Shotgun Target Distances

[Red Butler]

I've only shot at my home club and I going to be attending different CSA shoots.  What seems

to be the distances that the different shotgun stage targets are set at?  It would be helpful to have a rough idea so that I can bring the correct size shot and fixed choke guns with me.  Thanks.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Shotgun target distance can vary. According to the Shooters Handbook, there are no ironclad standards, but SASS recommends 8-16 yards as the suggested distance for shotgun targets. They recommend a 16"X16" square for all targets. In my experience, knockdown targets are usually smaller then 16X16, and they are often disks rather than squares. However, small targets like these are usually placed at the shorter distances.

Personally, I feel the single most important thing to know is where your shotgun actually hits when you aim it. This is easy to determine with a couple of cardboard boxes set out at known distances on the range. It is important to remember that even though it is a scatter gun, you still need to aim it and know where your point of impact is when you aim. After all, almost all the targets in SASS are stationary. Shotguns are designed to hit moving targets. That's why shot patterns are controlled. Hitting a stationary target with any shotgun is pretty easy no matter what the choke, as long as you take a split second to aim, and you know where your gun shoots.

My first CAS shotgun was a 16 gauge Stevens 311. It had the usual Full and Modified chokes with 28" barrels. I only shot Smokeless loads in it. Later I used an older Stevens SXS with 30" full choke barrels. Clearly somebody's duck gun at some point. At normal SASS distances the pattern was about the size of a dinner plate. Most recently I am using an even older Stevens hammered double, that someone cut down to 24", so it now has cylinder chokes. I shoot both of these guns with Black Powder only. They represent about as extreme a spread as you can get regarding chokes. Full Choke to Cylinder Bore. With either one of those guns, if I do my part and aim, I hit the target every time. If I miss, it is always my fault, not the gun's.

Regarding loads, many shooters prefer light loads for less recoil. I have always thrown 1 1/8 ounces of #8 shot in all my shotguns,except the 16 gauge. I use 7 1/2 in a pinch if I can't find #8 shot. If you cut down on the amount of shot in the load, you cut down on the number of pellets in the load, and the number of pellets likely to hit the target. You pays your money, you takes your choice. For smokeless, I always used 2 3/4 dram equivalent loads. My BP loads are actually less than 2 3/4 drams, probably closer to about 2 1/3 drams if I take the trouble to do the math. With 1 1/8 ounces of #8, they still take down every knockdown I point them at.

The only other thing I will say about chokes is that for the occasional popper that I have encountered, Full Choke leaves a little bit to be desired. For the occaisional popper I made up spreader loads that increased the pattern about one notch to Improved Modified. Because of this, I would say that anything in the range of Improved Modified to Improved Cylinder will work fine for just about any target you will encounter in CAS, as long as you know where your gun hits, and take the time to aim.

[Red Butler]

Thanks for the info.  I've shot a lot of skeet, s/clays and trap competitions.  I'm even 'shotgun poor' so I'm not a stranger to shooting one, knowing the importance of gun fit etc, and am familiar with how to handle and control the recoil.  But, when I shot my new 12 ga Stoger sxs with my 1oz skeet loads for the first time it about knocked my fillings loose.   I'm going to load some 3/4oz and 7/8oz loads to try this weekend to see if that makes much of a difference.  I'm also thinking I might try using BP to  legthen the felt recoil curve.  Help! What do you use?

[Arcey]

There's a decent discussion on BP shells here:

http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,6705.0.html

There's another in the Dark Arts section of the Darksider's Den.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy again

My BP load is a Remington STS hull, any primer (usually Winchester), 4.3CC of FFg, Circle Fly 1/8" over powder card wad, Circle Fly 1/2" fiber cushion wad, 1 1/8 oz #8, and Circle Fly over shot card.

Most folks use a Winchester Red wad to simplify things. 4.3CC of FFg works out to only around 65 grains or so, if I remember correctly. This is a relatively mild load, my 24" barrelled Stevens is a relatively light gun and it does not hurt to shoot a box or so of these rounds in a match.

Is your Stoeger a coach gun? They are really light and really recoil. One solution is to install a mercury recoil suppressing dohicky in the stock to help tame recoil. I keep meaning to install one in Mrs Johnson's 20 gauge coach gun. With the lightest 20 gauge loads I can make for her it still clobbers her.

How many drams are your 1 oz Skeet loads? If they are more than 2 3/4 dram eq you can drop back to 2 3/4. 3 drams is too much. For regular Trap with my O/U I use 2 3/4 dram eq 1 1/8 oz Trap loads. They don't bother me. However, this Sunday I shot 3 rounds of Cowboy Trap with those loads in my 30" full choked Winchester 1897 and I just noticed that my shoulder is a little bit sore today.