Mud Pigeon Shooting Basics
Clay Shooting still retains many phrases from the historic “Live Bird Shooting” in which real birds, such as pigeons, are released from traps placed in front of snipers (records date back to 1831). The practice evolved into shooting glass balls filled with powder or feathers to balance the target and balance the game.
The glass balls were eventually replaced by discs made of clay, allowing them to achieve real flight goals with longer, flatter trajectories closer to real bird flight. UFO shooting has grown into a sport for people of all ages (often over 10), from beginners to Olympic competitions. Safety is the top priority of any suit, and everyone involved enforces a solid set of safety rules.
The following guide provides information on the fundamentals of flying saucer shooting and provides the following details:
- Mud pigeon
- Mud pigeon trap
- Shotgun
- Ink cartridge
- Mud pigeon shooting training
- Safety
- Who can shoot
The standard clay pigeon is 110mm in diameter and is an inverted saucer-shaped disc made from a mixture of calcium carbonate (limestone) and bitumen. Clay comes in many shapes, sizes, and colors and can throw a variety of targets on light and dark backgrounds.
For example, Standard Blaze (painted light orange) clay can make medium-speed clay before going through dark bushes.
Mini Black (unpainted clay is black) clay (similar in shape to standard but only 60mm in diameter) can create deceptive overhead targets. Clay can be black as it contours against the sky and can be deceptive when the mini leaves the trap at high speed, but the speed drops rapidly.
This makes it difficult to determine how much lead to provide. The small size of the clay also makes it appear taller in the air (shooters consider it a standard size clay), making it difficult to judge the lead. Rabbit clay is similar in size to standard clay but with thicker walls. Rabbits are rolled along the ground at high speed by a specially designed rabbit trap. Rabbit Clay often jumps into the air to spawn random challenging targets.
Mud pigeon trap
Clay pigeons are thrown into the air to create targets that machines called traps fly. Traps can throw clay up to 120 meters. Most modern shooting ranges use automatic traps (fully automatic electric machines that throw flying saucers whenever a remote button is pressed or an acoustic sensor is activated) to create consistent targets, increase target flexibility and improve operator safety.
Clay shooting gun
Shotguns are used to shoot clay pigeon. Each shotgun shot contains hundreds of tiny metal balls (usually lead bullets) that form a fast-moving mass of projectiles. This makes hitting fast-moving clay targets easier. That’s because it only takes about 3 lead shots to break a clay pigeon (a scorer needs to see at least 1 clay break to score).
Most clay shooters use upper and lower double-barreled shotguns. This gun has two barrels stacked on top of each other and uses a more traditional side-by-side shotgun. Most clay shooters use shotguns with a barrel diameter of about 18.5mm. This is called a 12-gauge or 12-gauge shotgun. Also, use a smaller diameter gun (16 or 20 gauge) because it is lighter (usually suitable for young or small frame shooters).
The inner diameter of the barrel usually decreases at the end. This is called choking and changes the gun’s firing pattern. A barrel with sides parallel to the end produces a faster spreading cloud than a barrel with a blocked end.
Ink cartridge
Cartridges contain buckshot, projectile, charge, and primer. The plastic case contains components for quick and easy loading of the shotgun. One end of the cartridge is made of metal and holds the primer. When hit by the shotgun’s firing pin, the detonator produces a small explosion, igniting the main charge.
The filling of modern cartridges is based on nitrocellulose (safer and more reliable than the black powder of the past). The explosion replaces a blob of plastic (sometimes made of biodegradable fibers) containing lead bullets (usually 24-32 grams of lead). Bullets and bullets shoot out of the barrel at about 1,200 feet per second (400 meters per second). The lighter bundle quickly lost momentum and fell to the floor, allowing the shot to spread smoothly toward the target.
