Finally Did It

[Hank Ellis]

In the big scheme of things its nothing but I finally made a personal milestone.

Ran 25 straight in trap singles.

I had never shot a shotgun in my life till December of '05. Wanted a shotgun for home defense and picked a Rem 870. Went to the trap range to get somewhat competent with the arm. Quickly realized that while a 21" turkey gun may be just fine for HD and 3-gun it isn't a good option for clays. Went though a couple guns and barrels before settling on a Beretta 391 as my do-all clays gun in September '06 and went to work.

According to my notes I put 5,000 rounds through the barrel of the 391 with 3,000 of that in singles, 1,000 in handicap, and another 1,000 showing other people how bad I suck at sporting clays and skeet. Probably 1,800 rounds went through the 870 before switching platforms.

Next goal: Run 25 straight in registered targets. And to get my Rem 1100 3-gun to run.

[tightloop]

In the big scheme of things its nothing but I finally made a personal milestone.

Ran 25 straight in trap singles.

I had never shot a shotgun in my life till December of '05. Wanted a shotgun for home defense and picked a Rem 870. Went to the trap range to get somewhat competent with the arm. Quickly realized that while a 21" turkey gun may be just fine for HD and 3-gun it isn't a good option for clays. Went though a couple guns and barrels before settling on a Beretta 391 as my do-all clays gun in September '06 and went to work.

According to my notes I put 5,000 rounds through the barrel of the 391 with 3,000 of that in singles, 1,000 in handicap, and another 1,000 showing other people how bad I suck at sporting clays and skeet. Probably 1,800 rounds went through the 870 before switching platforms.

Next goal: Run 25 straight in registered targets. And to get my Rem 1100 3-gun to run.

Congratulations...now that you have the straight behind you...don't think about running it anymore and concentrate on one shot at a time...your straight total should climb to well over 100 B4 you know it..

[Hank Ellis]

Congratulations...now that you have the straight behind you...don't think about running it anymore and concentrate on one shot at a time...your straight total should climb to well over 100 B4 you know it..

Thanks.

You hit the thing about clays. Don't worry about the big picture. It's one shell, one bird. Put the two together. Repeat. Don't think about it. Just do it. Or as one of my mentors states, "The mind is a terrible thing in this game."

Funny thing looking back at the straight. Most of those targets were, pull, bang, smoke. Can't tell you how I broke them, I just broke them. At the last post when I realized I had a good run going the brain started thinking. Nearly psyched myself out like I've done before. Not this time.

I was about ready to hang it up a month ago. Did the ATA Southwestern Zone shoot. First box was a 24 and it went into the toilet after that. Couldn't hit a thing the rest of the weekend. Ended up shooting my average but it was way too much work to get it. I was not happy with myself in the least. Bottom line I was trying too hard. I should have just let myself shoot and hit the birds.

Now if I can apply the same mindset to USPSA I might possibly get out of C class.

[JThompson]

Congrats Hank...

[Keith]

Cool!

I know the feeling. After 5 years of shooting trap I also finally shot a 25 a couple of months ago. I still seem to suck at sporting clays, though.

[EricW]

Spec-freaking-tacular!! Does that feel good or what?

I too hit a milestone this week at trap. 23 (24 if you count the mulligan because I accidentally switched barrels) shooting southpaw. Best part of all, I did that in spite of the head trip my boss put on me before I went. Can't wait to hit 25. The cool thing about hitting milestones is actually seeing yourself execute good mechanics to achieve them.

Once I hit 25, I'm going to go down to a full choke and start over. Then extra full.

[JD45]

Congratulations! That will make any shotgunner happy.

If at all possible, it pays not to stop on those days. Go get something to drink, walk out there again like you don't have a care in the world but smoking targets, and shoot another round.

I've seen it several times now. Last month a young guy shot his first 25. Then another. Got his first 25 and fifty on the same day. I said," If it were me there is no way I would stop shooting".

He went out and shot another 25 for his first 75 straight. He missed the 78th target and stopped( I don't know why, he could have shot a 99).

