RELOAD!

JULY 2005 NEWSLETTER © Phil Steinkraus, Editor

LAVERT CYPHER IS 2005 CTSCA CLUB CHAMPION

by Phil Steinkraus

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If it’s high level
competitive shooting you’re after the New York Tri-State area can’t be
beat. Texas and Florida may be nice, but during the week of June
5th-12th I shot four different events that were all less than a half
hour’s drive from my home, culminating in the June 10th-12th
Connecticut Travelers Dr. Rudy Passero Memorial Championship weekend
held at Mid-Hudson Sporting Grounds in New Paltz, NY. Due to a
scheduling conflict many Travelers found themselves competing at
another venue instead of attending Sunday’s Sporting Championship, but
sixty five guns still turned up in stifling heat and humidity to honor
the late Dr. Passero, a founding member of Travelers, a visionary for
the sport and a CTSCA board member up until the time of his death.

It’ll come as no surprise to Reload subscribers that FITASC is my
first love and I’m as protective of it as a lactating pit-bull with a
new litter. In my mind it’s not just another shotgun game—it’s the
only shotgun game. Therefore, it warmed the cockles of my heart when
Travelers club President, Al Anglace, informed me that this club
championship would be more than just one day of sporting clays fun,
but also two days of FITASC rotations.

The complexities and logistics involved in running two days of FITASC
in addition to a Championship day of sporting are Herculanian
tasks—much more than just backbreaking work. The experience,
intelligence and personality of any course designer are written all
over the targets they set. Immaturity can show itself in the form of
choppy unbalanced presentations. Inexperience can appear as layouts
that don’t work when the conditions change. Lack of imagination can
result in boring targets that are uninspiring to shoot.

Mid-Hudson manager Peter Wicker had a big challenge dropped in his lap
and through sheer determination and abject stubbornness willed this
championship weekend into being. A first-rate competitive shooter in
his own right, Peter set nothing less than sublime targets for a
highly competitive FITASC event (that’s Lans’ department this month so
I’ll stop with the accolades now) and then turned his considerable
talents to the sporting course.

It’s been my experience that most clubs only have a couple of
different target variations per station. The reason for this usually
has to do with shooter-box placement and how close it is to a road, a
clubhouse, a parking lot or open water. For this reason, theme
stations tend to stay on theme, as in; the teal station usually gives
us teals and the rabbit station gives us rabbits.

I confess: I shot Ira Conklin’s “Shoot For A Cure” charity event for
cancer research at Mid-Hudson the Sunday before, so I’d been on this
course quite recently and thought I knew what to expect. The problem
was Maestro Wicker decided to leave the pre-existing hard stuff pretty
much alone and added a bunch of nasty new stations just for our
championship. Station three gave us a repeat theme—a true pair of an
outgoing, rising, trap target compounded by a long stalling looper
requiring quick, bang-bang timing that just begged you to shoot over
the top of the looper. Station six was also an encore theme and gave
us a high, climbing outgoer from the right in conjunction with a very
close, right-to-left incomer as a simo pair.

Exciting, entirely new themes included station 15. This layout gave us
a curling little outgoer that should have been a gimme for everyone—at
least until anxiety crashed the party, late and underdressed: Anxiety
that was created by all that mental focus dedicated to the second
target which was a long, left-to-right crosser that seemingly appeared
out of a bush, and just cried out for good spanking from an outlawed 1
_ oz. FITASC load. It’s this change-up, fake-out of easy-to-hard, in
combination with very exact timing, that often had good shooters
dropping the easy one, nickel-and-diming themselves right into a mess.

My other favorite was the teal—always challenging and never boring.
Wicker apparently arrived at this station and thought to himself,
“What would Digweed do?” The resulting second target on this true pair
was a very long, left-to-right, off-speed number that never really
flew on a flat trajectory. So in addition to slapping the right lead
on this target, shooters also had to contend with vertical
peculiarities that ranged from shooting over, on line and under,
depending on when you took it.

In the end, it was one of the best shooters currently competing in our
area, Lavert—King of the side-by-side—Cypher and his magic Model-21,
who took the championship home with a phenomenal score of 92!
(Handicaps were not utilized for sub-gauges or side-by-sides for this
event so only raw scores counted. Lavert still managed to best his
next-closest rival by a whole three targets!) It’s safe to say Lavert
is on a winning streak that we all hope will continue into September
for that most important of SxS events, the Vintage Cup!

