BITS AND PIECES... Did you know:

A 1 1/8 oz shell at 1200 fps has exactly the same recoil as a 1 oz
shell at 1330 fps.

Normal shell velocity changes 5 fps for each 1" of barrel length.
Manufacturers' acceptable shell to shell speed variance is well over
25 fps.

At 1125 fps #8 shot will travel 224 horizontal yards. At 1350 it will
go 240. #7 1/2 shot at 1125 will go 234 yards, at 1350 fps it is 247.
At a muzzle velocity of 1135 fps, #7 1/2s take .063 seconds to reach
a 20 yard crosser. The actual lead on a 30 mph 20 yard crosser would be
2.77 feet. Starting the same shot at 1330 fps would result in 4.2" less lead.
At 40 yards the difference would be 8.45" and at 60 yards it would be
12.14"

Increasing muzzle velocity of a 1 1/8 oz shell from 1135 fps to 1350
fps will increase recoil about 35%.

With a standard 3 dram load, increasing the weight of an 8# gun by
one pound will lower recoil about 11%.

Store your guns muzzle down in the gun safe. This keeps errant oils
out of the stock and also keeps the stock from taking a set at the wrist.
When judging distance to a target, estimate distance to a stationary
object, like a tree, which the target flies near. It is much easier that way.
Slower burning powder always has more free recoil than faster
burning powder. Powder weight is part of the free recoil formula and you
have to use more of the slower powders.

The average antimonial content of "magnum" #8s and #7 1/2s is
6%. In "magnum" #9s and #6s it is 4%. "Chilled" shot is 0% to 2%
antimony. Antimony costs four to five times as much as lead.
Clay targets are made from pitch, lime and (sometimes) paint.
The average sporting clays target's mid range speed is 35 mph. That
is also what it is at the center stake at skeet.

Right handed shotgunners lose hearing in their left ear first if they
insist on shooting without ear protection. The right ear fails somewhat
later.

Comparing pellet hardness between two sample lots is easily
accomplished by alternate pellet squeezing with needle nose pliers.
Choke up for teal. The teal is much further away than the trap is.
You are shooting on the hypotenuse of the triangle (A"+B"=C").
The centrifugal force imparted by a rapid rate of spin makes a clay
target relatively easy to break. Targets thrown from the front of the trap
arm have very little spin compared to those thrown normally from the
middle of the arm. These deceptive end-of-arm "knuckle balls" require
more choke and/or larger pellets.