APRIL 1996 NEWSLETTER
Bruce Buck, editor
FEARLESS LEADER LEADS FEARLESSLY... Even a blind sow
finds the occasional truffle. Everyone enjoys fifteen minutes
of fame
once in their life. An arrow shot into the air has to hit something.
A
broken clock is right twice a day. Well, as it is with sows, fame,
arrows and clocks, so it is with sporting clays club presidents.
El Jefe
Supremo, our own Al Anglace, took time out from organizing Travelers'
shoots to give us all a little St. Patrick's day shooting lesson.
The classroom was Mid Hudson' March 17 St. Patricks Day
shoot. The ice was out and 108 winter weary Travelers came charging
out of their burrows like Punxatawny Phil in search of his shadow.
This
was our first "real" shoot of the year- the January shoot is often
more a
test of survival. The shoot was very well attended as the long
line at
registration attested. (We are working on that and are preparing
scaffolds for the unregistered.) Temperatures went up into the
50s as
winter coats and sweaters were being shed all over the course.
Boots
were not, however, as the winter's effluvia sent more than one
shooter
down a slippery slope of slime. We were lucky. One more day of
thaw
would have produced a man-eating mud morass.
Hugh Davis, aided and abetted by Mike Horodyski, set a course
that was absolutely perfect. It is the way that courses should
be. There
were 12 stations, half of them with two traps. In the most excellent
Travelers tradition, most stations started off with a two singles
(full use
of the gun) before moving into the various doubles. Although some
of
the shots were quite long, every shot was fully visible and almost
every
stand was straighted by at least one shooter. Hugh did not use
many
"three dimensional" or curving targets this time, but he did make
exceptional use of off-speed pairs and several very deceptive
overheads.
It was easy to see the "line" of these birds, but very hard to
take it.
The scores were, well, Travelers Tough. Out of 108 guns, we
had four scores in the 80s, 14 in the 70s and 90 shooters less
fortunate.
44 of our shooters scored below 50%, but there is no shame there.
Those targets did not look hard, but they were. Several shooters
commented that they had been shooting 70s while wintering down
South
and were now in the 40s. There it is. Travelers do not shoot skeet
in
the woods. Then again, once you learn to deal with Traveler's
targets,
you can shoot anywhere. As a group, when the Travelers enter national
shoots, we tend to do far better than our averages indicate. We
earn that
by shooting challenging targets like these each month. Wear that
Connecticut Travelers pin with pride!
TRAVELERS ARE NOW SHORTER... Our spring trip to Richie
Frisella's Peace Dale, RI shooting grounds was a great success.
Friday
was cold and windy, but a truly fabulous dinner at Main Street
Foods in
Wakefield more than made up for it. This restaurant will most
definitely
be the centerpiece of next spring's dining.
Saturday and Sunday were both 50 degrees and very sunny. This
allowed the many Travelers in attendance to shoot themselves short
on
Richie's challenging three sporting clays courses and the dreaded
Clock
Shot. The latter is a combination of 5 Stand, Stonehenge and Dante's
Seventh Ring. It redefines the word "tough". Traveler Kenny Gagnon
was also on hand with three of his entertaining games- "Long Bird
from
the Crane", "Five Shot Covey Flush" (plugless pump guns supplied)
and
everyone's favorite "Cotton Ball Pigeon". Great shooting, great
people,
great trip.
THE TECHNOID PATTERNS AD NAUSEAM... For the past two
months the Technoid, your Wizard of the Widget, has been inundating
you with irrefutable data (even including a genuine drawing!)
concerning
choke and shell performance at longer distance. The bottom line
was
that, contrary to the opinions of the "experts" (you true believers
know
who the only real expert out there is), you need all the choke
you have
when the bird gets way out there. It is absolutely absurd to believe
that
there is no place for the full choke in sporting clays. Trust
the
Technoid. He has absolute absurdity down to a science.
Since we have covered the long stuff, we will now deal with the
short shots. Sporting clays targets in Travelers' territory tend
to be a
good bit longer than the ego salving layouts so popular elsewhere.
That
said, we do usually have one or two shots within 20 yards at each
match.
The average Traveler is often not ideally prepared for these shots,
even
though he knows that he will get a couple of them at each shoot.
Listen
up! The advice that follows is going to save you a couple of birds
every
now and then.
