do I need to adjust my stock?

[jwpzx9r]

Hi

Had another ABT outing on Friday and had three reasonable rounds 18,16 and 19 but I was very frustrated really. I am finding that I absolutely powder most of my clays on the first barrel and the misses are, I think because I might not putting the gun into my shoulder properly . I have a habit of shouldering my gun slightly too high, so the heel of the stock is above my shoulder line, effectively making me shoot low. I generally know what has happened after the first barrel miss and normally don't bother with the second because I know I will miss, and of course I start to think about this rather than hitting the clay . On the next few stands I am extra careful with the gun mount and more often than not get back on track. Question is should I adopt a different approach and alter the height of the comb to compensate for the high mount and stick with that rather than keep having to remind myself to shoulder the gun a bit lower. Logic tells me to concentrate on getting the mount correct every time but then I think well if the gun comes comfortably into my shoulder slightly high that is my natural mount and I should stick with what comes naturally to me. I am sure that it is not good to be thinking and worrying about my gun mount when I am preparing to shoot. I could do with coaching session but there are no English speaking coaches I know of in my area. I think I could easily be hitting an extra two or three clays if I could sort this out! Or am I just missing the point that shooting is a discipline that needs total concentration and repetition of pre-shot setup for success and the frustration I am feeling is the norm?

 

[40UP]

Mounting the gun high in the shoulder is a good thing as it keeps the head upright and the eyes more level. Powdering the first but missing all seconds indicates snap shooting with no gun movement after the first shot. Set your mind to follow through on the pieces [there will be some] and take them out. Sometimes they'll still be entire.

 

[ips]

What 40up said.

I would add that your last sentence answers your question.

 

[** Pending Removal **]

Plus the exact same gun mount each time.......and don't thing tooooo much at this stage.......just enjoy..!!

 

[jwpzx9r]

Thanks for the replies. I think what I will do is leave my gun as it is and concentrate on my gun mount for the moment. If I still feel I need to I will look at the stock after another couple of shoots. I think the comment about not moving the gun is probably very valid but nearly every clay I hit is quite literally dust after and there is nothing to follow so I do think I stop moving my gun at that point. I don't want to over think the situation but I sometimes wonder if what I am doing is getting the gun in front of the clay and shooting it with a stationary gun is this possible? My major problem is lack of language, there are one or two very good shooters who are most willing to help and do, when they have the time, stand behind and give you advice on a missed clay unfortunately none of them speak English and my French is limited but it has never been indicated that I do this. I seriously need to do more shooting though, three rounds a fortnight I find a very limiting factor in improving and enjoying my shooting   

 

[** Pending Removal **]

Do that.

Try to make everything identical each time.....

When you smoke them....everything is right, timing, gun mount etc etc......providing you are talking a first barrel kill and not a lucky second barrel.

 

[jwpzx9r]

Thanks for the advice Nicola. I usually completely dust them on the first barrel and very occasionally hit with the second. On Friday I hit 18,16 and 19  of those I only had four second barrel hits. This may sound a bit daft, don't say nuff'n , but the ones I am missing should be favourable targets for me and its almost that I am surprised I that don't hit them and I just don't bother with the second barrel !

 

[ips]

Me thinks you are falling into the trap that we all do at times and that is over anylising it. Sounds like you are doing quite well so all you need to do is try to shoot more often. Second barrel kills will come with experience there is no fast track unfortunately.

 

[jwpzx9r]

Me thinks you are falling into the trap that we all do at times and that is over anylising it. Sounds like you are doing quite well so all you need to do is try to shoot more often. Second barrel kills will come with experience there is no fast track unfortunately.

I think you are definitely right about needing to get more shooting done! The over analysing part of it is correct too ... but I can't help it I am a retired scientist and analysing and trying to improve performance is just what I was used to doing...don't have the knowhow when it comes to shooting though !

 

[Hotshot100]

Is it one particular type of target that you miss more than others or is it completely random? What chokes have you got in the gun?

 

[ips]

I am the same well apart from the scientist bit

ok Lets analyze here goes...

You must have a simple gun mount and pre shot routine one that can be easily replicated the more simple the better.

You must shoot as often as possible in order for this to be a natural thing that one no longer needs to be conscious of therefore whilst you are unconsciously doing it your mind can be on the important task of seing the target.

Goes without saying gun must fit perfectly and you must be confident that it does.

Gun hold and focus point is a personal thing and you have to play about to find it but also be able to adapt it when neccasarily for weather and ground differences etc.

