Want to have a great time shooting? How about introducing a new shooter to the shooting sports? You cannot go wrong with shooting clays. Learning to use a shotgun to bust clay targets is one of the best introductions to shooting available. Shotguns are relatively easy to learn to shoot and clay shooting is fun and challenging enough to be addicting.
There are many clay shooting disciplines available, but the most common are:
- Trap
- Skeet
- Sporting Clays
I have participated in multiple charity matches where many of the participants had little to no shooting experience. Inevitable, everyone had a great time, broke many clay targets and looked forward to their next opportunity to shoot. Most fo my experience has been with Sporting Clays, which is one of the more challenging disciplines because each station has a different presentation of the clay targets. Some are going away, some are crossing, some can even be right at you passing over your head. This variation is what provides both the challenge and the fun. Even with these challenges, new shooters are able to break 33-50% of the clays, giving them success and a feeling of accomplishment.
Trap
The granddaddy of shooting clays disciplines, trap has many variations, but in it simplest form it consists of five stations 16 yards from the trap house. The trap house throws targets away from the shooter anywhere in a left right random angle. The exact amount of angle depends on the variation of trap being used.
Because the clays are moving away from the shooter with limited angle, this makes easier for the beginner to get consistent success as the variation between shots is limited.
Skeet
Another of the long time clay shooting sports, skeet provides a little more variety in shooting than trap. A skeet field is composed of seven shooting stations arranged in a semi-circle going two trap houses 40 meters apart. There are low and high trap houses and shots at each station consist of a combination of singles from each house and doubles where a target is launched from both the low and high house.
The variation comes from the angle of the targets to the shooter and the difference between low and high houses. Some shots have targets moving almost directly at or away from the shooter while at others the target are moving a 90 deg angle to the shooter.
Sporting Clays
Sometimes called “golf with a shotgun”, sporting clays consists of multiple stations with different shots at each station. Here each station is unique with its own challenges and each course is unique as well. Courses often periodically change the stations to provide new experience for their shooters.
With the most variation in shots, Sporting Clays may be the most difficult clay shooting discipline for new shooter to be successful, but that is no reason to avoid it. As I mentioned, even novice shooters can find enough success to be rewarding and leave them wanting for more.
Recreational Clays
While not cheap, clay machines to launch targets are affordable enough for shooters to own. They vary from hand-operated single clay throwers to electric-powered automated and remote control units. A lot of fun a can be had just launching targets for shooters to break using one of these machines,.
Safety
Whatever discipline you decide to try, make sure it includes a comprehensive safety introduction for the new shooter. The four rules of gun safety should be covered as well as discipline specific rules such as when to load and how to handle the shotgun when you are not shooting. Don’t forget the eye and ear protection as well. For new shooters it is a good practice to have an experienced shooter stand behind their dominate shoulder to both help with any gun issues as well as see were the gun is pointing to give the shooter tips.
Shotgun
While specialized sporting shotguns can cost into the 5 figures, almost any shotgun can be used to get started. A 12 gauge gun is the most common. Reduced recoil loads are common and make it easier for beginners and when shooting the 25 to 100 shots common in clay shooting. A 20 gauge shotgun is also not a bad beginners gun. The reduced recoil makes shooting easier and the reduced size and weight can be helpful for youth or small stature shooters.
Do not make the mistake of thinking a .410 shotgun is a good beginners gun. While they are light and have little recoil, they also have a very small shot pattern making it difficult to break targets. .410 shotguns are, basically, an expert guns in the clay shooting world.
So if you get the chance, go shoot some clays! it is loads of fun and a great introduction to firearms and the shooting world.