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Ask the Instructor: Cutoffs

Cutoffs

 

I’ve been having trouble figuring out a low, incoming, quartering target, the type that is on edge and starts dropping and going right or left before it hits the ground about 30 yards out. Because it is coming mostly straight at me until it loses speed, it feels like I am aiming when acquiring the target. What technique do you suggest?

 

Cutoff and collapse is the technique I find the most effective on the presentation you describe. The most common reasons for a miss on this type of target are: a lack of commitment to the break point; too much lateral movement at the break point; starting with the muzzle angle too high, causing the shooter to move down to the break point; occluding the target with the barrel as the target loses its line; and allowing the target to beat the muzzle to the break point.

If this were an incoming quartering target that was NOT transitioning, you would establish your hold point about a third of the way back from your planned break point, toward the trap, with your muzzle angle on or barely under the target line, and your move would be synchronized with the target. In this case, however, the target is transitioning just prior to and through the break point.

A cutoff and collapse move is used on transitioning targets and involves the following: Start with your hold point closer to the break point than you would normally, orient your muzzle angle slightly downward below the break point, approach the break point at a slightly upward angle as you start your move, arrive at the break point before the target, let the target do the work at the end of the “stroke” and commit to the break point as the target “collapses” on the break point. You should start your move early enough to beat the target to the break point. If you feel as though you arrive at the break point too early and wait for the target at the break point, then you have executed the move correctly. Think of it as catching a fly ball in the outfield.

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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Ask the Instructor: All About Combs- Part 1

All About Combs- Part 1

 

Can you explain why an angled comb makes sense? Why wouldn’t everyone want a parallel comb? Parallel combs are being offered on more sporting clays guns. And no, I can’t buy the idea that drop is a good idea for correcting a sloppy technique on low and/or high targets.

 

Historically, shotgun stocks have been angled, which means they are higher at the peak of the comb (front end, toward receiver) and lower at the heel of the comb (back end, toward the butt). The reason behind this, as with almost everything shotgun related, has its historical origins in English-style shooting. Whether shooting game or targets, shooters did not premount the shotgun (unless you include pigeon/box shooting). For shooters who initiate the gun mount to the cheek and shoulder after the bird becomes visible — as in game shooting, FITASC and international skeet — the sloped comb makes for a more successful mount and more consistent cheek/stock connection. Since mounting a shotgun is dynamic instead of static, as it is with premounted shooting, the shooter can much more consistently “slide into” the comb and make a good cheek/comb connection. For the disciplines of American trap and American skeet, premounting is commonplace. The mount is completed prior to calling for the target, and thus an angled comb is of less importance. This is why we see more parallel combs in these disciplines.

There are two commonly held misconceptions about combs: 1) Parallel combs result in a more consistent cheek weld (placement of the cheek to the gun). Again, this is only true if the shooter premounts or has highly aggressive mount mechanics. 2) Angled combs are more likely to cause cheek bruising. This is also not true. To cause cheek bruising, the shooter must either cram his head into the gun with great force during shot execution or lift his head off the stock as he executes the shot, causing the recoil to force the gun into the cheek. As with high-rib shotguns, parallel combs are not for everyone. Each shooter has to weigh the advantages and disadvantages against their style of shooting.

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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Ask the Instructor: New Guns

New Guns

 

I plan to buy a new shotgun soon. Assuming that I’m looking for an over-and-under shotgun, what are the most important factors I should consider?

 

As a dealer, importer and gun fitter, I often get asked, “What gun should I buy?” I usually respond with “it depends.” Below are the five criteria I use to narrow down my clients’ preferences. I don’t use the answers as a checklist necessarily, but I ask my clients questions around these five areas in order to determine the best solution for their individual needs and wants. Before pulling out your credit card, you might want to think through your answers to these questions.

