Re: Skeet shooting

November 4, 2006

I've done it a few times. In fact, way back when I was in Boy Scouts

(during the Cold War) I earned a merit badge in shooting. Who says the Boy

Scouts aren't a quasi-military organization? ;-p

My advice is to use a 20-gauge shotgun. Anything bigger (16 or 12-gauge)

will have quite the kick to it. The length of the rifle may be a problem

(less so if you are achon or SED). It will help if you can rest the barrel

on something. This limits lateral movement, but it increases the chance of

not having the rifle fly out of your hands on the recoil. You'll just have

to handle the rifle until you find a way to grip it and aim, yet remain

steady. I know there are some gun enthusiasts (Rob Tille) who probably have

a better " handle " on this.

Bill

On 11/4/06, S O BRIEN <snjobrien@...> wrote:

>

> Hi,

> Need a bit of help. We have met this guy who runs a shooting club, and

> would love for us (Jeff and I) to come down and try Clay Pigeon Shooting or

> as you say in the U.S. Skeet shooting. This sounds great, but was just

> wondering if any one else has tried it because we have talked very

> practically about the size of the shot gun and the length of our arms. Well

> we are going anyway to stand in a field on a Sunday morning in the freezing

> to see if we can do this, sounds fun ehh? Please respond if anyone has done

> this as I am very curious to see if we can do this or not!!!

>

> Love Sonja

>

November 6, 2006

As a wise man once said - clay pigeons are much easier

to hit if you wait til they land on the ground, THEN

shoot them

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November 6, 2006

What?!?

I'm not sure what that means...

Is that some old English colloquialism?

Bill

On 11/6/06, Fred Short <Fred@...> wrote:

>

> Similarly, on in the desert does a dwarf appreciate a tap on the head!

>

> Fred

>

November 6, 2006

Oh sorry Bill. Substitute " fawcet " for " tap " and it works.

A play on words.

Needs a brain to work it out:-)))))

" Only in the dessert does a dwarf appreciate a tap on the head. "

Re: Skeet shooting

> What?!?

>

> I'm not sure what that means...

> Is that some old English colloquialism?

>

> Bill

>

> On 11/6/06, Fred Short <Fred@...> wrote:

>

>>

>> Similarly, on in the desert does a dwarf appreciate a tap on the head!

>>

>> Fred

>>

>

> ===

>

November 7, 2006

My spelling will get me hung! Sorry folks, brain dead. Not " Dessert " but

" desert "

Hang you to the person who e-mailed me privately to point this blunder out.

Fred, a retired brain dead teacher!

Re: Skeet shooting

>

>> What?!?

>>

>> I'm not sure what that means...

>> Is that some old English colloquialism?

>>

>> Bill

>>

>> On 11/6/06, Fred Short <Fred@...> wrote:

>>

>>>

>>> Similarly, on in the desert does a dwarf appreciate a tap on the head!

>>>

>>> Fred

>>>

>>

>> ===

>>

November 13, 2006

Sonja,

Better late than never, I read both of your emails, and am excited that You

and Jeff's day out Shooting Clays was fun, and possibly an eye opener. The

advice below might help, as for now, I've gotten some better insight as to your

arms reach, and your dwarfism, so the information below might help both of you,

I believe from your email, that both of you are in England, so with the laws

that exist there, hopefully some of these products can be found there in shops,

as well as on the Internet, and if your laws allow, for you to shop for these

military/ law enforcement equipment, then you should be able to modify a shotgun

for your needs.

As the reported " LP Gun Nut " , that Bill had mentioned, I heavily suggest

that you go shopping around to all of your Hunting/Sporting Goods/ Gun Shops,

and see what is out there that is comfortable for you to lift and hold. I

heavily suggest that you consider a " Used " Shotgun, as they will be cheaper, but

I will caution that allot of the Military/Law Enforcement equipment might not

work with older shotguns. So see what is available in this equipment, before

looking for a shotgun, then you can find a used gun that will work out better

for you.

