Indians For Guns

Photos from a day at Skeet range earlier this year. The gun is Beretta Onyx 12 gauge. It was a very cold and windy day, one of the coldest .
http://s419.photobucket.com/albums/pp279/garyz_02/

Were you shooting ISSF skeet or American skeet?Looks so damn cold.

Cheers

Ashar

Ashar

Its American Skeet, on a good day my score is 12ish barely.

I like skeet over trap and yes it was really cold with significant wind chill.

Best

Well you know what they say, practice makes perfect(With some coaching that is).

All the best.

Ashar

thanks for the pics! looks like freezing out there

Ashar

Lessons are kind of expensive, last time they wanted $375 for 2 or 3 hrs of shooting. The gent is a Beretta team shooter and he works in their show room.

best

Dont blame you for the score .............Its a wonder you can even get the trigger finger working with the glove on..............considering the circumstances at least ure still having fun which is in my humble opinion the most imp thing.

Cheers Rohit.

Are you serious ngrewal???

Thats more than what Russel Mark(Olympic Gold Medalist) would charge.The max I paid was $50 per session(2 hours) and that too with Juan Giha(Olympic Silver Medalist, Barcelona).Obviously I paid for the rounds, which was like 100 per session.

Cheers

Ashar

Nice gun, thanks for sharing the pics.

Cheers!

Rohit

I use shooting gloves always its easier to break action. Fun yes but cold was biting.

Ashar

The rates are high due to the high end clients who can afford choppers to fly 25 mins out to the range, shoot few rounds and then fly back, the said chap had just sold his company to Oracle. Coach was willing to provide few more hours, I could bring 2 or 3 friends but provided we could stick with the class schedule, the price was $175/hr.

Just incase some one is in NYC do visit Beretta Gallery http://www.berettausa.com/gallery/NY-Shotguns.htm. Its a nice store to hang around, centrally located, around the corner from Indian consulate, close to Central park and the museum. Mentioned consulate because one has to wait 6 hrs to get the passport or visa work done.

Then there is Griffin and Howe
http://www.griffinhowe.com who charge $1000 ishpackage for training, again drive out to their "Shooting farm".

For me its finding a company to shoot with and time to sneak out to a range because these places are good 45 miles out and traffic here is always a hassle.

Best

I am also looking for company to shoot. I am located in LA. If you ever in california, please drop me a line, would love to meet up and shoot a few rounds.

regards
Parag

PS: sorry dont mean to hijack your thread.

Nice pics ngrewal.
Sorry to go OT but could help noticing the wide based stance.
I dont have much experience with skeet and shoot sporting where they always suggest a narrow based stance (12 o clock-2 o clock stuff).
I have read that coaches "abroad" now encourage a wider stance in skeet some even suggest bent knees as it helps one mount more smoothly from a gun down position (in skeet).
Did you find it more useful than the narrow stance?

Shooter

My stance is per Grumpy's suggestion "The leading foot - the one opposite whichever hand pulls the trigger - should be pointed at the bird. The trailing foot should be pointing about 45 degrees to the left ( if you are right handed ) of the leading foot and about a foot behind with the heel an inch or two to the left of the leading foot. These are guidlines only and should be adapted for comfort. If your stance is uncomfortable you won`t shoot well.
The shooting you will mostly do will require the gun to be pre-mounted - held in the firing position. The gun should be pulled into the shoulder mostly with the trigger hand. The front hand does the pointing. When you point ( NEVER aim - you don`t aim with a shotgun ) at the bird ( or clay - whatever - ) the lateral motion should come from the hips.Important thing is following the bird properly turning from the hips."

Some of my bad habits were/are tendency to aim with one eye, not leaning into the gun to absorb the coil.

Skeet can be frustrating but more fun because its closest to actual bird shoot. Coaching helps because it ensures that one doesnt develop bad habits.

Grumpy had recommended books by Michael Yardley and John Bidwell `Move, Mount, Shoot`. One of the key difference between US and UK is that here one the gun can be shouldered.

Best

thanks for the tips.

BTW, I have both books but both teach diff techniques. i am trying to find what suits me best.
thanks again.

All that is fine. But for starters heres a few basics in skeet.

Bring your gun up with the leading hand pushing out.

Shoulder properly

overtake the bird from behind in its line of flight.

Keep front foot slightly forward to face your target squarly.

start up position for starters - right now at this stage keep your head turned towards high house or low house and muzzle position further down the line of flight. start your swing from a mid position right now, you will not and are not expected to right now to break targets 10 yards from the skeet houses. You will break them past the mid flight range right now.

Come to your homeland on a short holiday and we will show you our warm hospitality and what being Indian is all about.

We have many talented young lads who brought us the skeet Gold Medal ( Jr. ) at the last World cup in Jaipur and won us Laurels in Kuwait and Cyprus earlier.

These boys are ranked among top 10 Indians in seniors too.

Anytime these lads would love to shoot with you and teach you a few tricks and give you lessons if you want. No fees of course and Biryani from a large Deg that is carried on shooting sessions.

Just look at these guys. One of them who is already ranked no. 7 has gone all the way to Agra yesterday to help a friend get qualification scores at GV Mavlankar.