Be careful buying a shotgun.

If only people listened. We had a client who wanted to take up clay shooting and he came to us for instruction. We told him not to rush out and buy a gun, but to take our advice first. So, what did he do? You guessed. He telephoned me and said he'd bought a gun and could he bring it down for another lesson.

When he arrived he produced a lovely leather slip, out of which he pulled a lovely piece of walnut .... attached to a circa 1953 English side by side. I asked him what sort of shooting he was planning to do. He replied "clays", and stressed he would not be game shooting.

Why have you bought a side by side I asked?  He said that the gunsmith advised him this was the right gun for him.

We then did a gun fit. The stock was so short that his trigger hand was pushed up onto his nose, and he couldn't see over the rib. We extended the stock, which of course made the comb even lower, and added 5 comb raisers. He still couldn't see over the rib. The gun had obviously been made for a junior, or a lady. It wouldn't have hurt quite as much if the price he paid was reasonable - £4,500!
The only thing he could do was to return the gun and get his money back.

I haven't heard from him since.

Clay Pigeon Shooting

Keep watching this space.   We will be running a series of tutorials about shooting that I hope will be helpful.

If there are areas you want covered let us know.

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Safe gun handling

We are always surprised at the number of people who come to us for training who have shot for years yet don't know the correct way to handle a shotgun when they remove it from the slip. We have had guns removed from slips which have live ammo in them, and even worse they have been pointed at us.

Remember that a closed gun is ALWAYS a loaded gun. It's too late to use the excuse "I thought it was unloaded" when you have shot someone. Have a look at this video for the correct procedure http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFiks_nNBsU

Remember:
1 A closed gun is a loaded gun - treat it as such
2 Don't handle someone elses gun without permission
3 Be muzzle aware, even with an open gun, and don't pass the muzzes through anyone
4 Only have a closed gun when on a stand ready to shoot
5 Don't fool about with a gun.