By Kate Ahnstrom
Mrs. Beckwith, my 4th grade teacher was so right when she boldly impressed upon me that I must do better at math.
“Math is in everything we do, Kate.”
Those words echo just as true today as they did when I was swinging off the monkey bars. Ironically enough, had I had a better understanding of physics at that grade, I probably wouldn’t have broken my wrist from said monkey bars.
Why the Math Matters in Shotguns
My students are all taught that a shotgun involves a high degree of geometry and physics, and all their movements should be linear. This helps to develop an incredible amount of control through the gun and the barrel eliminating nasty things like muzzle chaos and flinching. Every time you add in a variable, you invite the opportunity for a miss. It’s quite easy to see how this goes against creating consistency in your shooting!
Understanding your gun’s Point of Impact (POI) and Point of Aim (POA) will allow you to further cement that shooting bond. It will take out the guess work, relieve anxiety of the unknowns across the clay course and hunt field and assist you in making better decisions at the trigger pull. The POA is a bit of a misnomer in shotguns as we “point” them and never aim (unless we are rifle shooting them at a static target). POA does have its place, when you are checking choke/pattern performance. If you are trying to select the best choke and shell combo for, say, late season pheasants out west, then you will want to see which shell brand and shot load your selected shotgun likes the most and what choke pairs best to reach out and touch those wily roosters.
To measure your POA, grab your gun and three shells along with a large sheet of paper. Place a cross or X in the center and tape it securely to your pattern board. Step back to 30 yards (there is variation on this yardage, and some prefer 16 yards and others out to 40 yards, I just split the difference) level off with a six o’clock hold on the center mark of the paper. Smoothly pull the trigger on that mark for three rounds and then take a peek at where your BBs are hitting. You are studying a 30” circle around the pattern and looking for any holes. This will allow you to assess the performance of the shell/choke combination.
Pattern Density
vs Pellet Penetration
Let’s wander around the rim of this rabbit hole for just a moment. The bird is knocked out of the air by the pattern density NOT by how many BBs you whipped into it. It’s the concussive power of the shot load that is killing the bird and, yes, a few BBs will make their way into the meat but pay attention when you clean your birds. Unless you’re whacking them out of the air from 10 yards away, there will only be a couple of BBs in the meat and usually not in a “kill” area. This is why my husband loves a spreader choke when running in UFTA trials. He doesn’t blow up the birds, but they fall stone dead close in for a quick retrieve since every second counts.
Checking your shot load/choke combo will let you know how deadly your gun set up is and to what distance. This will let you make better decisions in the field or blind so that your success rate goes up and sky busting goes down. Knowing your pattern density translates to clays as well so you can better understand more technical birds on the course. A twisting bird on edge out at 45 yards will absolutely require more attention than a soft, incoming floater at 20 yards.
Pick Your Passion and Then Set Your POI
The POI (Point of Impact) offers a ton of valuable information to the shooter. It allows he/she to better understand WHERE the gun is shooting. How is this different from POA? Well, we are examining performance of the shot and choke with POA. With POI we are examining gun fit and function. This comes in handy when you want to know if your field gun is shooting flat or if your trap gun is shooting high enough.
Grab another giant sheet of paper, three shells and pace off 16 yards. There is absolutely NO AIMING for this analysis, simply a soft mount of the gun to the X on the paper and smooth trigger pull. Repeat with the other two shells and then take a look at where your BBs are within a 30” circle in relation to the X on the paper. Is it throwing half of them above the X and the other half below? Then you have a “flat shooting” gun with a 50/50 pattern, typical of what a field gun will do. Is the pattern leaning towards a 60/40 split? That pattern is associated with sporting clays while a 70/30 or even greater will best be suited for shooting trap. You will be able to determine if the gun fit is off if your pattern is leaning left or right. It should be centered, if the gun fits well. If your pattern is high but you’re using a field gun then your eye is too high on the gun and needs to be addressed.
Understanding how your gun performs and being able to tweak it with chokes and specific shells opens up so many more opportunities for you. Make the math work for you instead of against you. The geometry and physics are out on the field no matter what, Mrs. Beckwith was totally right about it. Embrace it and understand it.
Share your time at the pattern board and on the clay course with a friend or family member, especially if they love geeking out on the math. One could even utilize pellet counting as an educational tool! Be sure to allow the future shooters a chance to be involved and enjoy the outdoors alongside you.
