Sporting Gun UK – May 2019

DavidTurnerseesa newshooterthroughthesometimesdifficultearlystages

of choosing a gun to starting off on the right foot. Or should that be the left?

Out of the traps

INSTRUCTION

Tuition

asYouTube,thereismuchinformation

availabletohelpa newcomergetstarted,

withumpteen‘howto’videosanddiscussion

forums.Itiseasywitha littlehomeworkto

learna lotoftechnicalbasics.Priortoour

lessonI encouragedAlastairto‘bone-up’on

eyedominance.A modelstudent,hefound

a wealthofinformationdetailingjustwhy

that ’sanimportantaspecttounderstand

fromthebeginningandso,ontheday,he

was well ahead of the game in this regard.

Alastair’squestions

Whatisthedifference between a ‘Sporter ’

anda gamegun?

Agamegunisusuallylighterandhasa faster

handlingcharacteristic.A ‘Sporter ’isusually

heavierandhasa steadierfeeltoit.

Dobrandsfollowa fittingpattern?

Mostmodernmakershavesimilarfitting

characteristicsthroughouttheirrange.

Shoulda gunbemaintainedata gunshop?

Most are not serviced until something goes

I

nthisserieswetakea newcomerto

clayshootingandlookatwhereto

begin.Andit doesn’thavetocosta

fortune.Welookat:choosingtheright

gun;choosingtherightshootingground;

andtheinitiallessonto‘getgoing’,allunder

the guidance of a professional instructor.

Amillionquestions

Everywannabeshooterhasa million

questions,understandably,andAlastairis

no exception. With digital platforms such

ANDREW SYDENHAMAlastair tried out several different guns

NAME:AlastairPrince

AGE: 28

HEIGHT:5f t10in

WEIGHT:13s t10 lb

OCCUPATION:Finance

managerfora railandconstruction

companyinTewkesbury,Gloucestershire.

Alastairisright-handed.

SHOOTINGEXPERIENCE:Alastairlivesin

Droitwich,Worcestershirewithhis

fiancéeanddaughters.Hisfirst

experienceofshootingwasin 2016 ata

workChristmasouting.Sincethenhehas

beenshootinga fewtimesandwasgranted

hislicenceinJulylastyear.Hehasalways

enjoyedoutdoorlifeandhaschildhood

memoriesofbeingtakenalloverthe

countrytovisitNationalTrustandEnglish

Heritagesites.

Heislookingtoshootata localcluband

developa roundedknowledgeofshooting.

52 SPORTING GUN M AY 2019 http://www.shootinguk.co.uk

P r o fi l e

Davidgivesnew

shooterAlastairsome

tuition in the traps