Fuzrats Skeet Diary

[Fuzrat]

*News flash, blog can now be found at http://shootclayforum.com/index.php?/blog/3-fuzrats-skeet-diary/

Welcome to the first post of my trials and tribulations, successes and epic failures and general musings on starting out in a new discipline. 

   Remember this is only my journey and musings, not to be taken as fact   The like button is your friend and if I have promoted a discussion or something you disagree with see above 

I don't pretend, or have the ego (some will say otherwise), to assume this will become a Todd Bender style skeet bible, but if it helps a few people to avoid some of the many mistakes I will undoubtedly make and answers a few basic questions I will be happy

I will try not to bore you all to tears and will try and break up the text with plenty of pictures and a few videos.

Here we go, Week 1

Over the last week many people on here have been extremely helpful in starting this journey, by replying to different topics or by pm. It is much appreciated and shows the vast knowledge base we are lucky to have on the forum. I have been watching Todd Bender, Chris Batha and many more videos on youtube and was linked to this cheat sheet which is very useful for the skeet beginner http://www.bristolshooting.org/training/BenderCheatSheet.pdf

I shall be sticking to my Miroku mk38 32" trap gun with Teague chokes in skt/skt. I know it shoots where I look and I don't feel the long barrels for English skeet will disadvantage me.

Cartridge is yet to be determined, cheap is going to be key as I envisage shooting quite a few of them. I am looking at 4 different shell choices, 2 steel (Gamebore super steel & white gold pro steel) both in 24g 9 shot. Fiocchi top 1 24g lead 9 shot and Hull comp x 21g 9 shot. The reason I am looking at light loads is I believe recoil fatigue and second shot recovery is more important than the amount of pellets for skeet, however, I am trying to compromise a little with the steel loads as I will get the amount of pellets with a lighter load. The only problem I see with the steel experiment is the supposed higher recoil characteristics and they apparently pattern tighter than lead. More to follow on the cartridge tests.

On to the fun bit, pulling the trigger. I am booked on to shoot this Saturday at Tadley, somewhere I have never shot before. My skeet ground experience being Northampton (part of a few allround reg shoots and 1 100 reg skeet) and Owls Lodge (practice). Excited but strangely nervous too, after many thousands of registered sporting targets with majors and a world championship included I really shouldn't be.

Northampton registered on Sunday so back to a comfort zone with a ground and targets I know.

Full report from the weekend to follow.

 

[Fuzrat]

The weekend is finally here! Weather is lots of snow and a bit gusty, but it can only get better from here right?

I went over to Just Cartridges this morning to pick up some shells. I bought 250 Gamebore super steel (24g 7.5, no 9's in stock, at £136 per thou) 250 Gamebore white gold pro steel (24g 9 at £149.75 per thou) and 250 Hull comp x (21g 9 at £148 per thou)

I am going to try a box of each per round and use my favorite for the last round, I was thinking of punching some paper with them but as long as the breaks are good and the recoil is acceptable I really dont care what they do on paper. As for price, they are all very acceptable and to be fair the White gold and comp x will have to bring a bit to the party, being around £12 per thou more expensive.

First impressions, they are all well packaged and I do like the clear case on the super steel (I like to see the innards) I will cut some open later this evening and take some pictures too.

Time to get some breakfast now then make my way to Tadley, Umbrella, waterproofs and plenty of warm clothes are the order of the day.

 

[sscottsmith1234]

I find anything that generally goes 'POP' is good enough for skeet?

 

[paulos]

Eley First 28g 9s are great.

 

[Will Hewland]

Oh FFS sake folks, read above, no posts on here. Seperate thread available for it.

Matt, clean up aisle 5 please. Maybe big red reminder in Title?

Bin this post of course..

 

[Fuzrat]

Just back from Tadley. A nice setup with the basic facilities, tea/coffee, toilets but no hot food, however, at £26 for 100 reg, birds only I am certainly not complaining! They have 2 skeet layouts, a DTL layout and a compact sporting with some more sporting in the woods.

Plenty of snow laying but thankfully it had stopped coming down and the breeze being gusty wasn't as bad as it had been in the morning.

