Met a few guys from the forum today

[esshup]

At Back Forty Sporting Clays to take advantage of the warm weather. We got lucky and dodged all the rain.

Bullseye69, his Dad, a friend of his and deadeer. I can see where bullseye59 gets his handle, he can shoot dang good, and his Dad isn't too far behind! Deadeer would have done a whole lot better if his mind wasn't on his gun playing tricks on him. bullsyes69's buddy did pretty good too, considering that he was shooting a fixed full choke in the 1100.

I had some boo-boos and dropped some birds that I shouldn't have.

All in all it was a fun day!!

Thanks guys!

[deadeer]

Well esshup beat me to it tonight, and TODAY too, in fact he beat EVERYBODY. LOL. We all had a great time and want to thank him for inviting us all out. As said, my auto was lacking in every way, jam, double eject, loose nut behind the butt, you name it. Lol. We fiddled with it and oiled it up, but it never settled down. So esshup graciously let me use his o/u first, and then bullseye69's dad had me try his auto. The auto was a more familiar feeling, so I stuck with it. First time on a course for me, and of course it showed. I had low score, other newbie next, bullseye69 and his dad were knocking on the top door, but esshup closed the door on everybody. Its amazing to watch good shooters in action. I have to give credit, and thanks for no belittling of us newbies and overall I had a great time. We will definitely be doing it again. We even got some good deals on reloading supplies at the clubhouse when we finished up. Overall rating=AWESOME. Thanks guys!

[bullseye69]

Yes it was a great day with friends and family and new friends.
esshup is one hell of a good shot with the old scatter gun.
deadeer had some gun issues but it didn't spoil his day.
My buddy first time shooting sporting clays and he used a pretty nice hand me down 1100 but it
was fixed choke FULL. But he did pretty good, shooting more than half the clays thrown his way.
My dad has been around shooting clays for a long time so its pretty hard to beat him, wait a minute, I
don't think I have beat him yet, come to think of it.
Oh well it still was a GREAT time. Thanks eeshup!

[esshup]

Not a problem, it was fun!!!

FWIW, I will be there this Saturday morning @ 8:30 a.m. I usually shoot with the guys that I used to work with, but there's always room for more in case anyone is interested.

Debating on whether to shoot the same choke/load combo or switch to full/ex. full and 3/4 oz loads in the same gun.

[Jamie Brooks 1John5:13]

This is great!

I'd love to meet those fellas, but I'd have to pack a lunch to drive that far, and maybe take a nap on the way.

It's easy for us to get comfy in our environment with the friends we have. My daughter wants one friend, and that's all she thinks she needs.

I'm making an effort to make new friends, but not because my old friend are no longer important ...they're just in wheelchairs or henpecked and can't leave the house. LOL No, I just find great value in making new friends. I don't want to leave it to a chance meeting at the gun range, I want to make an effort to meet more people. It's just not fair to deny people of the opportunity of experiencing the friendship of Jon Snow. LOL

[bullseye69]

Feb 2, 2016 17:41:03 GMT -5 esshup said:

Not a problem, it was fun!!!

FWIW, I will be there this Saturday morning @ 8:30 a.m. I usually shoot with the guys that I used to work with, but there's always room for more in case anyone is interested.

Debating on whether to shoot the same choke/load combo or switch to full/ex. full and 3/4 oz loads in the same gun.

Thanks but my weekend to work.
Full/ex.full and 3/4 loads, that would be really challenging on the close ones. 

[esshup]

Feb 2, 2016 19:41:36 GMT -5 bullseye69 said:

Feb 2, 2016 17:41:03 GMT -5 esshup said:

Not a problem, it was fun!!!

FWIW, I will be there this Saturday morning @ 8:30 a.m. I usually shoot with the guys that I used to work with, but there's always room for more in case anyone is interested.

Debating on whether to shoot the same choke/load combo or switch to full/ex. full and 3/4 oz loads in the same gun.

Thanks but my weekend to work.
Full/ex.full and 3/4 loads, that would be really challenging on the close ones. 