1) Utility – What do you plan on shooting with this new gun? Are you going to shoot clays or birds? If you are going to shoot mostly birds, what species of bird, where and under what conditions?
2) Budget – I usually try to understand the general budget range of the client. My advice: Buy the best quality gun you can afford.
3) Fit – Spending a lot of money on the purchase of a gun, only to find out afterwards that the gun does not fit, can be a heartbreaking experience. In many cases, the sales person selling a shotgun is not a gun fitter and has no idea if the gun fits you or not.
4) “Pointability” – How does the gun feel? Where is the balance point? How does it move for you? If possible, handle and shoot many guns before making a buying decision. If you ask nicely, most shooters at a sporting clays course are more than happy to let you shoot their gun at a few targets.
5) Aesthetics – Some gun buyers care more about functionality (that’s me). On the other hand, some believe the look of the gun is of equal importance.

Before buying your next shotgun, you might want to think through the answers to these questions. Good luck in purchasing your new gun!

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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Ask the Instructor: Hitting Kill Spots

Hitting Kill Spots

 

My break points tend to vary a bit. I usually break the targets in the same general area, but I tend to pull the trigger when everything feels and looks right. Is that okay? Shouldn’t I put more emphasis on focusing on the target rather than breaking the target in a certain place?

 

Commitment to break point is one of the essential requirements of consistency in sporting clays. If, at a particular sporting clays station, you break the first target of a pair in a different place each time, then you are shooting a different target each time. If your break points are inconsistent and random, the target will likely be at a different angle, different distance, different trajectory or possibly at a different speed when you pull the trigger. As such, you will need to change another aspect of your move to compensate for the different break point.

The key to consistency in sporting clays is to break all target pairs at a given station the same way and in the same place every time. Committing to your chosen break points starts with sound break point selection. Develop your plan for engaging the targets as you always do, ensuring that you landmark your break point. As you visualize the flight of the target, select a point along the flight line, just before the break point, at which you will apply acute focus to the target. Consistent timing of your focus is another essential element of consistency. Make sure that your interval of intense focus is relatively short (no more than 1 to 1.5 seconds) and that you can maintain sharp visual focus through the break point and shot execution. On targets with a longer flight time, timing your focus becomes an important factor in ensuring that your eyes don’t relax or “give up” on the target by the time it reaches the break point. “Dragging” the barrel past your break point or “riding the target” in an effort to measure and make the shot look perfect will weaken your commitment to break points and detract from your consistency.

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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Hartmann’s Hints: Shooting in Wind

Shooting in Wind

Several months ago, the Tulsa Gun Club held the annual St. Patrick’s Day Shoot. As always, it was a well-run shoot with over 60 shooters braving the cold and WINDY conditions.

The weather in Tulsa that month had, until that weekend, been warm and mostly calm, but because there was a shoot, Mother Nature had to show us that the last of cold, windy days weren’t over – it was still winter.

For the conditions, we had some pretty good scores, and I believe that almost everyone had fun. Of course it’s always more fun if you shoot those good scores.

I’ve found that, when shooting skeet in windy conditions, it helps to hit the targets a little quicker than you might normally shoot them. In this way you can take some of the variables caused by the wind out of the equation.

By shooting the targets while they still have the thrust the springs give them, you have less wind affecting the target. You still get ‘sky rockets’ and ankle-level shots, but they’re a little more like normal targets if you get them while they retain the momentum from the spring.

The SCTP kids that practice at the Tulsa Gun Club get a lot of practice in windy conditions. When they get to shoot in calm conditions, their scores go up.

Shooting in windy conditions takes concentration and a real desire to hit the targets. You might get what some of the local shooters call ‘a seven-ten split’ where one target heads toward the sky and the other tries to land before the station you’re shooting from.

Concentration and desire–these are the elements that we always need to shoot the scores necessary to be in the winners’ circle or at least in the shoot-offs. During windy conditions you see who is working and who is not working. Without concentration and desire, your scores will not get you in those shoot-offs.

Shooting in the wind can be fun and exciting, but your scores may not be what you want them to be.

Stay safe,

Barry Hartmann is an NSSA Master Level and NRA Certified shotgun instructor who can help you improve your skills at American Skeet and wingshooting. To contact Barry, email him at threeat8@aol.com or give him a call at (918)803-2393.