Reload!

OCTOBER 2004 NEWSLETTER
© Bruce Buck, editor

CTSCA SUBGAUGE CHAMPIONSHIP
FAIRFIELD COUNTY FISH & GAME
Sunday, September 19, 2004

After flooding most of our winter resorts, hurricane Ivan the Terrible came up
the coast to inundate Connecticut the day before our subgauge shoot. I can only
imagine the efforts that Dom Uliano and his sporting clays crew at Fairfield
Fish and Game went through to prepare the course under those conditions. It paid
off though. Sunday dawned azure blue and surprisingly cool for mid-September. It
was the first taste of fall and simply glorious.

Out with the old and in with the new, this was the last look we will have at the
old Fairfield club house. It’s due for demolition and replacement before we
shoot with them again. As a “thank you” to Fairfield for hosting us, the
Travelers will donate the proceeds from the 50/50 raffle for the next several
shoots to the club house reconstruction fund.

This subgauge shoot is always one of our more popular ones. We had 112 shooters
who smote the clays with every possible gun that wasn’t a 12 gauge. If you think
that one subgauge has the handicap edge over the others, you might be surprised
at how well disbursed the prize winning guns were. In the awards list, I’ve
listed the type of gun where it was noted on the scorecard. Where no gun type is
listed, it was either an O/U or semi, probably an O/U. A few of the O/Us used
skeet tubes, but not many due to the extra weight.

Note that in the hands of the experts, the 410 pump is a fearsome contender, but
that in the other classes, it’s not. The 20 and 28 are about even. Seven 410s
won prizes, twelve 20s and eleven 28s. That’s pretty well distributed.

It’s also very interesting to note that this time the course was specifically
designed as a “longer” course. It wasn’t one of those condescending wimpy,
woosie, baby cake, skeet-in-the-woods courses so often inflicted on us as
“subgauge” courses. The whole point to our very successful handicap system is to
put the little guns more or less on an even keel with the 12s on a real,
honest-to-God, manly 12 gauge course. This Fairfield course was a legitimate 12
gauge course with numerous shots in the 35 to 40 yard range (the teal on #5,
overhead on #14, crossers on #15, dropping crosser on #4). No corners were cut
to soften it for the little guns.

Visibility was tough in the woods as the targets flickered through deep shade
and brilliant dappled sunlight. This requires extra concentration. Due to the
shadows it’s sometimes best to look for the bird where it first enters the
sunlight rather than off the machine if that’s in the deep shade. Visual pick up
points can definitely vary with lighting conditions. The targets were all fairly
set, it’s just that under certain conditions any woods course offers these
visual challenges.

Body position: just a reminder here- set up your body position for maximum
flexibility just after the place you intend to break the target. This encourages
your follow-through. Many beginners set up for where they first pick up the
bird. By the time they pivot to where they will actually break the bird, their
body is binding. They run out of movement and stop the gun.

On station #12 we had a fully open L>R chandelle followed by an incoming fully
open teal. These were against a brilliant blue sky. These bio targets often gave
off clouds of dust without breaking. Bios will do that. They really aren’t much
harder, if at all, than the conventional pitch targets, but the bio dust is a
pale grey-green and is far more visible than the black dust of the pitch birds
so you see more dust. Note the sporting clays rule that dust is NOT a piece. A
dusted bird is a lost bird. A visible chunk, not dust, must come off a bird to
score a kill.

As to chandelles, Miss Manners would like to interject a word. Our school marm
with the starched lace collar, steel rimmed glasses and white hair tied tight in
a bun (concealing that lethal hat pin) reminds us that the word for a fully open
looping clay is “chandelle” not “chondel” or “chandel”. Yes, she knows that some
ill informed trap makers in various lesser magazines insist on being incorrect,
but that’s no need for you to succumb to their brand of functional illiteracy.

“Chandelle” is from the French word meaning “candle”. In aviation parlance it
describes a turn that simultaneously changes direction and gains altitude. This
came from the way the smoke from a candle flame twists as it rises. It’s this
twisting and turning movement that also describes the chandelle clay target’s
flight. By the way, “battue” is also a French word meaning to the type of hunt
where beaters flush game. Now you know another totally useless piece of
information.

