Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2020 i Clay Shooting

With restrictions gradually easing, it’s great to see shoots up and down the country getting under way again, albeit with the now obligatory distancing and procedures to control the coronavirus. For a while we all wondered whether there would be any clay shooting at all this summer, so shooters are delighted to be back out pulling the trigger under what is becoming known as the ‘New Normal’. We’re equally delighted to be bringing you our first shoot reports this season, after several months of concentrating on home training and gun maintenance tips. I hope you found those useful during lockdown, but it’s great to be out reporting on real shoots once again! In this issue you’ll find my report from the first CPSA registered events at Westfield, as well as…

New Evolution glasses Evolution Sunglasses have a new shooting eyewear set for prescription wearers. The Evolution Horizon RX has four complete frames with different colour lenses; you simply switch the prescription optical insert from one frame to another. The set comes in a hard case at a RRP of £69.95. For information call Evolution Eyewear on 01256 533955 or see www. evolutionsunglasses.com Northern Shooting Show cancelled The Northern Shooting Show has become the latest casualty of the coronavirus pandemic. The event will return on 8 and 9 May 2021. Organisers say “We know that you, like us, will be hugely disappointed, but it was just not possible to deliver the show with the current government restrictions.” Any tickets already purchased will automatically be valid for next year’s event. For details…

Continuing our series on the targets that shooters often struggle with, this month I’m going to cover the straight driven target. This sort of target can be presented at various heights, all the way up to a driven target off a high tower, such as the 110ft tower at Sporting Targets in Bedfordshire, pictured here. These targets may be shown as singles or doubles – and if you’re really unlucky you might be presented with a simultaneous pair! When you go to shoot a driven target, its height and speed are important, but the line is also critical – and that’s what many shooters get wrong, causing them to think of driven targets as a ‘bogey’ bird. The way you set yourself up to shoot a driven target is crucial…

You can tell that clay shooting is a vibrant sport by the huge number of products that are available, whether that’s guns, clothing, hearing and eye protection... or cartridges! Having more choice is good; there’s plenty of opportunity to find what suits you best, and it keeps prices competitive. Until recently, the choice of cartridge shot loads was simple: 28 grams for domestic competitions, 24g for ISSF disciplines and 21g as an economical option for training and low recoil requirements. Then along came the move to slightly lighter than 28g loads. Hull Superfast led the way, with a brisk 27g shot load which has proved very popular. Others followed the trend, with Cheddite’s 27g Rapeed cartridge and Gamebore’s 26g Hyper Velocity. With each of these new sub-28g loads, it’s high…

For many shooters, going into lockdown felt like a time of despair and an inevitable drop in performance. I tried to see it as an opportunity to improve – a time to focus on elements of my game that are too often disregarded or left to chance. If you follow my social media you will have seen me trying to make the most of this down-time. In particular I have been focusing on the basics, the foundations that I hope will make me a better shooter. So I’ve been doing more weight training, working at having a more consistent gun mount, focusing on my nutrition plan and a few other things that might enhance my game, even if only marginally. I didn’t want to come out of all this just…

Richard Atkins Clay Shooting’s resident technical expert, Richard has decades of experience reviewing guns, cartridges and accessories. He’s well equipped to solve problems on everything from shot sizes to stock dimensions. Ed Lyons Director of Flint & Partners, Ed’s optometry work has helped top-level athletes reach their goals on domestic and international level. Countless shooters rely on him to keep their vision in top shape. Stuart Farr A lawyer specialising in the shooting sports, Stuart has extensive experience in all things legal – from solving civil disputes relating to firearms ownership, to helping a governing body draft its code of ethics. Becky McKenzie One of our top lady Sporting shots and the current English Open Compak Ladies Champion, Becky is a clay shooting coach. She writes about guns, kit and…

Take a look at most Olympic sports and, even at a local club level, you’ll find a passion for fitness that feeds an infatuation with nutrition. Eating right – or fuelling in athlete-speak – doesn’t carry the same weight in clay shooting. Let’s be honest, most shots know their way around an all-day-breakfast better than the basics of a sustainable nutrition plan. Does that really matter? Yes. At the top end of our sport the margin between winning and losing is so wafer thin that shots need to gain competitive advantage wherever they can. As Performance Operations Manager at British Shooting, Alex Ballard’s job is to ensure our athletes perform at their best. “Nutrition is a key factor underpinning training and performance,” says Alex. “Concentration and focus are essential and…

Velocity is measured at 2.5 metres from the muzzle. Pressure is the mean breech figure in Bar (as per CIP). SD is Standard Deviation (consistency). CD is the Central Density rating. This records the percentage of the total pellets landing in the 30-inch circle that were also within the inner 20-inch circle Shot size is derived from pellet count per ounce and listed to the nearest UK size, with < and > symbols where shot is larger or smaller than the nearest size. UK No.7 = 340 pellets/oz; UK No.7.5 = 400 pellets/oz; UK No.8 = 450/oz; UK No. 9 = 580/oz. Shot weight is the average shot load, in grains. 1 grain = 0.065 grams = 0.0023 oz. CV is Crush Value. This is the amount by which the…

