 sterling18
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Joined: Mar 2003  UT, USA
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Posted: 6/5/2011 11:52:14 PM
[Last Edit: 6/5/2011 11:53:45 PM by sterling18]
THE IMAGE ABOVE IS A PAID ADVERTISEMENT I took an NRA Instructors Class for shotgun to qualify as a BSA Merit Badge Councilor. It was a 10 hour course with a 80+ question exam with multiple choice, T/F and written and oral presentation. It wasn't bad as it was an open book exam. It also required you to shoot a pro-marksman level trap (13 out of 25). Well, I've been shooting for oven 10 years but I've never shot trap. The closes I've done was Duck Hunt on the Nintendo game console  . So the requirement was to shoot 13 for 25 clays. I was nervous. Considering the instruction for clays was almost literally point and shoot. Most things I know about shooting (high power rifle/pistol) went out the window with shotgun. I've shot 3 gun matches.So.... I missed my first two. I was even more nervous after that. I had two instructors that shot distinguish expert (NRA rating) give me some quick words of advice and encouragement. I shot 16 out of 19. My instructor kept count but let me shoot until I ran dry. Since I wasn't keeping count, I was freaking nervous wondering why I didn't get my 13 yet. He just let me keep going since I was on a roll. At the end of it, I had a grin from ear to ear. I didn't care for sporting shotguns before because everyone I've met that shot trap or skeet were always talking trash about the EBR's. Think Elmer Fudd. Now I can't wait to get back out to the trap range to see if I can improve. It's freaking fun and addictive. Oh yea, one other thing, I didn't own any trap or skeet shotguns. My one and only is a 18" Remington Police Magnum 870. I got razzed a bit from the other students about me kicking in a door and being high speed low drag. All of theirs were either over under's or semi autos, beautiful wood stock and forearm while my was all black. But it did the job. So what's a cheap entry level 12 gauge for trap? Ones to stay away from. If you've read this far. thank you for any advice. |
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Posted: 6/6/2011 6:50:47 AM
Trap is single shot, so about any shotgun/action will work. When you buy a shotgun, the first thing you should do, is to get it fitted, so your eye is where it should be - looking straight down the barrel. If you learn to shoot un-fitted, then get the gun fitted later (as I did), you'll have to re-learn where things should be to break birds.
If you like the games, then try Sporting Clays - thats generally 2 shots at 2 birds. For that, you can use a pump, but you're probably better served with a O/U or Semi. So, for versitility, pump, semi, or O/U. I find that O/U's beat me up and tire me out- -so I have a Browning Gold semi, soft shooting and reliable. Check out Beretta's 391 Urika also. Benelli's seem to have a following, but they seem to have more kick than a gas gun. At the end of 100 birds on a sporting clays course, I'm ready to go again, while the guys with O/U's are packing up. When using it on the trap range, I usually put a rubber band over the port, so I don't throw hulls at some guys $25,000 Perazzi. Yes, they spend that much for a shotgun. |
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sterling18
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Joined: Mar 2003 UT, USA
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Posted: 6/7/2011 9:41:36 AM
Thanks Robrat. I'll start looking in the semi direction.
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someonelse4325
Can't use a one legged Ninja, move along.
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Joined: Dec 2010 MT, USA
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Posted: 6/15/2011 11:05:30 PM
I've played the trap game and you're right, it is addictive. I stared out with by borrowing a friends O/U. I liked it so much I went and bought a $1200 Franchi O/U. That thing beat the hell out of me. I shot winter league in Montana with it and it performed perfectly in subzero weather but the problem was my cheek was all bruised up the next week. I was told to get it fitted and it would help me out. If you decide on an O/U get it fitted, it helped tremendously and shortly after I had it fitted I shot my first 25. I ended up selling that gun to get a Beretta A391. Best shooting shotgun that I've ever owned. You don't feel the recoil a bit and it's light enough to lug all over the rivers. Ya get two guns in one, a trap gun and a goose/duck gun. It'll handle the 3-1/2 magnums and the 2-3/4 1oz trap loads without a hickup. Only thing I have to say about the semi-autos is that I had to break mine in with some high power loads prior to using the light trap loads. I ran two boxes of 2-3/4 4.5 dram during practice (don't use it during league, they don't like that). Sounded like a cannon out there on the line but it worked. I did shoot in one ATA match and was beat out in a shootoff by a guy with an old Remington 1100 pump gun though. Either way I had a blast and would very much like to get back into it.
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Posted: 10/14/2011 4:37:58 AM
I used to shoot trap quite a bit when I lived in Iowa, now that I moved south I haven't shot much.
I shot with a Benelli M1S90 with a 24" barrel and a full choke. Full makes it a bit tougher, but when you connect, there is no doubt. I have a birchwood casey (i think) shell catcher on it. It has a little wire that catches the shell so you can put it in your bag (instead of picking up 5 of them each time you move). You definately don't need anything fancy. A guy I went to high school with regularly went to the state shoot and did extremely well with an 870 express (he would have no problem outshooting me with it). Trap is mostly mental, as long as you are consistant and RELAX you'll start shooting better. When I first started I would be all keyed up when it was my turn. One thing I started doing was missing the first bird on purpose. There, now I can't possibly shoot a perfect match, so I can relax... I liked to concentrate on timing, after the shooter 2 down from me fired, I put the shell in the action. After the shooter next to me fired, I hit the bolt release. When it was my turn I settled into the gun and I tried to pull the trigger at about the same time for each bird. This greatly improved my average and attributed to several 25s. I'd like to get back into it, if only time would permit. Its a ton of fun. |
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