Trap/Skeet shooters...assistance please.

[phxtravis]

I am seriously thinking about trying it for the first time this saturday at Ben Avery. Anyone from Phoenix, AZ shot trap/Skeet there? Any pointers? which are the best shells? about how many rounds should I need? I will be using my 870 with 28" vent rib, bead sight barrell.
thanks for any help

edit: I am not sure weither I want to try Trap or Skeet, or maybe both.

edit again: hte 28" barrel has a choke in it, I havent taken it out yet so I have no idea what type it is. What choke would you recommend?

sorry if these questions are impossible to anwser, I just want to be prepared.

 

[Gunstore Commando]

Hey, that's what I was going to ask!

Well, except for the part about shooting at Ben Avery.

I've even got a Remington 870 (a decision based mostly on Mr. McCracken's writings).

Was going to try trap, first. Make sense?

One more question -- a female friend with effectively zero firearms experience will be shooting with me. They rent guns where we're shooting -- I thought that I'd get her set up with a 20 or 28 gauge auto. Any other thoughts?

 

[Dave McCracken]

Welcome to the world of clay slaying. Instant gratification when we do things right. Hitting clays is easy, hitting them all is not.

Trap and skeet are both shot in 25 bird rounds. You fire one shot at each bird (Clay) so one needs 25 shells. Having a couple extra on you is a good idea, sometimes one needs to reshoot after a blooper shell.

If your 870 is an Express, it came with just a Modified choke. This works well for trap, but is a bit tight for skeet. For that, a skeet choke works best. I know I'm stating the obvious. Other Remchokes are widely available, but you do not need all 8 or whatever. A Skeet or IC and a Full will cover almost all opps.

Skeet goes best with 9 shot, trap with 8s or 7 1/2s. For now, you can use some value pack ammo. After some rounds behind you, patterning a couple of candidate loads can tell what works best at a given distance in YOUR shotgun.

Some ranges have limitations on shot size. Usually, lead shot no larger than 7 1/2 is allowed. Best check before buying.

And, get the lightest loads you can. Fiochhi's 7/8 oz load is nigh ideal, so is Winchester's "Feather" load. Ask about reduced recoil ammo.

Don't obsess about hitting them all. Give it your best shot, have fun and enjoy destroying things loudly.

GC, your female friend may benefit from a shorter stock than standard. That depends on her size and reach. The range staff may have some idea of what she needs.

HTH.....

 

[PJR]

Between the two games I'd start with trap. It was once observed that trap is easier to learn but harder to shoot while skeet is easier to shoot but harder to learn.

For trap any choke from modified to full will do for 16 yard. I shoot modified. For skeet cylinder to improved cylinder. If you gun is fixed choke it should say on the barrel, if it has choke tubes look at the tube and count the notches at the muzzle. More notches equals more open choke.

Just about any 12 gauge target shells will do. Shot sizes are #7-1/2 or #8 for trap, #8 or #9 for skeet. Don't go with larger shot because some clubs prohibit larger shot.

If it's your first time shooting the games it's best to go with someone who knows how the games are played. The procedures aren't difficult to learn but everyone is nervous the first time out and having someone to steer you through the process is a good idea.

If you are on your own let the club and the squad you are shooting with know that it is your first time. We get new shooters frequently at our club. What usually happens is that club management will ask one of the regulars to help you through the process. I've done this many times because it helps keep our sport alive and provides a new market for those of us with guns to sell.

Keep your gun open and unloaded until it is your turn to shoot. Keep the muzzle down range at all times. Ear and eye protection are mandatory at most clubs. FWIW, I will NOT shoot with anyone who isn't wearing eye protection.

Finally, don't worry about your score. It doesn't matter in the slightest. What matters is that you are learning a new sport and having fun.

Paul

 

[USSR]

Chances are, your 28" barrel has a modified choke tube in it. For that reason, and the fact that Trap will be "initially" easier to learn, I would tell you to shoot Trap. It is true, as noted earlier, "trap is easier to learn but harder to shoot while skeet is easier to shoot but harder to learn".

Don

 

[Berg01]

If you are going to shoot trap with that field-grade 870, pay very close attention to this comment from D. McCracken;

And, get the lightest loads you can. Fiochhi's 7/8 oz load is nigh ideal, so is Winchester's "Feather" load. Ask about reduced recoil ammo.