It’s great to see that shooters in Scotland and Wales are starting to return to training and fixtures are being added to the calendar. In England, it really has been great to see that county championships are starting to take place with the gradual roll out of grounds opening and registered competitions being scheduled. British Shooting continue to work on a staged return to shooting. So if you are involved with Olympic Trap or Olympic Skeet, then keep a regular eye on the British Shooting website. For Pathway, like other coaches, I am working on scheduling group coaching sessions starting in August. Be in no doubt that all the relevant guidance will be followed to ensure a safe and happy return to training. The international scene is still in a…

The CPSA Premier League is back up and running again, after being paused due to the coronavirus pandemic. The first three fixtures were shot before lockdown, at Orston Shooting Ground, EJ Churchill and Cambridge Gun Club. The new dates are: 12 July, Southdown Gun Club 26 July, Highwaymans Shooting Ground (standing in for Doveridge CSC) 8 August, Owls Lodge Shooting School 29 August, Atkin Grant & Lang Shooting Ground 31 August, Sporting Targets Bookings should be made by telephone or email to the ground – see the CPSA website for details. The CPSA Premier League was established in 2015 and has since nearly doubled in size. The competition now features eight Premier and Premier Plus grounds competing in an exciting new format across two divisions, North v South. Sponsors include…

I had shot at Westfield two weeks earlier with my husband John, and we had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves so we were keen to come back for the Registered events, 100 ESP and 100 Fitasc. So we set off armed with loads of cartridges and a packed lunch! The weather was good, so I also took my BMH (Bavarian Mountain Hound) with me. There really were some cracking targets on. I came to one stand, up a small platform, where you shot five sim pairs, a pink and a green. They looked pretty steady targets, or so I thought! I smashed the first pair, then I missed the green going away. How did that happen? Well, being somewhat rusty, I failed to do what I preach, which is to select a…

Vision training is arguably one of the most important exercises we can do in sport, especially in shooting – and yet it’s the one that’s most often overlooked, even more than the other aspects of physical and mental training. We tend to take our vision for granted, but our shooting performance and results rely heavily on our eyes – we rely on them to perceive the target and its flight path. You can have the perfect movement throughout a shot but still miss the target because the gun is in the wrong place, or you pull the trigger at the wrong time. We use our eyes and vision to decide when and where that right time and place is – which is why our vision is so incredibly important in…

As a Clay Shooting reader you’ll know all about Ed Lyons. Ed has worked with more than 1,200 shotgun shooters, from amateurs to Olympians. During the virus lockdown, Ed was busy developing a series of vision training kits to help shooters maximise their visual potential. His Vision Training Kits have been an instant hit with competitive shooters worldwide. There are three kits, with different combinations of vision exercises to suit different needs. I purchased the Total Workout kit, and have been using it for over a month now. It has been great to be able to do this at home, especially during the enforced break from shooting. The kit has equipment and instructions for exercises designed to improve your eyes’ teamwork and depth perception. Ed explains: “Vision and shooting are…

Dietitians and Registered Nutritionists are the only professionals qualified to give trustworthy nutrition advice. The title ‘dietitian’ is protected by law, but just about anyone can call themselves a nutritionist. The Association for Nutrition, the British Dietetic Association and the Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register are the only places to find practitioners qualified to degree level in sound, evidence-based nutrition. Claire Baseley MA MMedSci, RNutr: www.clairebaseley.co.uk Chris Cashin RD, RNutr, MSc, SENr, DProf: www.cardiffnutritionconsultancy.co.uk British Dietetic Association: www.bda.uk.com Association for Nutrition: www.associationfornutrition.org Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register: www.senr.org.uk…

On 20th May, it was back to Park Farm Shooting Ground to once again get a bit more practice in and to make up for lost time. I improved massively compared to when I shot a few days prior, and I am finally getting back into the swing of things for when competitions restart. I am so thankful to live only 45 minutes from Park Farm, as it allows me to train constantly without having to travel an hour and a half or more. I am looking forward to continuing my training there over the next few months. The following Thursday, 27 May, I was yet again back at Park Farm Shooting Ground. I ironed out most of the bad habits that I had picked up, such as moving the…

June has appeared to be the month of returning to some form of normality, as I was finally able to make my way back to the range. Due to tighter Coronavirus restrictions in other parts of the UK than England, I was not able to head to my normal training ground, South Wales 2000. Instead, I travelled to the NCSC Bisley and was able to fire some lead through the barrels after 12 weeks of waiting. Apart from South Wales 2000 and Gloucester Clay Shooting Ground, Bisley is one of my most convenient shooting grounds. I was not able to train at Gloucester at the time as the ground had not reopened, but it was still nice to return to a range I do not normally visit and test my…

John is one of those people who has somehow managed to fit at three lifetimes of achievement into one – and he's still got many years left in him. A veterinary surgeon, a Nuffield Scholar, an athlete who’s represented Great Britain in three different disciplines, a coach in demand at the highest level, a Mountain Rescue leader saving lives – the list of accomplishments goes on. “I started game and rough shooting at the age of 11,” says John, “so I’ve been at it for 50 years! Mensa members will work out very quickly that I’m old!” John looks ten years younger and is fitter than most men half his age. He shot his first clay in 1986 and, astonishingly, went on to represent England and Great Britain at Olympic…