Everyone doesn't believe in the full choke for singles idea, but it helped my shooting more than anything. The good shots say that the 16yd. line is mainly a place to gain precision for handicap. Chips at 16yds. won't help your handicap game.

Draw smoke at 16yds. and learn to read your breaks, at least that's what I've been told.

[boz1911]

Congrats on your first 25! Did anyone shoot your hat? Tradition you know, still have a destroyed(4shooters) $25 Browning fitted hat in the garage.

[Hank Ellis]

Cool!

I know the feeling. After 5 years of shooting trap I also finally shot a 25 a couple of months ago. I still seem to suck at sporting clays, though.

Sporting clays is a way different game. The presentations are endless and takes a lot of practice to read what the course designer is throwing at you. At the local clays range the newest toy is a trampoline that the course designer is bouncing the birds off. Add in the 50 ft lift that he's launching birds from and he can make an interesting course. Kinda fun to bust a rabbit 20 yd out then look up at a bird coming straight for your eyeballs from above.

If at all possible, it pays not to stop on those days. Go get something to drink, walk out there again like you don't have a care in the world but smoking targets, and shoot another round.

Shot two more boxes after that but didn't do as well. The whole point of the days practice was to work on birds when the winds were gusty. Toward the end the winds 10 with gusts to 20 with the approaching thunderstorm. Shot the last 5 shells in the rain. I was so pumped I didn't care.

Congrats on your first 25! Did anyone shoot your hat? Tradition you know, still have a destroyed(4shooters) $25 Browning fitted hat in the garage.

Since it was raining we postponed it for another day. Yes, the tradition is very much alive at the club. Check out the clubhouse photos in the link below.

FYI: The website of the trap club. The good thing about it it's 10 minutes from the house. The bad thing about it it's 10 minutes from the house. (Honey, I'm going out for bread and eggs. "Why you bringing your shotgun?" Well, uh, you never know. -shrug-)

[Hank Ellis]

Oh yeah. One more little thing.

At the zone shoot a couple of guys in my squad asked what load and choke I was using. 2 3/4 dram, AA hull, AA12 wad, Clays, 1 1/8 of 7 1/2 and IM choke.

Both said that looking at my breaks (when I did break them) that I may be a bit overchoked. Open up to a Mod and consider switching to 8 shot. As long as you can still smoke the target you're not underchoked. And using 8s will throw more pellets at the target. You may chip a bird that would be lost with 7 1/2. Sure, why not. I'll try anything once. Maybe twice if it feels good.

That day was the first day I tried the new combination. Yes I can still smoke it when I do my job. And I did pick up a few birds with slightly off shots that would have been lost otherwise. I'm convinced that this slight change in ammo and choke helped.

[Irishlad]

Nice shooting

I'll bet it was your "ability" compared to the load change that broke them all. But, continue on with the new "combo" because it works and it's a good one.

Edited August 18, 2007 by Irishlad

[Jaxshooter]

You will find that clay target shooting is a game of repitition. Learn your gun hold points from each position and do not vary them. If you have trouble with a specific target go to the club when they are not busy and have them lock the machine to throw the problem target every time. Work your problem targets or positions out this way and your subconcieous mind will take over and all you will have to do is focus on the target and your mind will build in the lead and pull the trigger when everything is right. The LESS you think the better. FOCUS on the target and it will break if you have good form and fundamentals.

Edited August 18, 2007 by Jaxshooter

[Hank Ellis]

Next goal: Run 25 straight in registered targets. And to get my Rem 1100 3-gun to run.

What do you know? Hit another goal. Run 25 straight in registered targets last Saturday. And oh yeah did they shoot my hat.

A couple weeks ago I attended a charity sporting clays shoot. Shot a rather poor score. The Clays Yoda saw my score and proceeded to give me a good lecture. I was banished to the pattern board. Half a box later I now knew exactly what was wrong and what I needed to do to fix it. It's all in the gun fit. A little tweak should fix the problem.