Buying a new Shotgun, then modifying it to your needs can be quite costly,

buy can be easier to modify. A Youth, or Bantam Model Shotgun, will have a

shorter gun stock butts, so they might fit you better, plus with Youth Models,

they are of smaller calibers, or gauges, so they have less kick or recoil, but

work well for Skeet or Clay Pigeon Shooting.

Now, as for finding what might be the best for you, truthfully,

1: length of your arms.

2: your body strength.

3: your height, as these are important factors when considering what you're

going to need for Clays, or Skeet.

1: measure your arms, from your arm pit or shoulder joint to the bottom of your

index finger, as this will be your " Trigger Reach " , an important length to know

when buying a Shotgun or Rifle.

2: your body strength is important, as lifting or hefting your shotgun can be

tiring, exhausting, if you're not physically fit, or strong enough. It's nothing

to be embarrassed about, and it is important, as you could accidentally loose

control of lifting your shotgun while firing it. I've heard of accidents that

happened do to the person not knowing their own limits, and accidentally loosing

control of their shotgun while firing it. A person will loose feeling in their

arms, hands, from firing a shotgun for long periods, so it's good to know your

limits, before this happens to you. It takes strength to lift a shotgun over an

hour or more, controlling it, firing it, will wear you down. And your shoulder

will start to feel like rubber, or inflamed with pain, if you are not holding

the shotgun correctly, or if you haven't enough padding. So finding a light

weight shotgun, such as a Over & Under Model, or a Side By Side, can reduce the

exhaustion. Anyway, strength is important, so if your not an active person, I

really wouldn't suggest Skeet or Clay Pigeon Shooting.

3: your height, this is important, because there are certain models of shotgun

that can be modified into a Bullpup Style Shotgun. It's short, with the end of

the guns works behind your head, instead of infront of your head. It's more of a

military style, but it works well when you're a dwarf, with shortened arm

length.

Now with today's Military/ Law Enforcement Styled equipment that you can buy

in Sporting Good Shops, or Camping-Outdoor Shops, or just a plain old Gun Shop,

this equipment works well when you modify your shotguns, and the advantage is

that it makes it easier for us when using the shotguns.

The point of this comment, Military style gun stock butts, have collapsible

tube style gun butt stocks, or folding style gun butt stocks, are perfect for

us, because for $45.00, or whatever the price is in Pounds, they will provide a

great gun stock butt that is adjustable, or easy to shorten for us, the Shooter

with Dwarfism.

Now, if your Clay Pigeon/ Skeet Club has a problem with you having this

military style equipment on your shotgun, then there is the alternative that is

more in the line of traditional all wood shotgun stocks, which is buying a Youth

/ Bantam Gun Stock Butt, which has a Trigger Reach of usually 13 " , which is from

the end of the Gun Butt to the Trigger. So if you have a reach of 14 " to 21 " ,

this is a good stock to use, because with Clays or Skeet, you need to lift the

shotgun into position quickly to shoot, and if you add a recoil pads, or a

shoulder pads, this will extend your length, making your reach longer, or making

the trigger further away for you. So if you pad your shoulder, or use a recoil

pad, you may have to cut, or shave off more of your original gun butt to get

that shortened reach that you need.

If your club will allow you, because of your dwarfism, to hold your shotgun

in the prone, or firing position before they release the Clay Pigeon, then you

can get away with using the Youth/Bantam length of gun butt if your reach is 12 "

to 13 " , as hefting it to your shoulder quickly will be a problem if you have

that shorter reach.

That is why I suggest, if your Clay Pigeon/Skeet Club will allow you to use

modern military/law enforcement style equipment, to use the M-16, or the AR-15

Carbine Style, collapsible stock gun butt, as it is a great length for dwarfs

when it is collapsed and have a pistol grip which help when holding your

shotgun, plus you can add a recoil pad to it, which will add more relief to your

shoulder when your shooting for an hour or more.

