Braintree Gun Club Skeet shooting

Recently I was at Braintree for my weekly 200 round pratice and as I pulled in to park, I saw a couple of guys using the skeet range. So I thinking WOW I havn't done that in years. So I go inside and when I came out, some sort of strange force pulled me up to the top of the hill to look at the clay bird grave yard.

So the next day I'm at Northeast Trading picking up some rounds and while I was there I spotted some cases of clay birds. Now when I paying for my rounds I asked Ted what do those cost. Ted says 8 bucks. I said 8 bucks!!! NO WAY I'll TAKE A CASE.

Well I started off with a old Mossberg out of the safe. To heavy and to much recoil for this old guy. I go back to the safe and pull out all my shotguns and figure here's a good reason to get another shotgun and off I go to Fairground guns in Brockton. So I picked up a real nice Remington 1100 12 gauge for $275. Take it home strip it and clean it.

Back to Braintree the Remington and I go. It won't recyle the spent round. I looking at it and figure out the rounds are extra light loads for the pump and won't work in the Remington.

So I go to the Four seasons the next day for some shells and then back
to the range.

Clay Birds wounded 30. If these were chickens I would starve to death

Good thing I'm retired and have the time to do all this.

Now I got to go to Northeast today for 2 cases of clays and 10 boxes of 12 gauge. I'll get this down even if it kills me.

Sounds like fun... When I went to the Woburn Sportsman Association for my written test and range familiarization tour (both required for membership) I was watching the guys shooting at the clays. Sure looked like fun.

Now... What is the difference between skeet and trap?

Adam

Adam-

Since you're already up in Woburn for shooting and are interested in clay shooting you should send an e-mail to massrifle@excite.com and register for the Shotgun class we're having at the MRA (also in Woburn)

The class is on Sat Aug 13th, we're doing sporting clays and trap.
I've actually never shot clay before either- so I'm taking the class, not coaching :D

www.massrifle.com

CORRECTION: TRAP only at BR&P

I just wanted to point this out, so that nobody is misled.

Regrettably, BR&P only has Trap, no Skeet. And now that the condos are abutting the trap field (Messina was supposed to move our field up to where the rifle/pistol fields are, but he reneged), there is no chance of ever having a skeet field too.

I used to enjoy both skeet and trap, but haven't shot it in years.

BTW, last I looked a case of birds was about $6 at Wally World. But with increased fuel costs, I don't know if they have gone up much or not.

Oh- and from what I've picked up through listening in to the ol' boys the difference between the shotgun sports are:

1)skeet- the clay crosses in front of you

2) trap- the clay moves away from you

3) sporting clays- combination of directions and movements to simulate evasive or erratic movement, as well as "rabbits" which are released and roll on the ground

Though as I said, I've never done shotgun sports so those of you that have, feel free to correct me!

Skeet are launched from two towers on either side of the field. You have a bunch of stations forming a semi-circle from one tower to the other. Birds are launched mostly across the field (downrange enough to be safe) As you progress from one station ot the other you are presented with a different angle on the birds. One tower launches high (called the high house) and the other launches low (called the low house)

Trap is a single launcher that launches birds away from you, but in different directions (randomly) You also have stations to rotate through, but the difference isn't like it is in skeet. The hard part with trap is that distance is not your friend and the longer it takes you to track the bird, the harder it is to hit.

Both types of machines can be of a 'wobble' style to add even more variation on the direction. In Europe, and the olympics, birds are launched MUCH faster than you usually see in the US, and you start with the butt of the gun off the shoulder. In the US, you start wiht the gun mounted.

There is a new game called 5-stand which I have not seen although Riverside was running league this past season. It is supposed to be very challenging as you have several possible launchers and you don't know from where the next bird will come.

It's a lot of fun, but I find that the techniques are different enough that I can't shoot both well.

EDIT: Both as in Shotgun and Rifle/Pistol.