Understanding shotkam video

[PeeJay]

I’ve just started ‘playing’ with my new shotkam.

When I look at some videos, the shot looks to be in the right place, but the clay remains. But there are lots of pieces visible when watched frame by frame. I’m assuming that these are the wadding, bits of cartridge etc? Or can bits come off the clay without showing?

I realise that this may be wishful thinking. . But we had this down as a miss until we saw the video.

P.S. this isn’t about technique, I know it’s sadly lacking,

 

[westley]

I’ve just started ‘playing’ with my new shotkam.

When I look at some videos, the shot looks to be in the right place, but the clay remains. But there are lots of pieces visible when watched frame by frame. I’m assuming that these are the wadding, bits of cartridge etc? Or can bits come off the clay without showing?

I realise that this may be wishful thinking. . But we had this down as a miss until we saw the video.

P.S. this isn’t about technique, I know it’s sadly lacking,

Bits can most certainly come off a clay and NOT be noticed. When I ran a shooting ground, it was quite common to find clays with as many as 5 or 6 holes in them, but they remained intact. I have seen dust coming off orange clays but they were not broken.

 

[thebigH91]

well from what i see under normal speed the bits are wadding as the clay doesnt appear hit. I did slow things down and captured this frame which i think shows a miss

 

[PeeJay]

well from what i see under normal speed the bits are wadding as the clay doesnt appear hit. I did slow things down and captured this frame which i think shows a miss

Damnit

 

[Jonny English]

Without footage of the same clay being hit it will be hard to say where it was missed as context is key. Unfortunately it looks like a miss and that was the wad sailing through the image, if anything the shot looked high, but all depends on how accurate the shotkam is calibrated to your pattern.

 

[PeeJay]

For context, that was a driven clay coming off a high tower, high and fast directly overhead.

We normally have a couple of shots at it, as we’ve no idea. I think I’ve hit it once, by chance.

 

[Luke_(NL)]

There's something to be said about repeated attempts. Even a blind squirrel finds nuts . The trick is remembering what the difference in lead was between the hits and the misses.

 

[Clear Miss]

If that was off a tower, high and at a good speed then you were almost certainly behind it providing the shotcam reticle is calibrated. It's quite hard to tell from the video with a clean background and unknown zoom just how fast or high up it is.

A pause at 00:00:06 shows plenty of materials in the air but none of them came from the clay.

Next time you try it count out feet or blocks of lead and increase gradually until you hit it. When I first started shooting others would often tell me to try and miss in front. Some targets need a surprising amount of lead in front. You'll pull a huge gap on a fairly steady target, watch it break and wonder WTF happened.

If you think that you saw bits come off a clay it's always worth asking the ref if they agreed. I've had misses corrected in the past and pair again offered. Key is to be polite, ask only once and respect the decision. It's a lot more likely to go your way if its one lost target against 4 previous hits but it's always worth asking. They do a thankless task but the refs are often understanding when treated with respect.