Laser clay shooting practice aids - worth the money?

A visit to a really good coach and gun fitter is still the soundest investment!

By Clay shooting

Thursday, 08 October 2009

Do laser clay shooting practice aids actually work, or do you think they’re a waste of money?

Laser clay shooting.
Shooting expert
JOHN BIDWELL
The idea behind laser clay shooting devices – and there are a number of them on the market – is to improve gun mount and check gun fit.

However, if there’s a drawback with some of them it’s that they don’t show whether the user is fitting himself to the gun, rather than the other way around.

For the laser to be totally accurate a gun needs to be fitted properly so that, when mounted, it points to where we are looking without any aiming being involved.

Because of this you could argue if the gun fits and points where it should then why would you need a laser device anyway?

I’m inclined to agree with that view.

However… From a coach’s view the use of a laser is probably a good thing because it gives a shooter a useful incentive to actually practice dry mounting at home on a regular basis after having had his gun fitted, or having had a lesson.

The laser ‘dot’ can then reassure him all’s well with the fit of his gun.

Are they worth the money?

The more sophisticated and expensive systems usefully allow the user to swing and ‘fire’ the gun then watch on screen where the ‘shot’ went in relation to the target but I don’t know of many individuals who would want to spend the sums of money being asked.

That said, such systems do become affordable if a group of friends club together and share the facility – however it still needs someone in the ‘cooperative’ to interpret things correctly and identify why a user is missing the mark.

Call me old fashioned but in my opinion a visit to a really good coach and gun fitter is still the soundest investment!