What is this shooter doing on post 3?

What is the shooter on post 3 doing? Is he waiting for Dave to shoot before he breaks open his gun to reload or has he already re-loaded and anxiously waiting for his next shot?

 

Just a WAG but, I would say the photographer took the pic while shooter 3 was in the process of UNloading and shooter 4 was just about to call for his target,

Shooter 3 saves the empties( mesh bag) and he would have to be SUPER quick to shoot, save the empty, reload, and get the gun in that position before shooter 4 shot.
And then he would have to hold that pose for 4 shooters. I shot with the same REALLY FAST Squad for 3 years(if you dropped a shell you didn't bend over to pick it up or you would slow down the rhythm) and I couldn't hold the gun in that position for a hundred targets.

I took a second look when the pic first went up too. Just looked a little weird, like I said, just a wild azz guess but it looks that way to me.

 

Looks like just a real fast squad to me. - I remember those guys back in the sixty's when I was setting birds --I still have a knuckle to show for it. -- # 5 is about to touch it off if he hears a shot

 

Shooter #3 appears to be on the ready, probably already locked and loaded ..? He obviously didn't have to beat the shell out of his gun ... I shot with a group of guy who were so fast ( how fast were they .?) when we were shooting 50 per trap we would shoot our 50 each and walk up on the squad in front of us with them on their second post of their second 25 targets ... Talk about ready ... WPT ... (YAC) ...

 

I'm with Flyers on this one, hope he can handle that! #3 just shot and is in process of lowering his gun, hasn't even got it open yet. For those saying #3 has already reloaded and raised his gun since its a fast squad, that is a bit unlikely I would say, since it would mean that David is extremely slow, and I do not believe that is the case.

Less likely scenario is they have not actually started yet and are just going through the pre-game motions as they take their posts.

 

I think I might be right about number 3 just about to move the top lever to open the gun. Enlarge the pic and take a look at the position of his right hand. Notice you can see a lot of the back of it? Looks like he might be glancing down to make sure his thumb is on the lever in preparation of opening and grabbing the spent empty.

Just a guess.

 

OR

They are on their last station, last trap. The shooter on 5 is the squad leader, shooter on #4 is about to shoot his 99th target, and this is what each of them is thinking...…..

#1 Well, one more and I'll run 'em. Oh crap, get that our of your head you dummy. LOOK for the target, don't screw this up.
#2 WHAT?, are you kidding me?, missed that quarter left? What the hell was I thinking about? This game sucks!
#3 Oh man, ya gotta love the way that straightaway smoked. It's going to be a ninety eight but it's better than ninety seven.
#4 See the bird, head down, smooth move, crush it.
#5 Last one coming, just BREATH.

 

Mike is on 3 and is very deliberate and slow unloading his gun. Looks like those guys are in a shoot off squad on bank 6 at PSSA, otherwise they wouldn't be on that bank. If they were shooting event targets, they'd probably be on bank 2,3, or 4. Also, if they were event targets, the hulls would not be cleaned up already.

Ed Yanchok

 

The above are the two most likely....

 

Three just shot and obviously hasn't gotten the chance to get the gun open and hull out.
Four probably already had his gun loaded and closed before three shot.
Five already is loaded and closed too, before four mounted and three got unloaded.
Can't tell for sure, but one may be closed and loaded already, also.

I thought only one gun could be loaded and closed on the line at a time.
The only one safe for certain is number two. Only visible open gun on the line.
He's the only one that I would feel safe shooting with.

I know the closed guns are pointed downrange but that's not the point.

 

This is how trapshooters miss targets, we analyze too much.

 

"I thought only one gun could be loaded and closed on the line at a time"

Well, that would explain the rest of your post.

Since there is NO RULE about when you can close a loaded shotgun when on the line, what is the point we are missing? In 47 years of shooting I have NEVER seen anyone have a problem because the guys on squad shot, reloaded, and closed their guns.

Any of you guys remember when a guy on that old site made a $100 bet that there WAS a rule stating that?
He had to write the check!
Well, he CLAIMED he wrote it. He was one of the biggest asses that ever posted there and it wouldn't surprise me if he welched on the bet. If memory serves he quit posting after looking like a know it all asshat. He might be dead by now.

 

I think he's still there occasionally under the name of "high lakes flyer" or something like that.

 

Could be, I don't bother looking there anymore. It was Zara something. That's all I remember.

 

Flyer,
It IS a rule at both of the clubs I shoot at.
The club rules are posted right by the door to the clubhouse.
Both going in and coming out.
It's also posted on the back of all the scorerss stands.

But it doesn't matter because you're always right and anyone that disagrees with you is wrong.
I forgot.

 

Wow, at BOTH of the clubs? All TWO of them?

