February 2021

Clay Shooting

The UK's only independent magazine for clay shooters

Clay Shooting1 min read
Did You Know?
You can buy a single copy of this magazine, or order a subscription, at www.magazinesdirect.com/csm ■
Clay Shooting2 min read
Welcome
Happy New Year! Few of us will be sorry to see the back of 2020, which will go down in history as a downright miserable year – although as we highlighted last issue, shooting managed not just to survive but to thrive despite all the distancing, lockd
Clay Shooting1 min read
Back To Business At Ej Churchill
Matt Hance shot a terrific 97 ex-100 to win the first CPSA registered 100 Sporting competition to be held at EJ Churchill following England’s second lockdown. The shoot was held on 4 December, just a couple of days after the lockdown was lifted, Engl
Clay Shooting1 min read
Thimbleby Bucks The Trend
Thimbleby Shooting Ground in North Yorkshire is bucking the trend of businesses closing and staff redundancies with the appointment of a new member of the team, Grace Nattrass, as shooting ground administrator, taking care of customers, bookings, les
Clay Shooting1 min read
Clay Shooting
Editor James Marchington 07836 350652, james.marchington@futurenet.com Senior Designer Phil Martin Production Editor Elizabeth Wood Group Art Director Dean Usher Richard Atkins, Mitchell Brooker-Smith, Stuart Farr, Jasper Fellows, Ed Lyons, Becky McK
Clay Shooting1 min readMedical
IWA 2021 cancelled
The big European annual hunting and outdoors show, IWA OutdoorClassics, has been cancelled for another year. The event, held in Nuremberg, Germany, each March, was cancelled in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic spread. At the time it was hoped the 2021 s
Clay Shooting1 min readScience & Mathematics
New Prescription Shooting Glasses
Evolution Sunglasses have launched new prescription glasses specifically designed for shooting, the Evolution PRX 6925. They’ve partnered with a specialist manufacturing optician to make curved polycarbonate prescription lenses in six colour options.
Clay Shooting5 min read
Give It Your Best Shot!
Why are more and more people, regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity and social background, getting their kicks from shooting little round targets that rocket across the sky or skip along the ground? Because it’s fun! Most of the time it’s going
Clay Shooting1 min readScience & Mathematics
Eye Dominance Kit
Do you struggle with a ‘wrong’ dominant eye? Evolution Eyewear may have the answer. The Evolution Strike EDK is designed to overcome eye dominance. It does this by having a dark lens in front of the dominant eye, and a clear or yellow lens in front o
Clay Shooting1 min readPsychology
Buying A Gun
Owning your own gun will help your progress immeasurably, provided you buy the right one. “The best gun is the one that fits,” says Paul Dancer. “I always offer to accompany my clients when they are buying a new gun, because it helps to have another
Clay Shooting1 min readCrime & Violence
Getting Your Shotgun Certificate
In order to own a shotgun, you must obtain a valid shotgun certificate. If you’re new to the sport, then don’t try to rush into buying a gun but, do apply for your licence in plenty of time because the process can take a while. The application for a
Clay Shooting8 min read
Eyes Forward
It’s fair to say 2020 was a bit of a wash out. Despite our best intentions many competitions, from the mighty Olympic games to CPSA registered shoots, were cast aside as the world dealt with more pressing issues. Fortunately, many events were postpon
Clay Shooting2 min read
News In Brief
Former British Shooting chairman, John Harris, received a ‘Spirit of High Performance’ award at the annual PLx awards ceremony hosted by UK Sport Chair Dame Katherine Grainger and broadcaster Hazel Irvine. John served as chair of British Shooting fro
Clay Shooting1 min readMedical
Research Shows Benefits Of Shooting
Disabled shooters on the British Shooting Paralympic Pathway benefit from improved physical health, mental wellbeing, and wider social outcomes. That’s the conclusion of independent research carried out by experts from Sport Structures Ltd. With soci
Clay Shooting1 min read
Disciplines Explained
Originally developed to simulate live quarry shooting, clay targets are thrown in all sorts of angles, trajectories, speeds and elevations. The names of the targets are reminiscent of the sport’s origins too – Teal, Driven Pheasant, Duck, Rabbit etc.