I understand some hack writer, Stein-something or other, came second
with an 89. I wanted to talk to him after the event but his disheveled
appearance, disagreeable demeanor and apparently poor personal hygiene
made me think better of it.

HOA Lavert Cypher 92-SXS
I-CH Phil Steinkraus 89
I-2 Ted Burke 86*
I-3 Kurt Anderson 86*
II-CH Martin Schroeder 82*
II-2 Howard Weiss 82*
II-3 Jeff Ledgard 78
III-CH Dom Uliano 77
III-2 Don Hutchinson 76
III-3 Andrej Kirylak 75
IV-CH Mike Primavera 72
IV-2 Herb Weinberger 71
IV-3 Ed Gershey 70
V-CH Allison Sagnelli 65
V-2 Gary Fox 64
V-3 Bob Solinski 63
VI-CH Jon Welch 61-28ga.
VI-2 Vin Repaci 51*
VI-3 Steven Rice 51*
Lady-CH Paula Moore 68
Lady –2 Cyndi Dalena 61*
Lady-3 Gwyn Grant 61*
VET-CH Jim Kline 79*
VET-2 Tom Gansowski 79*
VET-3 George Ostrander 77
SEN.VET-CH Al Anglace 77
JUN.CH Mike Fabano 58
JUN.-2 Max Hachman 57
JUN.-3 Jason Lenhart 57


DOUG MOORE DOMINATES CTSCA FITASC CHAMPIONSHIP

By Lans Christensen

Two important breakthroughs transpired on the June 10th weekend.
First: The Travelers Club Championship was scheduled in the heart of
the shooting season, for a change, and held at a venue most
appropriate for this significant event. Second: FITASC was returned to
the menu, and served up beautifully by Mid-Hudson manager, Chef Peter
Wicker. It’s no secret that the entire editorial staff of Reload as
well as a large core contingent of Travelers know FITASC to be the
most challenging and intriguing form of clay target shooting and that
no championship could be complete without including this discipline.

Mike Maglio’s facility is one of the few available grounds that
provide FITASC targets as part of their daily offering, and on any
given day, one can find shooters working at, cursing at, and generally
loving his targets. Peter Wicker set the club championship course as
three old-style parcours for a total of seventy-five targets. Parcour
one was newly created for the event and set at the far end of the
extensive fields fronting the clubhouse. Two utilized the traps
dedicated to the five-stand, and three was the familiar, but
ever-tough, established parcour. In order, they could be progressively
labeled as “hard, harder and hardest.”

In broad and simple generalizations, I’d say that parcour one had the
friendliest targets, and that the progression from one peg to another
gave the most significant shift in perspective for each target; the
exception being the high crosser C which stayed tough from all three
pegs. Parcour two seemed defined by edgy targets that refused to show
any vulnerability. They crossed or climbed, hard and fast, demanding
real precision. Notable here was the A target: a simple trap bird,
which would normally be easy dust if shot with a pre-mounted gun.
However, the low gun, no movement rule put the shooter at a distinct
disadvantage. I knew any miss would result from mounting poorly and
shooting over the bird…but I went ahead and did just that anyway!
Finally parcour three, and the scores accurately indicated that this
was the real deal, National caliber, now-we’re-talking, tough stuff.
Every target was demanding and they stayed that way from peg to peg.
Shove the fear back in the closet and get out the “what-the-hell—even
though I’m shooting badly, these targets are still cool” attitude.
This is often the best approach and it sure worked for Charley Leahy
who shot a 23 there!

Great stuff, this FITASC. Seventy-five distinctly different targets:
Sure you get some repeats in pairs, but that still makes them
different and at the end of a round you have worked your gun and your
game to the max. High praise to Mid-Hudson and thanks to all who made
this event happen: Mike Maglio, Peter Wicker and the whole crew, and
especially referees Keith Lupton, Frankie Horodyski and Preston Moore
who ran the shoot graciously and fairly.