And not only is this information for Sonja and Jeff, but for any of us out

there, who for whatever your reasons are, wanted to get into sports shooting, or

hunting, but didn't, because of the hassles of modifying a shotgun or rifle.

With today's Military/ Law Enforcement Tactical Equipment Styles, it is far

easier than when I started out shooting and hunting. Cutting off $100.00 worth

of wood off of a gun, is very painful, to say the least, and then spending

months on modifying it, or redesigning it all together, is a nightmare at times.

So with everything that is out there today, it's less painful, it's easier

to modify and fun, and adds more value to your guns.

Now, as I mentioned before, if this club is a stickler for protocol for

using traditional styles of shotguns, and state that you use only traditional

equipment, then there is hope out there, as there are many out there, who make

and manufacture shortened length wooden shotgun butts, which range from prices

of $45.00, to $500.00 for a single shotgun butt. These are not the plain old

wooden shotgun butts that you probably will already have on your shotgun, but

beautifully carved, exotic woods that only raise the value of your shotgun. And

there are also many out there who manufacture the newer synthetic, plastic,

fiberglass, carbon fiber, shotgun butts and fore stocks, which are great, for

they lighten the weight of your shotgun.

And that's another thing I should explain, the difference of Stocks with

Guns. If the Stock is one complete piece of wood, that the weapons works and

barrel rest in, then this is generally referred to as a one piece, or singular

gun stock. But if the gun has two or three pieces of wood, such as the Butt, and

Fore Stock or Stocks, then you refer them as the Butt, and Fore Stock, Stocks.

The Butt, is what rests against your shoulder, the Fore Stock, is what you hold

and is usually under and over the Barrel, Barrels, or part of the Weapons/ Guns

Works, which is the Mechanical Body that holds the Cocking, Firing Mechanisms

within the Weapon/ Gun. With most models of shotguns, they usually have two

pieces, where as rifles mostly have one piece stocks, unless they're modeled

after or are military rifles, then they can have as many as three stocks also.

And there is another type of shotgun, one that few use, but do, as it is

traditional, and those are Black Powder Shotguns, which you load similar to a

black powder rifle, or you load the Shells with Black Powder, instead of Gun

Powder. These are for traditionalist, who are into Old Fashion Hunting and

Shooting.

But I heavily suggest that you go shopping around, before you and Jeff even

buying your first Shotgun, as there are so many models and brands to choose

from. Since you're wanting it for Skeet, or Clay Pigeon Shooting, you probably

would prefer a 16 Gauge, 20 Gauge or .410 Gauge, as they have less recoil, or

kick, when fired. The plus side of Skeet, is that the Shells that you use, are

loaded for Birds/Small Game, so they aren't as powerful as loads that are for

Large Game, which tend to have more of a recoil, or kick. There are plenty of

ways that you can lessen the recoil, as adding a recoil pad at the end of your

Gun's Butt, cushions your shoulder, which will add length though, so if you do

consider adding one, remember that fact. You can also get, what is called a

Shoulder Pad, that is worn over your coat, and has padding to soften the recoil.

They also make coats and jackets that have extra shoulder padding, so if you

want to alter a coat, which usually has a leather pad, then you can go that way

too, but remember, it will shorten your trigger reach, so be cautious of this,

before buying a modified shotgun butt.

I hope this might be helpful, and for anyone out there, wanting information

on Shotguns, Rifles, Pistols, Revolvers, Camping Equipment, or Outdoor

Equipment, or questions on camping, ask away, as I was an avid outdoorsman,

survival camper, Scout Leader, OA member, so if living off the land is your

style of camping, then I might be able to help you out.

So don't be shy, as no question is stupid or silly, as they are just

questions that need an answer to fully round them out. Well, I'll let you figure

out what you need to know, and Sonja, as I said before, it would help me to know

more about your physical self, as to what Gauge and Style of Shotgun to use for

your endeavor. If you are looking for a shotgun for self defense, then you are

opening a wider world of what is out there for you. Anyway, if you want more

information, ask away, and hopefully this might start you out in the right

direction.

Later.

Rob Tille

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