sport with World Championships and the rest. Unfortunately, very few people can make a living at it so don't give up the day job.

A psorting clays 'Course' is comprised of a set of stations. In the US you usually get from 10 to 15 stations in a course and will shoot at 100 targets. You may get 4, 6 8 or even10 targets at anu one station, the total will be 100.

Each station offers a different presentation of targets. The common form will be two throwers called traps, called A and B. Most often you will get a target launched from A when you say PULL and the second target, from B will be launched when the gun fires. This is called a report pair - ie the report of the gun tells the trapper to send out the second target. You will also get TRUE pairs, - that is both birds in the air when you say PULL. Sometimes, we get fancy and have

Single from A (use two shots if needed)

Single from B (use etc)

Report pair A then B

Report pair B then A

Finally a true pair.

Targets are thrown at different angle speeds and distances. There is a rabbit that rolls along the ground, occasionally skipping a little, and there are 3 sizes used, small, smaller and 'I did not see that'… actually they are 108mm, 90mm and 60mm in diameter. If you know trap or skeet then 108 is the size of a Standard clay.

People use all sorts of guns, but nothing larger than a 12 and no shot larger than 7 ½ for safety reasons. A single barreled gun has the disadvantage that you may get a close target and a far target so you have to shoot one of them with a less than ideal choke. However, the 1100 with interchangeable chokes will do fine. You are (currently) limited to 1⅛ oz of lead, and I suggest you just shoot 1 oz as that is enough.

In all honesty getting out there with whatever gun you have is much more important that worrying about getting the right equipment.

Hope this helps

Roger

 

[Ulysses]

Good explanation, Roger. I would add that for Ron's first several sporting clays events that he simply put the Imp Cyl choke in the barrel and get a good supply of 1 ounce #8 shot and shoot that at everything. Later, when he gains more experience, he can consider changing chokes and shot sizes to optimize his score. For now, just concentrate on the target and forget about chokes or shot sizes.

 

[ysr_racer]

Check out my pictures for views of sporting clays courses here in So. Cal and in AZ.

brad