That 870 could be a bear to shoot through 3 or 4 rounds with anything but a very light target load.

I shoot trap these days, but I have shot some skeet; they a both a lot of fun, and its worthwhile to try both. I think a field-grade 870 is better suited for skeet, but you can definitely shoot what we call "fun trap" with it.

 

[Bix]

Ben Avery has very nice sporting clays course. Once you get a comfortable with things, you shoud check it out - great fun!

 

[Gunstore Commando]

You people have ruined me!

...because that was all I needed, another expensive and time consuming hobby.

I took everyone's advice, and got myself some 1 oz loads of #8 (I couldn't find any 7/8 ounce loads for 12 gauge -- are they some kind of special order item?). My friend, it turns out, is right-handed, left-eye dominant, so it seemed like the simplest thing was to set her up with a 20 gauge over and under. She got the 7/8 ounce loads.

We headed out to the trap range. It went pretty good. I lost the score card, because I didn't know what it was, and deliberately didn't keep score in my head, but we both managed to break enough to let us know that this would be a fun game if/when we got the hang of it.

We went back to the clubhouse to check out, and a gang of old coots invited us to shoot a round of skeet with them, which seemed like an extraordinarily generous and gentlemanly offer. My friend was getting a little tired by then (even in my extremely limited experience of shotguns, that was not the lightest 20 gauge I've ever seen), but she encouraged me to join them, so I did.

I turned fifty earlier this month, which worked out to about ten years younger than the next youngest member of the crew. It seemed a bit like having a bunch of shotgun-wielding Iron Johns initiate me into the joys of old-coot-hood.

Skeet didn't seem nearly as easy as trap. Not for me, anyway. Boy howdy them old men is sudden with a skeet gun! Especially on the doubles!!

"You would have done better," the oldest of the old coots assured me after the round, "if you had a skeet choke". Yeah, like maybe I would have scored five or six instead of four.

I want to do that again. Soon. (And so does my friend! Hooray!)

One more question -- is there any drawback (other than time and expense) in trying to learn skeet and trap at the same time, or would it better to get some kind of grounding in one first before trying the other)?

Gotta run! I'm going to see if I can get up to the gun store before it closes. I need me one of them skeet choke tubes.

Gunstore Commando
Probationary Old Coot, Junior Grade

 

[PJR]

You people have ruined me!

That's what we are here for.

There's nothing wrong with shooting both games although you will get better if you focus on just one. If you're there to have a good time then play all the games.

If your lady friend is cross dominant (much more common in women than men) she might have to shoot with one eye closed or put some clear tape on her shooting glasses to shift the master eye. Cross dominance is more of a problem on crossing birds than going away so possibly she should stick to trap.

Congratulations on your first outing. I've been playing the clay games for many years now and I still get that rush of satisfaction when a dust cloud hangs in the air where a clay target once flew.

 

[BozemanMT]

You are so me less than a year ago. The very first time I shot a shotgun, it was at skeet (with a friend who wasn't the best instructor) I got a 7. I hit 2 on station 1 and thought "wow, this isn't hard",but then it went downhill. I shot a little 5 stand that day and was hooked. Got another friend hooked, we took some lessons (and that is the #1 thing you should do, #2 is get the shotgun fitted to you). AFter that it was get out of the way.

I bet I've put over 7000 rounds down range since last october on just a shotgun. I got married in June and the wife, who had never shot a shotgun before, is also now hooked. She's easily put 3500 rounds down range since June. (easy, and we took the month of september off for other commitments). She owns 3 shotguns, I have 4. We both want more.

We shoot everything. Trap, skeet, sporting clays, even some 5 stand when we can find it. (5 stand is hard!). Neither one of us have shot a perfect round yet (although she'll do it first, i'm sure, she's better than I am already). But my friend I took lessons with has already shot a 50 straight in trap and shoots 60's in sporting clays pretty consistently.

Great game
I can't see getting hooked on just one thing, I just like blowing the little clays up.
Skeet's fast, I love teh doubles. (ok, I hate station 2, or it hates me, but I like skeet). ONce you figure out skeet, the game will slow down a lot and you'll realize what's happening. Then your scores will drop because you plan too far ahead instead of being instinctive. But they will come back up.

