S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
19
|
20
|
21
|
22
|
23
|
24
|
25
|
26
|
27
|
28
|
29
|
30
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 members (J.B.Patton),
410
guests, and
1
robot. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
Forums10
Topics38,900
Posts550,591
Members14,458
|
Most Online1,344 Apr 29th, 2024
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,056 Likes: 57
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,056 Likes: 57 |
I shoot them all Stan.
Pretty evenly divided on an annual basis.
Not much 5-stand this year due to lack of people to shoot with.
I'm fortunate to have a couple very nice places to shoot clays where I can use the time delay or just lay the remote on the rail of the stand and shoot by myself.
If you're getting at the process of reading a target, it should be near autonomic.
You've seen them all, as have I. Just move, mount, shoot. Don't let your brain get in the way.
Fortunately, mine isn't big enough to cause much of an obstruction.
"The price of good shotgunnery is constant practice" - Fred Kimble
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 13,375 Likes: 1318
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 13,375 Likes: 1318 |
Not thinking at all doesn't work for me, SJ. Is it automatic (I assume that's what you meant by autonomic) when you view a previously unseen, really technical true pair, to know immediately which to shoot first? Not for me. I have to think and second and decide. Don't, and a good target setter will eat my lunch. When I see a midi target thrown at distance do I automatically know it's a midi, or do I wonder for a second if it's a standard, but further out? (It's not always on the menu what size the target is). I agree that the brain needs to be "calmed down" a few seconds before calling "Pull". That is a basic part of my pre-shot routine. But, to say that thinking is not required for creating a plan, as I look at the show pair, would be totally false. I decide on several things in a matter of seconds after seeing that show pair, and thinking is required to make those decisions. Once I have a plan for the pair I switch that level of brain function off, and just try to execute the plan. I haven't seen them all, SJ. Target setters are getting better and better. They will use the terrain to fool you into thinking a bird is rising when it's actually falling. They will use timing of the first shot o a true pair to beat you. Don't think about where that second bird is going to be, after you kill the first one, and they'll be marking a "0" on your card for that target. Shoot at that first report pair bird on edge at 45 yards, instead of waiting a couple of seconds for it to show you it's face, and see how well it works. All those things require thinking about in advance. Failing to have a plan is the equivalent to planning to fail, IMO. I see new shooters all the time just look at a show pair and the only thing they remember is where they're coming from. They shoot in the 50s, if they're lucky. My last three rounds of 100 were scored at 96, 96 and 94. The first score was the morning of the day I accidentally drowned and was resuscitated. The last two are in the last two weeks after I regained enough muscle strength to hold my Perazzi up for a whole round. Thinking at the right time works for me. Now, if I'd just been thinking that afternoon before I tried to go down that steep waterslide upright, on my feet .......... Best, SRH
May God bless America and those who defend her.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,056 Likes: 57
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,056 Likes: 57 |
Ever talk yourself out of a target?
I got really good at that.
You have elucidated your thought process well. There is also a certain amount of pure reaction involved in this and i find it helps to have a fairly blank mind when the targets appear.
I limit my analysis to a general 'window' for each target. It helps of course to watch the other targets and I do watch every bird even at trap, even if it's just to call a dead bird for a fellow shooter.
The more you repeat something, the more basic elements become nearly autonomic. I recall trying to learn instrument flying and then later teaching it. At first, it seems like a great deal of things need to be perceived at once and the information processed. It takes near all your conscious thought and is exhausting... until you've done it bit and then basic airplane control takes up less of your mental processor time and you can start to devote more of your attention to the host of other tasks that need to be done. It's a process, like learning to shoot.
Once you have sufficient experience at it, stuff just happens of it's own accord. I've flown with pilots so good that the airplane just starts responding to them as if the guy was part of the machine. It's fun to watch.
It becomes like that with a shotgun and i know you've experienced it. That's kind of why we persist isn't it?
