Scully Posted December 30, 2018 Report Share Posted December 30, 2018 Mate and me turned up this morning for a well attended 100 comp' last shoot of 2018. I'm really getting to enjoy this venue, and on more than nodding acquaintances with a few now, but there's always new faces to see and new folk to meet, and I haven't yet bumped into anyone who wasn't pleasant, which counts for a lot. You always get those who are intent on nothing more than shooting, but if that's how they stay focussed then fair enough; for mate and me it's more of a social occasion although we do strive to do the best we can. Started off with my Perazzi MX4C choked at half and half. This is my 'go to' gun for everything and although there are days when I will take something else, I always choose this when it matters. Mate had his Winchester Select Grey which is a fabulous gun, and his was also choked half and half. We both straighted the first stand, and both dropped one on the second, which we knew we shouldn't have as they were both pretty straightforward, but things got a bit trickier after that. The agonisingly slow crippled rabbit made an appearance again, and it was necessary to lower the gun as it grew heavy during the wait, but none survived. It is very easy to miss and I saw more than one whom I didn't expect to miss, in fact miss. There was a bolting rabbit quartering towards the stand which I didn't expect to miss, and missed all four, but killed three out of four on report high loopers coming from extreme right, which I thought I would struggle on. In fact it was a day of struggling on the dead cert's and connecting with those I expected to struggle with. I've had quite a few frustrating misses on actual high driven birds on syndicate days lately, and couldn't figure out why, but had come to the conclusion I was definitely rushing them, and could only think the reason must be down to lifting my head to view the target then having to rush to catch up, and cleanly missing as a result. Why I've started doing this I have no idea. Anyhow, I asked mate to watch what I was doing rather than the clay, so he could tell me what I was doing, but was so determined to keep my cheek pressed against that comb I only missed two of eight! So that's that sorted hopefully. There were one or two bogey birds I just couldn't get to grips with but beat my record by two to finish with a 67, which i was pleased with. After a brew and a sarnie we changed guns and paid for another round. I asked the vendor ( I'm assuming it's Matty's Dad? ) if he would save me the bother of going out again by simply writing 1's throughout my card but he said it would cost me a bit more than the price of another round. 🙂 Nevermind. This time mate had his Browning 20 bore choked quarter and quarter and I had my new to me Remington 3200 Super Trap, choked at full and full. I haven't fired this gun yet, not even to pattern it, and was a bit unsure of whether I was being wise or not ( as constantly hitting nothing with an audience is a bit of a confidence killer ) but dry mounting at home I found it came up to give me the exact same picture as my Winchester 8500, so it seemed logical to me it would shoot very similar . Anyhow, with an audience I didn't want I straighted the first stand and missed one on the second, as did mate. But on the third stand, on which I'd struggled on simultaneous quartering droppers ( which were close in ) I also straighted, and absolutely obliterated the rabbits I'd missed first time round! The driven high birds were dust and I only missed one! Despite an increasingly cold and blustery wind I finished the second round with a 75 and a big grin; my best ever score since starting up again on clays! Chuffed! I very much like this gun and next time may try tighter chokes in the Perazzi, just for the fun of it. This is a cracking ground. There is something for everyone here, and it was good to see women and kids shooting also, the youngest must have been around 11 or twelve and despite being of slight build he was using a very nice short barrelled but full size Browning B25, which I'm assuming was either borrowed or given from his Grandad, who accompanied him. He knew how to use it too. Had good craic with friends old and new and a totally enjoyable day.....Westlands next weekend! 😃 Good cafe! 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted December 30, 2018 Report Share Posted December 30, 2018 Nice report Scully ....wouldn't it be boring if you knew you could hit everything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted December 30, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2018 9 minutes ago, Walker570 said: Nice report Scully ....wouldn't it be boring if you knew you could hit everything? Thanks, and yes, I entirely agree, it would. I recently said to a gun on BIG shoot, who was stood in a circle of spent cases and bemoaning his poor shooting....’if you hit everything which came over you it wouldn’t be any fun.’ It perked him up no end! 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grrclark Posted December 30, 2018 Report Share Posted December 30, 2018 Glad you had a grand time, this shoot is very much on my to do list. I would have popped down today, but pre-arranged gin and food with friends in Edinburgh was the priority. I shall hopefully do one soon however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted December 30, 2018 Report Share Posted December 30, 2018 Must look up where this shoot is. Might be worth a run out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted December 31, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 8 hours ago, grrclark said: Glad you had a grand time, this shoot is very much on my to do list. I would have popped down today, but pre-arranged gin and food with friends in Edinburgh was the priority. I shall hopefully do one soon however. Thanks grrvlark. It is certainly worth a look, as is Westlands near Gretna, if you haven’t been. There are shooters travelling from Aspatria and Durham to shoot at Southwaite, and often a couple of blokes wearing Bywell emblazoned jackets, hats etc, so they obviously feel it is worth it. 8 hours ago, figgy said: Must look up where this shoot is. Might be worth a run out. There is quite a large family from your neck of the woods figgy, who regularly turn up at Southwaite; it’s a good run up the A66. 👍 Will update dates for next one which will be well into February now due to a clash with another ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted December 31, 2018 Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 Cheers I had a look online, intac farm your right it is a good run up the A66 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perazzishot Posted January 1, 2019 Report Share Posted January 1, 2019 Shot it a few times, run by a good mate. Loves to put on non typical targets to fool those used to standard conventional targets. Link here to the FB Page with this years date! https://www.facebook.com/cumbriaclayshooting/photos/a.554202058085294/1037042109801284/?type=3&theater I also think new plans for his next venture are to be released soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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