[MarkDido]

OK, am I going to get laughed at if I bring my Mossy 500A to my range to shoot some clays?

[Dave McCracken]

Not likely. Most people do not s****** at folks holding shotguns.

I'm sure a few snobs will eye askance at your choice. #$%^&*( them. Most shotgunners will welcome you, based on your demeanour and manners, not your hardware.

[PJR]

You shouldn't. But in the event that you do (and there are sadly some places like that) consider it a good sign that this would be a place where you don't want to shoot regularly.

Where I shoot you could just as easily be squadded beside someone with a Mossberg as a custom engraved Krieghoff and no one minds as long as you shoot safe.

Paul

[TrapperReady]

The club at which we shoot trap has people who are more likely to discriminate the other way.

If a guy shows up with a beat-to-heck short-barrelled pump-gun, no one hardly notices. If someone uncases a Krieghoff or Kolar, it's common to hear a buzz of (often negative) background chatter as soon as the gentleman steps into the clubhouse.

Personally, if you exhibit safe gun-handling, then it's all good.

[TaurusGL]

There is a group of people getting together next month to shoot sporting clays. I have never shot sporting clays before, I tried skeet a couple of times, but have mainly shot clays with throwers. Do you think a Defender would do any good in sporting clays?

[lwh723]

My friend just calls his BPS a K79. Yes, I laugh at him, but he's my friend, and I'm always trying to get in his head at the range.

I wouldn't give it a second thought if I saw someone else shooting a round of trap with a 500. Hey, I even break out my 870 express every once in a while.

One of the best shooters around here used an 870 for a while. I'm pretty sure he made a lot of the guys with more expensive equipment pretty mad, but they sure weren't laughing at him.

-Luke

[TrapperReady]

The only times I've ever caught myself thinking less than charitable thoughts about another shooter have been for the following reasons:

1) Unsafe gun handling. However, I will give you a break and discuss this issue with yout briefly. If you blow off my concerns or are unreceptive to advice, then I tend to believe your parents were not married. I've talked with many people about their actions, and fortunately, only a couple have been jerks about it.

2) Rude/Inconsiderate behavior. I've had a couple experiences where guys have just been plain unpleasant. Maybe they've had a bad day, or think they're entitled to something special, but in any case, it's not my problem.
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Notice that these are in no way equipment-related. I do, sometimes wonder about guys who fit into the following category.

3) Our trap league is relatively informal, and lots of folks come out with all kinds of guns. There is one sub-category I would designate as the "hunters". These guys usually show up with a well-worn pump gun (or perhaps a camo'ed autoloader) and a blaze-orange vest. Some of these guys can't hit the broadside of a barn. Often, the scores for some of the hunters is in single digits.

It's not at all that I think poorly of them, or don't think they should be there. In fact, I'm very glad that they are on the range, honing their skills and hopefully getting better. It just floors me sometimes to think of how many birds must be missed (or worse yet, wounded) by some of these guys.

[MarkDido]

Thanks for the info guys. The place that I shoot in Orlando has a pretty nice group of folks. Not very fancy and not at all expensive ($50.00 a year membership)

OK, so here's my next question.

The last time I picked up a shotgun and shot at something flying through the air was probably 1971, and back then it was either trap or skeet.

Now I see terms like "5 stand", "wobble" etc, and I don't have a clue what they refer to.

Could 'ya do a little edumacatin' for me?

Thanks!

[PJR]

Wobble trap is shot on a standard trap field but the birds are faster and go further and the trap oscillates vertically as well as horizontally. You get two shots at each bird and move to a new station after each shot.

Five stand is a variation on sporting clays. There are five shooting positions like trap but the birds come from varying directions. You shoot five birds at each station (combination of singles and doubles) and then move.

Paul