Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2020 i Clay Shooting

West London Shooting School held their annual Ladies’ Day on Wednesday 9 September. “It’s always a big highlight in the West London Shooting School calendar, but this year it was our first competition of the year,” says head shooting instructor Mark Heath. “We had a strong competition, great shooting and a morning of fun and plenty of humour at a social distance! We are thrilled to announce that the competition was won by Jenna Peaty who scored 44 points. Closely followed by runners up Elkie Holland and Adele Standard. Congratulations to all involved!” The competition is the culmination of the ground’s Ladies’ Course, a perfect way for ladies with busy lifestyles to get into shooting. The course is open to novices and experienced shots alike, consisting of three one-hour lessons…

“I was impressed with the pattern I got with these chokes – they produced really good kills” I spied the Browning SL or ‘Sporting Laminate’ stock a few years ago when I was abroad shooting a Fitasc competition. That grey laminate stock wasn’t on the B525 shotgun however, but on a rifle belonging to the gentleman running the Browning stand. I liked the stock, which really stood out to me, and was certainly a bit different to standard walnut – I said at the time that I reckoned it would look really nice on one of their shotguns. In due course, Browning brought out their B525 SL, although not on my say-so, of course! I’ve been keen to give it a try, but never had the opportunity until now. Clay…

Picture the rolling hills of the Trannon Valley in the heart of mid-Wales. This is a soft, rural landscape where little troubles the sheep and dairy herds that thrive here. A patchwork of ancient pasture, ribboned by woodland and criss-crossed by a latticework of streams, it really is slap-bang in the middle of nowhere. Or more accurately, slap in the middle of nowhere now that the bangs have been silenced. Earlier this year, the Mid Wales Shooting Centre, one of the country’s best-known grounds, shut up shop for good after noise complaints, and the ensuing restrictions made business untenable. If a ground in such a remote location can come under fire, what hope is there for shooting complexes in more populated neighbourhoods? Mid Wales Shooting Centre was a thriving ground…

August has been a very successful month for me. Not only did I receive my exam results, thankfully achieving a 100 per cent pass rate, I also put my shooting skills to the test once again. A week after winning the West Midland area championship, I returned to Gloucester Clay Shooting Club for the Hereford and Worcester Olympic Skeet county championship. This was my second competition of the 2020 season, so I was still getting used to the competition environment after such a long time away. The event started off with my worst nightmare: missing the first target out! This is something that can have a psychological effect on the entire competition, as well the round at the time. Starting off well makes the competition feel a little bit smoother…

Sporting shotguns or 'Sporters' are, as the names suggest, developed to shoot Sporting clays. They are by far the most popular guns in the hands of clay shooters today, outselling specialist models designed for disciplines such as Trap many times over. And for good reason. A Sporter is a versatile tool, one that excels at Sporting clays but can turn its hand to many other disciplines too. In fact, buy a modular Sporter, like a Krieghoff K-80 or a Blaser F3, and you can transform it for specific disciplines by mixing and matching components. These are some top-dollar guns from two premium brands, but there's no pressure to invest the kind of money they cost if you don't have it. Fortunately, whether you're a novice or seasoned shooter, you'll find…

Shooting grounds are slowly reopening following the closures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Grounds are following strict guidelines provided by the CPSA, including restricted numbers of shooters and social distancing, and most will require you to book in advance. Don't just turn up – check the ground's website and/or Facebook page for details. 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…

The British Schools & Young Shots Championship returns on Saturday 24 April 2021, after the 2020 event had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 'BSYS' is the UK's national championships for under-18s – the big one for individual young shots and school teams from around the country. The 2021 championship will be held at Orston Shooting Ground in Nottinghamshire, and will see the country's finest young talent competing over three courses of varying difficulty – Red, Blue and Black. More than just a competition, it has become renowned for highlighting emerging talent in the world of clay shooting, with previous winners including Brody Woollard, Ronnie Green and Alfie Tibbles. In 2020 the trophy went to Joshua Bennion, who shot a perfect 50-straight around the course at Atkin…

Most dangerous sport Shooting doesn’t even feature in a survey of dangerous sports, which shows that football is the most likely to result in injury with 71 per cent of those surveyed having been injured. Boxing and martial arts resulted in the most visits to a doctor or hospital, according to the survey carried out by www.golfsupport.com, closely followed by netball, skiing, gymnastics and table tennis. New Promatic trap Clay trap manufacturer Promatic has launched a new heavy duty Sporting machine aimed at clubs and grounds that need high clay capacity and target variety. The new trap, the Kodiak, will throw a clay up to 100m, with a maximum elevation of 70 degrees, and has up-rated components for extra durability. For details see www. promatic.co.uk. Game Fair 2021 After this…

Dave Ferriman, the 25-year-old gunroom manager at the popular Sporting Targets shooting ground in Bedfordshire, is the new British Open English Sporting Champion. He earned the title in a tough battle with some of the biggest names in Sporting, culminating in a shoot-off style super-final which saw him lift the historic Daily Telegraph cup in a year when many feared the championship wouldn’t happen at all due to covid restrictions. Dave was delighted – and not a little surprised! – to find that he had joined the exalted ranks of British Open champions. “I was keeping an eye on Sam Green and George Digweed through the final, and at the end I thought I’d done it, but it wasn’t very clear. Then George turned to me and said ‘Well done’…