Reasonably pleased with my day as I improved round by round and also had Mrs Fuz recording my misses so I could see any patterns emerging and use this for future practice sessions.

My total score was 86 made up of 20,21,22 and 23 to finish so picking up all the way through, another 2 rounds and I might of straighted it the way my scores went! 

On to the bad bits, the first half of my rounds really need attention. I didn't miss on station 1 but had problems with high 2 and 3 throughout the day in both singles and pairs. I think I have sorted it to a certain degree, on the 3rd round I realized I was being very lazy and tracking them. For the fourth round I moved my hold point slightly further out and shot them as soon as they hit my barrels, with a little push off the front edge. I was still killing it in the same place but I felt more in control of my barrels.

The other birds I was having issues with were on station 4. I think it was a lot to do with tracking the first bird on the pairs and not just getting on it and killing it. This left the second bird very late and I was always playing catch up with it. I tried it both high and low first but still no joy.

I only missed 1 bird on 5, 6, and 7 all day, that was low 5  3rd round, so quite pleased with that half of my rounds.

So, plenty to think about before Northampton tomorrow and some station 2, 3 and 4 practice next weekend, especially the pairs and high house!!!

Cartridge review to come later after I have taken my statistician to the pub in payment for keeping track of my misses.

 

[paulos]

Oh FFS sake folks, read above, no posts on here. Seperate thread available for it.

Matt, clean up aisle 5 please. Maybe big red reminder in Title?

Bin this post of course..

Sorry! I keep forgetting, what with it being an open forum n' all that...

 

[Chard]

 

[Fuzrat]

As promised the cartridge test.

I settled on 3 cartridges that are easily available for me and all around the £150 per thousand mark. Budget is a big consideration for me as I see myself shooting a lot of practice shells. There are better options for the better shot out there but at over £200 per thousand I don't think they will give me much more in the way of targets killed, technique and shot placement are more of a challenge to me at the moment and plenty of cheap shells being shot will help more than trying to find a magic bullet.

The 3 I settled on are Hulls 21g compx 9shot in lead. I discounted my other lead option (fiocchi top1) as I already use victory compact 24g (which are available in a 9 shot) for sporting, know how they work and are the same price. I chose 2 steel options, both Gamebore. The 24g super steel, which I could only get in 7.5 shot and the White Gold Pro Steel in 9 shot.

First up, the White Gold. A nice looking shell in a 70mm chamber case with the obligatory higher brass for a higher end offering, 9mm high with Gamebore branding printed on the head. The powder is a green/grey square cut flake, the steel shot to the naked eye is nicely spherical and noticeably bigger than a lead 9 equivalent. The wad has a long shot cup to keep the steel shot safely ensconced and away from the barrel wall and an intricate cushion between shot cup and over powder cup. This is quite short compared to lead wads I have seen, probably because of the extra pellets in the steel load.

The Super Steel has a grey clear "Kent Velocity" type case and 5mm head, printed with "12" and stars (again, much the same as the Velocity range) it is also a 70mm chamber case. The powder seems to be a slightly darker grey square flake. Interestingly the wad appears to be the same as the White Gold and the shot to the naked eye seems a very similar size, even though this is a 7.5. I didnt count the pellets I don't have the time or inclination to be honest.

Finally the Hull CompX. With this being a 21g lead load it comes in a 65mm chamber black case with a 5mm head that looks very similar to the Super Steel. Powder is a very green circular flake and the lead shot is noticeably smaller than the steel 9 of the White Gold. The wad has a shorter shot cup as there is less lead to fit in it and no need to keep the soft lead away from the barrel walls.

Left to right, CompX, Super Steel and White Gold Steel

On to shooting them. I shot the 21g CompX first, recoil was low to non existent as I expected having shot a few of these in 7.5 form at some sporting targets. Breaks were pretty good when in the middle of the pattern but not as good off centre as I had hoped for. Possibly suggesting a tight, hot centre with a sparse perimeter.