The Technoid strongly believes that a shooter competing in a
Travelers match should equip himself with all three sizes of shot
and at
least three degrees of choke. The shot size and choke operate
as an
inseparable pair. The combinations are: #9 shot and cylinder bore
(.000") or skeet (.005") for shots inside of 20 yards; #8 shot
and light
modified (.015") for shots from 20 to 35 yards; and #7.5 shot
and full
choke (.035") for shots over 35 yards. Your mileage may vary,
but you
get the picture. The important part is that the shell and the
choke work
as a team. You rarely split them up for normal target presentations.
You just estimate your distance to the target breaking point and
the
distance automagically decides the shell/choke combination for
you to
use. Specialty targets and odd presentations require adjustment,
but you
will never go far wrong with the above recipes. We have given
the
above advice before in this column, but it bears repeating. The
choke
and the shell are an inseparable pair. It almost never makes sense
to use
#7´s with a skeet choke or #9s with full.
Now for those close shots. If the acknowledged experts on edge-
on targets at over 35 yards are the trap shooters, it stands to
reason that
the experts for edge-on targets at 21 yards and closer are the
skeet
shooters. Skeeters shoot hundreds and hundreds of birds without
a miss.
Twelve gauge skeet (and 20 gauge too, for that matter) has become
a test
of endurance in the higher classes. These guys really know how
to kill a
20 yard edge-on target. Skeet shooters wrote the book on the short
shot
and they wrote it with #9 shot and skeet chokes.
Credulous as he is, it is not overly difficult to amaze the
Technoid. He is consistently stunned to hear sporting clays shooter
after
shooter state that he never uses #9 shot on the course because
it really is
not as good for "sporting" targets as #8 or #7´! This shooter
is not
smart, he is just lazy.
Ignorance of the advantage of #9s is not just a novice mistake.
Some of our very best shooters carry only #8 and #7´ shot and
a few
use almost entirely #8. They may be such good shooters that they
are
moved by the spirit of fair play to give their opponents a bit
of a break.
So be it. You do not have to be that sporting at sporting and
are entitled
to be a bit wiser. You only win or lose that trophy by one bird.
Why
handicap yourself?
Why are nines so good? Simply because, at the proper distance,
they allow you to choke for a larger effective pattern than #8s
permit.
Larger effective patterns kill more birds. Period.
Last month we showed that the optimal effective pattern results
from putting about 75%-80% of your shot into a 30" circle at the
distance at which you take the bird. No legal load has enough
pellets to
properly fill a 30" circle, but a 1 1/8oz load of hard #8s should
get you a 24" killing circle. Switching from #8s to #9s gains
you 43% more pellets (658 #9s vs 460 #8s).
Although the #9s have less energy than the #8s, at 21 yards the
#9s have
enough. Two hits with #9s at 20 yards will break the bird almost
as
well as two #8s at 30 yards. Since there are a lot more #9s, this
2
pellets per five square inches (target area) fringe area can extend,
not
just to 24", but all the way out to 27" and a bit beyond. That
extra three
inches of pattern can mean the difference between winning and
losing.
Skeet shooters know this and they do not use #8s. They use skeet
chokes
and #9s. You should too when you are shooting similar targets.
RAFFLE REPORT... Raffle chairman Fred Schulz reports: "Our first
monthly raffle was a huge success. Thanks to all the generous
Travelers
and guests who donated a total of $320. Half of all monies will
be
donated at Christmas time to a worthy organization. Last year
it was
Toys For Tots. The other half goes to the lucky person who holds
the
winning ticket drawn at the end of the awards ceremony. Note that
you
have to be there to win or the winning ticket gets "reloaded"
and a new
one is drawn.
This month's winner was Don "Miroku II" Talias. When asked
what he would do with his $160, Don replied that he would invest
in
shooting lessons in the hope of becoming as good as Jim Martin.
Again, thanks to all for getting this worthy monthly raffle off
to a
great start." - Fred Schulz.
MISS MANNERS REDUX... Over the years every teacher develops a
yearly lesson plan and inflicts it on the new group of bright,
shiny faces
she meets each fall. The material is fresh to the new children
and yet
the teacher has had the chance to try her patter out in previous
years
until she gets her act properly honed and can recycle the lessons
with
impunity.
