Flinching: Flinching in shotgun shooters can be likened to gun-shyness in dogs; it's often a learned fear from past experiences. However, curing this habit in humans is generally simpler:
Causes of Flinching: Beginners often flinch due to painful initial experiences with gun recoil from improper mounting. If not allowed to become a fear of recoil, this habit will typically fade with practice.
Curing Flinching:
For Beginners: One effective method involves having the shooter aim at a target with what they believe is a loaded gun, but it's actually empty. The flinch, anticipating recoil that doesn't come, becomes evident, helping them break the habit through self-awareness.
For Experienced Shooters: Even seasoned shooters can flinch due to pressure, tension, or fatigue. A "shock treatment" can help, where the shooter fires the gun standing flat-footed and then from the hip without shouldering it, demonstrating that recoil is manageable.
Prevention: The best approach is prevention through proper initial training, which can stop flinching before it starts.
SHOOTING TECHNIQUES
There are three main wing shooting techniques widely recognized:
- Point Out or Sustained Lead
For many years, mastery of all three methods has been considered essential for championship-level shooting. However, for beginners, Swing Through provides the simplest and quickest path to progress, laying a foundation for mastering the others later.
Swing Through Defined
Swing Through involves sighting on a moving target, aligning with its flight path, then accelerating the gun's swing so the muzzle passes the target. The shot is fired just as the muzzle overtakes the target, ensuring a hit. The technique's name comes from the action of the gun "swinging through" the target.
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Beginners might ask, "Why swing past the target before firing?" or "Why speed up after initially matching the target's speed?" These questions are answered by understanding the following time delays:
- Human Reaction Time Delay: The time from deciding to shoot to actually pulling the trigger, typically about one-fifth of a second for most people.
- Mechanical Delay: The time from trigger pull to the moment the shot leaves the barrel.
- Shot Travel Time: The duration for the shot to travel from the gun to the target.
Though each delay might seem negligible, cumulatively, they determine whether the shot hits or misses.
Swing Through Technique
When using the Swing Through method, shooters give more lead than they might realize. The gun barrel (a) indicates where the shooter thinks they're aiming, while (b) shows where the shot actually goes.
This technique naturally handles technical details without requiring conscious calculation from the shooter. Here's how it works with a pheasant:
- The shooter aligns the barrel with the bird, keeping pace with its flight.
- They then speed up their swing, passing the bird's path with the gun's muzzle.
- The key is to keep the muzzle moving even after the shot, which should become automatic with practice.
- The brain signals to fire just as the muzzle overtakes the pheasant's head, but the finger pulls the trigger about one-fifth of a second later.
In this brief moment, if the muzzle is moving faster than the bird, it can advance by several feet, providing enough lead to compensate for the time the shot takes to travel.
A comprehensive explanation would delve into optical and angular compensations, but for practical purposes, the key takeaway is:
KEEP THE MUZZLE SWINGING EVEN AFTER THE GUN IS FIRED!
Steps for Successful Swing Through Shooting:
Most instructors teach Swing Through first, followed by Point Out/Sustained Lead and then Snap Shooting:
- Point Out/Sustained Lead: The shooter determines the target's angle, speed, and range, maintains a steady lead, and shoots at a spot ahead of where the target will be.
- Snap Shooting: Involves aiming at a spot where the bird will be based on its speed and the delays in reaction, gun mechanics, and shot travel, but with a stationary gun.
Swing Through is particularly recommended for beginners due to its simplicity.
Sighting Techniques:
Aiming (one eye closed): Some argue that range estimation occurs before aiming, thus the loss of depth perception is minor.
Looking (both eyes open): Advocates claim it offers better depth perception, range estimation, and a broader field of vision. However, it's harder to master.
Both methods have their merits, and the best approach varies by individual. Here are some considerations:
Both-Eyes-Open doesn't require focusing on sights, as the shooter sees the muzzle mass relative to the target's flight.
Ventilated Ribs on single-barrel guns aid in maintaining the correct head position, while on double barrels, their effectiveness is debated due to the visual dominance of the muzzles.
Choosing between sighting methods should involve trying both under different conditions to see which works best for you. Practice with a hand trap can refine these techniques.
