Evening journal., 1914-06-04
Gun At Shoulder
LOGICAL At TRAPS
Means Advantage OF Two
Yards in Range--Old Rule
Going Into Discard
AMERICANS WON
HISTORIC SHOOT

An account of pigeon match
shooting" in the Sporting Magazine
in 1898 places on record for posterity
that "the gunner is not permitted to
put his gun to his shoulder until the
bird is on the wing" At that time.
and for many years afterward, there
was no recognized code Of pigeon
shooting rules, SO that the gun
down" convention must have become
established by common consent. saws
London Field
That there was any need to dis
criminate against the practice of
placing the gun at the shoulder be-
fore the bird was released is sufH-
cient indication that trap shooters
had discovered an advantage in she
adoption of a position that to game
shooters was strange, awkward and
uncouth. One Of those phases of re-
viyal recurrent in the history Of
pigeon shooting had attracted to the
traps competitors whose real interest
was in game shooting.
Their support, no doubt, was well
coined, but they found themselves at
disadvantage when matched against
men who kept the gun at the shout
der. II is probable, therefore. that
the gun down. convention was in
troduced to remove this difficulty.
though at the same time it created
another, which in the end caused ali
restrictions to be relinquished.
Gun ut Shoulder.
IN his Hints to Sportsmen," pub
llshed after another revival of in
terest n trap shooting in 1858.
"Stonehenge" said: Formerly it was
the custom to make it rule that
the gun should be held below the
shoulder until the trap is pulled, but
TINS led 70 so many wrangles. and on
the Whole there is so little gained by
having The gun up, except with single
traps, that there is now no restric-
ton whatever"
Modern experience goes to show
that whether what is gained by keen
ing the gun at the shoulder be little
or much, it is enough to induce a
majority Of competitors to adopt that
position. Estimates Of the precise
advantage cannot be very reliable. be-
cause Of the temperamental differ
ences in individuals Some skillfuI
and successful trap shooters find IN
II no advantage at ALL Though they
do not adopt quite the ordinary way
OF holding a gun in expectation of a
shot, the gun is not at the shoulder
when the bird is released.
A definition Of "gun down" posi- /
tion that would be really satisfactory 1
Is not dlscoverable, or, at least, search i
extending over a century and a half
mas not revealed it. The ordinary
practice Of allowing the gun to be
held in any position when shooting
over traps has emphasized a distinc-
ton between trap shooting and game
shooting.
Among skilled trapshooters Of nor
NAL constitution it is believed that
the gun at the shoulder position re-
an equivalent of as much as
TWO yards advantage in range. The
1iherence is simply a question of
lime. In one case the gun has TO be
brought to the shoulder after the bird
appears, and in the other case. the
gun is already there.
americans Won Any How.
In the competitions at clay birds
Turing the Olympic Games at Stock
lolm in 1912 gun down" position
vas adopted, which required the gun
o be kept with its stock between the
lip and the armpit The conditions.
apart from individual idiosyncrasies
which make easy for one man what
S hard for another, were alike for
III and perfectly fair. But the old
of determining, shot by
hot, whether every competitor is OBJ
serving the rules manifested itself to
Ome extent
Neither the shooters nor the Off
ials found the conditions altogether
satisfactory. Even under these cir
the American competitors
o whom for trap-shooting purposes
"gun down" position is simply an
rtiticial handicap, overcame it's diff
ulties and won. Any attempt to
orce upon unwilling shooters a posi-
i've rule that they shall place the
un at the shoulder before the bird
ppears in the air would assuredly
ALL
Those Inaccustomed to IL find
themselves positively at a disadvan-
age in attempting to stand with the '
i'm leyeled over the traps at 10th {
ne. and the ungainly appearance Of {
he position has probably something
} do with Discrimination to adopt !