10-Sep-2026
Most people’s first experience of a shotgun is a lesson at a clay ground, and most of what they remember afterwards is a list of questions they did not get round to asking. How exactly should the gun come up? What should touch what? Do I really need the glasses? What is skeet, and is it different from what I just did? This guide answers the ten questions new shooters ask most, in the order they usually come up, from the gun mount through to kit, insurance, and practice. Nothing here replaces an hour with an instructor, but it will make that hour far more useful.
Mounting the gun
1. What is the correct way to shoulder a shotgun?
Keep your head still and bring the gun to your face, not your face to the gun. With the muzzles already on the line of the target, push the gun forward and up so that the comb of the stock meets your cheek and the butt settles into the pocket of your shoulder in the same movement, with the stock arriving at cheek and shoulder almost together. The common mistake is to plant the butt in the shoulder first and then drop the head down onto the stock; that closes the eye, changes the point of aim, and produces a different mount every time. A consistent, cheek-first mount is the single biggest factor in hitting clays or birds.
2. What part of your body should fit snugly against the stock?
Two points of contact. The comb of the stock sits firmly against your cheekbone, which sets your eye, the rear sight of a shotgun, in the same place over the rib every time. The butt sits in the pocket between your collarbone and the ball of your shoulder, not out on the arm and not on the collarbone itself. If either contact is loose, the gun will move under recoil and your second barrel will go somewhere unplanned. A well-fitted gun makes both contacts natural; a badly fitted one forces you to compromise.
3. How do I know if my shotgun fits?
Close your eyes, mount the gun as you would for a shot, then open them. If you see a flat rib with the bead sitting just on top of it, the length and drop are close. If you are looking down at the rib, the stock is too low; if you see a lot of rib, it is too high. If your thumb hits your nose or the butt catches your clothing on the way up, the stock is too long. A qualified instructor or gun fitter can measure and adjust length, drop, and cast, and it is cheaper than it sounds. Fit is why two shooters can love and hate the same gun.
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Choosing a gun and a discipline
4. How do I choose the right shotgun for my needs?
Decide what you will mostly shoot. A sporting over-and-under with 30 inch barrels and multichokes is the all-rounder that suits clays and most game. A lighter field gun with 28 inch barrels is nicer to carry on a driven day but harsher to shoot a hundred clays with. A semi-automatic soaks up recoil and is popular for wildfowling and pigeon shooting but is banned or restricted at some clay grounds and shoots. Buy second-hand from a mainstream maker, Beretta, Browning, Miroku, so parts, service, and resale are straightforward, and handle several before choosing.
5. What’s the difference between trap, skeet and sporting?
Trap presents clays going away from you at varying angles from a single house in front; the targets are fast and rising, and the discipline rewards a steady, deliberate style. Skeet uses two houses either side of a semicircle of stands and throws crossing targets at fixed angles; it teaches lead and timing. Sporting clays is the everything-else discipline: targets designed to imitate game, from rabbits along the ground to high driven birds, across a course of stands. Most UK newcomers start with sporting because it is the most varied and the most like live shooting.
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Kit, cover and practice
6. What safety gear should I wear for shooting?
Eye protection and hearing protection, every time, without exception. Beyond that, a shooting vest or jacket with a recoil pad and cartridge pockets, a cap to keep the sun and broken clay out of your eyes, and footwear with grip for the conditions. For game shooting, add appropriate clothing for the weather and terrain. Clay grounds will insist on eyes and ears before they let you on a stand.
7. Why are ballistic safety glasses ideal for shooting sports?
Because ordinary glasses and sunglasses are not designed to stop fragments. Broken clay travels a surprising distance, ricocheting shot is a real if rare risk, and a cartridge failure can send gas and debris back towards your face. Ballistic-rated lenses are tested to withstand high-velocity impact, wrap around to protect the sides, and come in tints that lift orange clays against grey British skies. Prescription wearers can get the same protection with inserts or made-up lenses.
8. What does shooting insurance cover, and where do I buy it?
Most shooting insurance is public liability cover, protecting you if a shot, a dog or a vehicle causes injury or damage to someone else’s person or property, and it is usually a condition of shooting on any organised ground or shoot. Personal accident cover for your own injuries is often bundled or available as an add-on. In the UK, the easiest route is membership of BASC, the CPSA or the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation, all of which include liability cover in the subscription, with specialist brokers for higher limits or for people who trade in guns.
9. Why practise from different positions and in different weather?
Because game does not arrive on cue at a clay ground on a still June evening. Shooting from a seat in a pigeon hide, off a stick on a hillside or from a boat in a marsh all change your mount, your balance and your swing. Wind changes where a bird flies and where your shot goes; rain makes a stock slippery and cold makes you flinch. The shooters who kill cleanly in January are the ones who practised in October’s weather rather than August’s.
10. How should I look after my shotgun and my kit?
Clean the barrels after every outing with a rod, brush and a light coat of oil, wipe the action and outside of the barrels dry, and store the gun in a cabinet in a dry room with the barrels pointing up. Have it serviced by a gunsmith every couple of seasons or so, more often if it is shot hard. If you own a clay trap, clean the arm and pivot, keep the spring dry and store it under cover; a trap left in a wet field over winter will not last a second season.
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Find your first shotgun on Rightgun.uk
Rightgun.uk lists new and used shotguns from dealers and private sellers across the UK, alongside cabinets, cleaning kit and a directory of shooting grounds and gunsmiths. Handle a few, book a lesson and buy the gun that fits; the rest follows.
Further reading: Shotgun fit explained, Buying your first shotgun in the UK, Trap vs skeet vs sporting clays, Shooting glasses guide, Shooting insurance guide, Shooting in different weather conditions and Getting started in clay shooting.
