The key to breaking both birds of a true pair is to decide on the most efficient sequence for taking them before you call for the birds. You can often decide in what order you will break them by observing their flight paths while someone else is shooting at that station. For example, if one bird is traveling away from the shooting station while the other is headed toward it, common sense would tell you to take the outgoing target first and then swing on the incomer. Sometimes the differences in flight of the two targets are subtler, but even then there will usually be an optimal sequence to use in breaking them.

Interchangeable chokes allow sporting clays shooters to customize their shotgun's performance to match the different stations.

Choose Your Gun Wisely
Deciding which type of shotgun to choose for the game comes down to what you intend to get out of it. I suppose a single-shot gun could be used, but the high percentage of doubles makes it less than ideal. There was a time when the over-under absolutely dominated the game among serious competitors, mainly because it handles so nicely, functions reliably with a variety of loads, and offers the immediate options of two different choke constrictions.

Nowadays the majority of shooters use the autoloader because of its ability to reduce perceived recoil. Actual recoil of the autoloader is the same as for any other type of shotgun, but its ability to prolong the recoil curve can make it feel more comfortable to shoot, and this becomes quite important in sporting clays where quite a few rounds of ammunition are commonly fired in a day.

I don't own a gun dedicated to sporting clays, but I do have several that work as well there as they do on a dove shoot, a hunt for bobwhite quail, a climb through the rocky cliffs for chukar, a brush-busting jaunt for ruffed grouse, or a long trek across the prairie in search of pheasant and Hungarian partridge. In the world of wingshooting there is nothing I love more than being in the field with a fine side-by-side double, and for this reason it is the type of gun I generally use at sporting clays.

Sporting clays is a challenging shooting sport because the sizes and construction of its targets make the competitor adjust his game depending on the station's setup.

If I had to pick favorites they would be an L.C. Smith in 16 gauge, a Westley Richards in 20 gauge, an AyA and a Parker in 28 gauge, and an L.C. Smith and an Iver Johnson Skeet-er in .410 bore. The only thing I love more than shooting clay birds with those guns is shooting real birds with them. I do use other types of guns, including a Browning Superposed, a Winchester Model 12 pump gun, and a Remington Model 1100 autoloader--all in 28 gauge.

Many sporting clays shooters choose the autoloader because of its ability to prolong the recoil curve, which makes it feel more comfortable to shoot. This is important in sporting clays where quite a few shells are fired in a day.

Regardless of which type of shotgun you own or what size shell it shoots, you owe it to yourself and your gun to make an occasional trip to the range to shoot sporting clays. It's not the same as hunting, but it's the best thing going when hunting season isn't open.