SKEET:
Skeet is a semi-circle with 8 positions around it. On the left side of the field is a "high house" which throws the clays across the field. On the right side is a "low house" which throws clays also. The birds cross the middle of the field at the same time when doubles (high and low houses are triggered at the same time) are thrown. Skeet involves a lot of gun movement. It was designed to simulate hunting conditions for upland game. If you've ever swung a gun on dove...it's a lot like that.
Over the course, you end up shooting a whole box of shells (25)....every station is a high bird and a low bird, one at a time...you call out PULL and a high is thrown, then you call PULL and a low bird is thrown....on some stations (1,2,6,7) you get doubles also....so the order for those is:
PULL (high)
PULL (low),
PULL (doubles, in which you shoot the going away bird first).
Skeet can be shot with any gauge (including .410, which is lots of fun)
I think the longest shot is around 25 yards, and you usually use #9 shot with an improved cylinder or skeet choke. O/U are usually the high end guns and they're usually fairly specialized. In general, any autoloader is just about perfect for you as long as it fits your body type. Rem 11-87, Rem 1100, Beretta 390 and 391, Browning Gold etc are more than appropriate. Pumps are equally at home on the skeet fields. Just don't forget to actually pump it! Rem 870's, Ithaca's, even Mossbergs are perfect for the beginner. Utilizing the right choke and load, and you should have no problem breaking targets.
TRAP:
Trap is only shot with 12 gauge. Trap is five positions in an arc formation 16 yards behind the house. The house is in front of you where the trap machine rotates inside it. When you call pull, the machine throws a bird; the clay could come out any direction within the machines rotation. You start on one of the five position behind the trap, and shoot five shells on each "stand." All the shooters take turns...as in, one shoots, then two, then three, then four, then five....then it starts over again for round two on that specific station...and you shoot that way until everyone has shot 25 birds. You never know which direction the bird is going to go. Although there is a limited amount of travel for the machine, it's still a surprise where the bird comes out.
The lanes that you shoot in start at 16 yards, and they're handicapped all the way back to 27 yards behind the house. If you want to be humbled move back to the 27 and give it a shot.
Most single barrel break action guns for trap are specialized also. (Beretta, Browing BT-99, Perazzi) The auto or pump that you can use on skeet can also be used on trap...just change the choke to a modified or full, and up the shot size to 7 1/2 or 8 and you're ready to shoot.
The big difference between skeet and trap is that skeet is a crossing bird game where trap is going away from you most times.
Sporting clays is the newest game out there. It's basically a walk and shoot type course. Courses generally are 100 rounds...10 stations with five double targets thrown. Every station has different doubles thrown. Sometimes rabbits and standards, sometimes two standards, sometimes battues and standards....it all depends on the course design. Sporting clays is the most social and probably the most fun. It can really challenge your hunting and shooting technique.
Some of the types of birds thrown on a sporting clays course:
As far as gun requirements....I would suggest a pump or auto in either Rem, Beretta, Browning, Ithaca or Mossberg with screw in chokes including imp cyl, mod and a full....possibly skeet if you really want to get into it. Eight shot will work in a pinch if you can't can't find any #9 shot.
Barrel length; to put it simply...the longer the barrel, the better the gun "swings." Avg is usually around 28" to 30" for skeet although the trend lately is longer barrels. Trap is usually longer at 30" to 34" A good all-around bbl length is 30".....it's more than adequate for skeet/trap/sporting.
Maximum range is easy to figure out. 2,200 * (shot diameter) = approximate distance in yards.
7 1/2 shot: 210 yards
8 shot: 198 yards
9 shot: 176 yards
Hope this helps.
esheato...