What do you wish you had known about Shotguns

[JohnTRourke]

So, I get to give a safety class and then go shooting with/for the boy scouts.
I had one class and went over EVERYTHING, including fit, etc (even the Dads learned a ton). Have to do another one this week to do the rest of them.
Had the wife put together the pieces of a shotgun shell (since I thought that was cool, I never knew what was in there til we started reloading).
Brought all different types (SxS, O/U, pump, semi-auto) and went over all that.
the games, (trap, skeet, SC), how they are played, where you stand.
The safety rules of course
What else???????

[shrapmetal]

what about chokes and effective ranges of shot size. lead vs steel ect.

i once got to teach a safty class to cub scouts but we used pellet guns. i got to work with 280 kids over 5 days at camp. it was a very rewarding experiance. we even had kids with different handicaps and i had to come up with special soulitions for them. i would guess at least 60% of the kids had never shot anything before. they all earned a badge and a pin for what they learned. the biggest thing is have some fun. they will remember this for their life time. i still remember the first time i shot a gun and it was in the scouts. my parents were antigun but the fun i had shooting at camp led to a life long love of the shooting sports.

[JohnTRourke]

didn't spend much time on chokes, I think people get way too worked up over chokes.
i NEVER change mine (although I've patterned mine and most people don't do that and that's way more important)
yesterday, my friend hit a clay pigeon that was easily 60 yards out and going fast (station 14 at CC)
it blew up nicely
He happened to have a skeet choke in. (and he's a guy who changes chokes all the time)
I did go over somewhat on chokes
What is the difference between steel and lead (i'm not a hunter)
Steel needs to be bigger shot to get teh same effect? right? which one travels further? lead?

[Hoser]

You cant hunt waterfoul with lead and it doesent retain energy as well.

Steel also has a completely different shot size numbering/lettering system.

Im with you, choke size is over-rated. For almost all IPSC stuff I use a light mod unless steel targets are way out there or set real heavy. For skeet and doubles trap I use a IC. Sportsmans Team Challenge I just use IC as the shots are pretty close in, but going the speed of heat.

[rondog]

I'm just now getting back into guns, still looking for a good place nearby to go shooting. I'm planning to teach my 10-yr. old grandson all about guns and shooting, and I intend to demonstrate how dangerous all guns really are, on soft targets like water jugs, watermelons, pumpkins, etc.

I want him to know all about what guns are, how they're built, how they work, how much fun shooting is, and so on; but I really want him to KNOW and EXPERIENCE what they can really do to things. I want him to realize that what happened to the pumpkin is what would happen to his or a friend's head.

[shrapmetal]

i agree that choke are not that important but that is one of the last things i knew about a shotgun. i think more than anything it might help the kids out learning about patterning, and how the shot spreads out. as far as steel vs lead all i know is you cant shoot lead at waterfoul because it could poison the water. you might think about shooting some big pieces of cardboard paper at different ranges to help show patterning better. it might help them understand better. the kids i worked with were 6-11. how old are the kids you are helping.

[JohnTRourke]

16 to 18 years old.
So, they are pretty bright and reasonably calm. (a lot calmer than 14 year olds ).

[shrapmetal]

that should be fun. i had to get little kids trained on how not to shoot their eyes out. it was touch and go for a while. i got them for 1/2 hour and then they went to the range.

[shrapmetal]

they showed us a thing in hunters ed that has left an impression on me. they put a 20ga shell in a 12ga. and cycled it. it thru the shell half way down the barrel and it got stuck there. if they would have thought it was a missfire and cycled in a 12ga shell behind it, it would have fire into the 20ga shell that was lodged in the barrel. it showed us the importance of using and carrying the correct ammo.

[JohnTRourke]

they showed us a thing in hunters ed that has left an impression on me. they put a 20ga shell in a 12ga. and cycled it. it thru the shell half way down the barrel and it got stuck there. if they would have thought it was a missfire and cycled in a 12ga shell behind it, it would have fire into the 20ga shell that was lodged in the barrel. it showed us the importance of using and carrying the correct ammo.

Yep, I went over that one, that's a pretty common shotgun blow-up problem.
Why you have to be careful when hunting/shooting with friends with different guns.