Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2019 i Clay Shooting

Thanks to subscriber David Bryan for writing in to suggest readers might like to know about a new phone app that could help shooters summon help in remote areas. It’s called What3Words, and can be installed on iOS and Android devices through the relevant app store. You can then identify your location anywhere in the world with a code consisting of three words. Each three-word code is unique to a 3m x 3m square. The patio at the EJ Churchill Shooting Ground clubhouse, for instance, is ///melons.nurtures.parent. That’s the central part of the patio, mind – that patio actually covers 16 separate squares, so you could specify which umbrella you’re sitting under if you needed to meet up with friends, for example. The app could be a lifesaver in a…

It has been a while since we last looked at Skeet cartridges, so it was interesting to receive a pair of 24 gram 9.5 shot cartridges made with Skeet targets in mind. Being Italian, the stated shot size equates to UK no.9. When in doubt the size is usually given in millimetres too, being 2.0 mm in this case. We have reviewed many types of Fiocchi ammunition over the years, and the company’s range of shotgun cartridges is vast, including a very broad range of clay target ammunition. The Fiocchi company began with humble beginnings back in 1876, and rapidly built a fine reputation for quality products. Now, five generations on, it has become one of the leading cartridge producers in the world and has worked diligently to ensure that…

Arriving home from the Junior World Cup in Suhl, I have much to reflect on. The competition was filled with highs and lows, but it was a great learning experience I will never forget. My grandparents, my mum and I drove to Germany. We took a ferry over to Dunkirk and had a long drive through Europe. Surprisingly, the drive didn’t feel boring or exhausting. It was a peaceful experience observing the sceneries of northern France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. It took us 7 hours from Dunkirk to reach our hotel in Suhl, Germany, overflowing with pine trees. The next day, we dropped my gun off. The shooting ground was like a huge square cut out of a forest that makes way for a shooting ground. It had everything…

How times change! As a teenager, my dad lectured me about the importance of protecting my hearing when shooting, and handed me a square of loo roll. I would tear it in half, roll up the pieces and stuff one in each ear. Job done, except at least one of them would fall out before I’d gone 100 yards. Nowadays, any shooter worth their salt will have something almost as sophisticated as their iPhone in their ears – and costing nearly as much too. It’s all progress, and with luck those taking up shooting today won’t have my persistent ringing sound in their ears when they reach my age. Having worked my way through squidgy foam plugs, Sonics, and a variety of passive and active muffs, I thought I had…

It’s been eight years since John Barnett and his son, Scott, took it upon themselves to turn a Cheshire pig farm into one of the country’s top shooting schools. Having both been elite shooters on the world stage, they already had an intimate knowledge of what it takes to train the best, but it is hard not to be impressed with what they have achieved in such a short time. “We started off with just a static caravan for a club house and a few stands out in the field,” explains Lara, “then we progressed into a log cabin, and in 2018 we finished converting one of the old barns into a gun room and shop.” Aside from the excellent new facilities, many shooters find themselves at Mickley Hall for…

This month I thought I would give you my personal take on the guns that have given me the most enjoyment shooting clays. Inevitably that means I have hit a few with them too – there's little enjoyment in missing everything! Bear in mind that I am no top level shot – you won't find my name in the CPSA averages, and the most I've ever achieved at clay shooting is a handful of corporate and charity shoot wins. If there are a few obvious names missing, remember I have shot quite a variety of guns over the years, but I haven't tried everything. These are my favourites among the guns that I have used. I'm sure I would absolutely love shooting a Krieghoff, or a Perazzi, or a Blaser…

Richard Faulds retained his British Open English Sporting Champion title at High Lodge on 1 September, shooting 72 ex-75 in the morning’s Final, then shooting 22 ex-25 in a thrilling Super Final against Stuart Clarke, Josh Bennion, Paul Thomas, George Digweed and Sam Green. Richard went into the Super Final one target behind the leader, Stuart Clarke, but took the lead on the first of the three stands, missing just the last target out. He straighted the next stand, increasing his lead to two. Despite stumbling on the last stand, shot from a high platform on the Sportrap layout behind the High Lodge clubhouse, he managed to beat Stuart by a single target and retain the British Open title. “I’m absolutely delighted to successfully defend the title this year at…

