Know Your Shotgun

Description

The Know Your Shotgun course is an entry level experience for new and novice shooters interested in sporting uses of shotguns. Students will be introduced to the shotgun, its history, use cases, types and nomenclature as well as to the concepts of safe firearms handling. Also, students will learn the fundamentals of wing shooting and an introduction to shotgun sports.

After a lecture students will be evaluated for gun fitment and given an opportunity for both dry practice and live fire under instructor supervision. 

Topics Covered

• The golden rules of firearm safety
• Brief history of the sporting shotgun
  • Development
  • Use cases
• Types of shotguns and nomenclature
• Types of ammunition and their purposes
• Maintenance and safe storage
• Fitting the gun to the shooter and why it is important
• Sighting and leading moving targets
• The Clay Games (trap, skeet, sporting clays)
• Dry practice and live fire on the range

Expectations and Outcomes

At the end of this workshop the student should:

• Understand how the sporting shotgun came to be and the purposes for its use
• Understand the different types of shotgun actions and how they operate
• Understand the different types of ammunition available for shotguns and their use cases
• Understand the basics of maintenance
• Understand the need to safely store firearms
• Understand how to determine if a shotgun is a good fit for the student
• Understand how to sight the shotgun and engage moving targets in the air

Types

Basic, Shotgun, Sport Clay / Skeet / Trap

Requirements

Student should have:

• Ear and ear protection
• A sporting shotgun and one box (25 shells) of ammunition to fit that gun
  • "Field" type loads with a pellet size of 7.5 or 8 and a velocity of 1200 fps or less is preferable
  • Guns can be
    • 12 Gauge
    • 20 Gauge
    • 28 Gauge
    • .410 bore
• Clothing
  • A brimmed hat, ball caps work well
  • Closed toe shoes or boots (requirement)
  • Crew neck, polo or collared button front shirt, scoop neck shirts or tops are not allowed for safety reasons
• Refreshment
  • Water or Thirst Quencher
  • Light snack
• Sunscreen