HOA Doug Moore 57
Class 1 Charles Leahy 54
Class 2 Bruce Galotto 51
Class 3 Ed Terry 50
Class 4 Mike Primavera 48
Class 5 Giorgio Niro 42
Class 6 Amber Kirylak 20
Vet Mike Steiner 52
Sr Vet Al Anglace 52
Lady Paula Moore 44
Mesdames Susanne Clarke 35

FROM PAULA WITH LOVE

By press time, the Travelers own Paula Moore will be preparing to
leave for England to compete as a member of Team USA at the World
FITASC Championship. Paula, a resident of Dutchess County, New York
wishes to extend her sincerest thanks to Travelers and area clubs for
their continued encouragement and support. Our warmest wishes go with
Paula: We’re all proud to play any small part in making her fondest
dream come true.

THE PRE-SHOT ROUTINE: A CHECK LIST FOR SUCCESS

By Henry Nachaj

Most wing and clay gunners are not good natural shooters. Very few
great shooters are in fact good natural shots. For consistent
shooting, the top guns take a systematic approach and run through a
series of procedures—a pre-shot routine, if you will—to ready
themselves before they call for the bird. What we mortals usually
forget—if we ever knew it to begin with—the top pro does
subconsciously and automatically. For those lucky enough to have
witnessed world-class shooters in action, one stylistic quality runs
through them all: a smooth and unrushed swing and a minimum amount of
gun movement.

Every type of shooting method (sustained lead, swing trough, pull-away
and spot shooting) is amenable to a pre-shot routine. By running down
a checklist of five to-do’s before we call for the target we’ve
removed many of the variables that might have made us miss the target.
I’ve identified five points to the pre-shot routine.

1) Insertion point/break point
2) Feet positions
3) Hand positions
4) Head position
5) Follow trough

In the beginning, one should make a conscious effort to check off
these points before each shot. Remember, forgetting just one of them
may very well cost you the target. As time goes by this should all
become automatic.

1) Insertion Point/Break Point

Once you’re in the box and have viewed the targets, you have to decide
where you can best see the target and where you want to break it—the
sweet spot. The insertion point is where your barrel will be pointing
when you call for the target. It is the location where you see the
target best and just before where you’ll break it. The barrel must be
held just below the line of flight of the target. As you mount the gun
you must always have the target visible and not covered by the barrel.
The Break point is where you’ll squeeze the trigger. Notice that I
wrote “squeeze the trigger”—We want it to be smooth. A quick, jerky
trigger pull can throw the shot a number of feet off the flight path.
What’s most important is the distance between insertion point and
break point. The Brits have successfully demonstrated that V for
victory is all you need. Make a V with your fingers: That distance
between the two fingers is the maximum distance between the insertion
point and break point—no matter what type of target or distance. Put
the V across the flight path of even a trap shot and the finger where
the target comes from is the insertion point, the other finger, the
break point. Using this method, the target will not beat you and
you’ll never have to rush.

2) Foot Position

A bad foot position will usually result in a lost target. You can try
this simple demonstration at home. First face a wall with your left
shoulder (for right handed shooters) towards the wall. Extend your
left arm out towards the seam between the wall and ceiling. Now swing
the arm from one end of the room to the other. There are two things
you’ll immediately notice: 1) You probably can’t reach the far left of
the room without some reshuffling of your feet and 2) your arm
naturally rises when it reaches the extreme of its arc. Foot
positioning will be dictated entirely by your insertion point/break
point.

For right-handers, the left foot is pointing toward the break point
with 75 % of the weight on this foot and the knee is slightly bent to
facilitate upper body movement. The right foot is shoulder-width
distance apart with the toe just behind the middle of the left foot. A
large number of shooters have adopted the “Napoleonic stance,” with
the leading shoulder facing the target. This may have proven
beneficial in combat to lessen your profile to incoming musket rounds,
but as our previously mentioned demonstration shows, it is not
conducive to consistent shooting.

3) Hand Position

Most shooters hold their shotguns as if they were pick axes. They grab
a handful of forearm and swing away. By gripping the forend this way,
four fingers on one side and thumb on the other, there is very little
tactile feel and a shooter has to make a concerted effort to have the
barrel pointed in the right direction. The forearm on most sporting
clays guns is designed to get the hand as close to the barrel as
possible. An extended index finger along the forearm, close to the
barrel will promote a more natural feel in pointing gun to target.

