[scottycoyote]

ok let me try this again, i posted in another section and no response. I read about doing this is Bristers book, he used a bb gun without sights to teach someone to shoot.....pingpong balls as targets. Just wondering who if anyone has tried this, and what gun did you use, all the bb guns and airsoft guns i have looked at are too small and toylike to really help i think.

thanks

 

[astomb]

It works well even if the stock is a tad short. It even works for adults who have shot only gun up trap. you can add a block of wood and a recoil pad boot that slips over the butt to add some length.

It teaches you that your hands and eyes will put your gun on the target and you just mount and fire as the gun hits the shoulder. He also used a pair of a air rifle targets to the right and left of the ping pong ball. Brister had his neighbor's daughter hitting thrown targets like a champ in two weeks starting this way.

It is also a good drill for those who are switching shoulders. you can add a little weight to the gun too to make it more like a shotgun.

The bb gun/ping pong drill is used in the 4H shotgun lesson plan and it is also fun.

 

[scottycoyote]

thanks for responding. I think i found the gun, they have 1 to 1 scale airsoft shotguns on gunbroker. I think the airsoft would be even better, shoots those little 6mm plastic pellets so i wont have to worry about ricochets or damage to anything.

 

[vn6869]

scottycoyote

As I recall many years ago when I was in the service we did this to practice point shooting. We did use bb guns, but like was said earlier you learn the basics that you can bring up a gun, fire it when it hits your shoulder and still hit a target.

Try it you'll be amazed.

 

[RossT]

scottycoyote Think I saw your first post on the BB gun. Didn't think there would be much interest in such old history so hesitated to reply. I received a few weeks skeet training as a part of air to air gunnery training where the instructor used a no sight BB gun and ping pong balls as targets. After a couple sessions we began to hit a few, then more. Low gun, pitch the ball and shoot. The concept was a follow up to skeet shooting that was a follow up on correct lead and target allignment for fighter pilot gunnery training. Must have worked I'm still alive and a few weeks ago I ran a couple fields with the 410.

RossT

 

[got2bqik]

scottycoyote,steer away from the air soft gun I bought my son one as a pre steel BB gun. Them plastic balls never fly the same way twice and aren't much good for anything past 10 maybe 15 feet. Took it to the pistol range cause son wanted to shoot "his gun" had a target set at the 7 yard line and couldn't get them there. This gun has been a useful tool in teaching gun safety and proper handleing of a weapon, but as a learning to shoot tool it is more harm than good IMO. I do have my old 760 crossman, that the sights were removed from 25 years ago to do what you want. I shot at gallon milk jugs half filled with water, to give an erratic path, thrown in the air. This is what my son will be shooting soon as I can rebuild the o-rings in it.
Tim

 

[scottycoyote]

ok thanks guys, im gonna find a decent bb gun and build up the stock with a slip on recoil pad or something and go to it

 

[RossT]

SC your headed in the right direction with your bb gun ping-pong trial. This simple training aid, as silly as it sounds, teaches one of the most fundimental but difficult basics to teach on shotgunning. It demonstrates to you that you and the gun become one and if the gun is mounted exactally the same on each shot all that happens is, when the target is seen with the eye, you mount and shoot without sighting. Refered to as "Pointing" the gun. No eye gymnastics or brain farts to "aim". When you adapt this concept to any of your shotgunning sports and think about it you will find it applies, low gun, mouinted gun or BB gun with no sights. (shotgun sights are for mounting referance only) Unless your slug hunting deer.

Enjoy RossT

 

[logan_sqr]

This reminds me of something I once tried when I wanted to practice during the winter. I took a cheap manual target thrower and replaced the spring with a much lighter one. It would throw 2.5" mini targets just fast enough to stabilize them, maybe 30 fps. I took it to a pistol range that allowed shotguns and asked if I could launch some down range -straight away, (kind of trap-style). The owner wouldn't let me try it. I didn't argue since it was his range, but I still think it would have been a neat idea. Who knows, maybe it could become a new sport?

 

[APEXDUCK]

I remember years ago as a kid we would go the Sports Show in St. Louis in the Arena. They would have MO Skeet set up where they would throw minis indoors and you would shoot them with a 22 mag shot shells with a smooth bore 22.

Anyone else remember this game?

APEXDUCK