Interesting interview. www.joeletchenguns.com/wing.htm
"GRITS: What's your favorite box-bird gun?
RUDY: I usually shoot a Purdey which I had made specifically for box-bird shooting. It's a specialty gun, just as special for its purpose as is the race car built for the Indy 500. It isn't something you're going to do much other shooting with.
GRITS: What are the chokes on your Purdey?
RUDY: Full and fuller. The right barrel shoots a 76-percent pattern with No. 8 shot at 40 yards, and the left barrel shoots 92 percent. It's extremely tight. That's an advantage mentally. I know that if I miss the bird with the first barrel, which every shooter frequently does, the capability is built into that second barrel to kill the bird. It's up to me to point it correctly. "
______
The thrown bird game is columbaire. John
"RUDY: About the only similarity is that you're shooting at pigeons in both. As much difference as between skeet and trap, two different games.
The columbaires are good, and they get to know the weaknesses and strong points of all good live-bird shooters. They take great pride in making the best shooters miss. It's a good game, and I shoot it, too.
GRITS: Not with the same gun.
RUDY: No. Instead of the tightly choked 30-inch Purdey, I shoot a Parker with 28-inch barrel bored improved cylinder and full. Again, it's a specialty gun. I try to get off the first shot as quickly as possible. It's a definite advantage to have two chokes at columbaire shooting, because your first shot is 20 to 30 yards and the second maybe 50 or more.
GRITS: The rumor goes around that a shooter can "buy" a particular columbaire to throw you an easy bird, or to throw a competitor a very difficult bird. Does this happen?
RUDY: There's a lot of conversation about it, but in all the years I've shot thrown birds around the world I've never seen that happen. I've never seen it proved. I've seen shooters miss a bird they didn't think they should get, but they forget that the columbaire remembers him. I know many of the columbaires, and I think they're completely honest people. "
"GRITS: What's your favorite box-bird gun?
RUDY: I usually shoot a Purdey which I had made specifically for box-bird shooting. It's a specialty gun, just as special for its purpose as is the race car built for the Indy 500. It isn't something you're going to do much other shooting with.
GRITS: What are the chokes on your Purdey?
RUDY: Full and fuller. The right barrel shoots a 76-percent pattern with No. 8 shot at 40 yards, and the left barrel shoots 92 percent. It's extremely tight. That's an advantage mentally. I know that if I miss the bird with the first barrel, which every shooter frequently does, the capability is built into that second barrel to kill the bird. It's up to me to point it correctly. "
______
The thrown bird game is columbaire. John
"RUDY: About the only similarity is that you're shooting at pigeons in both. As much difference as between skeet and trap, two different games.
The columbaires are good, and they get to know the weaknesses and strong points of all good live-bird shooters. They take great pride in making the best shooters miss. It's a good game, and I shoot it, too.
GRITS: Not with the same gun.
RUDY: No. Instead of the tightly choked 30-inch Purdey, I shoot a Parker with 28-inch barrel bored improved cylinder and full. Again, it's a specialty gun. I try to get off the first shot as quickly as possible. It's a definite advantage to have two chokes at columbaire shooting, because your first shot is 20 to 30 yards and the second maybe 50 or more.
GRITS: The rumor goes around that a shooter can "buy" a particular columbaire to throw you an easy bird, or to throw a competitor a very difficult bird. Does this happen?
RUDY: There's a lot of conversation about it, but in all the years I've shot thrown birds around the world I've never seen that happen. I've never seen it proved. I've seen shooters miss a bird they didn't think they should get, but they forget that the columbaire remembers him. I know many of the columbaires, and I think they're completely honest people. "