Went to the skeet field and shot 21 on a drill that I've never done better than 12 before. That went well so practiced low 7 from low ready. Shot 16 and since I had never shot from low ready that went well. Shot 22 on a round of skeet. My previous best was a 12. Yup, found the problem.

Why work at the skeet field to find the problem for sporting clays? The Clays Yoda, Gary Hallum, believes that if your gun fit is correct it doesn't matter whether its sporting clays, skeet, or trap. You should be able to mount and shoot anything without changing anything. Trap is a little different in that a dedicated trap gun is setup for an always rising target. But until I get a dedicated trap gun this is the route to go and is the route for most shooters. All the games tie-in one way or another.

Half a box at the pattern board taught me more than the cases of lead I've thrown at the clay frisbees before. Found out that a skeet choke is only good for absolutely no more than 23 yds, 21 if you want to be safe which is the max distance in skeet. Which is why I lost a few birds at the charity shoot, underchoked. Found out that the stock needed to be dropped a bit. Found out that the gun shoots naturally high just a bit which is a good thing. Found out that my reloads and factory shoot the same. With all that information right there for the taking I wonder why you have to drag shotgunners with claw marks in the dirt you can see from the space station to the pattern board?

Geez. Between this and my first B classifier two weeks ago people will begin to think I know how to shoot. What little do they know.

Now for the other part of my goal, to get my Rem 1100 3-gun to run, I just may throw in the towel and call Benny to get a new Benelli on the way.

[EricW]

That's awesome Hank! Great post too...

[Hank Ellis]

OK, I'm kinda turning this thread into one of those range diary things. But I'd rather keep it in the Clays forum as well, I think it belongs here.

Been in a bit of a slump for some reason. Spent a few practice sessions trying to figure out what has changed. Tried something different. Lets try Trap singles shooting one box with each of the chokes in my kit. Just to see what happens. Results ... Full Choke - 21, IM - 21, Mod - 21, IC - 21. Didn't try the skeet choke as I knew the pattern would be too wide for trap due to the work at the pattern board stated above. What this exercise told me is that when I miss I miss big. An IC at trap distances has a pattern around 4' in diameter at trap distances. Granted the pattern of an IC should have a few holes but even still I should have a tiny chip here and there or at least dust. Nope. Nada.

Nothing in the gun or load has changed. The only thing left was me. Spent Thursday and Friday shooting a case each day with half a case in singles and the other half at 21yd handicap trying to figure out what had changed. Got some semi decent scores in handicap by trying something I swore I wouldn't do. Closing one eye.

Yeah, I'm cross-dominant but I tape over the eye so it would give it up to the non-dominant eye. Has worked in the past. Apparently its not working now. Well, I'll do the club shoot on Saturday and see what happens.

Singles. Shot an 18 with the first box. After kicking dogs and small children went back for the second box. Walking up to the line I thought to try the eye closing thing. Can't hurt at this point. Shot a 23. Hmmm. Shot a 21 each of the next two boxes. Hmmm. I got it now. The gun, load, or my technique didn't change. I changed. Something with my physical body changed and I had to change along with it. Got it now.

20yd Handicap. Shot a 90 which is by far the best handicap score I've shot registered. My notes say I've shot a 90 and a 93 in practice once each. I was in the zone. The focus was there. Nothing was rattling in the brain matter except putting that shell and that bird together. Got the formula.

When my clays guru came to pick up the scoresheet he double checked the scores. "Hank you shot a 90 and did you know you shot 25 straight on the 3rd box." Huh? Uh, no. I didn't have a clue. "Gimme your hat." [Note to self: start wearing your junky gimme hats to trap shoots. The good ones end up on the wall shot to bits.]

BTW: I think handicap was won with a 94 shot very well by the guy in the post next to me. BSing afterwards it turns out he was an old pre-IPSC combat pistol competitor. Informed him of the different divisions we have now and he was interested in Single Stack, Production, and possibly Revolver with his PPC gun. Passed on the USPSA website address to him. Hope to see him at the next USPSA match.