doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com fun day at the range

My local club had a practice day last weekend so I took out my 410 and my Armi G Gamba hammer gun for a shot
the range was a nice set up with a nice mix of targets and presentations I mananged a 14/25 in the first round with the 410 (first time using it) I have to say it was a real surprise how well it worked I was using some 3" no9 Rios and 2 1/2" Remington 7.5's
in the second round I used the Gamba loaded with black powder (3 drams 2f 1 1/8oz) I managed to get a 23/25 the load performed very well and as always it is a very good wow factor to people who haven't seen BP before
it was a nice casual fun day I wish we had more of them

Out to 25-30 yards a 410 can be surprizingly effective, especially if it's choked properly (I consider the modified choke to be a 410 version of full choke). Sounds like you're a pretty good shot too, that helps.
Steve

23/25 is great shooting by anyones' standard on a well mixed sporting course & w/black powder I'm sure you had the audiences full attention. Was that your goose getter?

The only way to have more fun type shoots is to talk up the good time had and help promote them at every opportunity. Perhaps you could talk the club into scheduling one per quarter & then if they take off it could possibly go to once per month in the good weather months and not during hunting season.

I have participated in some 'fun' shoots that really were and they were well patronized as long as someone was willing to do the work to put them together. Its always more work than meets the eye to run a smooth shoot of any kind, so you may need to be ready to jump in and assist, if need be. I think more folks come out for something like a fun shoot when they are not under pressure to compete and too, it can be a good way for people to experience clay target shooting in a no pressure environment. Just have door prizes or drawings for awards. Something like a gift certificate for a free round of clays or even a box of cartridges makes for a nice prize and helps keeps the participants' interest in shooting more targets alive.

Glad you had a fine day!

kind regards, tw

Thank you for your kind words our range is ran by volunteers the range set up is by roster and I would generally do about 3-4 ranges a year our throwers are not permanently set up so we have a lot of options for target presentations I do agree with you about the no pressure approach for newer shooters it makes for a much more enjoyable time for them and more chance for them to come back for another go
Rokdoc your right I wouldn't have believed you could break targets like that with 1/2oz of shot it was very surprising I missed a few targets that were all my fault not the gun or load
my 410 (a lowly Boito sxs) is choked mod and full
TW no the Gamba isn't my goose gun (don't have any in my part of Australia) I just like sxs's (a lot!!) and always wanted a hammergun this one come along at a very good price I even sent it away and had it tightened (just needed the wedge done) it fits me as well as my Beretta (Model 410 12g) and I really like shooting it
I started using Black Powder in my Lefever H grade (its a long way from home) but found the tighter barrels in the gamba seemed to work better with blackpowder the 3 dram loads seem to be a lot better than the 2 3/4dram loads I was using

Each year I organize a day's shooting at a club near Detroit. We shoot two 50 bird rounds on their admittedly easy clays course. One round is with 12 Bore, one with .410. We have had several instances of people scoring better with the small gun. One of those was by a man who is normally an 80%+ shooter.