Five Stand

For costs and hours of operation, please see the Home page, which has information for the entire club.

Introduction

Five stand (i.e. 5-stand) is a shotgun sport that has features of both sporting clays and trap. Shooters take turns shooting combinations of clay birds, with 5 targets at each of 5 positions. Like sporting clays, 5-stand has a wide variety of target presentations, but there is little walking between shooting stations. The 5-stand field at the Sunnyvale Rod & Gun Club has 14 machines, with beginner targets all the way to targets that will challenge the most seasoned of shooters.

Each station has a card (i.e. the menu) that shows the targets to be thrown, giving the shooter some idea of how best to break them. There are three kinds of target presentations at every station (for a total of 5 clay birds):

• Single target: Call for target with 1 or 2 shells loaded, one bird is thrown, and up to two shells are allowed to break the bird.
• Report pair: Call for target with 2 shells loaded, one bird is thrown. Upon firing, the puller will throw the second bird.
• True pair: Call for target with 2 shells loaded, two birds are thrown at the same time.

Shooters take turns, one at a time down the line, shooting a type of presentation before moving to the next presentation. After all shooters have shot at all 5 targets, shooters move to the next station. This repeats until all shooters have shot at all 5 stations for a total of 25 targets.

For fun, if all shooters agree, the stands can be moved backwards for an additional handicap, which greatly changes the dynamics of the game. Other variations of 5-stand include “follow the leader”, where the lead shooter picks the targets thrown, and all other shooters must shoot at the exact same presentation on their turn. At the Sunnyvale Rod & Gun Club, our 5-stand field is always expanding and improving.

Equipment

The Sunnyvale Rod & Gun Club requires a minimum barrel length of 26” for all shotguns used. In addition, the maximum load for shotgun ammunition used is 12 gauge, 3 dram equivalent, and shot size no larger in diameter than size #7 and 1/2. Due to the presentation of true pair targets, shotguns should be capable of holding two shells (i.e. no single-barrel, break-open shotguns).

Aside from the above restrictions, several shotgun types are usable, as well as a broad variety of ammunition. The most common shotguns used are break-open over-under double-barreled shotguns, semi-automatics, with the occasional pump action. The most common ammunitions used are 12 gauge, 20 gauge, and some .410 gauge and 28 gauge for shooters who prefer them.

Because there are no ammunition stands at the SRGC 5-stand field, shooters are encouraged to wear a shooting vest or belt pouch that can hold at least 30 shells and any other items desired.