A little demonstration is in order: Close the fist in your forend hand
and draw it near t your body. Now instinctively point with your fist
at a distant treetop. Which part of your fist is actually pointing at
the top? You must mentally make yourself adjust in order to point your
fist at the top. Now, do the same exercise with your index finger. You
will immediately touch the top in the same way you can touch your nose
or ear without thinking. Therefore, by having your index finger
extended along the barrel, you don’t have to think about pointing the
barrel to the target—your natural ability will do it for you.

Forearm hand placement varies from shooter to shooter; generally,
moving the hand out on the forearm will slow down and restrict your
swing and moving it in, closer to the hinge-pin, will speed it up and
increase its radius. Consistent hand placement on the forend promotes
consistent shooting.

4) Head Position

The head must always be square to the stock when mounted. Canting the
head one way or the other will change the point of impact for your
shot pattern. Therefore, gun fit is critical for a proper head
position. Another demonstration: Make sure your gun is unloaded, hold
it in the ready, low-gun, position, close your eyes and mount at an
imaginary target. Now open your eyes and if you see anything other
than the middle and front beads, one superimposed over the other, then
the gun doesn’t fit and you need professional gun-fitting help.

Once the stock meets the face, the head needs to be square to the gun
and kept there. Any slight lifting or movement off or away from the
stock will send the pattern somewhere other than where it was
intended.

5) Follow Through

We might think that we are spot-shooting those very slow, close
gravity rabbits, but if there is no follow through to our swing, we
invariably shoot behind them. The same applies even to trap-style
targets where there is little or no lead. Remember that all targets
are moving, so even trap targets need a proper insertion point/break
point, proper hand position with your head down and square on the
stock, finished with a good follow through after the shot is fired.

By following the five points for a pre-shot routine described above
and repeating them every time you get into the shooting box, you are
assured of improving your consistency and breaking more targets.
hnachaj@hotmail.com.

CLUB HISTORIAN…

By John M. Hachmann

Wow, it’s summer already and that can only mean one thing: The annual
Orvis Sandanona Summertime, Summertime shoot is right around the
corner. Some past Sandanona shoots have seen pretty wicked
temperatures and nasty humidity levels. Considering what the
weatherman dished out for us at Mid-Hudson last month, I don’t think
it could get any worse – at least I hope not! For those of you who
haven’t had the privilege of shooting Sandanona before, you’re in for
a treat. I’ve only shot there once myself and therefore am very
anxious for July 17th to arrive.

My buddy Ron Leonardi informs me that Sandanona is one of the more
challenging courses that the Travelers regularly shoot. He suggested
instead of listing past class winners, that perhaps past averages
would give a different perspective. This way we can all look at our
scores next month and see how we stack up against past averages based
on 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in each class. Since I hadn’t a clue
of what to write about this month, I concluded Ron’s suggestion was
fabulous!

The average turnout for this event over an eight-year period has been
139 shooters, with an all-time-high of 199 shooters in 1999. Lavert
Cypher is the defending champion with a score of 85 (12 ga. SxS)

H.O.A. Average score 1997 to 2004 = 84
Class 1 Average score 1997 to 2004 = 78
Class 2 Average score 1997 to 2004 = 77
Class 3 Average score 1997 to 2004 = 70
Class 4 Average score 1997 to 2004 = 65
Class 5 Average score 1997 to 2004 = 60
Ladies Average score 1997 to 2004 = 63
Veterans Average score 1997 to 2004 = 75
Juniors - Average score 1997 to 2004 = 55

So there it is Ron, just as you requested. See you all at Sandanona
on July 17th.



IS THERE A FRUSTRATED WRITER INSIDE YOU?

Join the staff of Reload and let me become your editorial Svengali!
Reload is the ideal place for budding young writers and we offer all
sorts of benefits to the semi-professional, semi-literate scribbler.
We wouldn’t be opposed to you printing your own official-looking
business cards with the Reload logo on them, nor would we be opposed
to you emblazing your shooting vest with the Reload banner. Hell, I’ll
even give you a press card for your snap-brim-fedora!

Learn to report on our monthly shoots. Learn the difference between
insure and ensure. Learn to announce to a room full of people that
you’re a “gun writer” with a straight face. In short, if you’re
willing to pretend this publication is something more than a just a
newsletter, I’m willing to pretend that spelling and grammar don’t
count!

In all seriousness, Reload is near and dear to my heart and I’d be
happy to take on anyone who’s got a story to tell and a sense of style
in telling it.


CONTACTING THE TRAVELERS...

