I tried trap shooting for the first time today.

[Trey Veston]

I have a buddy that kept pestering me to show up at the local gun club for a shoot. Today was a big match shoot, so I figured what the heck. I have multiple fine shotguns that I inherited, but the top two contenders were a Ruger Red Label custom in 12ga with improved chokes, or the Jack O'Connor Browning Superposed 12ga.

I chose the Ruger. I have fired it once and it fit me well. I haven't bird hunted in decades and never was very good with a shotgun, so I figured I'd show up and not hit anything. I bought Winchester trap loads with #8 shot.

I showed up and in my first round, I got 13 out of 25. The second one I did 16 out of 25. It was a hoot! I plan on going again, and will try 7.5 shot. My only other 12ga guns are a Weatherby pump turkey gun and my grandfather's Remington A5 clone. I also have a Winchester Model 21 in 16ga, and a Browning Sweet 16 in 16ga. And finally, the SKB double-barrel in 28ga.

I think the Ruger is the best option and I didn't embarass myself with it, lol.

Weather was surprisingly good with 38 degrees, no rain, and most snow gone.

 

[kudu]

As someone who loves Red Label shotguns, had 4 different ones. They will not stand up to high round counts of shells. I currently have none. My original went about 50,000 rounds before having major problems that Ruger fixed and lasted about another 10k before they showed up again, which Ruger fixed again. Had two different Sporting clay Models, both started having problems after 10-15K. Had a beautiful little 28 gauge that would act up off and on with the selector switch, that was the last one I had that was sold, less than 3000 rounds through that gun.


Go easy on the Ruger if you want to enjoy it for more years, Ruger won't fix or warranty them anymore. Go with the Superposed as an alternate, or If you like how a Ruger fits, Beretta is almost same feel on the 600 series O/U guns. Good luck on the trap range, I mostly shot skeet and sporting with about 5% trap. I use a Winchester M12 for trap set up as a dedicated trap gun.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Clays are fun, aren't they?

Wow, those are some beautiful singles!

 

[Barnfixer]

Been there! Now more trap, then skeet & clays & gun shopping

 

[RUT]

Try Sporting Clays next...you'll get hooked!

 

[DukeConnor]

Good job. It is a fun sport.

 

[entropy]

Improved chokes? Improved cylinder or Improved Modified? Or one of each? From the straight wrist of the stock, I'd guess IC in both barrels, looks like an upland gun.
Generally, Full over Mod or IM is the best choice for fixed choke O/Us for Trap, and if your Ruger was choked IC/IC, you did very well. If the choke used was IM, those were decent scores for your first time.
I agree with kudu, Rugers don't hold up well to high round counts, but will do fine for a couple rounds of Trap a year added to hunting. For a dedicated Trap gun, hard to beat a Browning or Beretta for high round count use.

 

[Jim Watson]

How do people fare when taking on Sporting Clays from scratch? Seems the unlimited target presentations from stand to stand and day to day would make it hard to learn. Trap and Skeet might be a prerequisite.

 

[CoalTrain49]

How do people fare when taking on Sporting Clays from scratch? Seems the unlimited target presentations from stand to stand and day to day would make it hard to learn. Trap and Skeet might be a prerequisite.

SC would be hard for a novice I would think. I started out with skeet, long before the game of SC was established. That served me well hunting. Also wasn't too difficult when I started shooting trap. The few times I shot SC I didn't do very well. I noticed people resetting traps for different presentations before a set. Consequently shooters were changing chokes to match the new delivery. Never seen anyone do that with other games or bird shooting. At the time I had a fixed choke sxs with double triggers and 28'' barrel, like what you might actually use upland hunting.

I just shot some 5 stand awhile ago and thought it was a better game than SC. The presentations stay the same and it isn't hard to figure out when or where the clays are coming from. It's right there on a sign in the cage. I don't see how that could be done with people messing with the traps all the time in SC. Or maybe the club where I was shooting had some weird rules, IDK.

 

[bangswitch]

Trap shots have always been harder for me as most come up from below and your barrel hides the flight, so it's harder to get the right lead. Our club has a range where you can shoot both wobble trap and 5-stand, which adds to the randomness of the direction the bird comes from. 5 Stand has become my favorite shotgunning sport. I'm one of a very few club members who use a side-by-side shotgun, most use over/unders or semiautos.

 

[Barnfixer]

How do people fare when taking on Sporting Clays from scratch? Seems the unlimited target presentations from stand to stand and day to day would make it hard to learn. Trap and Skeet might be a prerequisite.

I did shoot a little trap before getting hooked on sporting clays, no leauge shooting or anything like that. First few times out I didn’t do the best but you learn a lot about techniques from watching fellow shooters “good and bad “. The guys I shoot with have been helpful and it makes for a good afternoon. Over time your motions become second nature and that can be taken to the field come hunting season. I tried skeet for the first time this past year and that’s a good time also. I’ve noticed most of the guys that shoot sporting clay leauge also shoot skeet and not much trap. Wish I would have started in my younger years.

