Clay shooting: What's the secret to smooth clay shooting?

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What's the secret to smooth clay shooting?

An awkward gun mount is usually the result of mounting the stock first.

By John Bidwell

Monday, 21 November 2011

I’m always amazed at how slowly and smoothly clay shooting pros mount their guns on even the fastest target. They also seem to hardly move the barrels. What’s their secret?

CLAY SHOOTING
John Bidwell
There isn’t one! The reason a lot of accomplished clay shooters – and game shooters too for that matter – make things look easy with little movement is down to positioning themselves properly so that they can both see the bird clearly, then kill it in the right place with the minimum amount of gun movement in terms of swing, and the least amount of fuss.

‘Least amount of fuss’ is another way of saying mounting the gun properly.

Think about it - the distance from the ready position just below the armpit to the shoulder pocket and a completed mount is only a few inches.

The smoothest gun mount is accomplished simply by pushing the barrels to the target with the leading hand and lifting the stock at the same time with the other.

An ‘awkward’ and rushed gun mount is usually the result of mounting the stock first, then lifting the barrels to the target.

Avoid this by telling yourself to let both hands share the work of moving the barrels and aligning them to the target.

Dry mounting at home is the perfect practice, so don’t ignore it!