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Ask the Instructor: Barrel Angle

Barrel Angle

 

“I’ve been taught two different approaches to setting barrel angle at the hold point. The first method calls for the angle of the barrel to remain oriented on the target line and trace the target’s line smoothly through the break point. The other method starts with a lower barrel angle at the hold point. As I move toward the break point, both hands move in unison with equal force as I mount just before the break point. Which is correct?”

 

Neither technique is wrong, and the proper barrel angle for a given target can vary depending on the target. With the first method, your back hand moves more than your front hand; your front hand acts like more of an anchor for your move, and muzzle movement is reduced during your mount. Theoretically, you could pull the trigger at any time during your mount and move and break the target. The second method you mention eliminates any possibility of “see-sawing” or “muzzle wobble” and keeps the muzzle from occluding the target line during the mount and move.

There is actually a third barrel angle technique that involves keeping the muzzle on the target line and using mostly the back hand to get the gun mounted and to the target. This third technique might be appropriate for a fast, longer distance, trap-like target when shooting FITASC. While either of the other two barrel angle techniques will work on any target, I would suggest that the first technique (keeping the muzzle angle oriented on the target line throughout the mount and move) would be more effective on targets with a flat trajectory, like a flat-line crossing target or flat-line quartering target, and less effective on transitioning targets that are changing trajectory, speed or both at the break point. With transitioning targets, the chance of occluding the target with the muzzle runs much higher using this technique, and keeping the muzzle a bit farther away from the target line is appropriate. The second technique you mentioned (hands moving in unison to the break point) will work on any target but does generate more muzzle movement. I use the first technique on flat trajectory targets and the second technique on targets that are transitioning at the break point.

Don Currie is NSCA’s Chief Instructor, an Orvis Wingshooting School instructor, and Master Class competitor. To get free shooting tips and videos, sign up for his monthly newsletter. You can also see more tips from Currie at www.doncurrie.com.

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Barrel Angle

Barrel Angle

 

Is it generally better to keep the barrel angle on the target line throughout the move from the hold point to the break point, or should it start below the target line at the hold point, then move up toward the target line until just before the break point?

 

Muzzle angle, or barrel angle, is a critical element of the ready position. Inappropriate muzzle angle can cause a shooter to occlude the target with the muzzle (if too high), or generate excessive gun movement if the muzzle is too far removed from the target line.

First, let’s differentiate “principles” from “techniques.” Different instructors teach different techniques, but we should all teach basically the same principles. The following is the technique I teach, but it is not the only way to break targets.

Generally, on a flat-trajectory target, like a crossing or quartering target, your muzzle angle should be on or just under the line, and, whether you use a the pull-away or sustained-lead technique to engage this target, the line of gun movement should be on or parallel to the target line. On the other hand, if you are engaging a target that is transitioning or “losing its line” at the break point, your approach will be different. Imagine a target that is crossing left to right but is looping into the break point, descending from the apex of its flight line. With this presentation, you should “shorten your stroke,” meaning that instead of holding your gun about two-thirds of the way back to the trap from the break point as you would on a flat crossing target, you should cut in half the distance between your hold point and your break point and lower your muzzle angle, thus reducing your gun movement to the break point. In so doing, you are less likely to occlude, or block, the target with the muzzle. Given that one of the chief causes of a miss on a transitioning target is occlusion, or a visual disconnection from the target at the break point, this “cutoff” or “intercept” technique works well.

So, the proper muzzle angle for a given target presentation depends on the character of the target.

Don Currie is NSCA’s Chief Instructor, an Orvis Wingshooting School instructor, and Master Class competitor. To get free shooting tips and videos, sign up for his monthly newsletter. You can also see more tips from Currie at www.doncurrie.com.