Sporting Clays

[mike campbell]

For a congregation that loves history, here's a little history on the sporting clays gun mount....

Random thoughts on pre-mounting for sporting clays….

Par cours de chasse (governed by FITASC) is played in a multitude of countries on several continents. Everyone knows FITASC mandates a “ready position” with the gun touching the body lower than 25 cm from the top of the shoulder and the ready position must be maintained until the target is in sight.

“Sporting clays” is really only shot competitively in 3 countries…..all English speaking. Australian sporting is more similar to FITASC than to English sporting, but it does allow a “free mount,” meaning pre-mounted is acceptable.

In the USA we shoot the game of “English sporting clays ” (and FITASC, too, of course).

When Americans borrowed the game from England in the mid-80’s, they wanted to ensure that this new “simulated hunting” game did not get dummied down like skeet and trap had been. Never mind that international trap and skeet weren’t outlawed in the USA….they just weren’t popular. Guess what? FITASC, arguably the most difficult of all clay target sports, is not popular either.

Early on, the Americans decided that the “ready position” would consist of having the entire butt of the gun visible below the armpit and the gun could not be mounted until the target appeared…..similar to, but not identical to, FITASC. The problem was, this rule was neither fish nor fowl. Much more difficult to enforce than the FITASC rule with its visible line, and then as now, referees were scarce. Eventually, the pre-mount was allowed and thus began the urban legend……the wussy Americans had dummied down the game just like they had with skeet and trap. The rule was too tough to enforce and we wanted to make the game easier. You’re free to hold those opinions (I don’t) but the facts of how the free mount came to sporting clay are quite different.

In the early 90’s the NSCA finally emerged as the controlling body for registered sporting clays competition in the USA. About 1994 the rules committee, recognizing the difficulty of enforcing the low gun hold but determined to keep it, adopted the FITASC line for sporting clays. Problem was, that very next year the Brits were coming to the USA to compete in the World English Sporting Clays Championship. They were coming to shoot for the World title to THEIR game…..they invented it….and guess what? Those unruly colonials were attempting to bastardize it, because the Brits allowed the pre-mount! The low gun line rule was described in the NSCA rule book and rescinded before it ever went into effect.

URBAN LEGEND....the skeeters introduced the pre-mount to sporting clays. THE FACTS....the Brits owned the game, and they insisted on a "free mount."

As to the blanket statement that pre-mounting makes sporting clays easier, I say “hogwash.” If it were true, it would be the default in competition, as it is in all trap disciplines. But it is not. At least one national champion shoots predominantly pre-mounted, but it’s a rarity among the top shooters. Seems pretty straightforward that pre-mounting accomplishes one thing….it takes the mount out of the question. Therefore, it is an advantage on presentations where the most common mis-mount…failure to make or maintain firm cheek contact….is most likely to cause a high miss. For many that includes low, fast going away targets, as in trap-like presentations. I use the pre-mount, as one of a dozen different tools, on presentations where I’m likely to miss high, either as a result of too little cheek pressure or too much upward movement with the muzzle. In addition to trap targets, I pre-mount on most rabbit targets (tough for me not to peek) and low incomers with complex curling & dropping lines where it’s important to be only slightly in front but very critical to stay on the changing line. That may account for 25/100, or zero/300 depending on the courses I shoot.

Why the next fella’s pre-mounting bothers someone is a mystery to me…..it’s actually part of the “free-mount” rule, meaning do or don’t. If I think it’s an advantage….then I do it. If I don’t like it, then I don’t. If I'm not competing, how does he have an advantage? If something onerous to me is not mandated, why should I care? Complaining about something that has absolutely no impact on me is ….well….whining. No whining.

[Mike of the Mountain]

Excellent post Mikey!! I agree 100%, especially with the comment about pre-mount just being one more tool in the arsenal. Not unlike combining various methods (maintained lead, swing through, pull away, intercept, etc) throughout the course. All depends on the presentations and single method shooting with more often than not keep one off of the podium.

[kgb]

Well, dang. Now I must retract my condemnation of SC rule-makers at the hands of those pesky skeeters. Alas, I was mis-led and went along without verifying.

The club where I shoot skeet sets up a 5-stand overlay twice a month with interesting presentations from 6 additional throwers. Rabbits can give me series of fits, shooting over them or behind the faster ones are my apparent favorite ways to miss. Time to make those a consistent pre-mount situation.

[Jim Cloninger]

Thanks for the great explanation, Mike. Jim

[mike campbell]

You're welcome, Jim.

A couple more points;

There's no doubt there has been a "relaxation" of the rules since we first started. We definitely started SC in this country with a mandatory low gun and transitioned to allowing a pre-mount; though how & why it changed isn't well remembered. We also had/have a "3-second" rule, meaning the target can appear anytime within 0-3 seconds of the shooter's call. Both of those rules appealed to early SC shooters who wanted to distinguish themselves from the skeet/trap crowd.

I haven't shot competitively for a number of years, but I think they still have the 3-second rule. However, if you watch tournament shooters these days, you'll see them lower/open their gun if the target doesn't appear after 1 second. If the target does launch in the next second or two, it should be ruled "lost", but you won't see that happen. Odds are, the shooter won't even have to whine or beg...the referee will likely call "no target."

You can spot a clay shooter who is schooled in FITASC. Whether shooting sporting clays or trap, you won't see a FITASC shooter lurch after a broken target, much less make a move on one that doesn't appear within 1 second. Knowing that moving on a FITASC target before it appears results in a loss instills the discipline to stay home until the target is clearly visible, and that's a good default.

For all the chatter about the ruination of sporting clays, "fun" rules can be anything a squad wants them to be as long as safety is rule one. I often see low-gun shooters in a group of casual duffers, but seldom see them play "trapper's choice" with delayed pulls.

[Stan Hillis]

Excellent posts, Mike. Thanks for the history.

You said it's been several years since you shot competitively and, I don't know how much you keep up with it now, but top shooters who shoot predominately premounted are not a rarity anymore. It is becoming more the "norm" for top competitors, IMO. I've shot with, or watched, many of the top 10 or 12 shooters in the sport, and do not recall ever seeing a one of them call for the target with an unmounted gun. Now many, if not most, who premount lift the cheek off the gun and look back toward the trap with some presentations, as I do, but the gun is still solidly mounted in the shooting position in the shoulder "pocket".

Thanks again, SRH