Today I had the pleasure of participating in an invitational sporting clays shoot held at a nearby estate. The estate is also home to a shooting school for a very famous, English gun outfit of substantial pedigree. As you might imagine, the course, grounds and buildings are incredible.
The "Gun Room" is a dream come true for anyone who loves or appreciates fine firearms and the gunsmith's art. A huge fieldstone fireplace is the centerpiece around which dark, cherry paneled walls seemed to extend forever. The gun cabinets were chock full of English "Best" doubles with engraving that you just couldn't stop looking at because every few seconds you noticed something new about it.
I sunk deeply into an oversized, pillow stuffed leather chair that felt like it was made of Coach glove leather. I had a fresh coffee, was surrounded by fine double guns that cost more than my car, the smell of gun oil was in the room and was about to spend the day shooting as an invited guest. Simply put, I was in heaven! Needless to say, my Wrangler jeans and Carhart canvas shirt didn't exactly blend in with the rest of the crowd nor did my depression era, field grade 20g Ithaca double. Sitting there on the gun rack alongside all the English and Italian guns, my poor little sweetheart Ithaca must have felt like a Chevy Nova in a Bentley showroom. The little 20g is my standard bird gun and while it sees plenty of action in the field (a task for which it was intended), this is the first time I've had it to a shooting "event". Never thought of shooting clay birds as an event...I always just called it having fun.
I've shot in ATA Trap Tournaments in the past and shot regularly in a trap league a few years back. Though I never won a tournament, I was good enough to never worry about being embarrassed and always managed to turn in respectable results.
Based on my past trap shooting days I was confident me and the little Ithaca 20g would at least show a few of those high priced imports a thing or two. Boy was I ever humbled because this course is tough! Every shooting station was a double and no two birds were the same. Many came out of thick woodland, passed through a small clearing and vanished just as quickly back into the hardwoods. These stations required you pick up the bird, mount the gun and shoot all within 3 seconds or the clay bird was into the woods again. On stations where you did get a long look at the target (long being about 4-6 seconds) they were so far or high that anything less than a full choke was futile. I watched a few well equipped, "members" feverishly changed choke tubes from one station to the next. These guys were a study in obsession much the same as we will try different oils or mixes to achieve 3 ppm less of iron or lead. I quickly realized that having a 20g with fixed chokes (imp-cyl/imp-modified) is akin to driving all winter on low profile, high performance summer tires. They'll work perfectly well some times or even most times but every now and then you will be stuck with nothing more than a prayer.
The day ended with a bountiful lunch and good conversation. Then the scores were announced
. Top score was 74/100 (one of the choke tube changing club) and the next two places in the 60/100 range. Old Bessie and I fell into the middle of the pack at a mere 38/100 clay birds killed
. I was expecting to at least show some of the folks that good shooting skills can’t be purchased from an LLBean catalog but instead can be with any ol' functional shootin' iron as long as the one holding the gun is capable. The little 20 bore did her part by dusting every target that I properly pointed her towards but unfortunately my pointing wasn't what I thought it would be or had hoped for.
Pheasants fall routinely to the Ithaca, quail somewhat less but still in good percentage to shots taken. I think I'll do her and me both a favor and keep her in the field where she belongs. After today both she and I have developed a minor inferiority complex. Nothing that a good double on flushing quail won't cure though!
The "Gun Room" is a dream come true for anyone who loves or appreciates fine firearms and the gunsmith's art. A huge fieldstone fireplace is the centerpiece around which dark, cherry paneled walls seemed to extend forever. The gun cabinets were chock full of English "Best" doubles with engraving that you just couldn't stop looking at because every few seconds you noticed something new about it.
I sunk deeply into an oversized, pillow stuffed leather chair that felt like it was made of Coach glove leather. I had a fresh coffee, was surrounded by fine double guns that cost more than my car, the smell of gun oil was in the room and was about to spend the day shooting as an invited guest. Simply put, I was in heaven! Needless to say, my Wrangler jeans and Carhart canvas shirt didn't exactly blend in with the rest of the crowd nor did my depression era, field grade 20g Ithaca double. Sitting there on the gun rack alongside all the English and Italian guns, my poor little sweetheart Ithaca must have felt like a Chevy Nova in a Bentley showroom. The little 20g is my standard bird gun and while it sees plenty of action in the field (a task for which it was intended), this is the first time I've had it to a shooting "event". Never thought of shooting clay birds as an event...I always just called it having fun.
I've shot in ATA Trap Tournaments in the past and shot regularly in a trap league a few years back. Though I never won a tournament, I was good enough to never worry about being embarrassed and always managed to turn in respectable results.
Based on my past trap shooting days I was confident me and the little Ithaca 20g would at least show a few of those high priced imports a thing or two. Boy was I ever humbled because this course is tough! Every shooting station was a double and no two birds were the same. Many came out of thick woodland, passed through a small clearing and vanished just as quickly back into the hardwoods. These stations required you pick up the bird, mount the gun and shoot all within 3 seconds or the clay bird was into the woods again. On stations where you did get a long look at the target (long being about 4-6 seconds) they were so far or high that anything less than a full choke was futile. I watched a few well equipped, "members" feverishly changed choke tubes from one station to the next. These guys were a study in obsession much the same as we will try different oils or mixes to achieve 3 ppm less of iron or lead. I quickly realized that having a 20g with fixed chokes (imp-cyl/imp-modified) is akin to driving all winter on low profile, high performance summer tires. They'll work perfectly well some times or even most times but every now and then you will be stuck with nothing more than a prayer.
The day ended with a bountiful lunch and good conversation. Then the scores were announced
Pheasants fall routinely to the Ithaca, quail somewhat less but still in good percentage to shots taken. I think I'll do her and me both a favor and keep her in the field where she belongs. After today both she and I have developed a minor inferiority complex. Nothing that a good double on flushing quail won't cure though!
