How do you "dust" clay pigeons?

3" magnum shells and a skeet choke... We were hand-throwing some clays this morning and at one point I was letting one of the guys take the first shot and then cleaning up if he missed. No, I didn't shoot very many that way. Those dang things hurt after awhile. But they sure were doing a number on those clays.
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I would imagine those would hurt, and not even after a while.......sounds like overkill to me!....:eek:
 
Hit em in the middle. If they're breaking into pieces only a few pellets are hitting. This would equate to a wounded bird.
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Been my experience that breaking the clay into solid chunks is normal. Especially when you understand that you, essentially, only have the thin edge and a little of the top exposed.

If you look at all the shooters around you, you'll notice that some birds get "smoked", but most do not.

If you just knock off little pieces, or tick off just enough to be seen for the score with the "Golden BB", then I'd equate that with a wounded bird and the fault of the shooter.

If you want to smoke birds, then you either need a tighter pattern, or need to hit them quicker as well as center the birds consistently in the pattern.
 
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Opinions on this vary greatly. For clays, I like a choke and load combination that gives me solid hits with occasional smoke.

Smoke every hit means you're possibly losing usable spread.

No smoke ever, even with a hit that busts the clay into three or five chunks, your pattern is probably a bit thin for that shot.

Adjust your choke and load until say, 1/4 to 1/3 of your hits are smoke, and watch your average rise.

On a fixed choke gun, going to a slower, lighter,load with bigger, harder pellets can work wonders.

The reverse is also true.

With tubes, you can also do the above or change the constriction.

What I use applies only to me, but it may give you some ideas.

With a load of 7.5s, 10 Points Of Constriction work for trap singles when it's cold, 15-20 POC when warmer.

Skeet demands at least 8s,8.5s or 9s with 0,5 or 10 POC.

Olympic trap where two shots can be taken at a single target, I use 15 for the first and 30 POC for those long shots on .5 Mach targets.

Chinese trap, Mongolian Wobble the same, knowing that I'm overchoked at the closer presentations with the top barrel.

Sporting Clays varies, but the most common chokes in the B gun are 10 and 15 POC.

Use these as a very loose rule of thumb. What works for you is what works for you, so get out there and hit the pattern board.

Literally.

HTH....
 
Be careful what you write on the Net, it becomes immortal and can haunt you....

A Point Of Constriction is .001. A Thousandth of an inch.Choke is measured thus.

Depending on who you ask, Cylinder has NO POCs. It's a true cylinder from the forcing cone in front of the chamber to the muzzle. POCs occur close to the muzzle,

Improved Cylinder has 10, Modified 20, Full 30 and Extra Full 40.

Skeet chokes can have negative choke, being bigger diameter, not smaller than the bore. Some skeet chokes have a bit of choke, say 5 POC.

Hope that sorts things out, holler if there's more 'splaining needed...
 
I can't see the dust, but about 2 or three in a hundred hopped a good foot or more straight up in the air the other day and I didn't see any pieces fall. Thus, they were lost birds and they told me to I was hitting too low.
 
Its all that cheap rubber shot your using.
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I think it must be a mean streak that runs in the Citori line. Like the .410 that laughs at BigJim, mine is particularly myrthful given all the opportunities it has too humiliate me..
 
How do you "dust" clay pigeons?
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A feather duster?
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It's as though those clays are bewitched!
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My friend, you're just now figuring that out?
 
Zippy's picture of a feather duster was the final straw. Out of respect for this august board, I tried to restrain myself from mentioning how I preferred my pigeons to be dusted. The ultimate manner is with a feather duster wileded by a comely young thing in a skimpy maids uniform.
 
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