HOA JIM MULLER 98 410 pump
410ch Steve Dalena 92 410 pump
28 ch Jean DuLau 96 28 tubes
20 ch Joe Maresca 81 20
16 ch Al Anglace 81 16 pump
Class Winners:
I-1 Kevin Goodspeed 91 28 pump
I-2 Ted Knapp 84 410 pump
I-3 Vinny LaScalza 83 410 pump
II-1 Joe Lachick 88* 28
II-2 Barry Corwin 88 28
II-3 Ed Schine 86 28
III-1 George Parsons 87 410 tubes
III-2 Kevin Kruleski 79 20
III-3 Bob Curtis 77 20
IV-1 Ed Davies 78 28
IV-2 Dave Dunn 75
IV-3 Fred Roesslein 74 20 SxS
V-1 Kendall Coon 78* 28
V-2 Bob Karosy 78 20
V-3 Bob Solinski 74
VI-1 Doris Willinger 63 28
VI-2 Debbie Cornwell 34* 20
VI-3 Linda Goodspeed 34 20
Msdm Fran Gallogly 66 20
Ldy-1 Ginny Tennison 68 28
Ldy-2 Sue Uliano 61 410
Ldy-3 Allison Sagnelli 55 20
SVet Al Anglace 81 16 pump
Vet-1 Ed Moritt 83 28
Vet-2 George Ostrander 76 28
Vet-3 Dick Orenstein 74 20
Jr-1 Kevin Coon 78 410
Jr-2 Ben Slome 62 20
Jr-3 Geoff Cornwell 55 20
Guest Keith Cagle 71 28


THE TECHNOID CHOKES UP FOR EDGE-ON…

(This is a re-run from a 1995 Reload! No one, including the author, understood
it then, much less paid attention to it. See how you feel about it nine years
later. I may have changed my mind on some of the stuff myself. Even though I
remain convinced that all patterns mimic the Gaussian bell curve, I’m starting
to wonder whether there can’t be consistent differences in center densities of
patterns with the same pellet count and percentages. -BB)

An old sporting clays canard has it that improved cylinder choke is all you ever
need. Smoker Smith used to claim that he used only "no choke in one barrel and a
little bit more in the other". Yea, right. How do you think he originally got
the name "Smoker"? Not with those open chokes, you can be sure. He would have
been called "Chip","Chipper" or "Bitsy". Smith definitely did not share all his
secrets.

Traveler’s friend Andy Duffy said he shot the whole NSCA championship course one
year with a pair of his Eyster Light mod .015"s and never changed. He won too.
While we certainly believe Andy, it is even more of a tribute to Andy's
remarkable shooting ability because, as you will see, he was handicapping
himself on some of the longer shots. Naturally, we are not going to argue with
the National Champion's result, but the rest of us need all the help we can get.
In many cases, all the help we can get means more choke, not less, especially
when we are dealing with edge-on targets.

The Technoid's personal deity, the late Canadian gun writer John Brindle, wades
into the deep waters of this "more choke is often better" thing in his usual
convoluted manner. (Brindle appears to write in English, but that is only at
first glance. Delving deeper requires- well, deeper delving.)

To demonstrate why he thinks that the optimal clay breaking pattern often
requires more choke than is commonly thought, Brindle breaks the standard 30"
patterning circle into three concentric circles of 10", 20" and 30". He then
shows how the percentage of shot in each of the three circles changes as the
percentage of shot in the total 30" circle changes. Remember throughout all of
this that the percentage of pellets you can put into a 30" circle is a function
of shell, choke and distance from target. A 70% pattern from a full choke at 40
yards will look the same as a 70% pattern from an I.C. at about at 20-25 yards.

Note that Brindle is using a high quality shell. Lower quality shells will
produce slightly different numbers. A 50% pattern from a high quality shell will
have less center weighting than a 50% pattern from a low quality shell. Here is
how Brindle lays it out. Where "T" is the total percentage of shot in the 30"
circle, "10" is the 10" center bullseye of the pattern, "20" is the 10" to 20"
ring and "30" is the 20" to 30" ring:

T=40%(Cyl): 10"=5%, 20"=15%, 30"=20%
T=50%(I.C.): 10"=8%, 20"=18%, 30"=24%
T=60%(Mod):10"=10%,20"=22%,30"=28%
T=70%(I.M):10"=13%,20"=27%, 30"=30%
T=80%(Full):10"=17%, 20"=33%, 30"=30%
T=90%(XF):10"=25%,20"=47%, 30"=18%


Brindle starts by saying that a normal shotgun pattern is always denser in the
middle than at the edges. There is no such thing as a perfectly evenly
distributed pattern. Very open patterns (40% and less) approach -but do not
achieve- even distribution in the 30" circle, but that is just because the
circle is not large enough to show the full distribution. As the numbers show,
the higher percentage of shot in the 30" circle, the more marked the central
thickening. Look at the figures- note how the 10" percentages increase faster
than the "T" total 30" percentages. Do this as a percentage of the whole and you
will see. Where "T" increases from 50% to 80% (a 60% increase), 10" increases
from 8% to 17% (a 112% increase).

"Plotted on a graph, the density of any diameter drawn across the pattern is
rather like the bell-shaped "normal" curve beloved of mathematicians, the higher
the percentage of pellets within the 30" circle, the higher the peak of the
curve." says Brindle. (As to patterning and the bell curve, see "The Technoid
takes Gauss"- RELOAD! February 1995).

Burrard, in his classic The Gun, never figured this out and often talked in
terms of "evenly distributed" patterns. Burrard must have been making it up.
Effective shotgun patterns are always "hotter" in the center. A pattern has to
be well under 40% (and thus of ineffective density) to even casually appear to
be almost evenly distributed over 30".