"The price of good shotgunnery is constant practice" - Fred Kimble
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 76
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 76 |
I bought a flat of these a couple of years ago. my patterns of RST Spreaders opened about a quarter on test paper but were patchy. I do not like them. I would prefer to open the chokes
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 13,375 Likes: 1318
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 13,375 Likes: 1318 |
I prefer opening the choke(s) too, as a general rule. I only use spreaders on certain presentations that are very close and unpredictable, because I shoot two .020" fixed chokes, at sporting. I never have used them hunting.
I cannot handle switching chokes all the time like my buddies do. Too distracting for me.
SRH
May God bless America and those who defend her.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,464 Likes: 133
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,464 Likes: 133 |
Larry, I have tried many different recipes for home grown spreaders, but I've never patterned one that had an insufficient density in the center, or core. I'd like to know exactly which load(s) you found that were not filled sufficiently in the core, or center, so that I can not waste my time on them.
SRH Stan, you haven't seen Jay Menefee's solution to a weak center using his spreaders? Why would he have bothered if there were no issue with insufficient density? And depending on the purpose for which you intend the load in question, we could probably have a very long discussion over the definition of a core that's sufficiently filled. I'm not talking real "donut loads", but I saw centers that were weaker than the annular ring both with some factory spreaders and my own reloads using unmodified discs. Solved it to my satisfaction by modifying the discs. I did not see that problem with RST's spreaders, but they also spread less than the Polywads (factory or reloads). But since I spend a fair amount of time chasing birds (primarily woodcock) that are often shot at close range, I've come to the conclusion that it's easier to use a double with little or no choke in the first barrel.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 13,375 Likes: 1318
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 13,375 Likes: 1318 |
Sorry to be late answering, but you probably won't be back on until early tomorrow morning anyway.
Yes, I've even loaded some with the half moons cut out of the edges of the disc. But, I never patterned the solid disc in a spreader load. It looked like a recipe for disaster to me. It was no surprise when something else had to be done to it to use it.
I'll stick with loads with the X post center. They work great in the Fiocchis. Very consistent.
SRH
May God bless America and those who defend her.
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 274 Likes: 75
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 274 Likes: 75 |
I bought a Beretta 425 to use as a dove gun and the full choke barrel shot such tight patterns that I considered it unusable. If I could hit a bird at 25 yards, there would have been nothing left to eat.
I made up some loads with 3 different type of spreaders, and found that the Polywads produced the best patterns for dove hunting. I read about the folks that were putting part of the shot over the wad and made my shells that way. It made the gun very usable, and the donut hole was eliminated.
I posted pattern pictures on here, but that was 7 or 8 years ago.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,056 Likes: 57
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,056 Likes: 57 |
OK, I have some 12 gauge Polywad inserts coming.
I've cooked up a little ass-periment for springtime. It will take until then, I don't shoot in the winter at this time for a variety of reasons, the main one being I don't like to drive in the winter and besides I'll need some helpers.
I'll enlist a few of my shooting buddies for a short string of shoots at Low 7. They won't be aware of what I'm investigating. I'll load the Polywad insert with and without a layer of shot on top and mix them up. I plan a box of each.
They will be graded from 0-5 as far as break quality, and estimated by another team of eggsperts as to distance past the stake. I'm intending a 21-25 yard test.
I'll fire 10 control rounds with the same load built without the insert just to prove to my own secret self that I can center that target with the gun in use. I expect a grade of '5' for all those. My barrel will be a factory Browning Modified.
Comments, suggestions, predictions? I know what I expect to find, but I'll report honestly. I'll use an ounce of hard 8's. Any donut or holes big enough to allow an on edge clay target to get through should show up.
"The price of good shotgunnery is constant practice" - Fred Kimble
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 13,375 Likes: 1318
Sidelock
|
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 13,375 Likes: 1318 |
Sounds like fun, SJ. Just be aware that 21-25 yards is likely on the outer limit of the usefulness of any spreader.
SRH
May God bless America and those who defend her.
|
|
|
|
|