Miss Manners little class of Travelers is a bit more like the
one
room school, where older students are mixed in with the newer
ones. At
the risk of boring the veteran members of the class, our petit
paragon of
pedagogy is going to recycle her modest parable on the importance
of
preregistering for our monthly shoots. The long lines at registration
last
month were the direct result of failure to preregister. Since
the older
students know better and would never intentionally disobey Miss
Manners, we assume that the miscreants are the new kids who just
have
not been told yet. We know that every one of you will try harder
to
preregister for the Indian Mountain shoot next month. Read and
heed-
or bleed.
"Hello, is this the Ya Ya Ding Dong California Cafe? This is
Miss Manners. I would like a reservation for three this Friday.
Dinner
at eight." Lancelot, the maitre d' with the Bryl Creamed mohawk,
early Texaco attendant plastic clip on bow tie, and jammie trou
surfer
shorts, gushed "Of course, Miss Manners. It will be a pleasure
to see
you again."
Friday arrives. Miss Manners, the Judge and the Technoid enter
promptly (of course) at eight. Just ahead of them a fashionable
young
couple with rings piercing every untatooed inch of their communal
epidermae is pleading with Lance. "Surely you have room for just
two
more. We were simply too busy to make reservations. We thought
that
we might want to do something else at the last minute and wanted
to
keep our options open."
"No reservee, no servee" boomed the maitre d' in his best Attila
the Hun, Scourge of God, imitation. The Beautiful People slunk
away as
Miss Manners and her party were shown to their seats. "It's a
pity",
said Lance. "I wish that they had called in advance. I would have
made
some extra tofu and kimchee burritos. I need reservations to plan
ahead
and properly serve my customers. If I accept too may walk-ins,
that will
ruin it for those who were thoughtful enough to reserve. That
would
never do."
"Now", Lancelot burbled blithely, "may I recommend our special
of the evening - aged scungilli in fermented bean dip. It's simply
marvy. This evening's vintage water selection includes..."
Later that evening, the conversation at table turned to the niceties
of sporting clays.
DUFFY FITASC CHAMP AGAIN... Traveler Andy Duffy won his
second NSCA National FITASC Championship by shooting an
unapproachable 71x75 on the first day at the Hopkins Game Farm
course
on March 16. His winning score was 135x150. Gary Philips was second
with 130 and Scott Robertson third with 129. Traveler Mike Horodyski
won Class A First even after graciously having spent a couple
of the
preceding days helping Hugh Davis set up our Mid Hudson Traveler's
course. Other Travelers who did well in the FITASC were Bill Fawcett
with Class B-2, Denise Losty with Lady-3 and Zaid Siddig with
Vet-3.
Zaid reported that there were a whole ton of gas guns in use.
Andy is obviously getting along with his Browning Gold gas gun
and
Scott Robertson has always done well with his Beretta auto. It
must be
those 1 1/4 ounce thumpers that FITASC encourages. The Technoid
predicts that you are going to see a lot more gas guns at matches
this
year. Miss Manners predicts that the Technoid is in for a thumping
if he
does not hush up. Hizzoner concurs.
SHOTGUN REPORT... The Internet's only dedicated shotgun magazine,
SHOTGUN REPORT, has now grown so large, popular and (dare we
say) influential out there in the not-quite-real ether world that
it now has
a registered and dedicated address. SHOTGUN REPORT is now at:
<www.shotgunreport.com>
In addition to a complete reprinting of the monthly dose of our
Connecticut Traveler's RELOAD!, SHOTGUN REPORT also published
Ben Baldridge's FITASC report, news and newsletters from a number
of
other clubs, shoot schedules, links to other shotgun related sites
(like
Indian Mountain), plus a Technoid Q&A section and some product
reviews. Excelsior! Ad astra per aspera! See you at
<www.shotgunreport.com>.
ADDRESSING RELOAD!... If you would like to contact RELOAD! to
contribute an article, write a vituperative letter to the Editor
or one of
the insufferable staff, place an ad, or just generally sound off,
you can
reach us at RELOAD! c/o Bruce Buck, Six Anchor Lane, Westport,
CT
06880-3602. Telephone: (203) 454-1080. Internet Email:
<bruce.buck@cpcbbs.org>.
GENERAL REMINDER of major importance from your colonel of
conduct- don't make a rank mistake- protect your eyes. At all
Travelers
events, eye protection is mandatory for competitors and spectators
alike.
