Went tonite and shot trap again with the red dot to see if I could do better. Last time was a 14 and I know at the beginning I was rushing my shots. This time same thing I shot a round and shot a 11 I know some of them I rushed. I was talking to a guy and he told me at the club ya got more time than ya think just slow it down if you feel more comfortable with that. I did and shot a 19 out of 25 still needs some inprovement but after not shooting for a few years I was satisfied. You naysayers with the dot still may think it is aiming and it may be but not like you think. You still have to follow the bird and shoot like you normally would or you miss plain and simple. I still say it is like putting a fiberoptic front bead on the barrel it is a red dot or green dot out there at the end of your barrel. THis is the same difference only it is more exagerated of a dot as it is right out there with the target. Jim _________________
Posts: 5226 | Location: USA | Registered: 10 March 2003
I am sure you are missing those by shooting behind or underneath them.
That is where most are missed.
If you get the chance at your club, get a field all by yourself. Then try asking them to set the machine to throw either a right hand target or a left hand one. If it is a right hand, start from station 1 - the targets will be going away, so hopefully you will get them all.
Move to station 2, here the angle will be slight more, so you will have to lead the target a bit. As you move to the right, you will notice that you will have to lead the target more and more.
Soon you will get teh hang of it, and start leading them enough, regardless of the angle of the target.
I personally do not use the follow though method. I prefer to aim ahead of the target.
I know not many people like this method, but, that is the way I learnt to shoot shotgun, and it works for me.
Actually I do quite well on the crossing targets when I am on it is the straight aways the look so simple that I miss and I saw a few others miss them also. I agree when I miss it is usually because I am behind them.
Posts: 5226 | Location: USA | Registered: 10 March 2003
Straightaways (No.3 station) in trap can be deceptive because sometimes the shooter takes too much time -and the "bird" unlike the real one is losing speed -and will start to drop. As a result, there is often overshooting. There is a point where the straightaway seems to "hang" (before it starts to drop) and is easy. In conversation with real tournament class trap shooters I was told that my method (born of hunting instincts) of shooting as the bird still is rising is fine. They mentioned the "hang" point and I found it did work, of course, but for practice for shooting at live birds, I stayed with shooting at them on the rise (at No.3 station) You may want to try trial and error and see what you are comfortable with. (I emphasize that word "comfortable". A shotgun has to move easily with your movements)
Posts: 649 | Location: NY | Registered: 15 January 2004
I should have added in my last post that while some "straightaways" at the No.3 station are angled a bit they really don't need lead. Yeah, I hear an argument and I admit that I have pointed a wee bit towards the front of the bird's path but there still wasn't any real "daylight". The bird is moving so slow that you can practically point at it and fire.(modified choke or full doesn't seem to make much difference)
Posts: 649 | Location: NY | Registered: 15 January 2004
I think the straight aways sometimes even gets the best shots at least that is what I have observed at the trap club watching some of the others shoot. I think they look too easy some of the times. I found out why I was missing them the way my gun is set up I have to shoot just under the bird to hit them if I shoot over the bird which you have a tendency to do on a rising target I miss so my gun must be patterning a bit high the way the dot is set up. One I figured that out it was fine and the birds started to powder.
Posts: 5226 | Location: USA | Registered: 10 March 2003
Even though the angle is slight it is still very important to maintian a proper "follow through" I find when I miss the target you are talking about that I am shooting and the lifting my head up to watch the bird break, problem is you(I) need to keep everything in place until it breaks.
Saeed is right on. If you're having trouble with the straight-away targets, it's because you're shooting underneath them. This is the reason that competition trap guns like BT-99's, etc. have a different rib. The rib is designed to raise your point of aim involuntarily and make you shoot higher so that you hit the bird. This is one of the downsides with shooting trap with a gun that does not have a rib designed specifically for trap shooting. If you're going to continue to shoot trap with a non-trap gun, you'll have to stay focused on aiming over the target.
Posts: 852 | Location: Austin | Registered: 24 October 2003
My experience was very similar (only not quite as perfect). The first time I ever shot trap was with a full choke Remington 11 in 20 gauge. I didn't shoot any perfect rounds, but had several 23's & 24's. I've had my eye on one of the Remington automatic trap guns, but it's too far down on my want list to get much attention!
Posts: 852 | Location: Austin | Registered: 24 October 2003
at least that is what I have observed at the trap club watching some of the others shoot. I think they look too easy some of the times. 
I found out why I was missing them the way my gun is set up I have to shoot just under the bird to hit them if I shoot over the bird which you have a tendency to do on a rising target I miss so my gun must be patterning a bit high the way the dot is set up. One I figured that out it was fine and the birds started to powder. 
