Shooting Tighter Chokes for Practice Skeet

Maritime Storm

Maritime Storm

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Anyone else do this? For whatever reason, I've found myself in a rut missing targets inconsistently(although High#2 more often then not) so about 3 weeks ago, I choked up to Modified to try and get back into where I should be. It started out innocent enough, finished a round of trap just as a squad was heading to the skeet field, grabbed a box of shells and instead of taking a minute to swap from I/M to Skeet I left the choke alone. Shot a 24??? The 3 previous rounds were 23, 20, 22. So for the past few weeks I've shooting practice with Modified choke. My logic for doing this is that once I work out whatever bug I have(suspect I'm pulling my face off the stock) and get to consistently hitting I will switch back to Skeet but shooting the tighter choke will force me to get my leads and technique proper in order to post good scores. It does make for some beautiful inkballs when things are right.

Thoughts?
 
It goes both ways. Yes. Shooting the tighter chokes is good for practice, but once you start missing, your confidence, form and movement start deteriorating.

Go back to cylinder and skeet, and break a few targets.
Dialing in on your leads should be left to the sub gauges IMHO.

I'm 46 years old, and at the end of the day, the only time I shoot good, is when my eyes, muscles and nerves are in sync.
And having the planets lign up can't hurt either.
 
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I generally shoot skeet with my 28 gauge or 410, but if I decide to shoot a round of doubles with the 20 gauge, I usually just leave my LM sporting clays chokes in the barrels. The only real difference that I notice , is that the breaks are more dramatic with the tighter chokes.
 
Skeet is a struggle for consistency and repetition. In theory, you don't want to change anything equipment wise, so you can concentrate on your game, and the changes you are making.
 
Ya, sometimes. It can help you really find the centre of the targets. The biggest thing to remember is to put the originals back in before you compete....... I've been guilty of it, and know a lot of other people who have done the same.
 
Brad we've all been guilty of that, shot a round of Skrap the other week, worse round I had shot in ages, at station#6 I looked at the shells in my pocket to realize I had grabbed a box of 1oz #9 for shooting trap targets out to 50yrds. One of our better shooters is always challenging us to push our limits, Skrap, Double Trap, Double Skeet, shooting Skeet with a full choke, etc. His logic is simple, you won't improve unless you get out of your comfort zone and push your limits. The difference between Modified and Skeet at 22yrds is about 12-14", so yes that difference what one focus a little harder to do things right, and that's what I'm trying to do.
 
smally21 said:
Skeet is a struggle for consistency and repetition. In theory, you don't want to change anything equipment wise, so you can concentrate on your game, and the changes you are making.
Click to expand...

Exactly correct, after you have the mechanicals mastered it is purely a mental game. High 2 was my personal nemesis. I tended to shoot it to fast and was under it. Put your skeet chokes back in and have someone you trust watch what your doing. Figure out your mistake, correct it and then work on the mental game of putting it well behind you.
 
Actually, turns out I was lifting my head of the stock on certain targets. Suspect cause is linked to excess shoveling to clear fields before practice. Assuming the winds are behaving, I leave the modified choke in the gun, I'm consistently hitting 22/25. High#3 of all targets seems to be my nemesis of late, shooting over it by a foot when I miss it.
 
22/25 with a mod choke is good, but it is not 25/25. Put in a skeet choke and see what you consistently score. Put all the advantages in your favor such as a larger shot pattern. Better consistent scores help build confidence which is your mental game.
 
When I was serious shooting I call it I would recorded every round in a large excel spread skeet showing my misses
Then I would sit down when I got into a slump and it would be very clear what station(s) was giving me the real issues not running them and many times it would be different than what I thought
I would go to that empty station with a shooting friend and may fire 200 rounds or more there until we figured it out

Which is seems you already have. I have never switched chokes to fix misses but that is me
Just my 2 cents
 
For sure a mental game..... I could write a book on it, no doubt. If you want confidence, being able to constantly break the target every with a large bore may not be enough. Figure out how to inkball a target with a cloud so thick that the wad bounces back off of it. Tighter chokes can help you find the centre of your pattern to help with those big breaks.
 
3macs1 said:
Experts say three main reasons
Increased Recoil, drop of stock comb or change in eye/shooting glasses including a prescription change
Have you changed any of the above
Cheers
Click to expand...

And vision issues can also lead to a flinch. If your eyes don't see the target they expect, you may hesitate, or lift your head to try and see the target better.
 
I think that light modified works well for skeet. IIRC the same choke was at one time called skeet 2. I also think not seeing the target clearly can cause the gun to stop, the shooter to raise his head, a shot behind or an out right flinch. Sometimes the subconscious mind will not allow the shooter to pull the trigger on something he can not see. The shooter may not even realize this is happening. This may happen if the shooter looses the target for the tiniest fraction of a second. This may be a vision thing but I think it more probable the shooter allowed the gun to get into the unobstructed view of the target. Focus should be on the target and not the barrel and especially not the sights no matter how visable they look.
 
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