to fiddle or not to fiddle

[tosspot]

there has been much debate on chokes in this clay section

 

and probably always will be

 

i agree that when shooting skeet there is a call for more open chokes than for DTL for example

 

but during a round of sporting is it necessary to continually change chokes

 

personally i think not

 

i have come to an agreement with my head that i am happy with 1\2 and 3\4 fullstop

 

now i have one less variable to distract my grey matter

 

top tip from big George

 

one gun

 

one cartridge

 

one choke

 

this statement makes an awful lot of sense to me

 

i have a good mate who i am sure his shooting would improve dramatically if he stopped thinking about

 

what choke with what shell would suit a particular bird on a particular stand

 

what do you guys think?

[Catamong]

I've tried both methods - many years ago I was a fiddler, chopping and changing chokes and shells through 7.5, 8 & 9 on every stand, it worked for me then, even the legendary beating Big George on the odd occasion, however I then switched to shooting 1/2 & 1/2 at everything, and, lo & behold, I kept on shooting pretty much as well, (or badly..!!), as I had done previously.

 

I have now gone back to changing chokes to whatever I feel will give me the best chance of breaking the target, and in most cases, it ain't 3/4 & full..!!

 

I generally favour a 1/4 (Imp Cyl), and 3/8 (Light Mod) ported Rhino choke for about 75% of the Sporting clays that I shoot, and it seems to work OK for me. I use a good quality shell, either Express Super Comp 8's or Express Supreme 7.5's on the really long stuff.

 

I well remember a comment by Carl Bloxham, one of the best Sporting shots in the UK today, on the subject of changing chokes, he said "Cat, how would you feel if you were asked to play a round of Golf with only a putter in your bag..??"

 

It makes you think, as pretty much everybody on this forum is simply not in the same league as Big George, and never will be, and therefore us mere mortals need all of the help we can get..!!

 

If you want to see real obsessive choke changers, take a look at one of the U.S. Sporting Clay Forums, most of those guys believe that any target, (even crossers), over 35 yards needs 3/4 or full to break it consistently - what nonsense..!!

 

Cat.

[tosspot]

fair comment

 

with ref to my prefered choice of choke

 

i appreciate i could have worded it better

 

it should read 1\2 and 3\4

 

this i realise this is probably a compromise that suits my particular style of shooting

 

ps

 

while we are at a bit of name dropping

 

Richard Faulds said to me one time

 

"i've always wanted a full size snooker table, thanks lads"

[Catamong]

That one's lost on me....I thought we were talking about clay shooting....

 

 

Cat.

[tosspot]

dear cat

 

sorry chap

 

just humour me

 

i would like to add

 

i have never shot a registered shoot at anywhere other than my local shoot which is

 

Southdown, although i have experienced many others albeit in practice or open format, CLA.Mitsubishi,Lower

 

Lodge ect

 

and maybe this would have a bearing on my choice of choke as from what i can gather from the journey men

 

that come there to shoot, Dave Peckam puts on a notorious layout, as i once witnessed on an England selection

 

when there were many that had travelled down moaning bitterly that the shoot was too hard and their scores

 

for A class would've looked more at home in B or C

 

at risk of sounding sycophantic i genuinely appreciate what you have to say as it is obvious you are a man

 

that knows his bacon

 

cheers pete

[Lord Geordie]

I leave 1/2 and 3/4 in for ALL shooting at the club

 

Grouse butt

DTL

Skeet

and ABT

 

And on a wednesday the Sporting

 

Seem to manage fine

 

LG

[Dunkield]

To carry on with the golfing analogy, I have read that several top players were taught by only being allowed to use a single club for every shot. And only when they were deemed to be good enough were they allowed to confuse themselves with all the other club options.

 

I think, the less you have to worry about the better, find a decent cartridge and stick to it and find a choke combination you are happy with and stick to it. They will be occasions (probably on more serious shoots) where a choke change will help, but I just can’t see that swapping them between every stand can be good thing – how do people with fixed choke guns hit them in that case?

[dunganick]

1/4 and 1/2 and nothing else

 

i did once swap these out for 1/4 and nothing when i did the young shots competition but wasnt hitting the targets as hard. As soon as i got home i put the 1/2 back in and swore never to change again.

 

Now i have not actually got a shotgun i am using the old mans semi i use a beretta optima extended half, however i am told these pattern loose and a half patterns more like 1/4, cant say ive ever patterned it, but i shot 41/50 last weekend on an easyish setup so im not about to change it.

Edited May 11, 2006 by dunganick

[tosspot]

a mate of mine who was showing some potential many moons ago now

 

was taken under the wing of an ex international to be brought on

 

the first thing he was made to do was shoot skeet with full and full

 

and he wasn,t going to get any help on the sporting until he had straighted the skeet

 

didn't take too long as the guy had talent

 

i believe the thinking behind this was that the exercise was all about gunfit and concentration

 

the transition to sporting then became all the smoother

 

off at a bit of a tangent i know but my arguement is use of choke is not an exact science

 

what is good for the goose may not necessarily be good for the gander

 

but what i am sure of is that it can confuse the **** off of some

 

when really they should be concentrating more on basics

[Dunkield]

I think the moral is, if you just missed something you aimed in the wrong place - sounds easy doesn't it?!!

[Baldrick]

I use Improved and Modified on my clay gun, which is probably equivalent to 1/8 and 1/4. Seem to hit almost everything.

 

 

 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.....

