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sweeping other people with shotguns


MetropolisLake

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So basically there is a skeet club I like to go to, will probably hit it more often this year. Last time I went, I had multiple shotguns pointed at me. I mean, everybody knew they were unloaded, but still, it's weird. They would pop a couple of clays with an over/under, pull the gun under their arm, then turn around. They were in the process of breaking it down but sometimes didn't quite get to that point, and sometimes they were broken down and they would sweep with the barrel but the stock wasn't attached. Nobody seemed to care. In 3-gun, people would probably be diving in the ditches and DQ's would be issued.

Is this normal in skeet? These are top notch guys running through 20,000-30,000 shotgun rounds a year and I'm lucky to get their help so I'm not about to say anything, it just makes me uncomfortable going from one extreme to another. There doesn't seem to be any hard rules about how you hold it and where you point it between rounds, especially not in regards to right after you just shot. Just kind of odd that 3-gun is on the total opposite end of the spectrum.

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It bothers me when I'm with people I don't know really well. I break mine open and try to keep it pointed in as safe a direction as possible. I have probably swept a few people though. Best bet is to put it on the rack if you are waiting on your turn and if it is close enough to not slow down the group.

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I shot skeet competitively for several years before I got into pistols.

You are going to get swept at a skeet club, just how it is. Heck, it's pretty customary to open a gun and rest the muzzle on your foot. My routine always consisted of opening my gun, and throwing it over my shoulder, muzzle pointed forward. I'm pretty tall, so I know I swept most people that walked in front of me. Never encountered anyone that was bothered by this, as it is commonplace.

You will see people get a little concerned around semis ( which aren't very common), and go out of their way to make sure someone's bolt is locked back.

That being said, I don't condone breaking the first rule. Muzzle sweeping is never a good practice.

ETA:

I guess I should add, you DO NOT close an O/U or the bolt on a semi on a skeet field, unless you are on the pad.. Or putting it in a rack. In both cases, muzzle will (should) be pointed in a safe direction.

Edited by Ssanders224
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I shot skeet competitively for several years before I got into pistols.

You are going to get swept at a skeet club, just how it is. Heck, it's pretty customary to open a gun and rest the muzzle on your foot. My routine always consisted of opening my gun, and throwing it over my shoulder, muzzle pointed forward. I'm pretty tall, so I know I swept most people that walked in front of me. Never encountered anyone that was bothered by this, as it is commonplace.

You will see people get a little concerned around semis ( which aren't very common), and go out of their way to make sure someone's bolt is locked back.

That being said, I don't condone breaking the first rule. Muzzle sweeping is never a good practice.

ETA:

I guess I should add, you DO NOT close an O/U or the bolt on a semi on a skeet field, unless you are on the pad.. Or putting it in a rack. In both cases, muzzle will (should) be pointed in a safe direction.

I noticed that it is pretty common and the regulars don't flinch...

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It's normal. Usually it's either over the shoulder muzzle forward, held in hand hand or barrel resting on shoe. The semi is usually barrel up or down with the action open. The gun is emptied on the pad. It's basically load 2 shoot 2 unless only one shot is needed then load one. Heck in trap on handicaps your allowed to have shooters on different yardage on the same squad so someone beside you may be farther back than you. If your shooting it your gonna have a gun sweep you to some extent and that's just a fact of life Different game different rules as there is no dq and release triggers are not uncommon especially in trap.

Shot a ton in hs and college and done even flinch at it.

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The 2 that I went to the guys would carry them over their shoulder,holding the barrel, stock out the back, muzzle pointed at EVERYBODY.

About half were broke half weren't :goof: and they were scared of my semi

Yea, thats a HUGE no-no.

I have shot skeet at a lot of clubs, and at every one of them, you would have immediately and firmly been asked to open your gun if you walked off the pad with it closed.

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must just be a different mindset...I was in our clays clubhouse this past weekend shooting the chit with some of my USPSA buddies before we went out to shoot some skeet and across the small room the shotgun regulars were sitting around having their own conversation. they were all camo'd out and talking about their latest hunting exploits when another guy comes in and I notice he's carrying a large revolver. The cylinder was open and I saw it was empty so I went back to what I was doing but 2min later I look over and a guy has the damn thing pointed right at me, cylinder closed and all, while he oooohs and aaaahhhs about how cool it is :surprise::sick:. this isn't some young kid either, the guy must have been in his late 50s. one of my friends sees the expression on my face and looks over at the guy and blurts out "WHAT THE F**K?!?!", they all just kind of looked at us....none of them saw anything wrong with it. after spending so much time on a USPSA range it just blew my mind.....