Clay Shooting1 min read
Your Experts
Clay Shooting’s resident technical expert, Richard has decades of experience reviewing guns, cartridges and accessories. He’s well equipped to solve problems on everything from shot sizes to stock dimensions. Director of Flint & Partners, Ed’s optom
Clay Shooting1 min readFashion
Essential Kit
When you first try shooting, the ground will provide everything you need – but eventually you’ll want to start collecting your own equipment in order to be more comfortable and hopefully improve your performance. Eye protection is essential and you c
Clay Shooting5 min read
Q&A
Q After nearly a year of restricted travel abroad, I am desperate next year to do some clay shooting in much sunnier climes. I usually make an annual trip to the continent, and I have missed it. I want to take my own shotgun with me, so I renewed my
Clay Shooting1 min read
Why We Shoot
Why We Shoot is a new campaign from Britain’s leading shooting magazines, including Shooting Times, Sporting Gun and Airgun Shooter. It aims to raise awareness of the wide-ranging benefits of shooting to wildlife and the countryside as well as the ph
Clay Shooting3 min read
Book In Now For The Classic
It’s been a difficult and frustrating year for Orston Shooting Ground’s Dan Martin. He was excited about hosting the 2020 Clay Shooting Classic, but the pandemic forced it to be cancelled. Now the event has been rescheduled for 26-30 May 2021 – and D
Clay Shooting7 min read
Nice And Light At Budget Price
We are hearing much more about lighter loads at the moment. Considering all the hoo-ha that surrounded the original move from 32 gram to 28 gram shot loads, when a lot of shooters thought their scores would go down, the desire to go to 24 gram loads
Clay Shooting6 min read
Determined To Succeed
The future of our sport is in the hands of the young shots. From the business minded James Bradley-Day to Olympic hopefuls Lucy Hall and Theo Ling, we can all take inspiration from the passion that they have for keeping our sport alive and well. One
Clay Shooting3 min readPsychology
Develop Your Super-strengths
Within the world of sport, coaches often focus very heavily on identifying and developing areas of weakness in order to improve performances –but is that the right approach? If an athlete is expected to perform to a world-beating standard, it’s not e
Clay Shooting1 min read
Understanding The Test Results
Velocity is measured at 2.5 metres from the muzzle. Pressure is the mean breech figure in Bar (as per CIP). SD is Standard Deviation (consistency). CD is the Central Density rating. This records the percentage of the total pellets landing in the 3
Clay Shooting1 min read
Tech Spec
MAKE Beretta MODEL 694 Sport BARRELS Steelium, 28, 30 or 32 ins CHAMBERS 3ins (2¾ ins Trap model) RIB Tapered 10-8mm SAFETY Non-auto, selective STOCK 15ins on test gun WEIGHT Nominally from 3.5kg (7lb 11.5oz) CHOKES Five Optima tubes supplied
Clay Shooting6 min read
Beretta And Better
I feel rather spoilt for choice now I am doing these gun reviews for Clay Shooting magazine. I’ve been wanting to try a Beretta, and this provided the perfect excuse. There’s a huge range of Berettas to choose from of course, but I fancied taking a l
Clay Shooting3 min read
Why I Shoot
Rather than bringing everyone’s spirits down by mentioning that we can’t go shooting for a month, maybe longer, due to the latest national lockdown, I thought that I would do a reflective piece and enlighten you all as to why I shoot. As most of you
Clay Shooting1 min read
Why We Shoot
Why We Shoot is a brand new campaign from Britain’s leading shooting magazines, including Shooting Times, Sporting Gun and Airgun Shooter. It aims to raise awareness of the wide-ranging benefits of shooting to wildlife and the countryside as well as
Clay Shooting6 min read
Fit To Shoot?