Next up was the Super Steel. Recoil was obviously higher than the CompX, being a 24g and steel load to boot. To be fair not dissimilar to my regular 24g Victory Compak lead loads. Breaks were very good in the centre, plenty of smoke, and still quite convincing when not quite on it. Maybe this is because these were a 7.5 and a couple of pellet strikes will be enough to break the clay into 4 or 5 bits rather than just crack it in half. Especially with the edge on clays at station 3,4 and 5

Finally the White Gold. Recoil was slightly softer than the Super steel due to the slightly different powders but everything else being the same it performed very similar to the Super Steel. Breaks were crunching dust in the middle of the pattern (this was a size 9) but much the same toward the edges.

All said and done, I shall be going with the Super Steel. If I can get it in a 9 shot even better but the 7.5 will suffice for now. I dont feel the White Gold brings enough to the party in less recoil for the extra £14 per thou and I will always be thinking "what if I had those extra few pellets" with the CompX

Enough talk, I'm off to Northampton to smoke some up!

 

[Fuzrat]

Just back from Northampton, 6 inches of snow on the ground and an icy gusting wind. This made for roller coaster targets and a bit of an eyesight test on some stations with orange targets against the snow covered bank.

Its interesting to note, now I have shot a couple of different grounds, how much the targets vary for a supposed fixed target game. I was warned of this in one of the messages I have received and now have experienced it myself. Tadleys targets yesterday were probably passing through the top of the hoop, then floating down to the distance peg. Northampton on the other hand were probably in the bottom of the hoop and driving down toward the distance peg. This was most noticeable on the high bird on station 1 and 2. Hold point had to be moved a fraction further out and slightly low to stop it sneaking under the barrels.

My misses were all over the place today, no real pattern to them at all. I think probably half to do with the gusty wind moving the targets around and the other half stupid head mistakes. For instance, yesterday I never missed from station 1 but today I missed a couple of low birds in the single and repeat and 1 in the double. I think i got complacent thinking I had this station cracked and took them for granted. The same with station 7, I missed a high bird in the pair which is downright unforgivable.

I felt a lot more comfortable on 3,4 and 5 today and I am starting to work out where I want to be holding and looking.

Total for today was 82. 21,20,20 and 21. Not too displeased with that as I managed to stay in the 20's each round again, which is a bit of a target for me. If its not going too well, just limit the damage as much as possible. It also adds a bit of pressure to the mix so when I eventually get to station 5 or 6 without a miss it wont feel alien to stand there and say to myself "you need to hit all the rest"

4 day week next week so hopefully a run up to Edgehill on Friday for a bit of practice then registered at Northampton on Sunday. They also have skeet doubles on so that may well be a good double header as I sure need the doubles practice.

 

[Fuzrat]

*Stop press* Just taken the plunge and booked on for the English Open at Nottingham on the Saturday 12.40 start and the British Open at Southern Counties, Saturday 14.00 start (same squad as Snipey, hope you don't mind mate)

This is starting to get a bit serious, Gulp!!!

 

[snipey]

Nope no problems here, I am very solitary whilst shooting skeet; helps me stay focused!

 

[Fuzrat]

Exciting News, Matt has kindly allowed me to host my little skeet blog within the forum via a blog option that wasnt utilised

I have now moved the content over and comments can be posted on each entry. These are in a collapsible menu so you can choose to read them by clicking on "comments" but if not they are hidden. It keeps the flow of the blog but also more importantly it gives a good "right to reply" there on the entry that the comment is about

Shootclay members comments are auto approved but non members (who can see the blog and comment, hopefully enticing them to sign up to the forum) have to be approved manually. Hopefully this will stop any spam or any anonymous attacks on comments made.

Find it here at 

Spread the word and let me know what you think

 

[Fuzrat]

Just found that there is a "follow blog" button at the top right of my blog homepage, this will give you notifications when new content is added Also you can hit the "view new content" button (top right) from the forum and select "blogs" from the left hand menu for new content

Have to bear with me for a few days while I find my way around the software, especially with my tech support guy sunning it up on the beach :beach:

 

[ExSCA]

Still watching though....
Sent from my Windows Phone 8 using Board Express/Tapatalk

 

[blaser f3]

As promised the cartridge test.

