Targets

• Starting point and height of clay

• Landing point of clay

• Intermediate height of clay (ex: 12 foot high at 10 yards from the trap)

• Type of clay: standard, rabbit, rocket, battue etc.

• Wind direction and speed

• Orientation of clay: edge-on clays (crosser’s) are much harder to break than face-on clays (driven etc.)

• The drag factor that will slow down the clay over distance (this will change with orientation during the flight)

• The effect of gravity

• Amount of energy required to break the clay (this will depend on the orientation of the clay and the shot cloud)

Shots

• Barrel length

• Chokes in each barrel

• Muzzle velocity of the shell

• Size of shot (pellets) in shell

• Number of pellets in the shell

• Amount of energy in each pellet as it leaves the muzzle

• The drag factor that will slow down the pellets over distance

• The effect of gravity

• The amount of lead required – this will depend on the trajectory and speed of the clay

• The position of the clay in relation to the center of the shot cloud at the time the shot cloud and the clay are at their closest

• Total number of pellets that strike the clay – depends on distance and distribution of pellets within the shot cloud

• Amount of energy remaining in each pellet when it strikes the clay (distance dependent)
If the clay is within the shot cloud, and the total amount of energy remaining in the pellets that strike the clay exceeds the amount of energy required to break the clay, then the shot is recorded as a hit.
Note: At long distances it is quite possible for the clay to be within the shot cloud but to be struck by insufficient pellets to break it – especially for edge-on clays.