Have you ever had your gun professionally fitted? Many shooters buy a new gun that ‘feels right’, or trust the gun shop’s assurance that it fits, and just go shooting. Perhaps you had your gun fitted when it was new and have shot it for years, confid
Clay Shooting5 min readScience & Mathematics
Bringing Clarity To Coloured Lenses
“With my sunglasses on, I’m Jack Nicholson. Without them, I’m fat and 60.” I’m sure most of us side with Jack here. Shades are cool. They make us look hip and they make us feel happy. But is there more to choosing shooting eyewear than making sure th
Clay Shooting2 min read
Time For Reflection
I’m in lockdown again as I write this – the second lockdown has taken effect in England, shooting grounds are closed, and I haven’t been able to go training and prepare for the 2021 season. At times like this, when I am not physically active, my mind
Clay Shooting3 min read
A Question Of Balance
Anita North has advice on building your stability when shooting I am writing this article in the middle of another lockdown in England. Shooting activities have just about ground to a halt. It feels like we had just got back to some routine and it’s
Clay Shooting2 min readScience & Mathematics
Getting Prescriptive
SportsVision specialist and Optometrist Ed Lyons, who is based at Flint and Partners Optometrists, has worked with numerous high-level athletes but he’s best known for his work with shotgun shooters. His innovative approach to assessing the visual pr
Clay Shooting1 min readScience & Mathematics
Steve Scott
Olympian and multiple European Double Trap Champion On the Olympic circuit I’m constantly looking for an advantage. I believe enhanced vision can give me that edge, so I’ve built an excellent relationship with Denzil at Sunglasses for Sport. For com
Clay Shooting3 min readScience & Mathematics
Shooting With Style
The name Ed Lyons is familiar to regular readers of this magazine – he’s our shooting vision expert who answers readers’ queries on our Q&A pages, and has helped several of our contributors with their vision. During Britain’s covid lockdown, Ed launc
Clay Shooting4 min read
Get A Real Bang For Your Buck
I don't know about you, but here at Clay Shooting, we're constantly salivating over a never-ending stream of new products. Oh, the shiny lure of the promise of clever market-disruptive features, new materials with their catchy, oddly scientific names
Clay Shooting4 min read
Shell Shopping
Bruce Marks knows a thing or two about shooting. He first shouldered a gun at the tender age of 12, fell in love with the sport and has ended up dedicating most of his life to it. A career in the police as a firearms officer introduced him to the tec
Clay Shooting1 min readScience & Mathematics
Which Colour When?
Amber, Vermilion, Brown & Light Brown – Good all round colours for most light including variable conditions, they increase contrast and make the field of vision appear sharper. Yellow – A very popular clay and game shooting colour, it greatly improve
Clay Shooting1 min read
Gavin Gardiner
Auctioneer and sporting gun expert Having spent a childhood following his father around the London auction and gun trades, Gavin joined Sotheby’s gun department at the age of 18. By the age of 30 he had become the head of Sotheby's Gun Department re
Clay Shooting1 min read
The Guide
This section is packed with facts and advice to help you select the right gun, cartridges and gear – and to plan your shooting, whether that’s a lesson, practice or competition. Here’s what we’ve got for you this month. ■
Clay Shooting3 min read
Modern History
Few grounds in the UK can compete with the rich history of West London Shooting School. For over a century it has provided expert tuition to clay shots looking to boost their scores, while also providing a safe place for game shooters to get their ey
Clay Shooting29 min read
Where to Shoot
Chicksands Clay Target Club Shefford, CPSAAffiliated Disciplines: ESP, DTL, STR Open alternate Sundays and Wednesdays over Summer. Contact for competition details. Practice and coaching available Telephone: www.facebook.com/charlelister Email: in
Clay Shooting1 min read
Worth Considering…
An iconic shell with a huge following. Their reasonable price and smoothness makes them popular with club shooters but they can hold their own in competitions too. Gauge: 12 Case: 70mm Head: 12mm Load: 24g, 28g Shot size 24g: 7.5, 8, 9 Shot siz
Clay Shooting3 min read
Another Language
Clay pigeon shooting is a sport for all. According to statistics there are roughly 500,000 Shotgun Certificate holders in the UK and roughly 150,000 of those people regularly subject themselves to various levels of frustration and the occasional bit

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