Clay Pigeon Shooting – What does it all mean?

After a busy weekend at our shooting venues across the country, we thought we’d take a short break from clay busting to try our hand at a bit of jargon busting instead.

So if you’ve ever wonder what the difference is between skeet and sporting shooting, or are baffled by battues and a beads, we’re here to help.

Battue – A battue is special type of clay target which is used in most forms of sporting shooting. These looping targets are notoriously hard to hit!

Bead – The bead can be found at the end of a shotgun. It’s main purpose is to help shooters line up the perfect shot. Keeping your eye on it can pay off big time.

Broken – If you hear somebody refer to a ‘broken shotgun’ it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll need to start saving for a new one. The term actually refers to the state of the shotgun when it’s not in use. A broken shotgun looks like this..

Cartridge – This is your ammunition, cartridges contain the shot which is fired when you pull the trigger.

Clay Pigeon – Nothing to do with pigeons, these small brightly coloured discs are the targets you’ll be taking aim at. They come in all shapes and sizes, and shatter when hit.

Double – When two clays are launched in quick succession, or sometimes simultaneously they are known as a double pair, or just double for short.

DTL – Down The Line is a popular form of clay pigeon shooting that’s great for competitive shooters. Points are awarded for hitting targets in the least number of shots.

Lead – Sometimes refereed to as forward allowance, ‘lead’ is the amount of space you give a clay as it soars through the air. Remember you shoot where a clay is going, so the lead you give it refers to the space you leave in front, above or below.

Over and Under – An over-and-under shotgun is a type of shotgun which has two barrels stacked one on top of the other.

Side by Side – A side-by-side shotgun is a type of shotgun which has two barrels position side by side. Find out more about the  differences between side-by-side and over-and-under shotguns.

Skeet – Skeet is form of clay shooting that’s enormously popular in the U.S. Clays are launched at set speeds and trajectories, and variation is created by shooters moving around seven different shooting stands. Other forms of skeet include English Skeet and Olympic Skeet.

Sporting – Sporting is the most popular form of clay pigeon shooting in the UK. Targets are thrown at a variety of different speeds and trajectories, which means almost anything goes! The range of targets used are designed to replicate the challenges of live game shooting. Other forms of sporting shooting include English Sporting and F.I.T.A.S.C.

Swing – Swing refers to the movement of the shotgun as you track a clay through the air. A smooth swing is the key to hitting clays.

Trap – A trap is the device which launches clays into the air. Traps can be set up to fire clays at a variety of different speeds and trajectories.

Did we miss anything? If there’s a piece of jargon you think we’ve missed leave a comment below and we’ll do our best to translate it into plain English.