Aiming for the Sky

August 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
For those shooters who are looking to improve their scores, finding new challenges is . . . well . . . challenging.  As is common with many sports, equipment improves and the sportsmen improve, causing a decline in difficulty during games. After a period of time, the competitions are not what they used to be. The scores have gotten higher, and the distance between the best shooter and the lowest shooter becomes smaller and smaller.
When this begins to happen, the sport needs to evolve; it needs to undergo some changes. And so it has happened with clay shooting.  To solve the problem, Bill V. Erdoss, an Olympian from the early 1970s and a trainer of current Olympians, has created a new game called Maze Clays.
Maze Clays is a shotgun discipline which offers clay shooting at FITASC presentation levels. The competition takes place on an open field or one designed for skeet or trap.  Teams of six or eight shooters, broken down into groups of three and three or four and four, are lead by an operator through a series of nine stations.
A patented MSS (Mobile Support System) is rigged with wired or wireless triggers for the six to nine traps. The operator moves the MSS, and triggers the traps for each shooter. The angle and distance to each of the traps changes with each station, creating a greater range of possibilities. Distances can range from 10 to 60 yards, and angles can be wider or sharper.
The game can be for any level of shooter, from beginner to advanced. Any type of gun can be used, and forming a strategy is required. Due to the moving of the station and the variety of angles and distances, each round can be very different from the preceding round. Developed by Andrei and Bill V. Erdoss, Maze Clays was officially introduced at the 2006 SHOT show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: General Discussion, Safety Precautions, Shooting Tagged With: , , ,

Safety First

August 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment
From image page: "U.S. Marine Corps Lance...
Image via Wikipedia
Everyone wants to enjoy shooting shotguns, but few want to think about safety. It seems like a legalistic bother to go over and over rules for the proper handling of firearms, but if you sit at a range long enough, you will see why safety is so heavily emphasized.  So here is a list of things you should be conscious of when handling your shotgun.
1) When waiting to fire, keep your gun aimed straight up, or straight down.
2) Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire.
3) Wear ear plugs to dampen sound, and wear full-cover eye-glasses to protect against pieces of flying debris or metal.
4) Always pretend that your shotgun is loaded, even if you think it isn’t.
5) Keep the action open or the breach cracked open until you are ready to insert a cartridge.
6) Only use the correct gauge cartridge in your gun.
7) Don’t put two different kinds of cartridges together in the same container or pouch.
8) Keep your barrel clean of objects, and be sure to clear it after a misfire. Do not shoot another round until you are certain it has been cleared.
9) Know exactly what is on the other side of the target. Your shot is going to go farther than your target and it might hit something beyond.
10) Be certain you know your gun: its safety release, its trigger, and its barrel selector.
11) Keep track of your ejected hulls: they are hot and dangerous.
12) Always keep your shotgun unloaded, especially when cleaning or transporting it.
13) Always keep your equipment very well cleaned, maintained, and protected.
14) When passing your shotgun to someone else, crack it open, verify it’s unloaded, and pass it stock first.
15) Always keep track of your shooting partners, where they are and in which direction their guns are pointing.
16) After firing, clear the chamber, and leave the gun open until it’s your turn to fire again.
17) Keep control of your emotions: you are in a live fire situation.
Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Safety Precautions, Shooting, Sports Tagged With: , ,

Choosing a Gun

August 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Derringers are small and can be easily concealed.
Image via Wikipedia
When starting off in shooting sports, there are many important questions a shooter must ask. What game do I want to shoot? Am I shooting purely for fun, or am I practicing for hunting season? How much money am I willing to spend?
Another question, perhaps the most pertinent, is: what type of gun should I buy?
The type of gun you shoot with will determine what game you play. According to some experts, a shotgun allows for the widest selection of shooting games. Shotguns come in a variety of different gauges: 12gauge, 20 gauge, .410, 10gauge, 9 mm, and .22. A beginner afraid of recoil will have a tendency to choose a smaller gauge, but these gauges are harder to aim, and will result in frustration. The 12 gauge with an open choke will provide the widest spray pattern, helping the new shooter hit their target.
The length of the shotgun barrel is also important. A 28 inch barrel is middle of the road, and will be a sufficient length for most shotgun sports. Beginners can pick up an adequate shotgun for around $1000.
Next up is a target rifle. A .22 gauge semi-automatic carbine is best for a target rifle. This gun is perfect for target shooting, plinking, and definitely capable in small game hunting. A ton of after-market accessories are available for this kind of gun, allowing a shooter to customize their barrels, stocks, and triggers.
A target pistol is another gun used in the sporting world. A good target pistol is relatively inexpensive ( around $300), and can function as an adequate hunting sidearm in a clutch. Plus, .22 caliber rounds are inexpensive, and the .22 pistol has almost no recoil, putting beginners at ease.
As a sportsman becomes more advanced in the world of shooting, their knowledge will increase and their tastes will start to form. But in the beginning, it is important to find the right equipment-especially the right gun- so that bull’s-eyes, and fun, are maximized.

