Is it a bird. Is it a plane? No, it’s a Helice shotgun
One of the guns on sale in the Lonsdales 14th November 2024 Trade Sale is a 16 bore Belgian double barrelled boxlock Helice shotgun. Helice shooting started in Belgium in the 1960s as an alternative to live pigeon shooting and the nearest clay discipline is probably trap shooting.
More on Helice shooting
Helice is a shooting discipline that used to be referred to as ZZ. You may never have heard of it before, as it is not well known here in the UK.
Helice targets are quite distinctive. A plastic propeller spinner is placed around a clay with a white ‘witness’ cap in the middle. When the target is released, it goes spinning off in just about any direction. (If you’ve ever felt that clay shooting can be a bit ‘samey’, then Helice shooting is probably the discipline you should try.)
Your aim is to separate the witness from the propeller and make the witness land within a marked white area.
You get two shots at each target as it speeds up. If you thought shooting a rabbit clay was tricky, then you haven’t tried Helice.
The trick to sucess is to keep the muzzle of the Helice shotgun low and slightly to the left of the trap.
Choose the right choke and shot size. See the flash and blur, then pull the trigger.
You should be able to find clubs offering Helice shooting here, via the CPSA website.