SHOTGUN SUGGESTIONS

[BETH]

thinking about maybe trying skeet what would be a good shotgun to start with

[ghrit]

Just about any shotgun that can shoot two rounds without reloading will do the trick. That's if you mean skeet and not trap, as starting with trap a single shot will do. "Fit" of the gun matters more with clays than it does with game, or so has been my experience. Did I do it again, I'd borrow a gun and see how I like the sport before buying a gun for the purpose. (I had/have an 870, so started with that, bought a Browning Citori a couple years later.)

Trap and skeet shooters are a remarkable bunch, you'll be offered opportunities to shoot a wide range of guns once you show a bit of interest. After all, they like competition, the more the merrier.

Watch it, it is highly addictive. Once bit, you'll never quit.

[BETH]

can't you use same shotgun for skeet and trap?

[Big ugly]

You can but most of your trap shooters prefer over and under's. Well the pros you see anyway. To get ya started a Auto will be right up yur ally. Do some lookn around on the web, Plenty of site out there for trap and skeet, it is a nice easy goin sort of sport to get into. I worked the Nationals in Darton Ohio when I was in School. Never did I run into a nicer gathering of folks, from teens all the up to the older crowd. Once it gets its hooks in ya though it can get to be a very expensive sport. I seen some folks have 10 grand or more ino their gear.

[BETH]

I want to try skeet maybe i should borrow some shotguns first but i don't want my shoulder knocked off with the recoil

[grampawmike]

Originally Posted by BETH

I want to try skeet maybe i should borrow some shotguns first but i don't want my shoulder knocked off with the recoil

Beth, My daughter in law is 4' 10" tall........shoots trap with a full sized Winchester Model 12......12 ga. shotgun. It's not how big the gun is, it's if and how well the gun 'fits' you.........then it's light trap loads in it. I'd go watch at a trap and/or skeet range and see and talk to some of the shooters. Tell them of your interest and you'll get all the information and assistance you can handle. I'll stick my neck out here but will say that in my experience I've found trap shooters a more gregarious crowd than the 'skeeters'. I shoot trap.....but have shot both. Mike

[carver]

As grampawmike says, fit is the most important thing. Doesn't matter if your'e shooting clays, birds, squirrels, or deer. If it don't fit, you can't hit, and you won't like the recoil!

[muddober]

Originally Posted by BETH

can't you use same shotgun for skeet and trap?

No BETH, a true trap gun is a bit of a strange bird. First off it is always a 12 gauge. The barrels are most always full choked and at least 30" long. Most are 32 to 34 inches long. The stock is fitted to the gun in such a away causing it to shoot high. This done because as the clay bird is rising from the trap house you do not have to "cover it up" with a trap gun like you would have to do with a field gun. Once the bird of covered you can no longer see it or judge the lead all of which a trap gun allows you to do.

Also the clay bird from the "trap fly" in many different directions from in front and away from you as the machine throwing the birds is continually oscillating back and forth in an arc. You stand in a straight line behind and parellel to the trap house and move along this line shooting five shots from five different stations from one end to the other. As one starts off shooting trap it is shot 16 yards from the trap house, as one gets better at it you "handi cap" yourself by moving back further away to the farthest position which is 27 yards causing you to have to break the bird in the 40+ yard range hence the full choke.

A skeet gun fits much like any field gun and can be any gauge including a 410. Most always has a 28" or even shorter barrel and is choked very little. Skeet clay birds are thrown from two different houses, one at each end of an arched path called a "high house" and "low house" with the bird always traveling in the exact path each time. The shooter moves in an arc starting with his back to the high house having to shoot two birds thrown at the same time with one coming at him from the low house and one going away from him at the high house. The shooter moves along this arched path ending up with his back to the low house again with a bird coming at him from the high house and one going away from him at the low house. The last two shots are shot by the shooter standing dead in the middle of the two houses were the low house bird is literally only a few feet off the very end of the guns barrel when broken and if done right one often has to duck his head not to be hit with clay fragments.

An auto loader (I shoot a Remington 1100) or over under works best but you will often see a lot old timers shooting model 12 pump guns doing very well. As one gets better he handicaps himself by shooting the smaller gauged gun. There is an 89 year old guy at our range that shoots a model 42 (like a model 12 but in 410) and just kicks my butt with me shooting a 20 gauge.

I hope that helps,

Ron

[Helix_FR]

The best I can suggest to get what you want and can serve you well across the board no matter what you shooting, is get one with removable choke tubes or get one that can be converted to removable chokes. Not poly choke, they are too inconsistent. That way you can change your patters depending on what your shooting. I shot competition trap trough college and did it with a 24in barrel Ruger Red Label. Its what fit me and the short barrel made for quicker shots and acquisition. Many of the other shooters had their trap guns with all the high ribs, some autos, some doubles but I did well b/c my shots were so fast b.c I wasen't dealing with swinging a longer gun. I ran Full over Full but at any time I could change to something else b.c I had removable chokes. I'm a big advocate of doubles but get what suits your needs. Many people like autos but they are the first to fail you. Much of what your get also depends on price. Mossberg and Stoger have doubles in the 500 range. CZ, Ruger, Brownings are in the 1000.00 range and up.
If recoil is a problem, moving to a 20 ga or even the 28 ga would do you well. 28 ga is getting more and more popular among the ladies. CZ has a gorgeous 28 ga O/U that is a case hardened receiver and black blue barrels. I keep eyeballing the one for sale by my house.