When starting off in shooting sports, there are many important questions a shooter must ask. What game do I want to shoot? Am I shooting purely for fun, or am I practicing for hunting season? How much money am I willing to spend?
Another question, perhaps the most pertinent, is: what type of gun should I buy?
The type of gun you shoot with will determine what game you play. According to some experts, a shotgun allows for the widest selection of shooting games. Shotguns come in a variety of different gauges: 12gauge, 20 gauge, .410, 10gauge, 9 mm, and .22. A beginner afraid of recoil will have a tendency to choose a smaller gauge, but these gauges are harder to aim, and will result in frustration. The 12 gauge with an open choke will provide the widest spray pattern, helping the new shooter hit their target. The length of the shotgun barrel is also important. A 28 inch barrel is middle of the road, and will be a sufficient length for most shotgun sports. Beginners can pick up an adequate shotgun for around $1000.
Next up is a target rifle. A .22 gauge semi-automatic carbine is best for a target rifle. This gun is perfect for target shooting, plinking, and definitely capable in small game hunting. A ton of after-market accessories are available for this kind of gun, allowing a shooter to customize their barrels, stocks, and triggers.
A target pistol is another gun used in the sporting world. A good target pistol is relatively inexpensive ( around $300), and can function as an adequate hunting sidearm in a clutch. Plus, .22 caliber rounds are inexpensive, and the .22 pistol has almost no recoil, putting beginners at ease.
As a sportsman becomes more advanced in the world of shooting, their knowledge will increase and their tastes will start to form. But in the beginning, it is important to find the right equipment-especially the right gun- so that bull’s-eyes, and fun, are maximized.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Safety Precautions, Shooting, Sports Tagged With: , ,

Trapshooting: No Longer for the Birds

August 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Fred
Image by James J Jenkins via Flickr
Trapshooting, a shotgun skill event where contestants fire rounds from set distances at moving targets in order to accrue points, has evolved greatly over the years. Take today’s game: shooters are lined up at internationally agreed upon distances. The shooter tightens his shoulder. A hush comes over the field. Then, BOOM! A clay disk is launched from a high-performance machine and the skilled sportsman tracks it through the air. A serious sport.
The sport, however, didn’t have quite those sophisticated beginnings. Trapshooting began in the 18th century as hunters sought ways to practice in the offseason. ‘Practice’ they called it, but when the game started out, shooters used real, live pigeons. The pigeons were placed in holes in the ground. The holes were covered, sometimes by old hats. The shooter would yell for a designated puller to yank a string attached to the old hat, releasing the bird. As time went on and the sport progressed, the live pigeons were eventually held in wooden houses, with different exits for releasing the pigeon. The wooden house, or trap house, quickly became standard.
The sport evolved into a means for fashionable men to gamble, with local pubs around London hosting well-attended shoots. The game still remains a gambling sport in some areas.
Due to the scarcity of passenger pigeons, and a public outcry, shooting live pigeons was outlawed in the early 20th century, leading to the innovation the targets used for sport. Initially, glass balls were shot from a spring-loaded mechanism. The glass was stained all sorts of colors, sometimes even stuffed with feathers for a more realistic effect.
Organizers began to slip clay balls into the trap, as clay was easier to acquire than glass. At first, shooters were upset because the clay wasn’t breaking properly. An Englishman pioneered the switch from a spherical design to a disk-shape design, allowing the targets to break better. The disk shape also allowed the targets to fly straighter out of the trap. Official regulations for the disks were decided upon, and the clay disk remains the standard target today.
Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Safety Precautions, Shooting, Sports Tagged With: , ,
Newer Posts »