THE JUDGE DISSENTS... Hizzoner, Mucho Pomposo himself, has
returned to the bench from a well earned sabbatical and amontillado
sampling junket. On his return, he was surprised to note that
the NSCA
has proposed adopting the FITASC line (9.85" below the shoulder
seam)
as its general gun mount starting position beginning in 1997.
The current
NSCA (and also SCA) gunmount rule requires starting with the butt
under the armpit. The use of the FITASC line has any number of
negatives and not a single positive. Holding the gun butt a couple
of
inches lower will not improve the game in any way. It is not "more
like
hunting". It will not make the game harder in the proper way-
that is
the provence of clever target setting. It will definitely not
improve
safety.
What it will do is dramatically increase the need for enforcement
and the possibility of an accident. What the NSCA should do (and
the
SCA also) is to adopt the current English rule of free gun mount.
Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
The low gun rule has been tried before and it has failed. American
skeet
started out as a low gun game. The NSCA's parent organization,
the
NSSA (National Skeet Shooting Association), long ago conceded
the
difficulty of enforcement and have now codified free gun mount.
Skeet
has prospered.
Of course, American-style skeet is not sporting clays, but history
gives us some lessons in clays also. The British invented sporting
clays
and it started as a low gun game. They originally used the "armpit"
rule
which both of our national organizations embraced when we took
up the
game ten years ago. When sporting blossomed in England, as in
the US,
the British Clay Pigeon Shooting Association found difficulty
in fairly
enforcing the low gun rule and no advantage to its continuance.
They
wisely said that the best rule was no rule at all and adopted
the free gun
position a couple of years ago.
This move was very well received. The character of the British
game has not changed. British shooters knew that the mounted gun
provided very little advantage on most stations, but did greatly
simplify
the refereeing, clarified the rules, and encouraged the beginner.
It is surprising that the NSCA took note of the CPSA's change
of
rules and then decided to do precisely the opposite. The British
have
been shooting the game for seventy years. They just might have
learned
something in that time.
While we certainly should not slavishly follow the British in
every detail (haute cuisine Anglais anyone?), last year the Travelers
adopted the British free gun mount rule as a experiment in cooperation
with the SCA. It has worked as well for us as it has for the CPSA.
Enforcement problems are nonexistent. The beginner gets a morale
boost and the experienced shooter is unaffected. 99% of Travelers
continue to use the normal "under the armpit" start because it
produces
the best results. The "integrity" of the game has not suffered
a bit.
Why will the lower gun start position of the FITASC line cause
such problems? Isn't it already successfully in use in FITASC
and used
even lower in International Skeet?
The Olympic skeet shooting game has always had a very low
(crest of hip bone) starting position and enforcement has been
fairly
successful among that group of elite shooting athletes. At the
big shoots
International Skeet also has a referee, score keeper and two line
judges
on every field to watch each shooter and strictly enforce the
rules. That
is why it works. Your average NSCA sporting clays shoot cannot
possibly afford to have refereeing like that on each stand.
FITASC's enforcement of its own starting position has been
pretty good, but again, it is under the watchful eyes of a small
cadre of
trained referees. Referees of this quality do not exist in the
quantity
required for all standard NSCA sporting matches. There is no cause
to
believe that our current sporting clays refereeing is about to
dramatically
improve. Untrained, or semi-trained, referees will cause problems.
The FITASC line is embroidered on the front of the jacket.
Starting position is not verifiable from the back, unlike the
armpit rule.
The new refs will constantly be peering around the shooter's side
to
check on gun position. Not only will this disturb the shooter,
but it may
also cause a safety problem. This is generally not an obstacle
in
FITASC because the shooting stations are almost always sensibly
unencumbered and the referees experienced. Sporting has many cramped
or obstacle-like shooting stands and inexperienced referees. Not
a good
mix.
Proper enforcement of the proposed rule will also place a greater
burden on the shoot promoter. He now has the obligation to train
each
and every one of his scorers on how to enforce a fairly tricky
rule. If he
does not do this, enforcement becomes uneven and the complaints
start
to pour in even as costs go up.
This court disdains gratuitous regulation and the proposed NSCA
gun mount rule is that. There is no reason for it, and many reasons
against it. While it is generally not in the interests of jurists
and lawyers
to promote laws that are easy to understand, it must be admitted
that less
law is often better law. (There, we said it and we are glad.)