Great tool.

 

[Dave McCracken]

I deny wrongdoing....

Thanks, GC, you just made my morning. A couple things...

Mixed dominance is often best addressed with new shooters by switching to the dominant eye side. WW is lefthanded, right eyed and shoots RH.

7/8 oz 12 gauge shells are made by all the major makers. Demand is what drives the stuff on the dealer's shelves. Tell your local shop you want them.

As for the old coots, thank Heaven you found them. Marvelous storehouses of info, and six or more decades of life experience buff the personalities nicely.

Listen to them. Not alll they say will be helpful, but much of it will.

And like Paul said, the rush of seeing those things turn into smoke is eternal.

 

[richardschennberg]

Regarding cross dominance, you can put a vertical piece of tape that keeps you from seeing the muzzle with the "wrong" eye. As long as you see the muzzle only with the eye corresponding to your long gun shoulder, it should be O.K. to see the clay bird with both eyes. If you shoot off your right shoulder, tape the left lens. Use reduced-adhesive tape so that you can take the tape off for other uses or if you change your mind.
Richard
Schennberg.com

 

[Smoke]

**** WARNING - HIJACK AHEAD ****

Regarding cross dominance, you can put a vertical piece of tape that keeps you from seeing the muzzle with the "wrong" eye

Inever understood the concept of shooting with both eyes open if you purposely block the vision on one eye. What advantage is there to that?

Smoke

**** We now return you to your regularly schedule thread ... ****

 

[sm]

Depth Perception
Periphial vison.

Both eyes open gives advantage to these, no matter what platform one shoots.

Even with one eye partially obstructed with clear tape, chap-stick, or grease, keeps the "wrong eye" from wanting to take control - still allows the depth perception and periphial vison to work.

Still missing doves are we?

Run'em

Steve

 

[sm]

I started with clay throwers in a field.

Met a skeet field and went totally bonkers. Got a better fitting gun, had mentors, Wore out Brister's Book, and Misseldines Score Better At Skeet.

I broke two on my first visit to a Regulation skeet field [fancy one, big city, paved sidwalks and all]. Took me 4 weeks to run my first straight, then ran my first 100 in two more weeks. Then I "had" start running straights in all 4 gauges.

Did 200 straight in 28 ga on the same day. [I forgot 20 ga shells]. Two days later remembered the 20 ga shells and ran them. .410 was not as cooperative. I could run 99 real well, that "100th" kept alluding me. When I nailed it - I nailed it but good. I guess from "git to go" took me just under 3 months to get the .410 to cooperate.

Strolled up the Trap range to say hello to a fellow, next thing I am on the Trap line. Mentor kept whispering hold points and such, ran 23 and decided to stop for the day whilst the getting was good.

I do the "sit in shade grinning like a idiot while sipping soda" really really well.

Ran 50 straight in skeet, went home and grinned more.

Everything went downhill from there. Guns, 11 reloaders, pallets of shot, powder, wads, primers and - generally I lived in one big reloading room with bathroom, kitchen, bedroom - as add ons...and the garage was storage and docking area for brown truck...before you knew it.

Met umpteen folks, miles upon miles of travel [maybe the fields are different in TX, OK, AL,GA, FL....PA??]

Had mentors and mentored. Then I found out about 5 Stand and Sporting Clays, then a Mentor asked " whadda know about live birds - and I don't mean doves, quail and ducks".

Katie forgot to bar the door.

I would get finished with shoot and be off and burning up the blacktop to make it in time for another.

All started with breaking two on a real big city skeet field.

My heart is still in the little out of the way fields, in pastures, the south forty on ranches, with a chunk of plywood to mark the station...or near-abouts.

I had my mentors, my books, all sorts of patterning done, lots of friends and learned lots, shared lots.

Learn the mental game, I learned to stay focused going for a straight with a bull "coming our way really fast". Focus on the bird, follow thru,and then run like crazy and hide in the low house...
Never mind the idiots hiding on the high house steps laughing...

A bull can take the steps down from a high high house - ain't no steps on a low house.