 

[CoalTrain49]

Trap shots have always been harder for me as most come up from below and your barrel hides the flight, so it's harder to get the right lead. Our club has a range where you can shoot both wobble trap and 5-stand, which adds to the randomness of the direction the bird comes from. 5 Stand has become my favorite shotgunning sport. I'm one of a very few club members who use a side-by-side shotgun, most use over/unders or semiautos.

SxS was a given for me when I hunted birds. Never had one with choke tubes either. Mostly used a Beretta 426. A sxs with double triggers would be a perfect fit for 5 stand. A single trigger would also work well if you had a barrel selector. Not much interest in sxs these days for clays but I shot a lot of birds with one. I had 3 or 4 in years past. I still have an old G E Lewis in the safe. It's 100 years old with 2.5'' chambers so won't be going to the range to break clays.

 

[bangswitch]

SxS was a given for me when I hunted birds. Never had one with choke tubes either.

The Fox B I use for my clays shooting is Mod/full choked. Makes quite the difference from the CZ I now use most of the time, which has screw-in's, and I have it choked cylinder/improved. As I get older, I look for every possible advantage. Planning on a blunderbuss in another couple of years.

 

[Trey Veston]

Improved chokes? Improved cylinder or Improved Modified? Or one of each? From the straight wrist of the stock, I'd guess IC in both barrels, looks like an upland gun.
Generally, Full over Mod or IM is the best choice for fixed choke O/Us for Trap, and if your Ruger was choked IC/IC, you did very well. If the choke used was IM, those were decent scores for your first time.
I agree with kudu, Rugers don't hold up well to high round counts, but will do fine for a couple rounds of Trap a year added to hunting. For a dedicated Trap gun, hard to beat a Browning or Beretta for high round count use.

I got out the calipers and both barrels are .705, so Modified according to this chart...

 

[entropy]

SC would be hard for a novice I would think. I started out with skeet, long before the game of SC was established. That served me well hunting. Also wasn't too difficult when I started shooting trap. The few times I shot SC I didn't do very well. I noticed people resetting traps for different presentations before a set. Consequently shooters were changing chokes to match the new delivery. Never seen anyone do that with other games or bird shooting. At the time I had a fixed choke sxs with double triggers and 28'' barrel, like what you might actually use upland hunting.

I just shot some 5 stand awhile ago and thought it was a better game than SC. The presentations stay the same and it isn't hard to figure out when or where the clays are coming from. It's right there on a sign in the cage. I don't see how that could be done with people messing with the traps all the time in SC. Or maybe the club where I was shooting had some weird rules, IDK.

They sometimes do move the machines in 5 stand. And each course is different anyway. If SC is golf, 5 stand is mini golf. But they do change the angles and presentations occasionally in 5 stand.

 

[Trey Veston]

They sometimes do move the machines in 5 stand. And each course is different anyway. If SC is golf, 5 stand is mini golf. But they do change the angles and presentations occasionally in 5 stand.

I noticed there seemed to be very few repeat flight paths. Each stand had different angles for the 5 throws. It was very hard to remember the lead on each position.

 

[entropy]

I got out the calipers and both barrels are .705, so Modified according to this chart...

Well, Mod. is a good choke for Trap back to 22 yards, but constriction is bore diameter, minus muzzle diameter. So to know the true choke, you'd need to either measure or know Ruger's baseline bore diameter. ( Remington's is .725 for instance.)

 

[entropy]

I noticed there seemed to be very few repeat flight paths. Each stand had different angles for the 5 throws. It was very hard to remember the lead on each position.

Yes, it's very humbling for a Trap shooter.....

 

[Trey Veston]

Well, Mod. is a good choke for Trap back to 22 yards, but constriction is bore diameter, minus muzzle diameter. So to know the true choke, you'd need to either measure or know Ruger's baseline bore diameter. ( Remington's is .725 for instance.)

I didn't know that. I found a list of sizes for the Ruger Red Label factory chokes and mine is not anywhere on that list...

Ruger Skeet
1@ .740
[email protected]
[email protected]

Ruger IC
2@ .734
[email protected]

Ruger Mod
3@ .728
[email protected]

Ruger Full
[email protected]
[email protected]

Briley Improved Modified
.717

 

[entropy]

I assumed you had fixed chokes. The amount of choke on screw-in chokes should be on the choke itself.

 

[cfullgraf]

I have a buddy that kept pestering me to show up at the local gun club for a shoot. Today was a big match shoot, so I figured what the heck. I have multiple fine shotguns that I inherited, but the top two contenders were a Ruger Red Label custom in 12ga with improved chokes, or the Jack O'Connor Browning Superposed 12ga.