Now the most important thing is this. You must concentrate fully on seing the front edge of the target as you call for it and absolutely nothing else, if you do this you will find that the shot will happen on its own with no input or conscious thought from you.

I say again there is no substitute for experience so the more you shoot the better you will get there is unfortunately no easy or quick fix and no fast track.

Hope some of that helps but remember IMO the most important and overlooked aspect of shooting trap is quite simply seing the target correctly

 

[ips]

Yes hotshot has a reasonable question there as if its a specific target you are struggling with then you have a problem / fault with one of many possibilities.

 

[Hotshot100]

Seeing the target correctly as Ian says was really drummed in to me by Martin Barker when I had an O.T. lesson with him at Nuthampstead recently. This was why I asked the question as the targets that I regularly missed and thought were easy actually aren't.

 

[jwpzx9r]

Is it one particular type of target that you miss more than others or is it completely random? What chokes have you got in the gun?

Hi Hotshot

The targets that I miss strangely seem to be the ones which should be good for me! I am right handed and they are targets that tend to be straight away eg. A extreme right from stand1 which is just about straight for me and some times an extreme left from stand 5 which again is straight and on occasion straight away from stand 3 of course the rise angles vary. Now these targets are all similar and I have been told I am dwelling on them and letting them get away a bit before I shoot. Its almost as though I give a sigh and say at last something which is not leaving me at an angle and I take too much time getting my shot off. One of the best shooters got me the other week and told me I was hitting extreme right and left with great speed no problem then going to sleep as they say on a straight away is it possible to be complacent and I am not fully committing to the shot? The other thing I might be doing is miss reading what I think is straight when it may in fact have a slight angle and I am shooting inside the line? Any way it goes I find it annoying to hit what are considered the tough targets only to stumble on what should be a favourable target. The gun is choked 3/4 and full at the moment. As I said in the first post I do sometimes mount my gun high, this is partly due to my shooting vest which is cheap and kind of ruffles up a bit. I have a new vest coming soon I hope it will let me mount the gun more positively. I also have to say that I have a routine when I shoot you know stance and making sure I have me head on the stock nicely, someone did comment that I took a long time to take my shot but I don't think its more than say 10 secs is that too long? Any way this is turning into war and peace thanks for the help.

 

[** Pending Removal **]

They are not straight away ...so that could be one of the problems.

Your other shooter could be quite right....don't relax on what you 'think' are easy ones....nothing is easy till it is on the card. Attack attack attack :smile:

 

[ips]

Nicola is correct nothing is easy including the straight ones. This is difficult without seing you shoot but putting the pieces together from what you say then it could be that you are not committing to the shot fully and therefore not pushing through the target hence missing underneath you have to remember Partictlarily on low ish ones that there still rising and you need to shoot the leading edge. And, or your gun hold may be too high causing you to not see the target as soon as it leaves the trap this can effect your timing / perception of the trajectory. And, or your stance may be very upright causing you to lean back on the shot to get some height into the barrel so ensure you adopt a slight forward lean of your gun mount which also gives a more aggressive approach, as Nicola says attack it or lose it. The above are examples of what could be the cause but i stress could.

 

[ips]

As for time taken to compose well this is a very personal thing, theoretically 7 seconds is considered the optimum but i cannot shoot like that my natural timing is to call as soon as the gun is shouldered. So no right or wrong whatever works for you and whatever feels natural is right.

Just read your last post again.

If you are taking 10 sec or more that indicates to me that your pre shot routine / set up could be too complex and you are concentrating too much on getting this right. You then need 10sec or more to clear your mind. Just a thought.

 

[Hotshot100]

I was hoping that you were going to come back with this answer. That is exactly what I thought until Martin put me right. He told me that the straight away target is the one that shows if everything else is right. If you consistently miss them then there is something wrong with your basic approach.

According to Martin this is often trying to 'jump' the target, in other words not waiting a split second to see where it's going before moving the gun. Try putting more open chokes in your gun for the time being, I shot O.T. with 1/2 and 1/2 at Martin's advice which was fine, even for second barrels.

Try to discipline yourself in to not moving the gun until you are certain of where the target is going. I know that it's easier said than done. It's a pity that you're out in France as I'm sure that an hour spent with someone like Martin Barker would be very beneficial.

 

[** Pending Removal **]

Sorry folks, I did not make myself clear......a straight away .....is only straight on a dead calm day (if thrown from good traps that don't curl). If it is a windy or breezy day they can drift......it all depends on the day and what they are doing.....and it can change hour to hour ....hence you should have a look at a few birds from the squad before....so you can have a recky.... :laugh: