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MAY 2004 NEWSLETTER
© Bruce Buck, editor


TAX TIME REVOLT
Newgate Coon Club
April 17, 2004

“And what is so rare as a day in June?” opined American poet James Russell
Lowell 140 years ago. Well, lemme tell you, if old Jimmy Russ had been around at
the Travelers Newgate shoot this past April 17th, he might have added certain
days in April like this one. It was the first real day of spring. It was gawjus!

In spite of running at the same time as M&M’s “Seafood Blast” shoot, the
Travelers drew eighty shooters to the Newgate Coon Club. That’s the same number
of guns as last year. As El Jefe Supremo Al said during the awards ceremony, “We
don’t care where you shoot on the weekends just as long as you shoot somewhere
and enjoy yourself.”

Bob Busha is the course designer at Newgate. His efforts on behalf of the club
caused his selection as the Travelers’ “Sporting Sportsman” of 2003. This course
has matured into one of the best in the area. It gets better every year. Now
it’s certainly the best woods course I’ve shot.

The course was extremely even. By that I mean that all the stations were more or
less equally hard while remaining very different. Naturally, most people did
better on some stations than others, but there was no one place that killed
everyone or permitted everyone to relax. It’s an art to design a course like
that.

So many unimaginative designers take the easy way out and make 80% of their
shots insultingly easy to sooth the fragile egos of trap and skeet shooters.
Then they make 10% of their shots of average difficulty and the last station or
two are difficult to impossible so that some one will actually win the shoot
rather than everyone tying with scores in the mid 90s.

Not so with the inventive Mr. Busha. Like all Travelers courses, this one was
challenging. The high score was only 87, a good seven or eight birds below the
usual friendly “if it’s easy they will come” commercial course. What makes
Newgate so different is that not only were almost all the stations of more or
less equal difficulty, but the perception varied tremendously with each station.
Stations that looked impossible proved not to be. Stations that looked like a
walk in the park often turned into a mugging in said park. Every single bird was
hittable with a full choked .410 pump gun and a half ounce of #8s. “Hittable” I
said, not “hit”. There’s a tear-drenched, ego-shattering difference.

My two favorite stations were #3 and #4. Station 3 was “Too Tall Teal” with four
simo pair flung into the sky from a tall rock escarpment towering 120 feet above
the shooter at some forty yards distance. The birds angle up and slightly
towards the shooter, but they stop climbing some 35 yards out and then plummeted
straight down.

This is a good place to mention judging distance. Remember how you were taught
to figure out the hypotenuse of a right triangle? Remember what a hypotenuse is?
No. It’s not that large animal living in African rivers or a figment of Dr.
Seuss’s imagination. Ask your kid if you forgot.

The formula is A_ + B_ = C_. It can help you in figuring out how far away a teal
is. If the cliff on which Station 3’s teal machine is perched is no closer
than 35 yards and the bird is at least that high above the shooter when you
shoot it, a little math will show you that the target is being shot at over 49
yards! Aarrgghh! You think you’d need a shoulder-fired SAM to bring down a bird
at that distance.

But you didn’t. It was actually a pretty hittable bird because the target was
thrown fully “open” with the underside exposed to the shooter. That meant you
had a 15 square inch open target (as opposed to the usual 4 sq/in side view of a
110 mm clay) and any pellets that hit the bird got “trapped” in the underside of
the target and could deliver their full force. The shot looked impossible, but
it wasn’t.

Station 4 was another good one that looked harder than it was unless you made it
harder than it had to be. It was a left to right true pair thrown across a
hillside above the shooter. It started about 60 yards away and crossed with
pretty good speed to disappear into some trees on the shooter’s right some 30~35
yards out. It looked impossible, and for some shooters it was because it was
hard to see.

Some shooters couldn’t see the birds come off the trap and never caught them
despite of cries of “Birds out!” from helpful squad members. But other shooters,
with no better vision, had little trouble seeing the bird and came away with
good scores. What happened?

Some targets are sight tests and those are always regrettable. We are here to
test our shooting skills, not our ocular powers. But... some shots that seem
like vision tests show the target pretty clearly if you just look in another
place. Station Four was such a case. If you looked back at the trap, the birds
were absolutely invisible coming off the machine. You had about as much chance
of picking them up as Iraqi radar did with our Stealths. However, if you looked
further out and waited for the birds to enter your field of clear vision, you
could see them and it was all pretty forthright.

There’s a moral here somewhere. The course designer owes you a fair look at the
target, but there is no rule that says he has to let you see the birds where you
want to or where it is most convenient for you.

On the other side of the course, station ten was a pair of criss-cross incomers,
one 110 and one 90 running from left to right. The 110 floated high and the 90
was lower. If you were going to have time to hit the 90, you’d have to take the
110 earlier than you really wanted to. If you took the 110 in your comfort zone,
you’d really have to rush on the 90. Again, the course designer forced you to
make choice.

I want to make one last point on the course. There was a number of quartering
away birds that caused trouble. On the quartering away birds, you can try to
take them quickly as virtual crossers or you can let them run and take them at
long range going away. On tricky birds that are quartering and dropping at the
same time, some people do best letting the birds run a bit until the trajectory
is obvious and then taking them at longer distance with more choke and pellet
size. There were a number of targets at Newgate that fit this description. Don’t
be afraid to let a target run and pop it way out there. Sometimes longer isn’t
harder.

Overall time to shoot the course was under three hours. There were no
breakdowns. It ran smoothly. We were lining up for libations at the club house
by 1:00 and tucking into Newgate’s usual marvelous luncheon by 2:00.

The awards were gorgeous hand-painted trout statuettes courtesy of Big Sky
Carvers. They were appropriate for the shoot because none of the stations were
like shooting fish in a barrel, we all got hooked on the sport and any trophy
will make us fish for compliments when someone notices it.

During the awards ceremony Al summed it up best when he said, “This was one of
the nicest days we’ve ever had.” And so it was.

HOA JIM MULLER 87
I-1 Ted Burke 85
I-2 Lavert Cypher 76
I-3 Bob Barlow 73
II-1 Kurt Anderson 84
II-2 John Lawlor 81
II-3 Dean Anglace 79
III-1 Bruce Buck 85
III-2 Tom Boyle 75
III-3 Ralph Lowery 73
IV-1 Jim Henion 72
IV-2 Bob Burgess 70
IV-3 Kevin Coon 68
V-1 Don Brenton 76
V-2 Charles Magistro 66
V-3 Charlie Troy 65
VI-1 Ben Sloam 54
VI-2 George Thompson 50
VI-3 Jack Buckmiller 46
Ldy-1 Lori Love 67
Ldy-2 Ginny Tennison 61
Ldy-3 Carol Roesslein 61
Msdm Olive Lawlor 55
Vet-1 Bill Tennison 82
Vet-2 Zaid Siddig 80
Vet-3 Jasen Jasensky 79
SrVet Ted Fedun 76
Jr-1 Jason Lenhart 69
Jr-2 Kendall Coon 56
Guest Ed Shine 81

COURTING CLAYS RESCHEDULED…

The Travelers May 2nd Courting Clays couples shoot is being rescheduled for a
date to be decided later in the year. At that time we hope to run it partnered
with the National Shooting Sports Foundation “Step Outside” program and also
with sponsorship from Briley Manufacturing. This should turn it into a major
event.


THE TECHNOID PERFORMS A BALANCING ACT...

Norbert Nimrod hovers glassy eyed in front of the shotgun display at the local
gunshop. The proprietor enthusiastically touts the benefits of the latest
London "best" Smythington Chutneygout sidelock or pigeon pounding Spaghettini
Porcini over and under. The spiel invariably includes the seductive, "Just feel
how this fine gun handles. See- the balance point is right over the hinge pin."

Friends, trust the Technoid when he tells you that there is more to gun balance
than Nimrod is being shown. Drawing heavily on the assistance of G.T. Garwood
(the Technoid's patron saint), the effort required to swing a gun depends upon
its moment of inertia as measured about its point of balance. You can hang a
brick on each end of a broom stick and make it seesaw where you will, but you
could not call it properly balanced. Good gun balance is dynamic, not static.

Look at the broom stick and brick example. If a brick were tied onto each end
of the broom stick, it would balance right in the middle, but would be very hard
to swing about due to having the weight at the ends. This demonstrates high
moment of inertia.

That same broom stick, with the bricks moved close together in the center, would
weigh exactly the same and balance in the same place. However, due to the
center weighting, the stick would have a very low moment of inertia and would
swing about with abandon.

Traditionally, the British game gun places the balance point and most of the
weight between the hands. This gives the gun a low moment of inertia resulting
in good speed and maneuverability, especially suited for field shooting.
Americans have usually opted for a somewhat more muzzle heavy bias. This
increases steadiness and is generally thought better for clay targets, which do
not change direction suddenly.

Balance is quite subjective, but there is a range of general preference. If you
like the way that your gun feels, consider yourself thrice blessed and stop
here. If you have found the dynamics of other guns preferable to yours, you
might consider some modest changes.

If your gun feels a little muzzle heavy and sluggish, like many of the long
barreled O/Us with screw chokes do, you can either add weight to the rear or
eliminate some from the front. Reduce nose weight by shortening the existing
barrels, substituting shorter or lighter barrels, or by backboring the barrels.
Backboring can remove a surprising amount of weight (see Technoid, July 1994
RELOAD!) and is the best approach. Removing wood from the forend may help for
an extremely subtle change.

Adding weight to the butt may also reduce the muzzle heavy feel, but too much
can drastically alter the moment of inertia. It is best to add weight to the
stock by stringing it out along the inside of the stock, rather than just adding
a clump at the rear. Unfortunately, the former approach often requires the
assistance of a stockmaker. If you do not need too much weight at the rear,
some lead plumbers wool in the stock cavity would be worth a try. It does not
take much weight addition to subtly change the feel of the gun.

If your gun is too light up front, like many small gauge Continental guns, it is
difficult to aesthetically add weight to the barrels. You can take one of three
basic approaches. First, you can remove a small amount of weight from the stock
by enlarging the stock cavity. Secondly, you can cut hollow pockets inside the
forend and fill them with lead. Thirdly, and of limited application, you can
install a set of sub-gauge tubes. Do not clamp a skeet shooter's weight onto
the barrel. It adds the weight all in one spot. You will not be happy and it’s
aesthetically appalling.

Generally, be forewarned that the balance and feel of a gun are built in, not
added on. Subtle changes in balance and moment of inertia are practical, but it
is wiser to trade the gun if a more extreme alteration is required.

MISS MANNERS AND THE GARBAGE MEN...

Miss Manners was recently driving to one of the monthly Travelers shoots. She
was in fine fettle and humming along with Wagner encouraging her on the stereo.
She was envisioning herself as one of the Valkyries in horned helmet and shining
breast plate, but was not quite sure how it would all look on her 90 pound frame
shaped like a hickory stick.

She was snapped out of her reverie by the "plosh" of a half filled MacDonald's
cup exploding on her windshield. A moment later the driver of the car in front
tossed out a half eaten Big Mac and the little cardboard coffin it came in. His
dinner finished and dishes done, he then turned off the highway and disappeared.

At the shoot that afternoon, Miss Manners, the Judge and the Technoid (for some
reason they usually shoot together), were enjoying the course. While waiting
their turn at a station, they watched the shooters root through their shoot bags
(carefully placed on the ground, not on the benches, thank you) to select the
proper chokes and shells. As the shells went into the pockets, the empty shell
boxes were invariably placed in the waste tub at the station. Miss Manners,
thinking back to the morning's clod in the car, smiled to herself. The
Travelers were such good people, neat people, clean people.

Of course, there is always a pimple on the nose of perfection. At the next
station, she watched the clueless Technoid empty a box of his favorite four dram
nickel plated #10s into the only pocket on his vest that was not crammed with
slide rules or Twinkies. He looked around for a place to put the shell box, but
this station had no waste tub. The effort made and conscience eased, he happily
tossed the empty shell box on the ground beside the gun rack and went on about
his business.

Bad Technoid! Neanderthal Technoid! Loathsome Technoid! Just another example of
men behaving badly. The Technoid's half baked effort at neatness was just not
good enough. His ancestors probably left mammoth bones lying about the cave
too. Sure, he made an effort, but to no avail. Miss Manners demands avail!
What he should have done was to put the empty box back in his kit and take it
out with him for proper disposal later. How someone can figure out the formula
for intersticing rhomboids and not be able to jam an empty cardboard box back in
a shoot bag is just too much to conjure.

Fortunately, the Technoid's less than clinically correct cleanliness is the
exception with the Travelers. Miss M noted with approval that the vast majority
of the shooters made a real effort to keep things clean and neat. So, the
Travelers get a B+ at course cleanliness. Gassers and pumpers deserve a little
slack for spewing hulls (one really should not delay the shoot to pick them up
if squads are waiting), but all those classy O/U shooters have been quite good
about putting the empties in the hull buckets at the station. Trapping the
ejected hulls from an O/U takes a little manual dexterity, but shooters with
normal coordination can master the trick with a bit of effort.

Please treat shell boxes the way that you would treat water bottles and candy
wrappers when on a hike - if there is not a convenient trash receptacle, pack
your refuse out. Don't leave it on the ground at the stand. If you had room to
bring the full box in, you will have the room to bring the empty box out.

Miss Manners loves you all and knows that you will try even harder this year.
The Travelers are doing a good job right now. Utter perfection is just around
the corner.

SAME OLD, SAME OLD…

Every now and again the Technoid and his confreres at this Newsletter to the
Gods publish a little list of choke designations. Here’s the usual list of
optimistic twaddle from the choke makers. It lists the name, 12 gauge choke
constriction in inches and hoped-for pattern in a 30” circle at 40 yards:

Cylinder Bore .000” 40%
Skeet (Skeet One) .005” 45%
Improved Cylinder .010” 50%
Light Modified .015” 55%
Modified .020” 60%
Improved Modified .025” 65%
Light Full .030” 70%
Full .035” 75%
X Full .040” 80%

Confidence inspiring, isn’t it? Now here’s the bubble buster. It is very common
for a choke to vary 5% either way with the same shell. If your gun has 3”
chambers and you are using 2-3/4” shells, it can vary even more than that
according to Browning.

It’s also quite possible for a choke to vary one or even two entire choke
designations either way when you change shells. Put the two together and that
nice .020” 60% Modified choke can throw almost a Cylinder Bore or X Full
pattern.

If you think that there is a meaningful difference between an Improved Modified
choke and a Light Full, you also believe the Easter Bunny bought you those jelly
beans.

The only way, repeat ONLY WAY, to know how your particular chokes perform with a
particular shell is to pattern them. Pattern every choke with every shell you
are going to use. Ad nauseum (Latin for eeccchhhh!) If you don’t do this, you
are just kidding yourself when you stand there mightily swapping chokes before
attempting some station. I wish there were an easier way, but there isn’t.

The alternative is to take everything on blind faith. This is certainly a lot
easier than doing the work. Easy is good.




*** 2004 CTSCA SHOOTING CALENDAR ***

MAY 16 MAY MINUET- TAMARACK PRESERVE, NY
JUN 13 NAT’L. WILD TURKEY FED. SHOOT- TAMARACK PRESERVE, NY
JUL 18 SUMMERTIME, SUMMERTIME- ORVIS/SANDANONA, NY
AUG 13~15 GREAT EASTERN LOBSTER CLASSIC- ADDIEVILLE EAST FARM, RI
SEP 19 SMALL GAUGE CTSCA CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS-FAIRFIELD CTY. F&G, CT
OCT 8~10 ANNUAL FALL TRIP- PA & NY WEEKEND TOUR
OCT 17 OCTOBERSHUTZENFEST- MILLBROOK ROD & GUN CLUB, NY
NOV 14 DR. RUDY PASSERO MEMORIAL CTSCA CLUB CH.- EAST MTN, NY
NOV 28 KOEHLER SOCIETY FUNDRAISER-EAST MOUNTAIN PRESERVE, NY
DEC 19 DICK LOSEE MEMORIAL SHOOT /CHRISTMAS PARTY- MID COUNTY, NY
* Shoot schedules are subject to last minute change. Always consult the current
edition of “Reload!” Therein lies the truth. At least our version of it at this
particular time…

