than a non-sanctioned match. Foot fault lines were very evident this year to ensure that competitors didn’t shoot targets less than the minimum 5m limit. These are usually (but not conclusively) wooden strips approximately one inch high by around 1.5 inch wide and painted red, and at floor level. Competitors may place a foot over these lines for purposes of balance or even by accident, but if a shot is taken whilst touching the ground on the wrong side of the line, procedural penalties will occur for each shot fired - something to avoid at all costs because it will result in a very poor score on the stage irrespective of how well the stage was shot.
SET 3 of 3 Stage 9 view of the targets hidden behind the tyres
quail at the thought of hitting a saucer-sized target at 50m. Most shoot 30g or 32g slug, predominantly of the Brennekke style skirted and fluted round (Eley, Sellier & Bellot, Remington), or the simpler bell-shaped Foster round used in the Magtech cartridges. Slug shooting isn’t cheap, with ammunition now costing anywhere from around 50p for the cheaper brands to almost a £1 per round for the Remington cartridges. It does require though that you know which choke works best with your brand of slug and where the slug goes at varying differences.
At Shield, the targets were much closer than 50m – the furthest being no more than around 10m from the firing points. A 12 target stage, the competitors had to move from the start box to the first of three doors that exposed four paper targets through each. Starting with a full gun in Option 1 (8 rounds in the magazine, one in the chamber) and shooting each target twice meant that the competitors had to load a minimum of 15 rounds moving between the doors. In reality, as the majority of the shooters now use a belt system with cartridge strippers holding four rounds each, it meant grabbing two lots of four between door one and two, and two more grabs between door two and three, and reliably loading these into the loading gate of the shotgun whilst moving.
The stage designs were straightforward if cunning in design, but perhaps with less freestyle elements
Stage 9 was a birdshot stage and proved to be the downfall of most competitors for the reasons given earlier in this article. Shooting position was inside a narrow space behind a solid obstacle. Targets were arrayed at ground level on both sides, partially occluded by large tyres. It was impossible to be able to bend far enough around the obstacle and keep the gun in the strong shoulder on both sides. The gun had to be in the right shoulder to shoot the targets on the right, and switched to the left shoulder to shoot the left hand targets. Much cursing and bruised shoulders later saw the majority of the shooters with poor stage scores – taking well over twice as long as the fastest shooter. Most people were left with a feeling that they really should practice more. How often have we heard that...!
Stage 11 was a large birdshot stage of 24 targets and comprised many sectioned off shooting areas that presented a challenge of moving, loading and shooting as well as needing to shoot targets through small apertures and avoiding close no-shoot targets. The key to success on this stage was planning and ensuring that your loading strategy was solid. Loading a shotgun when standing still is one thing, loading it whilst moving between targets is quite another.
Stage 12 was a very pleasant stage that presented shooters with a similar experience to stage 11 with plenty of movement but a smaller target count of 16 steel plates and four no-shoot plates. All targets to be shot with birdshot. The dilemma here was the initial few targets. The competitor was facing down a long shooting corridor with an assortment of targets and no-shoots at varying distances out to perhaps 10 or 12 metres. On the start signal, these were the first targets to shoot and were the cause of much debate over what choke to use to ensure that the targets were hit but not the nearby no-shoots. Many people changed to full choke, others left their modified chokes in and still shot fast and accurately. The lesson learned here for many was the need to know your gun pattern for your chosen choke size. To make it more tricky, Steve often puts in double weight plates that need good shot placement to ensure a knockdown... he’s nothing if not sneaky is Mr Pike!
Target Shooter 107
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