About

Clay Pigeon Shooting is a sport that involves using a shot gun to shoot flying discs.

Clay Pigeon shooting is a sport enjoyed by a wide range of people.

It comes from a sport dating back to the 1800 when people would use real birds, mainly pigeons.  They were released from a trap positioned in front of the shooter. 

Clay Pigeons 

The standard clay pigeon is a saucer shaped orange disc, 110mm in diameter and made from a mixture of limestone and pitch.  The discs come in many shapes and colours, this can help when being thrown against light and dark back grounds.

A mini black disc is similar to the standard but only 60mm in diameter. These are a more difficult target as they come out of the pigeon trap at high speed but loose speed quicker making it more difficult to judge how much lead to give.

Rabbit clays are also often used, these are similar in size to the standard clay pigeon but are slightly thicker.  These clays are rolled along the ground when released by a purpose built rabbit trap.

Clay Pigeon Traps

Clay pigeon traps are a device made to launch the clay pigeon into the air to produce the flying target.  The trap can launch a clay out to a distance of approximately 120 meters.

Most shooting grounds use automatic traps that throw out a clay when a remote controlled button is pressed.

Shot Guns

The Clay pigeon is hit using a shotgun.  The most commonly used shotguns are 12 bores or 12 gauge shotguns. 

There are over and under double barrelled shot guns.  This means the gun has two barrels mounted one above the other or side by side shotguns, where the barrels are side by side.

The internal diameter of the barrels is often reduced at the end, this is known as choking.  Chocking can alter the patern of the shot that fires from the gun.

Each shot contains hundreds of small metal balls that spread out making it easier to hit the quick moving target.  It only requires about 3 of the small ball to hit the clay in order to break it. There must be a visible piece broken off from the pigeon in order for it to be recorded.

Safety

There is  a number of safety rules that should be followed when clay pigeon shooting.  The most obvious danger is the handing of a shotgun.

All shooters should wear hearing protection using either earmuffs or ear plugs as the shotgun can make a noise up to approximately 150 decibels, this could lead to hearing problems if the correct protection is not used.

Holding the shotgun properly can also prevent you from getting a bruised shoulder or cheek. A 12 gauge shotgun produces a reactive force when shot so it is important your trainer shows the correct handing position for you.