I'm not always right. Only when someone posts something that is incorrect. You don't really think the almighty ata would let shooters do that if it was unsafe do you? If so then you better start a campaign to have such a rule put in the book.

Get back to this site when you have shot for 47 years in 5 or 6 states and tell them if they have a rule posted or on the back of their scoring chairs. I'll be dead before you get half way there but I'll still be right.
Geeeeezzz, BOTH clubs huh?

 

"IF" by chance it is a Club Rule it is enforceable, I have shot at many clubs and not once seen anything posted about when to or when not to load and get ready for your next shot … The ATA rules as printed are not carved in stone and a clubs rules can be used rather than an ATA rule depending on what it is and why it would be is another question … WPT … (YAC) …

 

I am thinking Dave is in a big hurry! I have shot before someone like this. They call for the bird before my gun is even opened, and barely off my cheek. Sometimes before the trap, and calls allow for the reset.

 

I used to shoot with a bunch of guys who were not in a hurry, but they were really steady, smooth and there was no time to think about anything other than get ready for your next shot, which at some point becomes automatic … If you would fumble or drop a shell you did not have time to pick it up without causing a lapse in the squads timing, you picked it up after you finished that post and moved to the next post …. I have seen many, many of the better shooters do it just the same way and there was never a question about safety that I know of … Damn sure get you through 100 targets in a damn quick hurry, but never felt like you were rushing … Pull/Bang … WPT … (YAC) …

 

I had the pleasure of shooting with the same 4 smooth/fast guys for a few years. If you missed one on any given field you knew you just might be the only one. No one wanted to be the 24 on sheet with four 25's.
Any time we had to have someone fill in they always said the same thing.

Man, that was great, I didn't have time to think about anything but breaking the next one out. Best score I ever shot.

NEVER had anyone tell us they didn't want to shoot with us because it was UNSAFE.

And we did get to see a LOT of targets on the next field we were going to shoot.

 

Ok Flyer,
Whatever you say.
I just turned 59 a couple of weeks ago and I have shot in 6 or 7 states. Some registered, some not.
Started shooting trap when I was about 10.
That's 49 years.
So . . .

 

Typical response when someone is proven wrong.

Tell us then, besides the TWO clubs where you you shoot how many of all those clubs in all those states had a rule about when a shooter could load and close their gun?

 

You fellows are forgetting about the Hanky Lanky Ker-thunk rule written for the Shaeffer guy. As I remember he made that Ker-thunk noise followed by a twangy noise, loaded his gun, and received a notice from the ATA telling him to apologize.

Timing issue? Don't load your gun after making that noise. Just go to the parking lot.

 

You haven't proven me wrong.
The 2 local clubs near me have the rule posted.
I NEVER stated I've seen the rule anywhere else.
Not in PA or Iowa or Maryland or Michigan or Illinois or Wisconsin.

You should change your sign-on name to Super flyer because of your superb
visual capabilities at seeing shit people haven't written in their posts.

No wonder this site is the foremost site for trapshooters!

 

If you are closing your gun before I shoot and I hear or see it, and wonder, Hmm, it this """ going to shoot my target. That is a distraction as far as I am concerned. That is against the rules. Sure after a couple of shots you may realize that they are not, but it already caused a distraction, and a possible lost very early target. If you shoot with the same five guys every time it more than likely is not a problem. If however, you do on occasion shoot with strangers, it will be a distraction. You expect noise and movement behind you, which you are facing away from, but not in your field of vision in front of you, before you shoot. It is just common courtesy, and common sense.

I guess it is not a safety hazard. I guess nothing is really a safety hazard until something unsafe happens. I have to ask though, what is the point of it? What are you gaining by closing your gun one or two shooters before you shoot? As far as I can tell, there is absolutely no time loss by closing your gun as you are mounting it.

 

Let's look at it this way of the OP photo. What if Dave is waiting to shoot yet, and the guy in the light blue shirt before him is actually still in the process of mounting his gun to shoot? Is Dave in violation of a rule?

 

"I thought only one gun could be loaded and closed on the line at a time"

My eyesight doesn't have to be 20/20 to read your post.

You thought WRONG

 

Apparently it does!
Like I said, have only seen...
Nevermind.
Waste of time.
You're right.

There, I admitted it, feel better?

 

Don't be so hard on yourself. Your post wasn't a complete waste of your time. You learned something and that is always a good thing.
You could have saved yourself the time if you just would have asked if there was such a rule. Any number of shooters could have told you there wasn't.
Hell, my club has a sign in the men's room stating that you should wash your hands when you are done. That doesn't mean that EVERY club has the same rule. One place we shot pigeons had only an outhouse. No place to wash your hands.

 

I knew there wasn't a 'hard-fast" ATA rule.
Some of the "rules" in the rule book aren't rules, they're suggestions
Still in the rules at my 2 clubs.

 

Could #4 be shooting out of turn?