[porsche]

is it a mistake to use a trap gun at sporting clays? will rib adjustment to raise POA and more expansive chokes help?

[jlpskydive]

Slap a modified choke in there and go shoot. I have two scatter guns that I shoot with on the clay fields and the only thing I change is the chokes between the games as we usually will shoot two or three when we go out. 5 stand, Trap, Sporting, and sometimes a round of Skeet. Both have 28' barrels and while I'm not GREAT!! I'm pretty good. My buddy who is GREAT!! Will shoot full choke all day to prove a point to me sometimes when I start talking about if I had this or that. My shotties are a Beretta SP and a Winchester SX2. Good luck and go have fun. Unless you are getting REAL serious I think your fine with a choke change. Oh and some of those shots are pretty far in sporting so I wouldn't go past a Modified choke. YMMV

[rcmodel]

I would think it's not so much the full choke on a trap gun that will cause problems. It's the stock design.

Most of them are stocked very straight to make them shoot high on rising trap clays.
I think you will have problems shooting over everything on crossing or low sporting clay targets.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/rcmodel/KTOG/1224.gif
rcmodel

[ArmedBear]

Depends on the trap gun.

Trap guns can shoot anywhere from 50/50 to 70/30, maybe even higher.

What trap gun? And where does it hit?

[Dave McCracken]

Trap guns shoot high for the most part. If you can live with that,go for it.

Most presentations around here work with Light Mod or IC. Have fun.

[porsche]

citori plus. have not shot the gun so dont know how it will shoot. has full and IC chokes (from memory).

[ArmedBear]

Personally, I dispute the oft-repeated bit about trap guns having straight stocks so they shoot high.

Skeet guns can have straight stocks, too, and they're not designed to shoot high like a trap gun, since you don't have any need for a vertical lead.

And I'm not talking "very straight", whatever that means. I'm talking straight, as in 1 3/4" - 1 3/4" like this Citori skeet gun:
http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/images/013065m.jpg

This BT-99 is NOT straight, though it has less drop than a standard field gun:
http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/images/017054m.jpg

Note the pronounced wedge to the rib, though. THAT is why it shoots a bit high. The barrel points upward WRT the rib. Many guns shoot higher than a BT, though, like this Perazzi. Note that the rib angle is adjustable to change POI. The stock is adjustable to fit you, and so your eye naturally follows the rib, but the rib slope WRT the barrel is what changes POI.

http://www.perazzi.it/dataentry/upload/25/265/MX15.jpg

The straight comb is good for a couple of things. 1. American Trap and American Skeet are both shot high-gun, so you stand and set the gun horizontally. A straight comb makes that more comfortable; you can rest your cheek naturally, especially if you have a somewhat-high rib. 2. Trap and Skeet both involve holding the gun relatively level; more drop favors overhead shooting a bit more, whereas a straight comb feels a bit better when shooting straight ahead, at least to me.

I have shot 5-stand with an old Superposed trap gun, and it worked very well. Those guns didn't shoot really high like some newer trap guns do; they have flat ribs. The straight comb didn't hurt anything.

[Pete409]

trap gun for sport clays

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is it a mistake to use a trap gun at sporting clays? will rib adjustment to raise POA and more expansive chokes help?


Trap guns can most certainly be used to shoot sporting clays....... and quite successfully I might add. I have personal experience in doing so, and I know several top sporting shooters who shoot trap guns.

An adjustable rib would be of very little, if any, benefit, but an adjustable comb might be a benefit. Personally, I prefer a fixed comb on a well fitted gun.

Expensive chokes are very overrated, IMO. A good shooter could kick a$$ with a cheap set of chokes while a poor shooter is going to remain a poor shooter even if he has the most expensive set of chokes ever made.

[Ed/Pa]

Trap guns are made to shoot trap. Skeet guns are made to shoot skeet.
Sporting clays guns are made to shoot sporting clays. Feild guns are made to hunt with. I shoot a sporting clays gun for all three clay games . Can you shoot a trap gun for sporting clays ....most definetly!

The trick to shooting any gun well is fit, knowing where it shoots, and practice...end of story!

[Pete409]

Ed/Pa wrote: "Trap guns are made to shoot trap. Skeet guns are made to shoot skeet.
Sporting clays guns are made to shoot sporting clays."

While there is SOME truth to those statements, I firmly believe that the main reason we have so many different guns labeled as "Trap", "Skeet", or "Sporting Clays" is so that the manufacturers can sell more guns. In other words, it is mainly a marketing ploy. If the gun fits you, shoots where you look, and is capable of shooting 2 shots in rapid succession, then it can be used successfully for ANY of the clay target games. I've seen it done too many times by too many people to think otherwise.

[Ed/Pa]

Pete..I'll buy that

[Capstick1]

+2 on that Pete. Although I think using a "Trap" gun for skeet and dealing with the radically elevated sight plane might be a little hard for most people. A "Sporting Clays" or "Field Hunting" type of shotgun is a better compromise for all three types of shooting sports.

[220_Swift]

I use a sporting clays gun for trap, sporting clays, some hunting, and occasionaly skeet. The only thing it doesn't work great for is skeet, and I think that is because of the 30" barrel. Or it could be that I'm not that good at skeet.LOL

As long as it fits you well, and you practice, you should be just fine. Good shooting.

[45auto]

In England, I believe trap guns were/are used quite frequently in sporting.

Certain trap guns work fine, depending on how high you want your stock, regardless of the drop. Often, trap stocks are a bit long if you don't pre-mount.

Straight stocks allow you the same sight picture no matter where you place your face, potential for less face slap also. However, on doubles, a stock with drop can keep your face into the stock better than a straight one, and generally stocks with drop are much easier to mount, from a low position, while shooting. Pros and cons of both IMO.

If you look at the Browning International website, you'll see the "trap guns" look almost the same as the sporting guns, just different stock dimensions.

In America, trap guns with very high ribs and high Monte Carlo stocks would not be ideal...fairly "specific" type guns IMHO.

[porsche]

thanks to all, again. this is a great site with helpful and knowledagble people.

[ArmedBear]

I think using a "Trap" gun for skeet and dealing with the radically elevated sight plane might be a little hard for most people.

That's true.

Some competitors who shoot nothing but American Trap have their guns set up so they see the bird floating far above the barrel when they shoot.

This gun is for them:
http://www.ljuticgun.com/images/adj.png

A standard Browning trap gun shoots slightly higher than, say, a standard Wingmaster. But not much.
http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/images/013058m.jpg

So a lot of the answer depends on what, exactly, one means by a "trap gun." Some of the more extreme, specialized American Trap guns would be nearly useless for SC. But if you have one of those, you probably already know it.