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5 stand

8K views 18 replies 12 participants last post by  newduckjunkie 
#1 ·
This is one heck of a challenging course. I don't know if every club has one, but if you want to test your ability as a clay bird shooter/game bird hunter, I think you might want to hit this one up. I'm shooting in a tri combo league where each week you shoot 3 rounds with one round being trap, one skeet, and one 5 stand for a grand total of 75 targets. I'm not the greatest at it since this league was my first time shooting it, but as with anything, practice makes perfect.

Anybody else having a little trouble with it?
 
#2 ·
Quit rushing your first shot, and think about how you want to take the targets presented to you. Sometimes you take the second target thrown first then the other. Absolutely most important is good gun mount for the first target and a good re mount for the second.
You are right practice practice practice.
Lots of times on the 5 stand and sporting clays course I carry two types of shells and use different ones for the different targets according to the presentation. I have been doing this a day or two and know how each round acts in my gun with the chokes I have in it. You really can take an open choke and make it shoot tighter or a tighter choke and open it up with different loads.
That sounds like a great format for a league, inovative thinkers at your club.
Shoot Well
 
#3 ·
I agree with the above statement.

Skeet is a open choke with #9's ..........Trap Mod to full with either 8 or 7 1/2's.............

but 5 stand is a whole new ball game where chokes, size shot, velositys and which target and when to shoot it
can make or break the shooters. I think it is one of the best short "Games" at the trap club unless you do 100 shells at sporting clays. Got to put your thinking cap on for this game.

"Wheres that wasklely little Wabbit" !!
 
#6 ·
Never shot 5-stand and do not even know where there is one on my area. sounds interesting but I am usually shooting sporting clays as I like the many presentations It provides. I will have to seek out a 5 stand course and try it some day. in sporting clays I shoot a Mod most of the time but there is a couple of courses that a skeet will handle 90% of the targets, Not really a challenge so I tend to shoot the longer courses. I use 7.5 shot for everything, Makes it easier as I do not have to mark my reloads with different shot sizes.
 
#8 ·
What is helix? My club has trap skeet and a five stand course. Always looking for new clay games to keep shooters interested. Five stand scares away most skeet or trap shooters because they always want that 25. If they would give it a shot five stand will actually make most guys better shooters. If a bird gets past you on the skeet field you know how to deal with it. If you get a dancing bird because of crazy wind you can also deal with it. Choke and shot size depends on the targets presented. I have shot courses that could use chokes from open to full. Mostly I shoot everything with an ic and #8. Windy days I like mod. I repeat what is helix?
 
#9 ·
Helix is like a pigeon ring and the targets are motor driven and look alot like the spinner things you launched by pulling a string as a kid, only on steroids. They fly just like a live bird and you must cause the target (reusable) to seperate. The machines ocolate and you cover three machines from each station. google Helix Shooting or You tube for some videos. Bring lots of ammo as you will not want to stop shooting.
 
#10 ·
As mentioned "Heli" is in a ring and you can shoot the bird twice if need be....................
but the "Bird" (ring) has to stay inside the Ring boardered area for the shot to count. If the spinning blade goes
outside the ring you get no score. Heavy loads of 7 1/2 shot are needed for this sport............or bigger if legal.

My favorite 5 stand set ups are the "Rabbit" and a "Teal" that starts behind you and goes up and out at a 45 degree angle.
There are some where you have a crossing shot then a second "Dieing bird" that is low and dropping,that has to be picked up before it hits the ground and the "Rip Cord", where a high incoming looses its speed and just falls straight down in front of you. Lots of different angles and heightd can be set up in this sport and it is usually changed every month or two so you have to stay on your toes,to speak.
 
#11 ·
Another fun presentation is "springing teal" two vertical targets either thrown as a true pair or following pair, one a mini and one a midi. Thrown as a true pair you really learn to trust your gun move to take the lagging target first and break em both on the way up with two shots.
 
#13 ·
When you are going to shoot 5-stand watch a round or two on that 5-stand course before you shoot that course if you can.

You need to make some plans on how you are going to shoot most of the pairs. Some targets you will want to shoot first and some targets you will need to shoot second. If you shoot at the wrong target first the second target maybe out of range or hit the ground before you can shoot it.

It really surprises me how many people that shoot O/U shotguns do not switch barrels for the different pairs. On many 5-stands on about half of the pairs you will want to use a more open choke on your second shot and use the tighter choke on your first shot. Some 5-stand courses all of the shots are pretty close, but some 5-stands are about 50% close shots and 50% long shots. When there are some longer shots I put in a tighter choke for those shots.

You really need to pay attention to where you will be shooting at the second targets. When you go to shoot at the second target in any pair you need to look at the area the target will be in, you do not want to look towards the machine that threw the second target.
 
#15 ·
Hey guys, I have shot sporting clays, 5 stand, FITASC competitively for a dozen years from d class to master. My advice would be to stick with one load be it 7.5's or 8's . On chokes the better shooters rarely change chokes. Many shoot lt mod for most everything. I learned from Anthony Matarase who is the only shooter to ever win the Nationals and the US open in the same year. Anthony shot lite mod for everything under 40 yards and Imp mod for long stuff. Its all about focusing on the target, He called it hard focus. Its like locking on a ducks bill instead of the whole duck. A shiny spot on the target I can tell you its very hard to do through a whole round of clays maintaining that focus. But it allows your subconscious to take over which knows how to break clays. His advice focus on the target and let it happen. :thumbsup:
 
#16 ·
I did the switch shell thing at 5 stand at first then just went to a 1oz #8 with an I/C choke as I got better at it.
In bad weather I may switch to a 1 1/8oz of 7.5's at 1145 fps but these two loads have worked for me in ALL of the
ways to shoot any clay bird if you find a choke that works for your style of shooting.

"Hell X " is another style all its own and can get expensive if you have an off day with a little side action among friends.
The trap club in south Reno had all the "Games" for your enjoyment but sadly, it had to close a month ago and there are no trap clubs in the Reno area any more.............
If you get a chance try to put it on your bucket list and bring #7 shot !!
 
#17 ·
I have shot helix also called zz bird on LI. It is fun and as close as you can get to live pigeon shooting without the live pigeons. Also an expensive cash game. Try a lite mod choke only a little tighter than IC but your covered on most of the longer shots. Also in helix or zz bird games I shot everybody shot ounce and a quarter 7 and half's as entry fees where 200 and each five birds cost 10 or 15 I don't remember.
 
#18 ·
OH what's a guy to do ? When all my hunting ='s $$$$ and my Clay target shooting ='s $$$$$

But , ZZ birds ='s $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ !

I'd rather be with my dog in the marsh or on a mountain top , with mud / dust on my boots !
 
#19 ·
All the replies I see are great advise. In my opinion if your having some trouble it could be that you are doing 3 different
types of clay shooting back to back. As some of the previous reply's said all 3 are different ammo,chokes and muscle memory.
What you are competing in is not easy unless you PRACTICE each of them individually...........2 other things that come to mind
are taking some type of lessons ( can be expensive) but definitely worth it. When I took lessons for trap shooting it increased
my hits 10 fold. The other thing that improved me was learning to shoot with BOTH EYES OPEN (night and day).

I am no expert by no means but I too was hooked on clay sports big time for quite a few years and above are a few things
that helped me. If you are not already you will be reloading soon to save $$$$$$. Oh ya and also a gun fitted to you will help
tremendously. Have fun don't be to hard on yourself when you miss and SHOOT STRAIGHT.
 
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