Newbie Shotgunner!

[Magpies are gay]

I've just got into shotgunning- got a nice 16bore side by side.

Just send off the form for my SGC this morning.

How long roughtly does it take to be confirmed, and me to have the certificate???

 

 

I have been to the shooting grounds for training, i must say i was impressed with my self, i hit about 70% of the clays. But they were all easy close shots where i dont need to aim infront......the only problem im really having is mounting the shotgun in the right place quickly. Because im used to airrifles i put it there....so i get some nasty red marks....The training supervisor gave me lots of help with this problem.....But 3 weeks later im still having a problem, does any one know of any websites that have images to help me? or advice? Any would be good :(

 

I went to the shooting ground again on tuesday for a sporting session 50 clays...

Managed to get 20 out of 50, i wasnt very happy with this,

Is it good for a newbie???

 

Thanks for reading!

Maggie

[barrie0]

Maggie , It may just be that the gun does not fit you properley can you not try anyone else's or get the instructor to check it for you . Twenty out of fifty is not bad for a newbie either I know of some blokes at my local clay club who only manage that even though they have been shooting for a few years . The more you practice the better you should get just enjoy it , don't worry about it and you should get better but focus on that clay rather than the barrels and let your peripheral vision work out the lead for you . As soon as I take my eyes off the clay and start to look at the barrel/lead and think about it 80% of the time I will miss .

[dunganick]

i would recomend using a o/u in 12g, it wont bite, and will get you used to more conventional handeling.

 

chances are being a s/s it will have full and 3/4 choke, or similar, this wont help you

 

as for mounting it wrong, the gun could be too long, you might be wareing something baggy, you might have something fundementally wrong with your technique.

 

my honest advice, and this is not any judgement on your ability (that seems to be quite natural from what you say) go and have a lesson from a well thought of instructor.

 

i dont think there is a single shooter who didnt think they knew better, and carried on shooting using a poor mount or technique, and has just grown used to some major flaw in their technique. this makes it all the harder to change when you finally sniff the air and make the sensible decision and have a lesson.

 

its amazing how well a novice can shoot with a 2 hour lesson from a professional shooter, more often than not its far better than an experianced shot who has had to re learn how to shoot.

 

like most things, bad habbits are hard to break in shooting, so best to get taught correctly from the start and never have any.

 

i would think this would sort your mount out, and improve you no end.

 

good luck :(

[Country_est]

Magpie,

It all depends,

 

1) 16b s/s is probably a good game gun. You say you have the gun but are just applying for your cert, where did you get the gun from ?. As a random guess a 16b tends to be an older shooters gun and it was handed down in the family. If so this might not be the gun for you. It all depends on the fit.

 

2) What type of shootng are you looking to do, a 16b may be a bit expensive to feed comared with a 12g, and not quite suited to a heavy volume of shots. ie lots of clays. I have a 12g s/s & I dont think I have shot more than a couple of rounds of clays with it as its my lightweight game gun for ruff shooting, and I use an 12g o/u for clays.

 

3) Certification can take 21 days to 3 months depandeand on something but nobody quite knows what :(

 

4) As said by barrieO somepeople never get the hang og clays and never get near 20/50. Some people are (like you mentioned) allway premounting and the calling the clay. Now this is ok for some types of clays ie dtl skeet trap, but for sporting it is better it you can to call the bird with gun down & mount. This is almost a must if you are only doing clays as practice for pigeon, game ruff, wildfowing ect.

 

Have you been to a clay club, have any mates who are also shooters to try thier guns ect.

 

Of all the guns I have tried and bought the main thing that has sold the gun to me is the fit. Last time I bought a gun on spec was at the cla game fair a few years ago. I was looking for a s/s 12g sle. I tried quite a few from the NO way wasI going to pay that to the very cheap s/h 12g and found a cheapish spanish gun that just came up right. When it does it just does, you cant really describe it (certaily not this ******) it just feels right. Have tried many guns since and still am happy with mine.

 

So it just depends on what you are trying to do with it and what you want to achive.

 

One excercise that I did when I started shotgun shooting was to put 6 "paper hole protectors" around the wall in my bedroom. (actually some were around the dartboard on the bedroom door) numered 1 - 6. Then flick a dice with my foot, and what ever the number was then snap mount to the paper target, hold of a few seconds and just check the mount & sight picture.

 

I could be going the opposite way to you and asking such newbie questions about airguns soon.

 

Cheers

[hawkeye]

Quote Magpies are gay

 

've just got into shotgunning- got a nice 16bore side by side.

Just send off the form for my SGC this morning.

How long roughtly does it take to be confirmed, and me to have the certificate???

 

Question how come you have a 16bore side by side and no SGC surely this is against the law can you explain how this works.

