Clay Target Q&A
With Russell Mark, Olympic gold and silver medallist
Questions: russell@corporateshootingstars.com.au
Q I have read many articles on patterning guns and I am very confused. I have an old Beretta 680 Trap Gun that I shoot fairly good DTL with. I recently patterned the gun with a friend at 40 yards as I was told this is the recognised standard distance for patterning shotguns. When I fired at the spot in the middle of the pattern board, nearly all of the shot went above the spot where I was aiming. I am now told this gun is no good as it shoots too high. I am interested to hear your thoughts.
Eric Anderson, SA
A Eric, you have patterned your gun at the recognised standard distance for patterning shotshells not shotguns. First of all, it would be a rare and unfortunate clay target to be broken at 40 yards from common mark DTL shooting. Try 25m and you will get a more realistic view on where your shotgun is actually shooting in relation to the true distance for shooting 15m DTL targets.
It sounds like the gun shoots 100 per cent high at 40 yards, which is not too unusual for Trap guns. At 25m, I am sure that it would be about 70 to 75 per cent high, which is ideal for Trap shooting.
The distance of 40 yards is a common measurement to check the spread of a shotshells pellets through differently choked and constricted barrels. I would keep away from doing this unless you are really curious or have lots of time on your hands because this can get quite complicated and often nothing is achieved by spending countless hours counting how many pellets missed a 30" circle at 40 yards. Trust most shotshell manufacturers; these days, they have got the ballistics pretty right.