[Cranfield]

I think being asked to shoot skeet (as a new shooter), using full and full chokes, is a sign of a bad instructor.

The chances of any success over a reasonable period would be low.

Better to start with an acceptable choking, have some success and then improve.

 

I am not a dedicated clay shooter , but believe that most disciplines have an acceptable choke range.

Whenever I shoot sporting, I shoot 1/2 and 1/2, which is exactly what I shoot for pigeons and driven game.

 

Most shooters that have been around a while, have been through the conundrum of, chokes/shot size/load weight/wad design/cartridge manufacturer/ fit/ cast and various combinations of all these considerations.

Eventually, you arrive at a combination that you are confident with.

[dunganick]

cranfield,

 

i think the point is that this guy was GOOD and by using full choke it would just teach him to be more accurate and not lazy with shot placement as many shooters are but their chokes mean they dont nessicarily realise it.

[Cranfield]

Nick, if that was the point , I missed it, but my other comments hold good.

 

There are lots of stories from the Clay Grounds of shooters being unnecessarily handicapped during training, on the basis that, when they get full facilities returned, they will shoot even better.

Its a theory and a practise I don't subscribe to.

[the last engineer]

I think being asked to shoot skeet (as a new shooter), using full and full chokes, is a sign of a bad instructor.

The chances of any success over a reasonable period would be low.

Better to start with an acceptable choking, have some success and then improve.

 

I am not a dedicated clay shooter , but believe that most disciplines have an acceptable choke range.

Whenever I shoot sporting, I shoot 1/2 and 1/2, which is exactly what I shoot for pigeons and driven game.

 

Most shooters that have been around a while, have been through the conundrum of, chokes/shot size/load weight/wad design/cartridge manufacturer/ fit/ cast and various combinations of all these considerations.

Eventually, you arrive at a combination that you are confident with.

 

 

with you a hundred percent there Cranfield, not the way to encourage a shooter, if he was an experienced guy no problem but a newer shooter , I admit i shoot the same myself, I shoot a lot of skeet with full chokes it allows me to tighten up my targeting skills by showing the hit area (front or back- top or bottom )

all my competition shooting is done with improoved mods keeps me honest, Nick im suprised your finding those chokes loose all of mine are tight as hell

 

newer shooters should always use looser chokes to start, gives a little more confidence, even a chipped target is a kill right, as their skill improoves and the gun becomes an extention of their body they will undoubtedly make adjustments to suit the targets shot

 

Martin

[tosspot]

the guy in question was already a very proficient shot

 

as i said the exercise was to hone down that natural talent

 

and sharpen him up

 

it worked to

 

when he got registered he cleaned up

[invector]

PARALYSIS BY ANALYSIS rears its ugly head once again!

[Zapp]

I suppose I am a bit of a fiddler, but only with chokes...

 

I use skeet for skeet, 1/2 for sporting and the real thing, and 3/4 for dtl.

 

One thing I dont mess around with is cartridges. I use RC1's in number 8 for everything apart from olympic skeet, for which I use HV 24g 9's. Real birds and bunnies get Eley 32g 6 1/2s or Rottweil 30g 5's.

 

It probably doesnt make that much of a difference with the chokes, but I am a natural born tinkerer. I have patterned my gun with all the carts I use and these combos work for me and my gun. As Cranfeld said, once you have b*ggered around for a while you find a combo which suits you, and once you do, there is little point in changing.

 

I often find that those who worry unduly about such things are compensating for problems which some good, solid practise would solve anyway.

 

Pete

[blackthorn]

1/4 1/2 for every thing, in the field or at the clays, never shot skeet

[Ears]

I think the answer is the least amount of choke to do the job. But most of the time i shoot 1/2 and 3/4 for sporting and pigeons and game. I do open my chokes though when i shoot skeet to cylinder and 1/4 as i have a muti choke gun for competition shooting. I also know if you have your mind on the job changing choke will not put you off. for example sometimes I will change choke in competition shooting to full extra long or cylinder if its 10 or 15 yards. genrally most with 1/2 and 3/4. If your one that it plays on your mind buy a fixed choke gun.

[Highlander]

You don't see the top guns constantly changing chokes (if ever) and for the average shooter it's not going to make a blind bit of difference in your accuracy. In some circumstances it might be prudent to use a tighter choke but if you've got the right tool for the job in the first place it shouldn't be necessary.

[dunganick]

i believe (but im not certain) that the likes of digweed have full and extra full chokes, so as to remove any chance of the gun being the weak link. You then know if you miss its your own fault.

[paulos]

theres a Q&A with george digweed on the clay shooting magazine website, where he mentions using full and super full. he says if anything, it makes closer targets easier as he has to concentrate more and not take them for granted. mind, he is a slightly above average shot!

[the last engineer]

i must admit i recall an interveiw in the states with Big George a couple of years back, he stated he used 2 guns, they were both K80'S a 32" in I/C and a 34" in fulls, 2 guns for the big guy at the time, now i understand he shoots Perrazi again though in what configuration im not sure, i guess even the big fella thinks about it at times shows he's human not a robot, though a few still question that im told

 

Martin

[dr. lecter]

no more fiddling for me , trap gun fixed chokes and rc 2s eights up and at em , when i miss its down to me , shot orston sg notts today scored 88 i can live with that , mind you i aint good enough to win , jon lee ,nick hendrick , paul wilkinson , dave carrie , martin doughty all shoot there regular , now them boys can shoot .