 

It can take about 8 weeks for cert to come through if your lucky depends were you live.

Just make sure you have a good gun safe for when plod comes to inspect,

[Teal]

I think it may be on his dad's shotgun certificate

[hawkeye]

I think it may be on his dad's shotgun certificate

That would explain it thanks Teal though i was missing a trick some where

[throdgrain]

For me in West Sussex it took 5 weeks before the chap came round to inspect my safe and do the interview, then another 8 weeks before the paperwork came through

However I know that West Sussex is notoriously slow !

[ROB REYNOLDS UK]

4 to 8 weeks so they say but dont hold your breath dont get your self a s/s they are **** to say the least i too have fired one and they knock my face to bits its all down to gun fit ,get you self a gun you think you will be useing a lot like if its just clays get your self a clay gun or sporter if its out in the field get your self a game gun if you are wanting to get in to pigeon shooting full time i think a auto is the gun to have as there is less kick also good on clays ,if you get one of theses guns and find they kick too much try useing 24grms shells ,a sporter is or should i say an all round gun really nice a light it got to be o/u if you do buy one

[Sargeant Bang]

In Hampshire they can take up to 3 months or more before the FLO comes to visit you, depending on how busy they are. And you won't be issued anything 'till he's been round to see you, because he makes the recommendation to the Chief Firearms Officer for your area as to whether he recommends you get a SGC or not.

My guys had their schedules all backed-up due to holidays at summer etc. So I called them after a week and told them I was available for short-notice cancellations, of which they get a lot. A week or so later the guy called me and asked if I could see him that afternoon, so I flew home. I also already had my gun safe installed to save him coming back to look at that. 10 days after this my SGC arrived.

Job done.

[Dunkield]

But 3 weeks later im still having a problem, does any one know of any websites that have images to help me? or advice? Any would be good

I was going to refer you to Richard Faulds site, but it is off the air at the moment.

 

it's:

 

www.richardfaulds.com check back in a while...

 

There aren't any pictures here to help but soem good words from the master himself:

 

http://www.clay-shooting.com/drdigweed/askdigweed.htm

 

As stated above, how long your FLO takes to get round to you depends on where you live. Mine is lightning quick, but that is very unusual. For example they took 4 days for my FAC to be made open, from posting to getting it back to my house, under a week to get the FAC once he had been round (for which I only had to wait a week in the first place)

[P03]

i would recomend using a o/u in 12g, it wont bite, and will get you used to more conventional handeling.

 

I agree, a 16g sbs will be very light in comparison to a 12g o/u and will have much higher perceived recoil. As for hitting the targets - sounds like you're doing well to me! you will get better and a good coach will help but there's no substitute for experience

[AJAX]

Hi Maggie, I'm also relatively new to shotgunning and I had some issues with recoil when I first started. The first few times I went shooting I got pretty beat up around the cheek and gum line. I soon found that this was entirely due to incorrect gun mount and stance. I first had my gun fit checked and was lucky that it fit me pretty well straight out of the box. But whilst having the fit checked I was asked if I did any rifle shooting and replied yes, I've been shooting air rifles seriously for 20 years. His response was ' yep - thougth so ' apparently it can take some getting used to shotgunning after shooting rifles. I've had my 12 bore a while now and it still dont feel quite right when mounted not like my rifle does. My advice to you is stay positive, what ever is causing your problem is nothing that cant be sorted out by an instructor. dont think too much about it, once you start expecting it to hurt - it will ! Dont hold on to the gun too tightly, keep your face down on the stock and keep your weight over your leading foot. I got well battered just because my weight wasn't forward ! handle your gun as often as you can and you will soon get used to the feel of it. I do agree with the others in that an o/u may be a better choice for clays, sporters are generally a little bit heavier than game guns which helps reduce the felt recoil. Have fun mate and enjoy.

 

 

Regards

 

Ajax

[Enzo]

I just thought I would add my thoughts(for what they are worth guys!).

First tried clays two years ago on some sort of corprate day...stag do or something like that. Anyways, borrowed a 12g side by side - worst mistake i ever made!! The bruising lasted for two weeks(no tuition, just point and shoot). put me off for a long time that one did.

Decided to give it another go, this time the correct way. Rang shooting ground and booked tuition with the instructor. Still borrowed another gun, this one a Berreta semi - auto o/under. The instructer suggested we try my 'borrowed gun' and one of the schools, a Browning I believe. This was the best two hours I had enjoyed for a long time, and whilst actually learning something.

So, I guess the moral of this story is 'get the instruction from a professional' and then go out with some friends.

I will definately be booking more training time this month and even taking the wife!!

My application for the sgc is in the post tonight.

And if you are wondering, the bruising only lasted for three days this time. Does it ever get better?

 

Enzo