If the bird is centered in the pattern, it doesn't matter!

I used to practice skeet full/full. Ya either hit 'em or not!

[esshup]

Jon, anytime you want to shoot, let me know. Same goes for anybody else here.

They have free hotdogs there on the weekends for the shooters too. The "bun" is bread slices, there's usually mustard and ketchup. Coffee too. Pop/soda is $0.75 a can. It's a small place, but very family orientated. They have a HUGE pole barn next to the range house where it is converted into a banquet hall and they book weddings/receptions there.

Sporting Clays and a single wobble trap is all they have. No rifle/pistol range, no trap or skeet.

During the summer they have a hard(er) course set up (the Red course) and the easy course set up (the Green course) which is what we shot last weekend.

They have some reloading supplies, mostly rifle/pistol powder but that's just because shotgun powder is in short supply. Shot, wads, some brass and some bullets. They have a number of different primers, rifle, pistol and shotgun.

There are a few guns for sale, but they can order just about anything, and have good prices on all their stuff. They feel that if a person can't afford to shoot, then they won't be coming there TO shoot.

[Jamie Brooks 1John5:13]

Feb 2, 2016 20:34:14 GMT -5 esshup said:

Jon, anytime you want to shoot, let me know. Same goes for anybody else here.

They have free hotdogs there on the weekends for the shooters too. The "bun" is bread slices, there's usually mustard and ketchup. Coffee too. Pop/soda is $0.75 a can. It's a small place, but very family orientated. They have a HUGE pole barn next to the range house where it is converted into a banquet hall and they book weddings/receptions there.

Sporting Clays and a single wobble trap is all they have. No rifle/pistol range, no trap or skeet.

During the summer they have a hard(er) course set up (the Red course) and the easy course set up (the Green course) which is what we shot last weekend.

They have some reloading supplies, mostly rifle/pistol powder but that's just because shotgun powder is in short supply. Shot, wads, some brass and some bullets. They have a number of different primers, rifle, pistol and shotgun.

There are a few guns for sale, but they can order just about anything, and have good prices on all their stuff. They feel that if a person can't afford to shoot, then they won't be coming there TO shoot.

I appreciate it!

I did finally get my O/U out of the layaway, but haven't shot it yet.    My problem isn't with the shooting; it's with the hitting something, especially if it moves. LOL

You guys are way up north, yes?

[esshup]

The trick to hitting a clay bird is to shoot where it isn't.

It's about a 45 minute drive due North to hit the Michigan state line, maybe an hour 10 depending on traffic.

[Jamie Brooks 1John5:13]

I should be shooting "attempting to" some clay birds with Saltydog now that the bridge is fixed. I do need some serious help.

I'm just south of Indy. It would be a haul for me, but I would make everyone else feel good.

I'd really like to try a put-n-take, but I might need to practice first.

Hoping to get an electric thrower this year if I can find a place to use it relatively close.

[nfalls116]

Feb 3, 2016 15:26:26 GMT -5 esshup said:

The trick to hitting a clay bird is to shoot where it isn't.

And if you haven't done that in awhile that's hard to remember

[esshup]

Feb 3, 2016 15:40:53 GMT -5 nfalls116 said:

Feb 3, 2016 15:26:26 GMT -5 esshup said:

The trick to hitting a clay bird is to shoot where it isn't.

And if you haven't done that in awhile that's hard to remember

You betcha! And you also have to remember to keep the gun moving too, even after the shot. If you stop the gun when you pull the trigger you will more than likely shoot behind the bird.

Easiest way that I was taught to do that is to keep your head on the stock and follow the whole bird to the ground of you miss, or keep your head on the stock and pick out and follow a large piece of the broken bird to the ground.

If you are at a place where you can do so, you can load two shells and shoot one of the pieces once you get yourself to keep your head on the stock and keep the gun moving.

[esshup]

Being able to shoot a rifle and a shotgun well is hard, because of the different trigger control needed. With a rifle, you have to slowly squeeze the trigger, almost to the point of when it finally breaks it is a surprise to you. With shotgun shooting, it is more of a slap to the trigger to get the timing right.

