Well another season has come and gone, signaled by the completion of the NSCA National Sporting Clays Championships.  The 2010 version of the event saw another huge crowd and the event remains popular as ever. Good news for the sport in this slow recovering economy.

Everyone agrees that generally the event is better in late October than mid September as the Texas heat is beginning to give way at that time of the year.  The draw back is that the weather can sometimes be a bit schizophrenic.  The biggest problems would be the early morning haze and the winds.  Both complaints heard in the years previous but this year the weather seems to have played havoc with the already salty targets.

The Nationals is nearly a full week of shooting with the 300 target Main event taking place over four days and four courses.  The event offers a FITASC, a 5-stand and a popular prelim event the Krieghoff Kup.  The K-Kup is the most attended 100 target event in the country and this year it was won by Brandon Powell, RU was Pat Lieske and 3rd 2009 National Champ Gebben Miles.

Early in the week Diego Duarte put up a score of 90 in FITASC.  We watched the score all weekend as it held up against all the potential chellengers. No one had the stuff and Diego’s awesome shooting got him the win.  The most talked about targets on the FITASC were a 60+ yard rabbit and a distant looper that was particularly hard to see in the morning haze.  The long rabbit isn’t seen that often by shooters around the country and it caused some difficulty.  I’ll just say you don’t want to ride that kind of target.  Pick a place to kill it, insert your barrels and stretch the lead out keeping the swing compact as possible.

It was evident from the scores being turned in early on Thursday that the Main was going to be a test.  Event champion Brad Kidd Jr. who understands the target setters need to please the pros and recreational shooter alike, felt the targets were a little over the top saying, "They didn’t have to make all four courses as hard as they did."  Lady Champion Amy Rule said, "They seemed a bit more challenging, but all fair.  In prior years, there always seemed to be an "easier" course, I kept waiting for it this year and never found it!" Kidd also added that he thought the weather conditions affected peoples perception of the difficulty of the targets.  Both Kidd and Rule mentioned a station on the Orange course as being particularly tough.  It featured a long, fast right to left rabbit and a fast right to left tower target on edge over the trees.

Kidd who grew up in Washington, North Carolina and resides in Louisiana has been shooting sporting clays for about 18 years.  He credits 1992 National Sporting Clays Champion Scott Downs for teaching him the basics of sporting clays.  Further he credits the likes of Dan Carlisle, Cory Kruse and especially Anthony Matarese Jr as helping him perfect the mechanics of his game.  Californian Rule says she has been shooting for five years and has had many coaches but credits Ben Husthwaite for taking her game to the next level. 

Interestingly both of the 2010 champions credit Husthwaite for helping them with their routines.  Kidd said, "Looking back through this year…at the U.S. Open, at the Gamaliel Cup at maybe five or six major shoots, with three or four stands to go, if I hit what I was supposed to hit I would win the shoot.  I would always miss two or three that I should’ve hit and end up third, fourth or fifth at all these major shoots. 

Ben would tell me about a routine and what it does for you. So I kind of took an idea that Ben had for a routine that he teaches his students and started working on it from the time I got back from Italy in July all the way through the Nationals.  I took the routine he talked about and developed it into my own and what you’re trying to do is make that routine so profound that every shot you take feels the same.  The pair at practice feels the same as the pair to win the nationals.  It’s a regimen, you do it the same every single time.  I load the gun the gun the same way, I close the gun the same way, I run through two or three things in my mind the same way every time and it really just puts you in the moment." (ed. note; you can get help from Ben yourself through this website by Asking Ben!)

Kidd shoots Remington 1 1/8oz. 7.5′s through his 32 inch barreled Zoli Kronos which he says is a finely made gun that points like a Perazzi.  He had help with the stock fit from Cory Kruse and another Louisiana local shooter.  Rule chooses to shoot Gambore White Gold’s through her custom stocked Beretta 391.  Her gun sports an Isis recoil reducer and she said, "It actually does have a lot of modifications, the most important being the pink Beretta logos on the receiver!"

As for next seasons goals Rule said, "To continue improving.  There’s so much more to learn…we’ll see where that takes me!"  Kidd said he plans to focus more on FITASC and is looking forward to shooting the World English, World FITASC and Nationals.  He mentioned he is getting a new Zoli in a few weeks and feels he has a good chance at the Open because he likes Anthony Matarese Jr’s targets.

2010 NSCA Nationals Results

Photos credit: www.GreenGirlPhotos.com

It is being reported that Jenni Clark is now officially sponsored by Beretta USA. 

I’ve wanted to be a part of Beretta since I started shooting – about 3 years now!  It’s super exciting! I haven’t stopped smiling.

Way to go Jenni!  No word yet on her gun choice.  -EDIT- It is a DT-10.  For more on Jenni see our interview with her. 

10 Questions: Jenni Clark

This month we put 10 Questions to Jenni Clark who is a much lauded 15 year old sub-junior shooter who hails from Liberty, Texas.  She has been making waves in the U.S. national scene and is poised to be the top Lady shooter in the country.  Just last month she won the Ladies HOA at the first major of the NSCA season the 2010 Seminole Cup.

International Sporting Clays:  Congratulations on the win at the Seminole.  You beat some big names in the Ladies, how does it feel?

Jenni Clark:  It feels great to have my first lady champ win at a major shoot.  I worked hard and did my job and it paid off.  I hope to do it again soon.

ISC:  How did you prepare for the event?  Did you do anything special?

JC:  Actually, I was a little worried about that.  The strange southeast Texas winter we’ve been having had kept me from practicing very much.  But I have been working on my mental game quite a bit and I was able to shoot with Dan (Carlisile) a few times.

