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:rotf:

Todd, I too shot a pair of Beretta's autos at sporting clays for a few years and did very well ,they were 30" 390's . That long sighting plane worked great and still does.

Well said Todd. BTW, NSFW!! Now that’s funny!! BWAHAHAHAHA!!

I am definitely not an expert shooter so have to ask. Todd, what does "... guided by a light easy input on the forend..." mean? A soft grip and less aggressive swing? I ask because I'm not too bad at close in shooting but past 35-40 yds forget it, I'm terrible.

Chris, a light grip on the forend for starters. A tight grip on the forend means tensed muscles, which can lead to spastic jerky movements.
On long targets you need to slow down, and smooth out, which comes from a light easy input from the lead hand.
This is what works for me. That, and I don't swing through, or paste out targets, especially when they are long and complicated. Shoot the correct sight picture with barrels moving at target speed, and the target breaks.
Most misses that are not simple miscalculations are caused by a spasm or flinch in your movement. Some misses are just target panic. A relaxed light touch minimizes this.
Basically: Target speed - gun speed - same speed.

Seems to me that I read somewhere that most targets are missed behind. More lead (Distance, not metal)

I would think that's a fair assumption John. That's what normally happens when we try to gauge leads and end up with to much muzzle awareness. Look at the barrels for that last millisecond check before sending it to make sure they are just where you want them and they will come to a screeching halt thus we shoot behind. Somewhere I read not to long ago where the author said there are 2 ways to stop the barrels from moving:
1) run them into a cedar post
2) take your eyes off the target and look at them

By gosh he may be right :)

Remember - A shot string is 4-5' long. If you're too far in front, the shot tail may help you out. It sure won't do any good if you're behind to start with

When we’re working with newer shooters, they tend to be overly cautious of swing or overly focused on the muzzle. They are shooting behind crossers. We’ll tell them to make a conscious effort to “miss in front”. 9 out of 10 times on the next shot they hit the crosser. They then realize what lead means and they begin to break more and more birds. Personally, I try to teach pull-away to students. It is the most useful method to break any target consistently. Other methods do work, some better than others, but not as well or as easily learned at the pull-away.

Most important thing is to get out and shoot as often as possible. Experiment with different methods. As one breaks birds the mind will remember the bird-barrel relationship and breaking birds will come easier.

The shot string analogy reminded me of the time when we were shooting a course somewhere, don't remember where, but there was a new shooter on the squad who was a little nervous about a long crosser.
I told him the shot string was 12 feet long at that range, (I really had no idea) and that he needed to be far enough in front that he would kill the target with the last couple of pellets.
It worked, and he started hitting some.
My buddy (the scientist) who overheard the conversation brought it up later, and told me in inches how far the target traveled compared to the time it took for the shot string to pass.
It was like an inch or so. I said I truly didn't know, but it planted the seed, and got the kid hitting the long ones.