doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com OT Sporting clays layouts and distances.

Hello gentlemen.

I know a lot of you use to practice sporting clays and I wish your opinions about the subjet I will expose:

Today I was invited to participate in seting a sporting clays course for a tournament next saturday. We set 5 different stations (2 machines in each one). One person that also participate insist in launch the clays far beyond what I think is apropiate for a shotgun range.
They argue that in the courses in USA the actual presentation is for very far clays. I meassure with a lasser rangfinder and the nearest clay was 41 meters (45 yards) and the farthest was a silly 57 meters (62 yards) all in more or less crossing trayectories.
My question is, do you really normally are launching clays at those long distances?
I sugested more normal "shotgun ranges" of 30-35 meters (33-38 yards, but he do not wants to change distances, insisting that in USA is the way to do in tournaments.

Your point of view and advise regard the subjet will be apreciated.

Best,

Jose, The New Hunter's Encyclopedia has a diagram of a skeet layout. It doesn't provide all distances. It does show the flight of clays from the high and low houses and a distance of 21 yards from a point between Stations Two and Three to the point where the clays intersect from both houses.

Jose -- Google National Sporting Clays Association (NSCA) for some information you might find useful. Buenas suerte amigo.

Usually it is the challenging presentation and angles of trajectory that make the game of sporting clays what it is - not extreme distances. The clays must be presented at distances which allow the definite possibility of clean breaks with chokes other than full/full - some being at skeet distances and closer.

http://www.mynsca.com/Manager/NSCAHome.aspx

JR

Extreme distances are not the norm for any sporting clays range I've visited. Our own, here at Purgatory Clay Sports, in Hurricane, UT, usually has none that far. Skeet or IC and light mod can usually handle any of our presentations.

The course at Nemacolin shooting academy, sw PA has one station with a crosser at 90 degrees beyond 45 yds. I think having maybe one of these to separate the legends from the rest of us mortals is probably okay but more than that and I would lose interest.

I agree with Jerry and Jim. Most sporting courses I shoot have perhaps one or two stations at the distances you've noted. Target presentation should have more consideration than distance.

The long distance courses are usually the realm of FITASC, or whatever the letters are. Trap gun sporting, really.

Our five-stand SC setup, which COULD have some real long rangers, does not. People won't shoot it if it's near impossible for the average, Class B, shooter.

Some of the incomers can be taken at longer range, but nothing need be shot outside 40 yards on our course which is wildly popular because of balanced presentations.

That said, there are tougher layouts for the 'master class' shooters and if that's who you are hosting, knock yourself out.

Thank you for the comments.
The main problem, as some of you said, is that the average shotguner lost interest if their scores are to low.

The persons that are seting the courses are the "experts" or "want to be experts" and that is the cause they insist in such distant and dificult targets.

I hope that the owners of the shooting fields around here quickly understand that the main idea is to make more popular to shot sporting clays, not more dificult. They will make more money if there are more sporting clay shooters and in order to make more shooters you need to make the sport nice, atractive and, of course, with some chalange, for everyone.

Best regards,