I chose the Ruger. I have fired it once and it fit me well. I haven't bird hunted in decades and never was very good with a shotgun, so I figured I'd show up and not hit anything. I bought Winchester trap loads with #8 shot.

I showed up and in my first round, I got 13 out of 25. The second one I did 16 out of 25. It was a hoot! I plan on going again, and will try 7.5 shot. My only other 12ga guns are a Weatherby pump turkey gun and my grandfather's Remington A5 clone. I also have a Winchester Model 21 in 16ga, and a Browning Sweet 16 in 16ga. And finally, the SKB double-barrel in 28ga.

I think the Ruger is the best option and I didn't embarass myself with it, lol.

Weather was surprisingly good with 38 degrees, no rain, and most snow gone.

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Not bad for starters.

Granted, for each of the clay games different folks have different likes for different games but trap is a bore for me. Not that it does not have some challenge.

I like skeet and shoot a tubed 12 ga. Citori.

Sporting clays can be challenging but again it is frustrating for me.

Anyway, different strokes for different folks. Enjoy the clay game that you like

 

[Lo-Profile]

Glad you enjoyed yourself. I'd shoot the Browning for Clay games. It'll hold up better.
You might need to get it fitted to you. It'll make shooting easier. That and practice.

I shoot all three Clays games and have different guns for each.
My Trap gun is a 34" Beretta Mark II, it's probably close to 50 years old with a fixed full choke.
For Doubles Trap and Sporting Clays I shoot a 32" Beretta 694 Sporting.
For Skeet I shoot 2 guns, a 30" Beretta 686 Onyx Pro Sporting and a 26" Beretta 686 Onyx. Depends on the day.
I have a 28" Beretta 686 Onyx 20 gauge and a 30" Beretta 686 SP 1 28 gauge.
I've shot Trap, Skeet and Sporting Clays with both

 

[kudu]

I noticed there seemed to be very few repeat flight paths. Each stand had different angles for the 5 throws. It was very hard to remember the lead on each position.

The trap machine in the trap house has an oscillator built into it. It swings back and forth and stops occasionally in a set arc so you never know exactly where the target is going to fly other than in the set arc and elevation.

 

[bangswitch]

How do people fare when taking on Sporting Clays from scratch? Seems the unlimited target presentations from stand to stand and day to day would make it hard to learn. Trap and Skeet might be a prerequisite.

I'm certainly no expert at clays shooting, but I enjoy the challenge. Never was a bird hunter except for a few times I went dove hunting with a cousin. For me, skeet was my first clays "game", and I think is the best for learning how to lead the bird. The throw from each house is the same every time, and each shot from each station is the same every time. Sounds easy, but I tend to stop my swing and end up shooting behind the bird a lot, especially at stations 3, 4, and 5, where you're more perpendicular to the flight, and then there's station 8 where you have to swing fast and high. I have less trouble with approaching or departing shots. Follow-through is still critical, and for me is the hardest thing to remember to do.

Our trap/5-stand range is different from the ones shown above. The shooting positions are on top of a hill and are in a pyramid. Positions 1 and 5 are ground level on top of the hill, 2 and 4 are 4 feet higher than 1-5, and station 3 is four feet higher than 2-4. For wobble trap, the thrower is ground level underneath station 3, and it is totally random, you never know which way the bird will fly. For 5-stand, that thrower has a set pattern and there are 9 more throwers along the borders of the field, each with a set pattern, but when shooting, you get a throw from two different directions at each station. You know where the bird is coming from (and one or two stations may throw a "rabbit") but you have to be on your toes to swing from one target to the other.

I noticed there seemed to be very few repeat flight paths. Each stand had different angles for the 5 throws. It was very hard to remember the lead on each position.

Such is the challenge, the game tries to mimic birds in the field. Practice will help with how much to lead, but remember to keep the muzzle moving as you pull the trigger. Like I mentioned above, I tend to stop my swing as I shoot, and end up behind the bird. The good thing about clays shooting is, a nick is as good as powdering the clay. Like the guys tell me, "we don't grade them, we just count them". As long as something comes off the bird, it's a good shot. But boy, does it feel great when the bird turns to dust when you hit it.

I haven't been shotgunning for quite a while, all this talk has me pumped to go bust some clays. Or at least run through a few boxes of shells trying.

 

[CoalTrain49]

They sometimes do move the machines in 5 stand. And each course is different anyway. If SC is golf, 5 stand is mini golf. But they do change the angles and presentations occasionally in 5 stand.

My club has houses for all the traps. They don't get moved. Rains a lot here so maybe to protect the machines, IDK. I'm sure they vary the angle and elevation occasionally.

Still a challenge for me.