Shotgun Hunter

Clay Pigeon Throwers: Honing Shooting Skills

For the firearms enthusiast a trip to the shooting range is almost second nature. Bring a good selection of paper targets, a good selection of rifles and pistols, and fire away. Some shooters use metal or other types of action targets to make the experience more interesting. But what about those shotgunners wanting to get in some practice? After all, filling a paper full of BB-sized holes time after time is less than challenging.

What if the target was thrown into the air, much like the prey the shotgun hunter seeks in the first place? Enter the clay pigeon thrower. The clay pigeon itself is a small frisbee shaped disk usually painted a bright fluorescent or other bright colors. When hit with a shotgun pellet, the disk will break in midair, giving irrefutable evidence of being hit. Often, if the gunner is able to land multiple hits on the pigeon, the pigeon will literally disappear in a puff of orange smoke.

The clay pigeon thrower, in its simplest form, is a C shaped arm with a handle on the end. The whole apparatus is about 2 to 3 feet long, usually made out of plastic. When the gunner is ready, an assistant will rapidly swing the thrower, much like swinging a baseball bat with one hand. The clay pigeon will then release from the arm due to its own momentum and go flying out over the shooting range. Throwers of this type are usually inexpensive, but limited in their function. Only one clay pigeon can be thrown at a time, and the effectiveness of the hand thrower is entirely dependent on the arm of the operator.

The most common clay pigeon thrower is just a mechanized version of the hand thrower. This type of thrower uses a metal tray to hold the clay pigeon. The tray is attached to a pivot at one end where a high power spring is attached. To operate the thrower, the tray is manually rotated around the pivot point until the tray is locked in place by a cord operated catch. On command the thrower operator will pull the cord, releasing the catch. The tray, under spring tension then rotates around the pivot at high velocity and slings the pigeon off the tray and into the air. The whole apparatus is usually mounted on a steel cradle with legs that can be either driven into the ground or bolted to a stable platform, such as an old car tire. These throwers are more expensive, but can throw up to three clay pigeons at once. They do, however, require a lot of physical effort to operate.

Premium models offer completely mechanized operation, with automatic loading and cocking of the thrower, saving the user from having to strenuously pull the arm back against spring tension. At any rate, if you’re looking for some fun shooting, take your trusty smoothbore out along with a clay pigeon thrower and experience a whole new dimension in shotgunning.

About the Author

Denny really loves her home and family and lives life to the full and has been writing about her knowledge and experience. Feel free to see some of her material at clay Target Thrower and clay Pigeon Thrower.

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