Anyone who tells you that his target crushing pattern is evenly distributed
across the 30" pattern circle needs better glasses or more sodium pentothal.

Fine, so now you believe that ALL patterns are hotter in the center than they
are at the edges. Denser patterns are even hotter in the center than looser
ones, but they are all center biased. What does that have to do with how you
choke and why you should probably use more choke for edge-on birds, rather than
less? Simple (sort of).

As you have often read in this space, you want the pattern that will put the
most pellets into the effective fringe of the pattern. What we will find out in
the following is that for certain target angles this may take more choke than
you have been normally using.

Looking at the column of numbers above, you will see that as pattern density
increases (higher percentages of pellets in the 30" circle as you would get from
using tighter and tighter chokes), the center 10" ALWAYS continues to get
denser. The outermost 20"-30" fringe circle does NOT ALWAYS do this! This fringe
ring gets bigger for a while and then it shrinks. As the percentage in the total
30" circle ("T") increases, so does the percentage in the outer 20"-30" circle
until it plateaus when the pattern in the 30" circle hits the 70% and 80% mark.

Then the percentage in the outer 20"-30" ring starts to decline from 30% to 18%
as patterns tighten over the 80% mark. The percentages in the 10" central circle
and the 10"-20" middle ring increase constantly asthe total 30" pattern
increases and continue their increase even after the total pattern reaches 80%.

The peaking curve of the 20"-30" ring crosses the ascending curve of the 10"-20"
ring at about 75% total pattern. This is the magic number for most clay target
patterns. This is also just about what fullchoke is supposed to deliver at 40
yards, modified at 30 and improved cylinder at 20. The barrel/cartridge
combination that can consistently produce 75% patterns at 40 yards is pretty
good. An 80% pattern with the less than totally efficient screw chokes we use
today would be exceptional. Bottom line: At forty yards and out use every bit of
choke you have if you want the maximum effective fringe for an edge-on bird.

"Full at 40" is easy to remember, but what about the shorter distances? For
edge-on targets you will have to tighten down there too if you want reliable
patterns. The Technoid is certainly not going to tell you that a legal shell can
fully fill a 30" pattern. It can’t. Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it next month.
That gives me time to make something up.






*** 2004 CTSCA SHOOTING CALENDAR ***

OCT 8~10 ANNUAL FALL TRIP- PA & NY WEEKEND TOUR
OCT 14~16 OSP CLINIC- EAST MOUNTAIN PRESERVE, NY
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

OCT 24 50 BIRD FUN SHOOT -WALLINGFORD R&G, CT (203-265-1012)
NOV 7 THREE SHOT SHOOTOUT -NEWGATE COON CLUB, CT (860-738-3619)
NOV 20 COUPLES FUN SHOOT- ADDIEVILLE EAST, RI (401-364-8849)
DEC 5 CHRISTMAS SHOOT -NEWGATE COON CLUB, CT (860-738-3619)
DEC 12 50 BIRD FUN SHOOT-WALLINGFORD R&G, CT (203-265-1012)

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 or email: <bcb23@columbia.edu>.



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

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2004
OKTOBERSCHUTZENFEST
MILLBROOK ROD AND GUN CLUB
MILLBROOK, NY


This year’s Connecticut Travelers’ Oktoberschutzenfest is going to have even
more Gemütlichkeit than ever. We’ll have barrels of fun. While our
Münchenbewohner German cousins enjoy their barrels of foamy fun, we will derive
equal pleasure from barrels of a different sort.

It’s all the usual drill(ing). Show up at 9:00 AM and check in at regristration
to see where you are squadded. Enjoy some high test kaffe und strudel while you
cinch up your lederhausen and get your bockdoppelflinte ready to shoot. The tab
for the day is US$55 and your paid reservations must be in our hands no later
than Wednesday, October 13 or you will be kaput. Raus! Subgauge guns get the
usual handicaps. Remember, the popular German 16 gauge gets three birds.
Drillings get an extra handicap if you use the rifle barrel on the longer shots.

Millbrook has a great course, somewhat in the style of Fairfield. A “woodsy”
course is absolutely appropriate for fall with its helles Oktoberlaub (bright
October foliage). Gäste sind willkommen. (Guests are welcome.)

Directions to Millbrook Rod and Gun Club, Millbrook, NY:

From Taconic parkway, take the NY Rte 44 (Millbrook) exit. Take Rte 44 heading
East for about 1.6 miles to Rte 44-A. Bear Left onto Rte 44-A. Go 2.1 miles (you
will pass Sandanona’s driveway) to Stamford Road on the left immediately after
the bridge. Turn Left on Stamford Road and go 1.5 miles to Woodstock Road. Turn
Left on Woodstock Road and go .8 miles to Millbrook R&G Club sign on right.

If lost, strayed or stolen, the Millbrook R&G Club telephone number is
845-677-0029.

REMEMBER, EYE PROTECTION IS MANDATORY AT ALL TRAVELERS SHOOTS.