Pull away shooting

[rookstorm]

Hi guys ive been shooting over forty years and use swing through .Game shooter .Ive taken up shooting a lot of clays and would like to learn pull away on some of the longer crossers.Im not doing well at all at it as i tend to look down the barrel to put it on the clay then pull away . Should i still be just looking at the clay as swing through and not intentionally putting the bead on it .Should i just concentrate on the clay, mount on to it and pull away without looking at the barrel ?

 

[Will Hewland]

Hi guys ive been shooting over forty years and use swing through .Game shooter .Ive taken up shooting a lot of clays and would like to learn pull away on some of the longer crossers.Im not doing well at all at it as i tend to look down the barrel to put it on the clay then pull away . Should i still be just looking at the clay as swing through and not intentionally putting the bead on it .Should i just concentrate on the clay, mount on to it and pull away without looking at the barrel ?

Your last sentence is the way forward!

 

[Bebo]

It was a revelation when I realised that shooting pull away doesn't mean you have to faff about for ages trying to exactly match bead to the clay.  Couldn't get on with it until I started being much more relaxed about getting the bead on the clay and instead focused on getting the gun speed about the same and then moving away.

There was a battue on the last EJC shoot that my squad were struggling with.  Pretty much all of them were trying to swing through it and by letting the target get ahead of the gun they struggled to catch it before it had dropped under the line they were moving through.  I never let it get in front of the barrels, matched speed well ahead of it and then pulled away a bit more.  Underdid the lead on the first two, but then hit four from four (there was a no-bird that meant I had an extra shot at it).  Pull away was definitely the better technique than swing through on that particular target.

 

[rookstorm]

Thanks guys will try on some crossers ,hopefully suss it now 

 

[Will Hewland]

I agree with Bebo (it hadn’t really occurred to me until she mentioned it) that the connecting with the clay part is not critical and shouldn’t cause delay or distraction. It’s just so you can start from a point on the targets flight path before moving ahead (or ahead and round the arc on a looper or battue). 

 

[Freddypip]

Long crossers (and some other types of clay) is where i struggle with the CPSA method (and others) and differentiating between pull away (which is acceptable) and maintained lead (which apparently is defunct). I think Will is spot on - I don't think it matters as long as you visualize the lead in a repeatable way.

 

[ColinD]

It was a revelation when I realised that shooting pull away doesn't mean you have to faff about for ages trying to exactly match bead to the clay.  Couldn't get on with it until I started being much more relaxed about getting the bead on the clay and instead focused on getting the gun speed about the same and then moving away.

There was a battue on the last EJC shoot that my squad were struggling with.  Pretty much all of them were trying to swing through it and by letting the target get ahead of the gun they struggled to catch it before it had dropped under the line they were moving through.  I never let it get in front of the barrels, matched speed well ahead of it and then pulled away a bit more.  Underdid the lead on the first two, but then hit four from four (there was a no-bird that meant I had an extra shot at it).  Pull away was definitely the better technique than swing through on that particular target.

As a novice if you never let it get ahead of the barrels and matched speed is that more of maintained lead than pull away, I thought pull away was that you stayed on the clay or just behind then pulled away

 

[Will Hewland]

As a novice if you never let it get ahead of the barrels and matched speed is that more of maintained lead than pull away, I thought pull away was that you stayed on the clay or just behind then pulled away

Strictly yes, that is maintained lead. All the terms are “matter of degree” really. Very fast swing through is a thrash while gentle swing through is very similar to pull away effectively.

 

[DavidJ]

Pull away is increasing the gap/lead from on or Infront of the clay.

I'd also say that if you have time then travel with the clay and time the pull away to the kill point.

As for long clays, a very small gun movement stretches the lead a long way at 40 yards

 

[Jonny English]

I would imagine that if you have been shooting swing through at everything, going to pull away could take some adjusting to. With swing through you are used to pulling the trigger while you are in the vicinity of the clay, with pull away you have to tell your brain to look at a patch of air possibly quite a way in front of the clay, this can take some doing. Pull away is definitely the go to or best method to shoot clays but your brain could need a bit of training to adapt.

 

[Bebo]

As a novice if you never let it get ahead of the barrels and matched speed is that more of maintained lead than pull away, I thought pull away was that you stayed on the clay or just behind then pulled away

Maintained is getting to a fixed lead with gun and clay speed matched, moving together and then firing.  Pull away can start anywhere on or in front of the clay, you match the speed first and then increase the gun speed to get the lead you want.  If it's a slow crosser it can be a small increase in speed, a faster one that's further out it'll be a bigger increase in gun speed.

I personally struggle with maintained lead, keep checking speed and lead seems to result in me slowing the gun just before taking the shot (and then missing behind).  On slow floaty crosser with little lead or long slow quartering incomers (thinking of Gatton Bottom type targets here) I use a sort of slow-mo swing through.  I actually track behind the clay until coming into the kill point and then slightly increase my gun speed to move through to the front edge (or just in front if needed) before taking the shot.  Solves my gun stopping / slowing problem.

 

[Freddypip]

I think there is a personal perception thing here. With some people it is easier to perceive and maintain a distance between the gun barrel and clay (convention says in front) and with others it is easier to match the clay then perceive the lead with gun movement. I tend to the view that if there is time for pull away, there is time for maintained, however all of these methods are "blurred" in their execution - we might think we are shooting maintained when we are actually using pull away and vice versa. My concern with some methods and associated teaching is that it is too prescriptive regarding the need to apply one or the other - I am not saying it is an art but I do tend towards a two method approach - one where the flight of the clay is followed and one where the gun is swung through the clay.

 

[Bebo]

Yes, it's very much personal preference and using the right approach for the particular target.  If you shoot around with a top class shooter you'll often see them use different techniques on different targets.  There are a few that claim to use the same approach on every target, but I'm not sure that is true.  Although I've watch one in particular on several shoots and can say that he never uses swing through - I've never seen any target get ahead of his barrels.

 

[k80ben]

Pull away is a precise move. Knowing exactly where the bird and barrel are at all times and during the shot there will be times you look at both. 
 

done correctly connecting to the clay is easy. It’s probably the most used method that’s the most poorly explained in how to execute 

 

[k80ben]