Dave McCracken
July 11, 2003, 07:06 AM
As some of you know, I've not been into the clays games heavily for long. A couple of years ago, I started shooting trap, and have pretty much stuck with it.
Part of that has to do with facilities. PGC is a fine range, great folks working there, but they have an iddywa rule that barrels MUST be at least 23" long. The official explanation is because of blast and noise. Since porting is allowed, I regard that as so much Caca Del Toro.
Anyway, that knocked out most of the shotguns here including Frankenstein, my favorite all around wingshooting tool. The 870TB I use for trap has a 30" barrel,but it also has lots of choke. And at 9 lbs plus a little,it's kinda ponderous for skeet.
Anyway, #6, my latest 870, has lots of choke but runs a mere 7 lbs. Since I believe in hitting things with the center of the pattern, I thought I'd try a few rounds of skeet and see just how I did. To counter #6's tighterthanheck choke,I worked up a spreader load, which opened the pattern up to a huge 16-18" at 20 yards. IOW, it gave me a Modified type spread instead of Extra Full.
So, I shot about 6 rounds of skeet and enjoyed it as much as trap, though my scores weren't impressive.
Then MbuckH of this board invited me to join him and friends at some skeet at PGC. He works at a gun shop I've patronized for nigh 30 years. One of the proprietors of that shop also came. All in all, I met 4 people at PGC, shot off 4 rounds of skeet and had a great time.
The firearms we used included field and target Browning O/Us, a luscious Sauer SXS with 20 gauge tubes, a Beretta 410 O/U, a SBE and #6. We swapped guns and tried out other toys. I hefted that SBE, it handles like a wand. I pity those who shoot 3 1/2" mags in one.
Since the traps were not voice activated, lots of banter occurred. The older guys shot with skill, and MbuckH does quite well for a younger guy. My scores left me low gun, but no one had more fun.
MbuckH, thanks for the invite, I'll be back.
And like I said,I'm saving up for a LONG,Remchoked barrel for Frankenstein....
Part of that has to do with facilities. PGC is a fine range, great folks working there, but they have an iddywa rule that barrels MUST be at least 23" long. The official explanation is because of blast and noise. Since porting is allowed, I regard that as so much Caca Del Toro.
Anyway, that knocked out most of the shotguns here including Frankenstein, my favorite all around wingshooting tool. The 870TB I use for trap has a 30" barrel,but it also has lots of choke. And at 9 lbs plus a little,it's kinda ponderous for skeet.
Anyway, #6, my latest 870, has lots of choke but runs a mere 7 lbs. Since I believe in hitting things with the center of the pattern, I thought I'd try a few rounds of skeet and see just how I did. To counter #6's tighterthanheck choke,I worked up a spreader load, which opened the pattern up to a huge 16-18" at 20 yards. IOW, it gave me a Modified type spread instead of Extra Full.
So, I shot about 6 rounds of skeet and enjoyed it as much as trap, though my scores weren't impressive.
Then MbuckH of this board invited me to join him and friends at some skeet at PGC. He works at a gun shop I've patronized for nigh 30 years. One of the proprietors of that shop also came. All in all, I met 4 people at PGC, shot off 4 rounds of skeet and had a great time.
The firearms we used included field and target Browning O/Us, a luscious Sauer SXS with 20 gauge tubes, a Beretta 410 O/U, a SBE and #6. We swapped guns and tried out other toys. I hefted that SBE, it handles like a wand. I pity those who shoot 3 1/2" mags in one.
Since the traps were not voice activated, lots of banter occurred. The older guys shot with skill, and MbuckH does quite well for a younger guy. My scores left me low gun, but no one had more fun.
MbuckH, thanks for the invite, I'll be back.
And like I said,I'm saving up for a LONG,Remchoked barrel for Frankenstein....