CTSCA Home Office: Al Anglace, email <aaa738@aol.com> (by far the best
way) or telephone 860-354-9351 if you absolutely must.

Editor: Phil Steinkraus, email philistein@aol.com

Membership, Address Changes and Shooting Class status: Contact Cyndi
Dalena at Email <shotguncyndi@prodigy.net>.

Guide Book questions, Dick Orenstein <oren@umich.edu> or call
203-226-5251.

Past issues of “Reload! are available on line at
www.ShotgunReport.com.



*** 2005 CTSCA SHOOTING CALENDAR ***
JUL 17 SUMMERTIME, SUMMERTIME- ORVIS/SANDANONA, NY
AUG 12~14 GREAT EASTERN LOBSTER CLASSIC- ADDIEVILLE EAST FARM, RI
SEP 18 SEPTEMBERSHUTZENFEST-MILLBROOK ROD & GUN CLUB, NY
SEP 30-OCT 2 ANNUAL FALL TRIP- PA & NY WEEKEND TOUR
OCT 16 SMALL GAUGE CLUB CH- FAIRFIELD COUNTY FISH AND GAME, CT
NOV 13 Venue to be announced in August Reload
NOV 27 KOEHLER SOCIETY FUNDRAISER-venue to be announced in August Reload
DEC 18 DICK LOSEE MEMORIAL SHOOT /CHRISTMAS PARTY- MID COUNTY, NY

*** OTHER 2005 SHOOTS OF INTEREST ***
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, CALL AHEAD TO CONFIRM
JULY 2 BOB & PATTI MASTRIANNI’S 3RD ANNUAL SHOOTING PICNIC
Addieville East Farm, Mapleville, RI. Call 413 267-0917 for more information.
JULY 17 “Pig Roast Blast” – Addieville East Farm, Mapleville, RI.
AUG. 27-28 CT. STATE SHOOT – Fairfield Cnty. Fish & Game, Newtown, CT.
SEPT. 10 5TH Annual “Thinkfirst” Sporting Clays Freedom Shoot, Pawling Mtn. Club,
Pawling, NY. More info: www.THINKFIRST.ORG.
OCT. 23 “The Fall Blast” Charity shoot - Green Village, Chatham TWSP. NJ
Steve Roman (973) 808-1580 E-Mail: kobrom@rcn.com

**** THE UPCOMING TRAVELERS MONTHLY SHOOT ****

“SUMMER TIME, SUMMER TIME”
ORVIS/SANDANONA, MILLBROOK, NEW YORK
JULY 17, 2005

“Summer Time, Summer Time” at Orvis/Sandanona – the pinnacle of the
shooting season. Peg and Brian Long and their great staff of
professionals always present a flawless function at their superlative
facility. If you can join your fellow Traveler’s, the drill will be
about the same, starting with on time pre-registration by WEDNESDAY,
JULY 13. Registration opens at 9am with the troops ready to be
escorted to their respective stations at 9:45am. Please sign in,
noting your presence on the squad sheets so that the administrators
will know when everyone has arrived and you will be aware of your
starting station. Enjoy a continental breakfast while you are gearing
up for a fun day of clays. Lunch and awards will follow. Yes, we will
again award Orvis Gift Certificates.

A bargain it is at $60.00. Guests are welcome and the tariff for them
is $70.00. Lunch only guests are $20.00.

Small gauge handicaps will apply. All handicap and concurrent
information must be noted on the scorecard and the score must reflect
the standing rule for such participation for credit. For those so
inclined, our usual Connecticut Travelers sub gauge handicaps will
apply as follows: 12 ga. = 0, 16 ga. +3, 20 ga. +5, 28 ga. +10. 410
bore +20, pump or SXS guns get an additional +5. Example: if you shoot
a 410 pump you will get +25 targets. What a deal!

DIRECTIONS: From Taconic Parkway north take NY Rte. 44 (Millbrook)
exit. Go right off exit ramp onto Rte. 44 heading East for 1.5 miles
to Rte. 44A. Bear left onto Rte. 44A. Go 1.2 miles to Orvis/Sandanona
sign at their driveway on left. Phone 845 677-9701 for assistance.

NOTE: EYE AND EAR PROTECTION IS MANDATORY FOR EVERYONE ON THE COURSE
AT EVERY TRAVELERS’ SHOOT!!!