Hypothetical Newbie

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gbmarsh

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Abbotsford, BC
A new guy shows up at your range on trap/skeet day with a cheap single 12 ga. (Spartan, Stoeger etc.), He's grinning from ear to ear about his new toy and wants to shoot some clays. He demonstrates good safety and gun handling. What kind of day does he have with your local squad? What advice does he get after he say's that this particular gun is all he can afford/justify?

Please be honest, even if you think he should take up a cheaper sport.:D
 
All gun clubs should encourage shooters to come out and enjoy shooting at clay targets. If the new guy comes out with a Stoeger or a Spartan single shot make him feel welcome. If he likes the sport and plans on coming out more often he will learn form the rest that he might have to upgrade to a better gun in the near future. If that is all he can afford for now be understanding of his situation and try not to discourage him from shooting. As his financial situation improves down the road he will remember how well he was treated at your club and who knows where he will end up, if on the other hand he is discouraged he may never be back or want to shoot clays again.

I do see this once in a while at some clubs and do understand how he feels, after all my first gun was a CIL pump that cost me 50.00 and I tried shooting skeet with it. I if I was discouraged from shooting I would not be where I am today.

Hope this is of help.

Best regards,
Sam
 
the folks I shoot with would welcome him. we shoot for the fun of it and could care less about the equipment. I have some expensive shotguns but also shoot a Brazilian SxS that handles like a 2 X 4. If the gun makes the owner happy then who cares what it is. The only advice I would give someone with a single barrel would be to stay away from doubles, then I would point out that it will be impossible for him to load the wrong barrel (it happens more than you'd think). Some folks take things way too seriously.
 
as long as it goes bang its all good at my club, a few guy showed up /w their 14" shorties and couldn't hit anything.... the guys offered to lend the guy a gun to try...
 
Guys do this all the time at my club. If this fella shows up and says he would like some help he could probably get a free lesson from an experienced PITA AA shooter and if he signs a book he would not even have to pay for clays ( I think we give guests 3 free rounds). There are fellas comming up to our club all the time. Yes there are a few guys with $10000 - $20000 guns that like to concentrate and practice like it was a competition but he wouldn't have to shoot with them. We would open up a different trap house and let him fly at it.

I will admit that I like to practice hard but I also help out with the new guys now and again. In fact my wife and few of her girlfriends are going to come up and give it a try in Feb.

Jacky
 
A new member or guest shooter who is a rookie would most likely be paired up with a regular shooter who could show him the ropes. I've done it many times.

If there's an open field I'll take it. If not when we get to the line I'll let other squad members know that we've got a first time shooter. I've yet to have anyone complain or leave the squad. Every one of us had a first time too and besides new shooters mean a new market for our old target guns and we all have at least one of those. ;)

When the round is over, no matter how many birds he missed, I'll talk about the ones he hit. I'll point out the other guys on the squad have been shooting for years and we missed some too.

If the conversation turns to his gun no matter what it is I will say something positive about it. Only a complete dunderhead would criticize someone for shooting a less expensive gun particularly if the owner is a young shooter. Those young eyes and reflexes could mean the middle-aged man with a high grade target gun eventually gets his behind kicked by the kid with a Stoeger. :D

The advice the new shooter will get from me if he says his gun is all he can afford is this: The target has absolutely no idea how much your gun cost. It only knows if the pellets are on the mark and that part is entirely up to you.
 
Only a complete dunderhead would criticize someone for shooting a less expensive gun particularly if the owner is a young shooter
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This is so true. When I started I had an old 870, then an old Browning Superposed and now I have a nice Browning. Not once did anyone say anything about my shotgun even the guys with really expensive guns.

Jacky
 
i was in that very same situation last summer.i showed up one night wanting to try 5 stand, i had no idea what trap or skeet was, and 5 stand seemed more interesting. after reading many horror stories on here i walked onto the place expecting to be snubbed, but i couldn't have been more wrong. i asked another member in the parking lot where i had to go to sign in and pay, explained it was my first time. he immediatly offered to show me the ropes and invited me to shoot with him as a guest, saving me $10 on fees. he also traded me two boxes of shells, as all i had was No.6 heavy game loads. i again thought i might get critized when i opened my gun case. didn't have a single shot, but i thought my 40 year old Auto 5 would stick out like a sore thumb amongst all the high end O/U's and gas guns. wrong again. instead i got a lot of compliments about how good of condition it was in and the Mossy Oak camo stock.the club president even swapped his B2000 with me for a few rounds, he wanted to see how the synthetic stock felt, and then offered to buy it off me on the spot, which i declined. i had only fired a shotgun a few times before, never at a moving target and i had only bought mine the day before.i was giving a few hints and will never forget the feeling of immense satifaction when the third target thrown exploded into a cloud of dust. i started out with a preconcieved notion of "trap snobs" and was pleaseantly proved wrong. i found another great bunch of shooters who i ended spending 2-3 nights a week with. damn i love this sport
 
All you guys got STYLE! I 've always said shooters are the best. First impressions are lasting ones. ALWAYS bend over backwards to help out a newbe. After all we all started somewhere.:)
 
Yep, a real bunch of class acts here. Of all the hobbies I've been involved with over the years, shooters seem to be the easiest going bunch I've ever met. You think it has anything to do with taking out your frustrations on inanimate objects on a regular basis? ;)
 
Agreed, MOST shooters are always happy to help someone out who is willing to learn, provided they pay attention to safety; I've met a few, though, who seem to take pleasure in driving people away from "their" sport. I've been in on a few "try it out" days with rifle, shotgun, and handgun, and I think it's probably the best way to get new shooters; doubles in skeet with a single-shot can be a real b!tch, though :D
 
I got my start shooting ducks with my 16 guage Cooey single. Nobody looked down their nose at me then. Nobody looks down their nose at me now, either, when I show up at the range with a 100 year old, damascas barreled, Lefever, and start busting clays with black powder shells. In fact, they all crowd around and everybody takes a couple of shots with the gun, just to see how she feels.

Whether it's out in the field or at a club, you don't meet much friendlier guys (and girls) than shooters.

SS
 
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