Warts 'n' all

Recently received my Shotkam so decided to try it yesterday. Unfortunately on arriving the sites tele handler had rolled over and a lot of the site was closed.  Storm damage, frost, water, everything has taken its toll.

I was the only person on site shooting and as such decided on the compak as marginally easier to press for myself.

Out of the 5 traps, 1 was dead, 1 died quickly and the remaining 3 where intermittent. I should have phoned ahead mid week, I usually do. So I'm not blaming the site.

I shot a quick pattern just for reference and to zero the camera. Then had to stand between stands to half turn, press buttons till I heard a trap, turn round, close the gun, mount and try and get on an already flying clay. Not ideal, but now I've made my excuses for missing and the unrealistic amount of gun movements. 

Couple of pictures and some vids.









For those who are technically minded and like facts and figures.

I shoot a Miroku MK38 Sport. 30" barrels, bottom barrel fired first choked Skeet. Top barrel choked Imp.Cyl.

Lyalvale Express superlight, 67mm, fibre wad, 21gram 7 1/2 shot.

Camera zeroed at 35m (exactly).

I have mobility and balance problems and struggle to lift my left arm above shoulder level. Any lighter gun than mine tends to be unstable and 'wobbles'.

Unfortunately I seem to have posted a couple of vids twice. I apologise, I'm not used to uploading via YouTube. 

Thanks for the post. It's quite a clear picture you receive from the shotkam, I've considered purchasing one myself but have heard that the unit has potential to scratch / damage barrels. Have you seen anything like this? 

2nd question. I know the unit is quite low weight, but do you feel it attached to the barrel? Does it affect the balance or swing etc. 

Final question. What about the shotkam longevity of use? Can you see yourself using this say a year down the road?

Thanks for posting the video

for some info, we bought a Shotkam in 2016 and its been on 5 different guns that I know of including my SxS and there are no signs of scratching on any of the barrels. Weight wise you do notice it when you first handle the gun but once shooting with it you don't feel any different (maybe that im 6 foot and 19 stone helps). Longevity Hmmm had to send it back to Shotkam in Florida 2018 to get the battery changed but its been fine since then.

What a fantastic training aid, but pricey for what it is.  Think if I had one, it would get used for a day, then lie at the back of the cupboard for six months.  If anyone has one not being used, I'd love to rent it from you, with a full value deposit provided.  Once this covid thing is over...

UKTIVO said:

Thanks for the post. It's quite a clear picture you receive from the shotkam, I've considered purchasing one myself but have heard that the unit has potential to scratch / damage barrels. Have you seen anything like this? 

2nd question. I know the unit is quite low weight, but do you feel it attached to the barrel? Does it affect the balance or swing etc. 

Final question. What about the shotkam longevity of use? Can you see yourself using this say a year down the road?

Thanks for posting the video

Click to expand...

No scratching due to very soft rubber pads, you'd need to be very clumsy to cause a scratch.

I shoot twice a  week (did before lockdown) go through at least a slab, so am quite used to using it and notice no difference even when I remove it to let my son usd it. It weighs about or less than an average cartridge.

Longevity, who knows, at the moment it has a novelty value and therefore I do review all the shots. A year in the future, possibly, I'll review and save anything particularly good and review any misses that I don't understand. 

Downsides, it takes quite a while to download and string together all the shots into a watchable unit. The battery needs charging before every use, and again before downloading. Reviewing shots on site (immediately after the shot) is time consuming, battery heavy - shotkam and phone and as with any phone you need the correct light or shade to be able to see the screen.

Would I buy another, has it really improved my shooting, have I really benefitted from it. Probably no, but it's fun, it's enjoyable and yes you can learn from it. 

McTrucky said:

What a fantastic training aid, but pricey for what it is.  Think if I had one, it would get used for a day, then lie at the back of the cupboard for six months.  If anyone has one not being used, I'd love to rent it from you, with a full value deposit provided.  Once this covid thing is over...

Click to expand...

Not sure where you are, but if you're anywhere near me, I'd be quite happy to meet up, let you use it and see what you think. 

Awesome Centrepin. 

I am in the South East, Leatherhead (J9 M25)to be precise.  But happy to travel to try this out.  Once this mess is over, I'd love to meet up and try it out. 

My thoughts are that you would want immediate play back for it to be optimal.  Could see between shots where the gun was pointing, thus allowing a change of approach to the next shot, rather than missing five in a row then later that evening review and see that you were aiming behind them.  To me, I would use the device to establish that the gun was consistently pointing where I thought it was pointing, thus establishing mount errors, fitting problems, or even eye dominance issues between shots.  This would be a six monthly (I guess) health check rather than an always attached device.

As a coach, real time viewing and immediate play back to the student could be invaluable.

I tend to only review between shots on the hardest of targets,  ie: High towers or the ones I really don't understand. Like I said it's time and battery consuming although you can recharge in car.

I normally shoot with my son, so we shoot a round, go get a coffee and review our misses. Work and talk about what we can do to improve then coffee or snack finished, go back out for another round and concentrate on the ones we missed. We coach each other based on what we've seen but to be honest despite my experience he's the quicker leaner and better shot.

Its certainly a good tool used correctly but it's not a replacement for a good gun fit or a  pair of Mk 1 eyeballs from a coach that can also spot stance/position, gun movement, eye dominance and so on.