[JLA]

Back in the day, when I was growing up i teethed my skeet skills on my grandads old boxlock SXS. I wanna buy me a ruger gold label someday but $2K is alot for a SXS double

[ghrit]

Beth, target loads in 12 ga are not brutal, and if you know someone that reloads, you can go even lighter than commercial stuff to start out. And as noted, fit is the answer to felt recoil minimization. All that said, don't buy the first gun that you see until you've tried shouldering it. Anything that comes close will do for starters, you sure don't need a gun in the tens of thousands of dollars with millimeter adjustability to try the game. (Yes, Virginia, there are a lot of them out there well over 10 grand. Not 5% of shooters own and use them.) As a new gunner, I recommend against an auto loader, too many moving parts to clean and tend to. But that's just me.

+1 on removable and changeable chokes. Don't buy a fixed choke gun, they are too limiting.

mud guy, your description of a "true" trap gun isn't far off. That said, I have a guy at my club that runs 100 regularly with 28" barrels, and he's been shooting the game for just over two years. He could go pro if he wasn't more interested in racing jet skis.

GPM, spot on. Reduced loads for the recoil sensitive is the way to go. But trying standard loads first gives good guidance.

Hie thee to a trap range and talk to a couple shooters, chances are VERY good that you will see (and they'll let you try) more guns than an average gun shop stocks. Jump in, the water is fine. You'll get to details as soon as the bug bites, and it will.

[BETH]

Ok i was going to go on the internet but why do that when i have the people here- skeet is when clay goes side to side right? what do u mean by choked? is over and under better or side by side?

[BETH]

ok i looked up chokes and i got that part-there are 2 area's to shoot where i am one field is really large and the other is smaller the smaller one there is a house u stand in front of on the larger field don't know where clays come from think out on the field, so which is trap and which is skeet will find out tomorrow at the gun club xmas party

[johnlives4christ]

beth. i dont know you're experience with shotguns. but i am assuming you're pretty new to shotgun shooting at this point in your firearms endeavor so i am going to go astray a little.

i suggest getting a single shot H&R 20 gauge. they are about 100-125 new. and trying some hand thrown or cheap thrower thrown clays. a thrower is only like 30 bucks or so. me and a few friends just set up in a field and throw for each other. its informal and fun. you go at your own pass and have relatively little money invested

[BETH]

john i shot a shotgun once when i was 15 my dentist took me got 5 out of 25 after a while told him did not want to do it anymore my should hurt sooooo bad he brings me to trunk of his car opens up a case velour lined puts this shotgun together and says here try this told him i didn't want to incase i dropped it or something, he insisted, i shot and there was absolutely no recoil it was beautiful--that's my experience

[Helix_FR]

SXS shotties are more conducive for skeet (side to side) bc they have a natural lead with the left or right barrel relative to the sight which is in the center. O/U's are better for the straight on shots that don't have as much as a left to right lead such as trap. If people are just getting into doubles I usually recommend the O/U bc people are so used to aiming straight on rather than leading left or right. Plus if you have smaller hands, the O/U is generally narrower in the forend. Just don't jump on that pump bandwagon. Pumps are great for hunting. I always found them kinda goofy for clay birds but to each his own.

[BETH]

ok this is what i got so far-12 ga, side by side, no auto loader, removable and changeble chokes not poly chokes but basically make sure it fits. don't know what u call it but what about that part on stock that u can raise up or down, good or bad?

[JLA]

thats an adjustable comb. You likel wont need it if you find a shotty that fits well. Look inot both O/Us and SXSs. With practice either will have you grinding clays to dust in no time...

[Helix_FR]

adjustable combs are usually aftermarket and very seldom needed. My stock I actually cut down so when I raised the gun to my shoulder and cheek my right eye falls right in line with the rib and front sight. Do you have a price range? There is so much to consider but not a whole lot of help. Most people when they think shotgun they think pump.

[JLA]

yeah, knowing what you have to spend will let you know where to start looking...

[BETH]

should i get a pump how else do u eject just open and take shells out? what is shottie? i don't mind spending $500 but i don't want to jump at 1st one i see and then see another i like better

[BETH]

helix sure like your picture, now that's an over under right,maybe the forum will have another xmas give away

[BETH]

what's the difference between 12 ga and 28 ga u said more people are going towards 28?

[Zane71464]

Beth, as per what John said as to you being somewhat new to shotgun shooting, if it where me before going all out and spending big $'s on a firearm that you may not be certain you will enjoy (skeet shooting) you might consider going out and buying yourself an Reminton 870 to try the sport and if all else fails, you have you an all around good shotgun that you will be able to hunt with as well and not be out all the expence....JMO.
EDIT: Hunt with or use as a home defence gun, and a good remington doesnt lose much value, if any if taken care of.

[Alpo]

Beth, "shottie" is part of the baby-talk some folks use about their guns. Remington is a "Remmie" and Mossberg is a "Mossie", and their shotgun is a "shottie". Can you see I think that's foolish?

Gauge to shotguns is like caliber to rifled arms, except the numbers go the other way. With a pistol a 38 is BIGGER than a 22, but with a shotgun a 28 is SMALLER than a 12. Usually the smaller gauge will have less recoil, but the smaller gauge will usually come in a smaller gun, which means less weight, so that might mean more recoil.

With on over/under or a side by side, you just open the gun to unload it. Some have automatic ejectors (I think all O/Us have them) that throw the shells out, and some just have extractors which raise them up about a quarter-inch and you grab them and pull them out. Some have ejectors that will only eject the empty, so if you only fired one barrel it doesn't dump out the live round with the fired hull.