I settled on 3 cartridges that are easily available for me and all around the £150 per thousand mark. Budget is a big consideration for me as I see myself shooting a lot of practice shells. There are better options for the better shot out there but at over £200 per thousand I don't think they will give me much more in the way of targets killed, technique and shot placement are more of a challenge to me at the moment and plenty of cheap shells being shot will help more than trying to find a magic bullet.

The 3 I settled on are Hulls 21g compx 9shot in lead. I discounted my other lead option (fiocchi top1) as I already use victory compact 24g (which are available in a 9 shot) for sporting, know how they work and are the same price. I chose 2 steel options, both Gamebore. The 24g super steel, which I could only get in 7.5 shot and the White Gold Pro Steel in 9 shot.

First up, the White Gold. A nice looking shell in a 70mm chamber case with the obligatory higher brass for a higher end offering, 9mm high with Gamebore branding printed on the head. The powder is a green/grey square cut flake, the steel shot to the naked eye is nicely spherical and noticeably bigger than a lead 9 equivalent. The wad has a long shot cup to keep the steel shot safely ensconced and away from the barrel wall and an intricate cushion between shot cup and over powder cup. This is quite short compared to lead wads I have seen, probably because of the extra pellets in the steel load.

The Super Steel has a grey clear "Kent Velocity" type case and 5mm head, printed with "12" and stars (again, much the same as the Velocity range) it is also a 70mm chamber case. The powder seems to be a slightly darker grey square flake. Interestingly the wad appears to be the same as the White Gold and the shot to the naked eye seems a very similar size, even though this is a 7.5. I didnt count the pellets I don't have the time or inclination to be honest.

Finally the Hull CompX. With this being a 21g lead load it comes in a 65mm chamber black case with a 5mm head that looks very similar to the Super Steel. Powder is a very green circular flake and the lead shot is noticeably smaller than the steel 9 of the White Gold. The wad has a shorter shot cup as there is less lead to fit in it and no need to keep the soft lead away from the barrel walls.

Left to right, CompX, Super Steel and White Gold Steel

On to shooting them. I shot the 21g CompX first, recoil was low to non existent as I expected having shot a few of these in 7.5 form at some sporting targets. Breaks were pretty good when in the middle of the pattern but not as good off centre as I had hoped for. Possibly suggesting a tight, hot centre with a sparse perimeter.

Next up was the Super Steel. Recoil was obviously higher than the CompX, being a 24g and steel load to boot. To be fair not dissimilar to my regular 24g Victory Compak lead loads. Breaks were very good in the centre, plenty of smoke, and still quite convincing when not quite on it. Maybe this is because these were a 7.5 and a couple of pellet strikes will be enough to break the clay into 4 or 5 bits rather than just crack it in half. Especially with the edge on clays at station 3,4 and 5

Finally the White Gold. Recoil was slightly softer than the Super steel due to the slightly different powders but everything else being the same it performed very similar to the Super Steel. Breaks were crunching dust in the middle of the pattern (this was a size 9) but much the same toward the edges.

All said and done, I shall be going with the Super Steel. If I can get it in a 9 shot even better but the 7.5 will suffice for now. I dont feel the White Gold brings enough to the party in less recoil for the extra £14 per thou and I will always be thinking "what if I had those extra few pellets" with the CompX

Enough talk, I'm off to Northampton to smoke some up!

Over the last five odd years the skeet shooters down here at Dartford (and for a longer period ) at Kingsferry have shot untold tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of super steel ,used to be 28g but over the last couple of years the general opinion seems to be (and i definitely agree ) that the 24g out performs the 28g  (and cheaper) other steel cartridges have been brought out supposedly better (always dearer ) but i would say well over 90% of the skeet shooters down this way still prefer the super steels , many major comps /home internationals (ground allowing )have been won using these shells. infact as we've travelled around G.B many other shooters have been so impressed with the kills using steel they are now using them ......The strange thing is as more and more S/Steels have been sold (many a time we bought 10-20,000 cartridges at a time beetween us ) their price has risen very quickly to match other cartridges out there !!, weird ehh !

 

[Fuzrat]

yep, wasnt too long ago they were under £100 per thou

 

[Salopian]

Perhaps it shows how gullible we are?

 

[Hawkeye]

The price ticket on anything depend's on what people will pay