This Judge
urges that the NSCA reconsider this unwise and unnecessary rules
change. The NSCA and the SCA should both adopt the British free
gun
position rule and be done with it
*****1996 CTSCA SHOOT SCHEDULE*****
APR 21 INDIAN MOUNTAIN, NY
MAY 19 BRISTOL, CT- CT STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
SUN 9 TAMARACK, NY
JUL 14 ORVIS/SANDANONA, NY
AUG 18 PAWLING MOUNTAIN, NY- CTSCA CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS
****OTHER SHOOTS OF INTEREST****
ALWAYS CALL AHEAD TO CONFIRM
APR 13 TACONIC TRAP, NY (914-266-3788) SC CLINIC AND 100 BIRD
SHOOT
APR 14 INDIAN MOUNTAIN, NY (518-789-6801)REGISTERED SHOOT
APR 20 TACONIC TRAP, NY (914-266-3788) 100 SCA
MAY 4 TACONIC TRAP, NY (914-266-3788) NORTHEAST CHAMPIONSHIPS
MAY 5 PEACEDALE, RI (401-789-3730) COUPLES SHOOT
MAY 24 INDIAN MOUNTAIN, NY (518-789-6801) 5-STAND MATCH
MAY 31 INDIAN MOUNTAIN, NY (518-789-6801) NY STATE INT'L 5 STAND
JUN 1,2 INDIAN MOUNTAIN, NY (518-789-6801) SCA NY STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
JUN 8 TACONIC TRAP, NY (914-266-3788) 100 SCA
JUN 15,16 ORVIS/SANDANONA, NY - SCI NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
JUN 23 INDIAN MOUNTAIN, NY (518-789-6801) REGISTERED SHOOT
JUL 18-21 ORVIS/SANDANONA, NY (914-677-9701) NSCA FITASC
JUL 8 INDIAN MOUNTAIN, NY (518-789-6801) REGISTERED SHOOT
AUG 10 TACONIC TRAP, NY (914-266-3788) 100 SCA
**** THE UPCOMING TRAVELERS MONTHLY SHOOT ****
SUNDAY, APRIL 21
TAX TIME REVOLT
INDIAN MOUNTAIN LODGE
PINE PLAINS, NY
We all know that your 1040 was just an opening offer, but at least
you
can now have some fun until the Feds break down your door to get
what
ever is left. It is time to relax and squander that pittance which
our
noble Congress has deigned to let you keep. What better way to
irritate
the politically correct than to spend it on shooting. Transfer
your assets
to Indian Mountain by 9:00 AM so that you can deduct a few of
those
donuts by Dunkin. The squadded start will make its entry into
the
proper fields at 9:45 AM. For all of this, you will only have
to write
off a gross expenditure of $55. In honor of the IRS, luncheon
will be
roast pig. We are sure that you will not find it taxing to estimate
your
arrival and call the central accounting office at 860-354-9351
for
reservations and shooting appointment. Those who fail to make
reservations will be audited and their deductions denied!
The usual Travelers handicaps will be retained for this course:
12
ga = 0; 16 ga = 3; 20 ga = 5; 28 ga = 10; 410 bore = 20; pumps
and
SxS = +5. Make sure to mention that you are shooting a handicapped
gun when you register or you will not get credit.
Remember that the mandatory eye protection rule is in effect and
that the CTSCA permits premounting of the gun for those who think
it
helps.
DIRECTIONS TO INDIAN MOUNTAIN LODGE, PINE PLAINS, NY:
VIA RTE 22: From junction of Rte 84, Rte 684 and Rte 22 you
are one hour from Indian Mountain. Take Rte 22 North through the
Amenia light and continue on 22 North for another 10 miles. Turn
LEFT
on Rte 199 West towards Pine Plains. Go 8 miles on Rte 199 West
to
the red barns on LEFT. Entrance road to the sporting course is
on your
left at the red barns.
VIA TACONIC: Take Taconic Parkway North about 31 miles
from Rte 84 to the Rte 199/Lafayetteville exit. Go East on Rte
199 for
7 miles to traffic light in Pine Plains. Continue one mile more
on Rte
199 East, past Pine Plains Town Hall on right. You will immediately
see some red barns on RIGHT. Entrance road to the sporting course
is
on your right at the red barns.
If lost, call Indian Mountain Lodge at (518-789-6801)