Clay shooting: What’s the difference between a battue and a chandelle target? Do you approach the targets in a different manner?
Clayshooting
Learning to shoot clays under the watchful eye of a qualified instructor
For many shooters, getting started means a trip to your local clayshooting ground where you’ll be taught to break English Sporting targets.
How clayshooting began
- The first clay pigeon shoots started around 1885 as an affordable alternative to competitions using live pigeons as targets.
- Shooting schools – particularly those owned by London gunmakers – set up courses to simulate the flight of live birds. The new sport quickly became a hit with Victorian and Edwardian game shooters as a form of practice during the closed season.
How to start clayshooting
- Several of these schools are still going strong, but such was the rapid rise in popularity of “Sporting Shooting” that clubs soon sprang up all around the country. The first British Open Sporting Championship was held in 1927 and today it is still the biggest and most prestigious competition of them all.
Clayshooting tips for beginners
- Also going strong is the company that invented the first spring-powered hand trap more than a century ago – Laporte of France. Its automatic traps and clay targets enjoy worldwide sales.
- Your first taste of clayshooting will almost certainly be on a Sporting range where targets are thrown to simulate the flight of game birds.
- In Sporting you will shoot from a number of different “stands” each offering a different target. These targets vary greatly in terms of trajectory, angle, elevation, distance and speed and it’s that variety that makes Sporting so popular with clay shooters
- Clay pigeon shooting has evolved into 20 or more different disciplines over the years, but Sporting is still the most popular with around 90 per cent of all shooters taking part regularly.
The different types of clayshooting
- In spite of the PC world we live in, shooting continues to grow. There are now several hundred gun clubs and shooting schools – most affiliated to the sport’s governing body the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association . The clubs are widespread across the UK so chances are there are one or more within just a few miles of where you live.
- In spite of its massive popularity, Sporting is not recognised as an Olympic Sport – that accolade goes to Olympic Trap, Olympic Skeet and Double Trap. Great Britain has won three gold medals in the trap disciplines since 1966.
Clayshooting guns | Clay pigeon cartridges | Improve your clayshooting | Clay pigeon shooting grounds |Clothes for shooting clays
Best clayshooting grounds in the UK (according to our reviewers)
Clayshooting is increasingly popular as people want to enjoy an outdoor sport that is healthy, inclusive and accessible. Whether you’re a keen clayshooter who enjoys the challenge of the different clay disciplines or whether you’re first and foremost a game shooter who likes to keep their eye in out of…
Clayshooting competitions: Here’s how to shoot your way to success
When I’m preparing a relatively new clayshooter for clayshooting competitions my lessons follow a certain format. Once we have gun, clay cartridges, hearing and eye protection sorted we get straight out onto the ground. A lesson in clayshooting competitions We begin shooting a few easy targets to warm up and…
Clay pigeon shooting in Yorkshire – where should you go?
We’ve listed some of the best clay pigeon shooting in Yorkshire available. Two of the clay grounds featured here have a cast iron reputation for showing the highest driven clays in the UK. If you can do a job on what they throw into the stratosphere then you’ll be well…
How to hit the rabbit clay target
The dreaded rabbit clay target. It’s the one that most shooters dread and come unstuck by. You’ll hear clayshooters moan and groan about one as they walk to the stand. Then the excuses start and they’re talking themselves into missing as the elusive rabbit rolls along the floor. So what’s…
From springing teal to rabbits – the different types of clay targets and how to nail them
Over time, if you are to be a good all-round Shot, you need to develop a repertoire, or quite simply the knowledge to deal with each type of clay target and how you address it. Our instructors have covered the presentation of each type of clay target you’re likely to…
How to deal with the different clay targets
Maybe you’re new to clayshooting or maybe you’re looking at honing your technique after some months off. Whatever the aim, knowing how to deal with the different clay targets and how they are presented to you is key. Read our guide and you’ll not only understand the terminology, but you…
Five places to go clay pigeon shooting in Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a county of high downlands combined with wide valleys and offers shooters exciting variety. If you’re after somewhere to shoot clays in the country, here’s a list of shooting grounds in Wiltshire. We’ve deliberately included diverse experiences – some grounds are small and run by volunteers whilst others…
Five things to do to get your clayshooting back up to scratch again
After lockdown some of us will have lost our ‘edge’ and will need to improve clayshooting skills again. Almost all of us will be out of practice. Here I will highlight a few of the more common tendencies and unwelcome techniques that are likely to show up and catch us…
Clayshooting grounds just an hour from London
The good news is that many clay grounds have recently reopened after lockdown and more are opening daily. Below we’ve rounded up clay pigeon shooting grounds near London. We’ve marked the ones that are open again at the time of writing. None take longer than an hour to get to…
Exercises for clayshooters
None of us at the moment can get out and shoot as we normally would. There are, however, a few things that we can do to keep our eye in. Hopefully, by the time you read this your local clay ground will be open again but these exercises for clayshooters…
Things you can and can’t do when clayshooting after lockdown
Now clay grounds are reopening, here's a list of things you can and can't do on the clay ground at the moment
Chokes for gameshooting and clays – what’s best?
When you're out in the field or the clay ground which chokes for gameshooting and clayshooting will give you the best results?
How to read the clay target
Even with the best technique in the world, to succeed at a high level you must be able to size up a target in seconds.
A 5-minute guide to the different clayshooting disciplines
New to clayshooting? This is what English Sporting, English Skeet and Trap shooting involve
How to choose the right clay cartridge
Here are some of the key questions you need to ask when choosing clay cartridges. Q. What wad material should I choose? A. Today many shooting grounds label themselves as ‘fibre-wad only’ grounds and you should always ring ahead to check to see what a shooting ground’s policy is. Wad…
Can I set up clay shooting on my own property?
Can you set up clay pigeon shooting on your own property?
Maybe it’s time to give it a try? Trap shooting explained
This article is not meant to be a masterclass on trap shooting, more rather trap shooting explained to encourage you to give it a go if you haven’t tried it. Trap shooting is one of the formal clay shooting disciplines and at its highest level an Olympic sport. Most people…
Why you should give Sporting clays a try
This article is not a masterclass in Sporting clays, but rather an overview to explain what it involves to encourage you to give it a go. Any calibre If you already use a shotgun, then you will probably be fine to shoot Sporting clays. You can use any calibre (12-bore…
Hesitation. A common mistake amongst new shooters. Here’s how to avoid it.
Hesitation is a common shooting problem. While teaching my wife to shoot some years ago, she noticed that the person in front of her, shooting a simple going away target, was waiting way too long, or as some would say “hanging” on the target, only to miss when they did…