*** OTHER 2004 SHOOTS OF INTEREST ***
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, CALL AHEAD TO CONFIRM

MAY 1, 2 ADDIEVILLE EAST, RI (401-568-3185) RUGER NORTH AMERICAN
MAY 22 SANDANONA, NY (866-SYNCURE) SYNCURE-BERETTA SPORTING CLAYS CLASSIC CANCER BENEFIT SHOOT
MAY 23 MID-HUDSON, NY (845-497-5008/845-255-7460) SHOOT FOR A CURE
Please support this shoot in our fight against cancer. Do the right thing.
MAY 23 WALLINGFORD R&G, CT (203-265-1012) 50 BIRD FUN SHOOT
MAY 29 FAIRFIELD COUNTY F&G, CT (203-426-8508) FAIRFIELD COUNTY OPEN
JUN 5 ADDIEVILLE EAST, RI (401-568-3185) NORTH EAST R.G.S. CH
JUN 6 NEWGATE COON CLUB, CT (860-738-3619) THREE SHOT SHOOTOUT
JUN 13 ADDIEVILLE EAST, RI (401-568-3185) 17TH ANNUAL NE D.U. CH.
JUN 27 WALLINGFORD R&G, CT (203-265-1012) 50 BIRD FUN SHOOT
JUL 17,18 ADDIEVILLE EAST, RI (401-568-3185) NSCA ZONE 1+ RI STATE CH
JUL 25 WALLINGFORD R&G, CT (203-265-1012) 50 BIRD FUN SHOOT
JUL 25 FAIRFIELD COUNTY F&G, CT (203-426-8508) FIVE STAND OPEN
JUL 31 FAIRFIELD COUNTY F&G, CT (203-426-8508) BBQ SHOOT
AUG 22 WALLINGFORD R&G, CT (203-265-1012) 50 BIRD FUN SHOOT
AUG 28,29 FAIRFIELD COUNTY F&G, CT (203-426-8508) NSCA CT STATE CH
SEP 4 NEWGATE COON CLUB, CT (860-738-3619) 5TH SPORTING CLASSIC
OCT 24 WALLINGFORD R&G, CT (203-265-1012) 50 BIRD FUN SHOOT
NOV 7 NEWGATE COON CLUB, CT (860-738-3619) THREE SHOT SHOOTOUT
DEC 5 NEWGATE COON CLUB, CT (860-738-3619) CHRISTMAS SHOOT
DEC 12 WALLINGFORD R&G, CT (203-265-1012) 50 BIRD FUN SHOOT


CONTACTING THE TRAVELERS...

CTSCA Home Office: Email <ctsca @email.com> (by far the best way) or telephone
860-354-9351 if you absolutely must. Membership, Address Changes and Shooting
Class status: Contact Cyndi Dalena at 860-582-3142 between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM.
Or Email <shotguncyndi@prodigy.net>. Guide Book questions, contact Dick
Orenstein <oren@umich.edu> or call 203-226-5251. To place an ad, post a shoot
date in Reload! or simply heap abuse on the editor, contact Bruce Buck at tel:
203-454-1080, fax: 707-215-0668 or email: <bcb23@columbia.edu>.


***FOR SALE*** CLASSIFIED ADS
***WANTED***

Nothing this month. Everyone must love what they are shooting.

*NOTE: In composing an ad, please include the condition of the item and also
your name. There is no fee for placing an ad in Reload! Ads are run solely as a
service to our members. It is the responsibility of the buyer and seller to see
that all relevant laws are obeyed. Advertised items must be related to sporting
clays.


**** THE UPCOMING TRAVELERS MONTHLY SHOOT ****

SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2004
MAY MINUET
TAMARACK PRESERVE
MILLBROOK, NY

Ta dah! We have May’d it through the winter. It is time for our annual May
Minuet. This signals the beginning of the Good Times, so let ‘em roll. Rollez
les bonnes temps to you Cajuns out there. There is gunning along with the
gavottes, grins and garlands as we turn that May pole into a smoke pole. Sweet
spring air will be redolent with the attar of progressive burning flake powders.
The happy chirps of fledgling robins will mingle with the majestic thumps of the
first really serious clay target shooting of the year. Be there or be square.

The cost of your dance card will be $65. This will include not only Bob
Vanacek’s fiendishly delightful targets guaranteed to get you spinning about
with or without music, but also the usual upper middleclass eats that Tamarack
is so justly famous for. The band cranks up at 9:00 AM. Be on the dance floor by
9:30. GUESTS ARE WELCOME AT THIS SHOOT.

NOTE: Tamarack requires the use of FIBER WADS on their course. Lead shot is
fine, but a fiber wad must be used. Tamarack has appropriate shells for sale if
you choose not to bring your own. You might also contact Traveler Paul Elia at
Viper Cartridge, tel: 201-681-3817. He can supply Travelers members with Victory
fiberwad shells at a considerable savings.

Directions to Tamarack Preserve, Millbrook, NY:

From the junction of US 84/US 684/NY 22 take NY 22 North to the traffic light in
Amenia. Go West on NY 44 for 2.9 miles to Turkey Hollow Road on Left. Look for
Tamarack sign.

From the Taconic Parkway, take the NY 44 exit. Go East on NY 44 for 1.7 miles.
go Left onto NY 44-A heading East for 3.2 miles and then back onto NY 44 East.
Continue on NY 44 East for 6.7 miles to Turkey Hollow Road on Right. Look for
Tamarack sign.

If lost, strayed or stolen, the Tamarack Preserve number is 845-373-7084.

EYE AND EAR PROTECTION ARE MANDATORY AT TRAVELERS’ SHOOTS!