only shoot 1/2 & 3/4

[westley]

@donna
Interesting comment on close targets. Thankfully close targets are not really an issue for me, I straighted a low very fast incoming overhead today which could only have been about 4 or 5 meters high and very close fast crossing rabbit which was about 10 meters away.

My bogey targets are the distant seemingly slow crossers that are 40+ meters away. Obviously these need more practice!!

But, not necessarily, more choke !

 

[donna]

@donna
Interesting comment on close targets. Thankfully close targets are not really an issue for me, I straighted a low very fast incoming overhead today which could only have been about 4 or 5 meters high and very close fast crossing rabbit which was about 10 meters away.

My bogey targets are the distant seemingly slow crossers that are 40+ meters away. Obviously these need more practice!!

Close stuff for me is eye dominance issue (right handed but left eye dominant) but after having my lessons with BH I’ve really got to grips with them, not saying I’ve conquered them totally but much more relaxed and not so stressed when I see something literally at the end of my gun!

The only way to get to grips with any bogey target is to go and shoot them non stop until you’ve worked out what you’re doing wrong/right etc.

 

[General Skanky]

I always question how I'm doing things until I get it right. Chokes is an interesting one. This may be of use, hope the dashing member on the forum doesn't mind me putting the link up -

 

[PeeJay]

I’ll confess that as a beginner, the chokes I have in are the ones put in by the instructor when I bought the gun. What’s worse is that I couldn’t tell you what they are!

For someone at my level (novice) is there a recommended choke e.g. as open as possible? What’s in the top and what’s in the bottom please. I have the standard choke set that came with the Baretta 686 silver pigeon.

Or is there so much more to be concerned about at my level that I can forget about chokes for now?

 

[Clear Miss]

I’ll confess that as a beginner, the chokes I have in are the ones put in by the instructor when I bought the gun. What’s worse is that I couldn’t tell you what they are!

For someone at my level (novice) is there a recommended choke e.g. as open as possible? What’s in the top and what’s in the bottom please. I have the standard choke set that came with the Baretta 686 silver pigeon.

Or is there so much more to be concerned about at my level that I can forget about chokes for now?

Probably 1/4 (4 notches in the end of the tube) and 1/2 (3 notches).

I wouldn't bother yourself too much at this point. It can all become overwhelming and too much to worry about with choke and cartridge choice. It's all very interesting and nerdy trying out differing things and seeing what the end result is but if your focus at this point is learning to shoot then I wouldn't bother.

I said In an earlier post that I just leave one set of 3/8s in my gun now for all of my shooting as its one less thing to worry about 'should I be switching the 1/4 in the top barrel for this first target rather than the skeet in bottom barrel?' Etc. It's just one more thing to waste your thinking capacity on rather than just focusing on hold points, kill points, technique and repeating that 4 or 5 times to get the straight.

Some will carry a huge selection of chokes on their person and change from stand to stand. I can understand carrying perhaps a super cylinder and a 3/4 or 5/8 maybe and then swapping them out for extremely close or far targets where your standard set up wouldn't be ideal but I certainly wouldn't be changing from a 1/4 to 3/8 between stands because this battue is 5 yards further on than the crosser on the last stand or whatever.

I do carry two different cartridges with one being a Fiocchi F3 Piston or Hull Pro Piston for 90% of targets and an F3 7.5 or FBlack for targets a little further out. I could take this further and carry a 9.5 skeet load and a 6.5 Hull Sovereign Parcours for very far stuff but again I'm just over complicating what should be a relatively straightforward process.

 

[PeeJay]

Probably 1/4 (4 notches in the end of the tube) and 1/2 (3 notches).

I wouldn't bother yourself too much at this point. It can all become overwhelming and too much to worry about with choke and cartridge choice. It's all very interesting and nerdy trying out differing things and seeing what the end result is but if your focus at this point is learning to shoot then I wouldn't bother.

I said In an earlier post that I just leave one set of 3/8s in my gun now for all of my shooting as its one less thing to worry about 'should I be switching the 1/4 in the top barrel for this first target rather than the skeet in bottom barrel?' Etc. It's just one more thing to waste your thinking capacity on rather than just focusing on hold points, kill points, technique and repeating that 4 or 5 times to get the straight.

Some will carry a huge selection of chokes on their person and change from stand to stand. I can understand carrying perhaps a super cylinder and a 3/4 or 5/8 maybe and then swapping them out for extremely close or far targets where your standard set up wouldn't be ideal but I certainly wouldn't be changing from a 1/4 to 3/8 between stands because this battue is 5 yards further on than the crosser on the last stand or whatever.

I do carry two different cartridges with one being a Fiocchi F3 Piston or Hull Pro Piston for 90% of targets and an F3 7.5 or FBlack for targets a little further out. I could take this further and carry a 9.5 skeet load and a 6.5 Hull Sovereign Parcours for very far stuff but again I'm just over complicating what should be a relatively straightforward process.

Great information, thank you. Although I am indeed nerdy I’ll leave well alone for now. The only thing I might try changing is the cartridge, but that’s mainly because I get a couple of misfires on visits. I’m using the grounds own basic cartridge, so I might try another to make sure it’s the cartridge not the gun.

 

[General Skanky]

Any use?

 

[PeeJay]

Any use?

Definitely, thank you.

 

[Nickredhill]

I switched at the weekend from¼ and ½ to skeet and ¼. I thought it was worth a try. It made no difference to my score, so I've gone back to good old ¼ and ½.
What I have found makes a difference is an eye dominance patch on my left lens.

 

[vmax1010]

This is why you need to pattern your choke/cartridge combination so you have confidence in them, I normally use 1/4 3/8 but when I patterned my invictus I found the 3/8 to tight for my liking so I now use 1/4 1/4

 

[AW13]

I switched at the weekend from¼ and ½ to skeet and ¼. I thought it was worth a try. It made no difference to my score, so I've gone back to good old ¼ and ½.
What I have found makes a difference is an eye dominance patch on my left lens.

I really need a patch as well but like the full vision to assess the flight path so I squint my left eye before I take the shot. Probably not ideal but I suffer from mono vision rather than left eye dominance. On some shots I just shut my left eye.

Following Ben's video I'm settling on shooting IC & IC in my B725. Just leave them in there for a while and concentrate on breaking the clays.