Clay Target Q&A
With Russell Mark, Olympic gold and silver medallist
Questions: russell@corporateshootingstars.com.au
Q I want to make my gun swing much quicker as I feel my barrels are too heavy causing me to shot behind all the hard angled targets. I was told putting some weight in the stock of my gun will help. What is your opinion?
Doug Anderson, Vic
A Most well-made trap shotguns are balanced at the hinge pin on the action of the gun. To test this, simply close the gun and see if it balances on your hand on this spot. Putting weight in the rear of the stock will no doubt shift the point of balance towards the rear of the gun, thus making the barrels ‘appear’ lighter and therefore easier to swing. If it makes you swing the barrels faster, then this will help give more lead to your targets when adopting the ‘swing through’ method of lead, which nearly all successful trap shooters use. Making the gun heavier will also help reduce recoil, but it will also cause more fatigue due to having to lift the extra weight each time.