Imagine lying in a hospital bed and being told you’ve had a terrible accident and may never walk again. Where would your thoughts be? Certainly not on shooting. After a period of recovery the urge to break clays would surely return, but where would you begin? How would you know which grounds might be suitable, or even accessible? Who could you turn to for advice? Will you need a change of shooting style? Or even someone to help you to the stands? After suffering a life changing motorcycle accident in the late 90’s, Jean-Paul Gaudin faced all of these questions and more. Now, with two decades of experience as a seated shooter, he is on a mission to provide answers and to educate the shooting community on how to make…

In previous articles I have dived deep into different aspects of shooting and how the experts suggest we can improve our performance. Speaking with some of the top US shooters, for instance, I’ve heard how nutrition, hydration and a stable diet can enhance mental awareness and aid shooting performance. This has really sparked an interest in the ways that I could improve my own shooting, by preparing myself physically and mentally. As David Radulovich said in his interview a couple of issues back, you need to find things that your competitors aren’t doing, to give you the chance of finishing one or two clays ahead. With all that in mind, I spoke to Dr Matt Zanis, founder of Rooted In Mvmnt. Matt is a human movement and vitality expert, helping…

Simon was introduced to clay shooting by a family friend in the 1980s. "I caught the shooting bug when I was about 12 years old," said Simon, "after a friend urged me to join our local shooting club. Nobody in the family shot, so it was quite an introduction to the sport." When he was a little older, Simon chose a career in the Army, which saw him spend more of his time developing his passion for clay shooting as well as discovering a vocation for instructing. "While in the Army, I found I really enjoyed helping people achieve their potential, which is what instructing is all about. I shot for the Army Clay Target team, becoming Champion shot the year I left, but instructing was an itch that just…

David Gooding from Kings Lynn in Norfolk won the Churchill Cup at EJ Churchill at the end of August. He won with 144 ex-150 on the two courses combined, ahead of Martin Myers and James Bradley-Day who tied in second place on 142. D King won Colts with 123, D McBride Juniors with 127, N Gryspeerdt Ladies with 126, and S Brightwell veterans with 139. Class prizes went to N Hales in A, P Galton in B and P Moore in C. “I’ve found a bit of form just recently,” commented David, who has shot for England at home and abroad. “I love shooting competitions and I do travel all over the country shooting registered competitions on Sundays.” He used his Caesar Guerini Maxum with full and full choke. “The…

Geoff Dale took the Co Down DTL championship title at Banbridge Gun Club at the end of August, but it was William Armstrong who took high gun on the day, beating Geoff’s score of 100/297. The grounds were looking well for the 50 shooters who came to compete over 100 DTL, a testament to much hard work. Conditions were good for shooting after a week of horrific wind and rain. The first top score of the day came from County Down’s Geoff Dale posting his 100/297 after losing two barrels on his final line. Then the in-form William Armstrong went one better shooting 100/298. The Banbridge Club Cup was up for grabs, with scores over the middle 50 targets counted for this. Only two shooters finished with a flawless middle…

What chokes should I use? Q I’ve been shooting for a couple of years but am a little confused by all the conflicting advice I’m given about chokes. Lots of people tell me to ‘put in quarter and half and forget about it,’ but then at shoots I see a good many shooters sizing up the targets and then swapping their choke tubes. What is your advice? A Chokes depend on the shooter. My ‘happy chokes’, which I tend to use 90 per cent of the time, are half and three-quarters. They produce a good tight pattern in my K80 with RC4 24gm cartridges. Use a more open choke for a close target, such as a close crosser or maybe a low driven – perhaps Skeet, or quarter (Improved Cylinder).…

A coach is much more than just someone who will tell you “You’re in front of that” or “You missed that one behind.” They will help you develop skills and behaviours often without needing to teach or tell you, but rather by asking stimulating questions that you can answer yourself. Coaches help guide you to reach your potential and achieve your goals. They are there to lead, but also to put you first. A coach will help you navigate your way through reactions to winning, losing, making mistakes, taking risks and facing obstacles that stand in your way. As an athlete it can be difficult to stay ‘on track’. If you’re entirely focused on one thing, you might lose sight of other equally important factors. For example, if a shooter…

Since 1835, Holland & Holland has been renowned for its high-quality rifles and shotguns. The company has picked up a number of royal warrants over the years and helped to develop the international reputation of English guns. Here at the company’s shooting ground in Northwood, Holland & Holland continue to bolster the reputation of traditional English quality across a 60-acre estate that’s packed with shooting opportunities for shotgun and rifle shooters alike. For the visiting clay shooter, there are more than 120 Sporting traps with targets to match all skills levels. Visitors are guided around the stands by one of Holland & Holland’s experienced instructors to ensure they make the most of everything on offer. There is also a wide variety of simulated game. Thanks to a clever system of…

Derrick Mein is a true legend of the sport. His competitive career began in 1995, and has seen him lead Team USA to numerous world titles. He is indisputably one of the most proficient shotgun shooters in the world, with titles in almost every discipline. Like so many shooters, Derrick started his shooting journey hunting with his father at the age of eight. He soon discovered his love of clay targets, when a friend invited him and his dad to shoot at Claythorne Lodge. A year later, Derrick started shooting registered competitions, and fondly recalls his very first win in sub-junior category. “I remember I was ten years old at the time, and was delighted to win an awesome silver and gold belt buckle, with a score somewhere in the…