[bullseye69]

Also don't look at the front sight.
Keep your eye on the bird.
The front sight should be just a image kinda out of focus but as a reference point to where the end of the barrel is.

[nfalls116]

Feb 3, 2016 16:06:35 GMT -5 esshup said:

Being able to shoot a rifle and a shotgun well is hard, because of the different trigger control needed. With a rifle, you have to slowly squeeze the trigger, almost to the point of when it finally breaks it is a surprise to you. With shotgun shooting, it is more of a slap to the trigger to get the timing right.

add a hand gun in there and you really get some confusion if you don't mix it up on the regular

[esshup]

Feb 3, 2016 19:47:17 GMT -5 bullseye69 said:

Also don't look at the front sight.
Keep your eye on the bird.
The front sight should be just a image kinda out of focus but as a reference point to where the end of the barrel is.

What front sight?

Dee Woolem fitted a shotgun to me in the early 1990's. Or was it late 1980's? Anyway, to do that he took the sights off of the gun, and had a rifled insert that would fit into the shotgun. It shot .38 cal rubber bullets pushed by a shotgun primer inside his workshop. He had a roll of paper 15'-20' away on the wall. He wouldn't fit the shotgun if I couldn't mount the gun and shoot the rubber bullet in about a 1" circle on the paper without any sights on the shotgun at all.

I could do that, so he said come back in a week. He cut the comb of the stock and fitted an adjustable cheekpiece. I already had a Jones recoil pad adjuster on the shotgun.

His theory was that if you could point your finger at something and it be right on, you could do the same with a shotgun sans sights. Concentration on what you were trying to shoot was the key. And he proved it.

He put a round cracker that had 5 holes in the middle in a holder that he had, and said to shoot it (in front of the paper inside the shop). I hit it about 50% of the time. He then put an aspirin in the same spot and said shoot that now. I looked at him like he was nucking futs but tried anyway. Remember, this is with no sights on the gun at all. I hit it about 90% of the time. Back up went the cracker and I was back to 50%. He said that I wasn't focusing on a specific part of the cracker, that I should concentrate on hitting one of the small holes in the cracker. 10 out of 10.

He fiddled with the recoil pad adjuster, and with the adjustable cheekpiece some more, having me shoot at a dot that he put on the paper with a magic marker. Before I took the gun home, he put the sights back on the rib.

Just having the gun fitted made my trap scores go from 17 to the low 20's. After that it was just me learning the leads and practicing. I learned to focus on the leading edge of the clay bird, not the whole thing.

[deadeer]

I am glad esshup didn't invite me down for the shoot with a friendly wager on the table! Lol. He really knows his stuff. Glad to have been there to learn from all the fine shooters that day.

[saltydog]

Feb 3, 2016 15:36:30 GMT -5 Jamie Brooks 1John5:13 said:

I should be shooting "attempting to" some clay birds with Saltydog now that the bridge is fixed. I do need some serious help.

I'm just south of Indy. It would be a haul for me, but I would make everyone else feel good.

I'd really like to try a put-n-take, but I might need to practice first.

Hoping to get an electric thrower this year if I can find a place to use it relatively close.

It is great fun when you can get some guys together for whatever reason, Sounds like you guys had a (Blast)

Dennis I was at the club the other night for the monthly meeting. The bridge is nice, they did a very good job on it a bit narrow but looks heavy duty. So when we get some time to get together lets break in that O/U

[esshup]

Feb 4, 2016 0:30:24 GMT -5 deadeer said:

I am glad esshup didn't invite me down for the shoot with a friendly wager on the table! Lol. He really knows his stuff. Glad to have been there to learn from all the fine shooters that day.

HA! Not me, I don't do things like that. If someone offers, I'll go along with them, but I won't start it.

I used to shoot some of the games and knew that there were shooters better than me out there. It's like any sport, any given day you will do good or bad. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.

I had fun meeting everyone!!