The highs and lows of lead and lead
The mysteries of forward allowance and weight of shot are revealed by Dr Malcolm Plant
As the clay-shooting competition season closes and the highpheasant season gets underway, one of these topics of conversation remains the same and the other resurfaces each autumn. How much lead (forward allowance) does this or that target require and what shot load (of lead) should I use?
Get in front
From the early days of shotgun development it was recognised that it was necessary to shoot at thin air, in front of a crossing target, to hit the target successfully with the cloud of shot pellets. By the end of the 1800s, a lot of work had already gone into understanding how much ‘forward allowance’ or “leed” was necessary to achieve a hit. And in those early days the shot was propelled by black gunpowder, which burned quite slowly and propelled the shot more leisurely.
Early writers such as Charles Lancaster and the somewhat later Sir Gerald Burrard explained the influence of time and the speed of the target in terms of there being three phases: the brain decides to pull the trigger; the cartridge fires and the nitropowder sends the shot down the barrel; the shot speeds from muzzle to target.
For a true crossing target at 40 yards, the shot pellets take about 1½ tenths of a second to go from muzzle to target.
For a pheasant flying at 40mph (60ft/sec), Burrard reports that a forward allowance of approximately 8½ft will be required to hit the target at 40 yards. Those mathematicians in the audience can do the calculation for themselves. At 40mph and 50 yards it’s 11½ft. Early experiments in this area had been carried out under the auspices of The Field (sister title to Sportinggun), which reported the findings in 1904. A speed of 40mph is easily achieved by a startled pheasant or pigeon with a stiff breeze behind it. A pheasant could be doing 60mph, which would require a 12½ft gap at 40 yards. I’ll leave you to work out the 60mph pheasant at 60 yards. And don’t forget the shot is slowing down.
Furthermore, these calculations have only looked at the flight of the shot from muzzle to target; there is a bit more time to add on for the “brain to the bang” delay, in which the target has some more travel time.
So target speed and range can significantly ramp up the forward allowance that is required. How do we develop the skill of reproducibly shooting way in front of the target at thin air? It’s not easy but many contributors have tried to offer advice over the years.
Two schools of thought
The suggestions have tended to fall into two camps over the years: things that can be done at the “shooter/gun” end of the activity; or ways to visualise the requirements ‘out in the sky’. I strongly favour “out in the sky”, but here we go.
Earwigging the discussions between shooters about forward allowance is a great hobby for geeks. A father and son team, who used to shoot at a ground near me, communicated “leed” to each other by reference to the width of their shotgun barrels. They shot with over-and-under guns, so they were talking in units of about ¾in. This is a nightmare for a coach because the focus of the shooter should be on the target, with an awareness of the gun position via peripheral vision. I am slightly disappointed to report that the father and son were pretty good shots, so their communication system seemed to work for them. As the gun comes to your cheek and shoulder, gun and target should be moving at the same angular speed. If the target curls, move the gun with it.
Peter Blakeley wrote an interesting book, You’rebehindit, which gives some calculations of the “leed” as seen at the muzzles of the gun (in inches) compared to the actual displacement of the shot pattern out at the distant target (in feet). I don’t think he was actually advocating trying to judge lead by looking at your muzzles and I would strongly suggest that you don’t.
The need for speed
“Speed of gun” movement is another comment heard in the clubhouse or gunroom; the topic is usually referring to a competent shot who appears to be instinctive in his or her shooting technique. The gun almost seems to “paint” or “brush” the target from the sky. A difficulty may arise if this shooting process results in a miss because the shooter might not truly understand how they shoot. The shooter’s brain is obviously doing the subconscious calculation of “leed”, or the target would not be hit. It may be effective to use the instinctive ‘see-it-shoot-it’ process up to 20 or 30 yards, but longer targets can cause difficulty.
Indeed, the competent high target shooter often appears to be operating at the other end of the movement spectrum, where everything he or she does seems to be in slow motion.
The brain is given a lot more time to do the calculations, but the shot is kept instinctive by not mounting the gun until the shooter wants to commit to the shot. So if thinking about the gun can cause problems, what do we do about long and high targets?
Reach for the sky
So how can we learn to place the shot pattern at 8, 10, 12 or more feet in front of the target out at 30, 40 or more yards?
Well, practice and experience are essential, but one or two tips may also help. First and foremost, you have got to be on the flightline of the target and it may be curling or drifting on a breeze.
Point the muzzles of your gun at the target as you mount the gun. To help you do this, imagine a laser from your muzzles pointing at the target throughout the gun mount.
As the gun comes to your cheek and shoulder, the gun and target are now moving at the same angular speed and are locked together in your brain – you are halfway to success. If the target curls, move the gun with it.
Pull ahead to put on the “leed” and pull the trigger. “How much?” I hear you cry.
Well, the way to experiment with successful “leed” is to think of what you are trying to do.
The shot pattern out at 30 or 40 yards has expanded to a circle of about 3ft diameter, with about 50% or 60% of the shot pellets in that circle and the rest more widely scattered around the central pattern.
Imagine that shot pattern in the sky in front of your target as you pull ahead. A cock pheasant is about 2½ft long from beak to tailend, so mentally add your “leed” in 3ft parcels in front of the pheasant; 3ft, 6ft, 9ft,12ft in front and keep your eyes on the target. You will hit it.
Oh, by the way, don’t listen to other shooters’ discussions about “leed” because you probably don’t know how they shoot and perceive forward allowance.
Shot load
The objective is to despatch your high pheasant humanely. Shoot with the maximum load you can handle and this will, in general, direct you to a 12-bore gun.
Over-and-under guns are usually more capable of taking larger loads and many high-bird shooters now use sporting-clay guns. One or two of my clients use 20bore guns, with the heaviest load they can tolerate, but they are generally very good shots and capable of accurate despatch.
For 12-bore, I would suggest 32 gram No 5 shot or 34 gram if the pheasants are high and you and your gun are happy with the load. Some local North Yorkshire experts may move to No 4 shot in December and January, when the targets are really challenging.
Don’t worry, you’ll be back to 24 or 28 gram in the spring for the clays.
“Imagine that shot pattern in the sky in front of your target”