Bob_P
Well-known member
Until about 6 months ago I shot skeet almost exclusively, and picked up a set of Briley tubes for my K80. For those that don't know, this is a set of full length tubes that fit snugly inside the 12 gauge barels, and line up with the ejectors. This allows me to shoot 12, 20, 28 gauge and also .410 from the same gun, albeit with slightly heavier barrels.. The original idea was to shoot NSSA skeet competitions, the US equivalent of English Skeet. Most US competitions, will consist of 100 targets of each gauge, with .410 obviously being the most challenging.
Cartridge prices for the smaller gauges here in the UK are very high, so many shooters load their own, as in the US. With shooting smaller gauges being common in the US, there are a growing number of sporting competitions also being shot with the smaller cartridges. I must say that I enjoy 28 gauge and .410 at skeet, certainly focuses the mind
The 12 bore is pretty much the de-facto standard across the world, although over the years we are seeing an increasing trend towards lighter loads. There is signifcant pressure on the shooting community to be more environmentally friendly, and much of that pressure is about the amount of lead we use. So I was wondering how much scope there might be in the long term to move to smaller guages for all the shotgun sports?
My (limited) understanding, is that ballistically, there is not much difference between the gauges, just less lead in the air, and usually much less recoil. So I would expect targets to have to be closer than we are used to, but is that such a bad thing?
I confess that I have not tried any of the smaller gauges for sporting targets, but may try and have a go soon, just for fun.
What do you think?
Cartridge prices for the smaller gauges here in the UK are very high, so many shooters load their own, as in the US. With shooting smaller gauges being common in the US, there are a growing number of sporting competitions also being shot with the smaller cartridges. I must say that I enjoy 28 gauge and .410 at skeet, certainly focuses the mind
The 12 bore is pretty much the de-facto standard across the world, although over the years we are seeing an increasing trend towards lighter loads. There is signifcant pressure on the shooting community to be more environmentally friendly, and much of that pressure is about the amount of lead we use. So I was wondering how much scope there might be in the long term to move to smaller guages for all the shotgun sports?
My (limited) understanding, is that ballistically, there is not much difference between the gauges, just less lead in the air, and usually much less recoil. So I would expect targets to have to be closer than we are used to, but is that such a bad thing?
I confess that I have not tried any of the smaller gauges for sporting targets, but may try and have a go soon, just for fun.
What do you think?