“Purdey’s new Sporting Clays gun does not re-invent the wheel, it perfects the ride” James Purdey & Sons are undoubtedly one of the world’s best known and respected gunmakers, but generally associated with ‘Best’ London side-by-side game guns rather than competition overand-unders. That could be about to change, however – because the company, founded in 1814, has just launched a brand new Sporter. The gun is based on the award-winning Purdey Trigger Plate action, which was designed for superior strength and durability, tested with over 150,000 cartridges fired over a four year period. The trigger plate design became popular with manufacturers using CNC machinery in the mid to late 20th Century. Purdey’s first dedicated gun with such an action was their Sporter model, launched in 2007 as a crossover clay/game…

Idon’t know about you, but when the weekend approaches, the one thing on my mind is breaking clays. It’s not just the shooting itself that we long for, but also the strong social aspect that comes along with it. Like any club or competition circuit, the camaraderie often spills out from the sports ground, and after a day’s shooting what better way of winding down than enjoying an hour or two with friends in the pub. Nothing wrong with that, but what about that drink the night before a shoot? Surely just a small one can’t hurt – or can it? Nowadays of course we are all well aware of the effects of alcohol on driving, and the consequences of driving with alcohol in the bloodstream. It goes without saying…

Ienjoy Skeet because I think it sharpens you up, providing targets at all angles. Station 8, where it appears, is a proper sharpener! I am not interested in grinding out 100-straights because my attention span is woefully short, so I can’t concentrate hard enough to actually achieve it, but it is a lot of fun and generally good practice for a variety of other shooting scenarios. With that in mind, don’t forget that a Skeet shell with about a million pellets in it is absolutely ideal for those closer-in targets encountered at Sporting or Fitasc. The different Skeet disciplines mean that there is a mind boggling array of cartridges. This list will give you a taste throughout the spectrum. English Skeet is the most popular of the skeet disciplines, and…

BEDFORDSHIRE Chicksands Clay Target Club Shefford, CPSAAffiliated Disciplines: ESP, DTL, STR Open alternate Sundays and Wednesdays over Summer. Contact for competition details. Practice and coaching available Telephone: www.facebook.com/charlelister Email: info@chicksandsclaytarget.co.uk Web: www.chicksandsclaytarget.co.uk Maulden Gun Club Clophill Road, Maulden, CPSAAffiliated Disciplines: ESP Competition alternate Sundays. Practice and coaching for members only. Fibre wad only Telephone: 07951 651051 Web: www.mauldengunclub.com Shillington Clay Club Shillington, CPSAAffiliated Disciplines: ESP Shooting every other Sunday Telephone: 07860 940362 Email carol@hcduk.com Sporting Targets Ltd Riseley, CPSA Premier Ground Disciplines: DTL, ESK, ESP, FSP, DR, SB, STR, Fitasc Open 9am-6pm weekdays and Saturdays, 9am-2pm Sundays. Regular competitions. Practice all hours. Pre-booked coaching. Telephone: 01234 708893 Email: reception@sportingtargets.co.uk Web: www.sportingtargets.co.uk Tythe Farm Gun Club Colmsworth, CPSA Registered Telephone: 07719 329094 Email philipcolson@hotmail.co.uk BERKSHIRE Four Counties Clay Target Club Newbury,…

The Dragon Clay Club raised £2,300 at its annual charity shoot on 18 August at their picturesque ground at Colgate in West Sussex. The money was split equally between its two nominated charities: the Brittle Bone Society and the Phoenix Stroke Club. It brings the total raised by the club to £100,000 over the 30 years since six chaps from the Dragon public house set it up for something to do on Sunday mornings. They now have 112 members, including three of the original founders, and proudly claim to have the finest ground in Sussex, with 29 traps. This year’s shoot attracted some big names among the 119 entries, despite unseasonably atrocious weather with continuous heavy rain. The club was particularly grateful to all the volunteer scorers, as well as…

Anew European initiative could lead to a complete ban on lead shot for clay shooting as well as game. Lead shot is already banned for shooting ducks and geese in England and Wales, and from use over wetlands in Scotland. In the latest move, the European Commission has instructed the European Chemicals Agency to draw up proposals for a complete ban on lead ammunition throughout the EU. A report on whether or not such a restriction is warranted is expected by the end of October 2020. The ECHA say that further restrictions on lead ammunition and fishing weights are necessary because of “a growing volume of evidence worldwide of the negative impacts of lead ammunition on the environment and human health”. Caroline Bedell, BASC’s executive director of conservation, said: “There…

