This is a page all about safety aspect of shooting clays; most is common sense, some is law above all it is about the health and wellbeing of you as a shooter and everyone else within range of whatever gun you are using. Don't shoot at anything you are not suposed to be shooting at - ever. If you are in doubt about any aspect of safety then say so - even if you at a commercial club shooting a final, be safe and ask if you aren't sure.
Go to most organised shoots and you'll usually find that the shooter has to shoot from a specified position, probably from within a cage. The cage can be made from wood, fence posts, pallets, bales, alkathene pipe, steel tube; you name it you'll find it somewhere - whatever it's built from, it is there for a good reason. When you are called to shoot from the cage, what is happening? Unless you are in the cage the referee won't let you put cartridges in your gun, when you have put them in you're facing in one direction only and you can't turn round with the gun closed. All in all you are controlled in how you load the gun and where you point it before and during the shot.
Imagine all the shooters putting cartridges in their guns before they walked to the firing point to save a few seconds; they'd be turning round talking to their mates, closing the gun on live cartridges with the barrels pointing straight at someone's knees - it would be chaotic and downright dangerous, an accident waiting to happen. The cage comes in several forms but should be designed so that the shooter can swing his gun from side to side without being unduly restricted on crossing clays and it should have a bar across the shooter at about waist height so the gun can be broken but the shooter can't move forward out of the cage. Some cages are built with a bar across the top but this could be a hindrance on driven targets and should be used with care to avoid damage to the gun.
Wherever you are, whatever clays you shoot, my advice is to use something as a cage to greatly increase your safety, along with that of everyone else watching. Don't load your gun unless you are in the cage.
When you pull the trigger on your shotgun the idea is to put our lead shot in the way of the clay's flight and smash it to pieces but what happens to the shot after that? Any shot that hits the clay will be deflected and distorted so the speed and trajectory will change or richochet, the rest will carry on into the wide blue yonder. Years ago I read that research had been done by a cartridge manufacturer into how far shot will travel if undisturbed and I seem to recall that the furthest distance from any shotgun barrel was around 215 yards. It was also noted that shot propelled straight up would not necessarily come straight down onto the shooter's head but could be blown up to 70 yards off course depending on wind strength and direction, hence the original 300yd safety zone.
The recommendation now is that there should be a 275m safety zone in front of the gun for spent shot to fall. If you are shooting on your own from a single position the minimum area should be a 275m, (300yds), semi-circle in front of the shooter, at most shooting events and grounds the zone should be a continuous strip at least 275m wide strip along the front of all the stands. Fallen shot feels to the uninitiated as if they've been shot at when they haven't; it isn't a danger to anyone unless they happen to be looking upwards at the time. Having said that, don't allow shots to be taken unless you are sure there is a safe fallout area, not just in front of the gun but to the side in the case of a cross wind or behind if your targets are overhead driven clays. Bear in mind the shooters that are slower than you, take into account the wide swinging and late firing guns - don't allow their falling shot to go outside the safe area.
Now you've all read about the massive exclusion zone we need for fallout you're going to say, "hang on, I shoot much nearer to other stands than that!". We all shoot at gun clubs where the stands are perhaps a few yards apart and we all been there while shot has dropped on us occasionally. This is a bit different, although not necessarily correct, because we as shooters are aware what's going on and we're not the general public going about their business; Joe Public is the person that the 275m safety zone is there for. Our layouts should be such that there is no chance that anyone can be shot at directly but this still allows for stands to be set close together in a smaller area than otherwise thought.
For instance, one gun could shoot over an earth bank with no chance whatsoever that a second gun could be hit standing 30 yards the other side of the bank - there must be no direct line of site between the shooter's position and any other person, be he gun or trapper. The main thing we have to remember is that anything in front of a gun that covers another person must be solid - earthworks, sheet steel, sheds, whatever it is must be capable of stopping shot at close range; straw bales look substantial but they won't stop shot nor will plywood. Think about what would happen if you couldn't see the squad in front because of brambles, think also what would happen if someone brought the stock up to the loaded breech with the muzzles pointing forwards as he should and the gun accidentally discharges into and through the bush - I've seen the hole in the ground, believe me - a bush won't stop it.
Please come back soon to find some articles or ask me about safety.
Copyright of this page belongs to Andy, How to Break Clays.com - the website for the amateur clay shooter, July 2007