Editors note – it’s taken me a while to get this review together – Keith visited ShootClay a couple of weeks ago, and was very generous with his time – so apologies for getting this online late.
Training for any of the Clay Shooting disciplines can be difficult. Live practice is an expensive deal with cartridge and clay costs mounting up quickly, so in between shoots and lessons, practising your gun mount and aim is a tricky proposition. My coach talks about the importance of practising your gun-mount and how our Edwardian forefathers would practise mounting their gun (and changing guns with their loader) for hours before heading out into the field.
However – that practice can be replicated now – we recently spent some time with Keith Appleton from Arrow Laser Shot who has exactly the product keen shooters need to improve their technique without leaving the house.
Keith showed us the Lasershot Mk 2 which gives shooters of any discipline a great way to practice and develop their skills away from a shooting ground.
The Lasershot device is designed to fit in the muzzle of your (unloaded) gun, it shines a laser pointer at the centre of your aim enabling you to practice gun mount and aim. It’s a terrifically simple system – showing you exactly where your gun is pointing – the kit comes with a simple target which you can mount on a wall at home. There are also some coaching instructions included – showing examples of eye dominance problems, incorrect sight pictures, checking gunfit, practice drills and exercises to improve and perfect your gun mount.
We fitted the Lasershot to an unloaded gun – fitting took 30 seconds, the Lasershot Mk 2 has three different centering plugs which allow you to fit to any gauge from .410 up to 10g. A cable runs from the muzzle of the gun, to a small, lightweight switch which you can rest against the trigger to illuminate the laser.
Keith showed my some practise drills – mounting the gun so that the laser pointer immediately comes up to a selected point on the paper target, moving the sun along straight lines (you can use the line of the ceiling) to practice smooth, straight movement of the gun.
It was easy to see in a few minutes how you can build excellent consistency and smoothness of gun mount and movement with really simple practice drills. I’m going to be purchasing one to work on improvement to consistency of my gun mount. The Lasershot Mk 2 is £119.99 – but will pay for itself in terms of the practice you can do without firing a cartridge or breaking a clay.
Simply put – 10 minutes practice a few times per week with the LaserShot Mk2 is going pay huge dividends to your shooting technique and consequently your scorecard.
For full details and purchase information for the Lasershot Mk2 – check the Arrow Laser Shot website. Arrow Laser Shot also sell a number of add ons that can help fix common problems and improve your gun mount and swing. We’re looking forward to seeing Keith and his product range at the CLA GameFair – we know he’ll be doing a roaring trade for this excellent training device.