Northbrook Sports Club is without doubt one of the premier grounds in the US, located to the north of downtown Chicago not far from the shore of Lake Michigan. It is set amongst 700 acres of beautiful Illinois countryside. Part of its appeal is the variation in terrain; from Oak woodland through to swamp and marsh, open grassland and to its impressive “berm” course, where huge man made banks allow for some interesting target setting. Having previously held the World FITASC in 2012 and the US Open in 2015, the club is no stranger to holding large scale events. The scale of the facilities, the organisation, preparation and warmth of the welcome were all exceptional, with an atmosphere that really did make the entire week feel special. An opening ceremony…

Fibre tip Qhoping One of the to visit shooting insists grounds on fibre I am wad told cartridges me they only don . Other ’t like shooters using fibre have wads as as plastic they feel . Is they that don correct ’t perform , and how so well big difference is the difference to my ? scores Is it enough ? to make a A With single-use plastics falling out of favour, an increasing number of grounds are going fibre-only, so more and more shooters will find themselves facing this question. The simple answer is that the performance of plastic and fibre wads is now closer than ever – so close that you’re unlikely to notice any difference. For cartridge manufacturers, it’s more challenging to make fibre wad cartridges…

After hosting the European, the English, and the British DTL already this year, Bywell weren’t done just yet. The August Bank Holiday weekend saw another three days of DTL and Double Rise – and with only the lightest of breezes and temperatures soaring into the upper 20s on all three days, it proved to be a lovely weekend for everyone. The weekend’s shooting started on Friday with the Prelim events to get everyone warmed up. Each day has 50 pairs DR, and 100 DTL, and many shooters shot both disciplines. Local shooter Tony Gradwell told me: “There’s no excuses this weekend. The targets look like bin lids,” and looking at the superb conditions all weekend, the only likely impediment for shooters was heat exhaustion. The DR Prelim showed no surprises…

Nearly every serious northern clay shooter will ensure at the start of the year that the ‘Alpa Sporting Grand Prix’ is firmly printed into their calendar, and it was clear that a huge number of them were well organised enough to do so. This two day event, which is now in its third year, boasts a 200 target objective that is split evenly into a National Sporting and a Sportrap. Max Jeffery, who runs and organises the event, decided to move it to Bisley at Braidwood in the Scottish Borders this year, after having held it at The National Shooting Centre Scotland near Falkirk for the last two years. Max said his hope was that by moving the event further south it would come into the reach of some northern-based…

England’s Graham Stirzaker shot a superb 93 ex-100 in shockingly wet conditions to take overall High Gun at the Scottish Open Sporting Championships, held at The National Shooting Centre Scotland, near Falkirk. Another sassenach, England’s Scott Barnett, recently back from the ICTSF World Sporting, shot a 90 to tie with Scotland’s silent assassin, Lewis Greenhowe, then beat him in the shoot-off to take the runner-up spot, with Lewis lifting the trophy as the overall Scottish Champion. The centrally located NCSC has gone from strength to strength under the leadership of GB and Scotland international Stewart Cummings, who runs the ground with the MacCaig family. They have invested heavily in their ground to appeal to a wide variety of shotgun shooters, and have impressive covered Olympic Trap layouts as well as…

First up this month for us was a double header, starting with Sporting Targets for their 100 English Sporting. This was a tough shoot with a gentle couple of stands to start, then some very close stuff, followed by some much bigger targets later on. I shot a 90 here, managing to hit a few of a big teal about half way round, putting me just outside the placings again. Cheryl didn’t like the teal and finished a few behind on 86. Straight after that, we were at Northampton Shooting Ground. This is always a good shoot and verges on the tough side, but it has plenty of space so targets are always separated from the stands either side, and there is a great mix of targets. I shot an…

Imagine you’re at your favourite clay ground, heading off to the first stand. You’re looking forward to a fun round of clays – but then you trip over and fall through one of those space-time portals beloved of science fiction writers. There’s a blinding flash, a loud whoosh... and when you pick yourself up you realise you have been transported ten years into the future. What do you see? Are your fellow shooters dressed in space suits and carrying laser blasters? Or has clay shooting remained a little oasis, a refuge of good times in a rapidly changing world? It’s tempting to think that our sport will carry on much as before. After all, the fundamentals of clay shooting have stayed the same since we adopted centrefire breech-loading cartridges and…