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I spend a few years casually shooting skeet and trap, and I liked it fine until I learned about pistols and 3 gun. I personally don't mind if someone has a break open cracked over their shoulder. It's the same as a chamber flag I've verified, at least to me. Nothing can happen even with a round in the barrel, so I'm not too concerned. I'll leave the cracked muzzle on my boot, And I got yelled at on a 3 gun stage for doing that.

However, with semis or other stuff at the range, 100% watch your muzzle. I always carry a gun I'm not shooting, open or concealed depending on the state. When I take new shooters to the range, I let them know that if they point a gun a me (empty or not) I will point one right back at them. I remind them they are new shooters and will miss. I will not. what do you know, it's never been an issue after that ;)

Pretty sure If I was looking down the barrel of an empty revolver, he'd have been looking down the barrel of loaded 45

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It was pretty common in the Army when I was in the infantry. It was just a cost of operating. I don't freak out or feel concerned unless someone's got their finger on the trigger or is just flat out pointing it at me/ acting dangerous. I'd say the biggest problem is becoming complacent in that environment. I did at first after spending so much time in the field with a loaded weapon 100% of the time, then going to a competition environment on a cold range. It took a few local matches for me to feel comfortable enough with my safety habits to go to major matches. So just be conscious of the fact that it's easy to unknowingly change your perceptions of safety and create bad habits.

Also I think it's acceptable in skeet because of the type of sport it is. It's typically fud guns with very low ammo capacity and slow paced events (from what I've seen), whereas 3 gun is a dynamic, fast paced sport with fast shooting high capacity weapons and people running and tossing or grabbing firearms. Not to mention the quick and competitive nature encourages mistakes and forgetfulness. It's a bit more dangerous in terms of what may go wrong and how possible it is. Even the ammo is more deadly than it is in skeet. So safety awareness in that arena is even more crucial. Also as others mentioned, if it's open it can't fire.

By the way where is this club? I need some shotgun only matches and especially some skeet practice.

Edited by DDustin
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My guess would be Paducah calvert city or happy hollow in western KY. The difference in the Clay target sports is you load what you shoot. If one shot is needed such as station 8 in skeet, or trap shingles you load 1. If 2 are needed on the pad you load 2 with a max of 2 in the gun. When its a broken down double barrel its easy to tell its a safe gun as there is no way its going off broken in half. Its loaded on the pad and unloaded on the pad but that's about it.

Edited by EkuJustice
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Hmmmm... lets see...


1) All guns are always loaded.

2) Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.(I don't see a trap and skeet exemption here)

3) Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.

4) Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

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Hmmmm... lets see...
1) All guns are always loaded.
2) Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.(I don't see a trap and skeet exemption here)
3) Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.
4) Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

+infinity to what he said^^! Laziness is no excuse to forget the basic rules. I brought this up at my local club and got the "It is what it is" attitude. Brought my 3gun shotgun the next time and had the same people crying they couldn't see my bolt, to which I replied "It is what it is", found a new place to shoot clays.

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Hmmmm... lets see...
1) All guns are always loaded.
2) Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.(I don't see a trap and skeet exemption here)
3) Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.
4) Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

A big plus one. If you have a break action gun, and it is open, then I'm slightly less bothered, but otherwise don't point your gun at me.

I get swept driving past our skeet/trap range all the time. From 20 yards away, I can't tell if your bolt is open or not. Is it that hard to keep your gun pointed downrange, or towards the sky?

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  • 3 weeks later...

hi all

my gun is not always loaded. like when you hear on the news i was cleaning my gun and it went off. well my gun is never loaded when cleaning.

my gun is not loaded when it is in the trunk of the car broken into 3 peices in the case.( in this condition it is a better bat)

my finger is on the triger when cleaning it and the barrel in on the bench.

LOL( jhgtyre) just messing with you

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

With an O/U broken open over someone's shoulder, no big deal. With the action closed or a semi-auto or pump, I'd be upset. This is bad to let slide, as I've seen someone step of the pad at the skeet range and start to turn their semi-auto around with the action closed. Someone put out their hand as they were about to break the 180 point and stopped the gun as it discharged into the ground. Stuff like that gets your attention real quick.

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Biggest reason I don't like going to trap ranges with other people on them :\

It's just a difference culture. The die hard clays guys think what we do is unsafe. The diehard pistol guys think what they do is unsafe.

Yeah, and one of those opinions is demonstrable while the other is not.

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