ISC:  How did the shooting go for you?  What is your impression of the targets?

JC:  The first day I was distracted, I think.  Or just excited.  But by Friday afternoon, things started coming together for me.  The targets were really great.  I enjoyed that many of them were challenging and made me work for them and none of them were "fluffy". They pushed me to use what I have been working on to maintain my focus.

ISC:  Any particular station that stood out in your mind?

JC:  Not so much any particular station but it was fun shooting from the platforms they have there.  I’ve never shot like that before.

ISC:  I noticed that you did not shoot the FITASC event, do you prefer English sporting?

JC:  I do enjoy FITASC.  I just didn"t put in my schedule this shoot.  I wanted to focus on the Main Event.

ISC:  Are you still shooting a Beretta?

JC:  Yes, I love my gun.  Silver Pigeon II

JC:  Yes, it was an awesome surprise added to an already great weekend.  I tried their Panther glasses last year because its frameless style helped me see the targets better in bunker trap.  I liked them so well I use them in sporting as well.

JC:  I mostly want to keep working on my mental game.  I really feel like that’s my biggest obstacle to see my scores improve.  I want to be competitive in Master class.  Its time for the ladies to be at the top, too.

ISC:  What’s next up for you event wise?

JC:  I am at the Browning Briley now and will be at National FITASC next week.

ISC:  Lastly feel free to say anything you want us to know…

JC:  Just keep learning, keep it fun and keep shooting!

ISC thanks Jenni Clark for her time and cooperation.  Photo courtesy of Jenni Clark.

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NSCA Junior shooters Justin and Katie Fox of California have been picked up by Beretta for the 2010 season.  They both have been shooting 391′s and plan to continue.  Both Justin (19) and Katie (17) are 2009 All-American team members.  Justin was HOA Junior 2 at 2009 Nationals and Katie came in strong with AA3.  Justin is a Team USA member and represented the USA at the 2008 World English Sporting Championships in England.  When I spoke with Justin about the past years events the quote that stood out in my mind was, "We’ve had an awesome year!"  I agree.

They are both coached by Jay Braccini of the Carlisle Academy at Raahauges Sporting Clays in southern California.  Justin is expected to be representing Beretta at the 2010 Safari Club International convention to be held January 20-23 in Reno, NV.  Keep your eyes on these two, great things are expected!

Beretta

Raahauges Shooting Enterprises

Everyone knows how fad and fashion influences the choice of guns in our game. Take barrel length for example. It was 30" (shorter even) then 32", then 34", now we’re back to 32" with hints of going back to 30". Even though this is a trend to most of the shooters out there, to the trend-setters there must be some other reason there must be something to be gained. In the late 80′s to mid 90′s the the state of the art was Bidwell with a B25 and Digweed with a 68X B-gun. Trends have come and gone and now the cutting edge arguably rests on the MX-2000 and the DT-10. I would personally put the Blaser F3 as the one to watch next.

These guns and the shooters who shoot them have a huge sway on what the perception of a "winning" gun is. Unless you can afford the best, anyone who purchases a dedicated O/U sporter at some point asks themselves, "Can I really win with this gun?" While you’re asking yourself that question, also ponder this point. No one has won a World FITASC Championship with an auto. At least I’m pretty sure of that, someone can set me straight if they want. Some guy might have won one long ago with an 1100 or something but in the current era? (-Edit- Duncan Lawton won in Andorra with a Full choked Remington 1100.)

So in the current market with a lack of reasonably priced O/U’s (under $2,000) a shooter might want to consider a couple of O/U’s in the under $1,000 range that have features similar to what the big boys shoot. The guns that might fit the bill are the Huglu Europa and the Fausti Classic Sporting. Many opinions of both of these guns can be read on the forums. The specs on the Europa look good, low profile receiver, 32" vent rib barrels, schnabel fore end, nice wood, etc. and the overall impression I get is that the Huglu’s are not that bad of a buy really. The most common complaint is broken firing pins, after that it’s probably doubling. Both are easy fixes and the 5 year warranty offered by the current importer will cover it. Personally I don’t think it even matters because with any competition gun most shooters have these kinds of things fixed by a trusted gunsmith. No one wants to be without their sporter for long and if you send it back to the factory or a warranty center you are in for a long wait no matter how much you paid. The problem I can see with the Huglu is it really needs the kind of custom setup an experienced shooter and his gunsmith can give it. Not really an ‘entry level’ gun for that reason, but I think a shooter who knows what he/she is doing can make a darn good ‘winner’ with the Europa. (-EDIT 8/10- For what the importers are selling these guns for now, forget it.  You’re better off going with a Beretta 391 or if you have to have an O/U you might find a Browning Cynergy on sale for around $1,800.)

The Fausti (Traditions) Classic Sporting is another matter. Same kind of setup as the Huglu but with three engraving/trim levels and it’s Italian. Not just made in Italy but in Brescia, Italy. I know all gun makers are not equal, not even in Brescia but this gun I think will need minimal tuning and is of sturdy construction. Good for the ‘entry level’ as well as a seasoned competitor. Both of these guns will probably hold their value because you didn’t pay much to begin with and they are O/U’s after all. I guess there are two schools of thought about competition gun quality. One holds that the expensive, cutting edge, lasts a lifetime gun is where to lay your chips down. The other is all about low cost, maybe it won’t last forever but it has the right features and I don’t have to worry about it getting banged up or stolen. That last bit is a real issue. EDIT-Removed because I like my friends.-EDIT Bottom line…function and fit are the only qualities that really matter at the end of the day.