18 inch barrel for trap?

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Normally I shoot with this one or a similar one....

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But the other day I shot a round of skeet with this Saiga 18" and everyone got a quick out of it. Broke 16 birds so not the best performance in the world for skeet purposes but we all got a big laugh.

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If you are serious about skeet and or trap get a gun with 28" barrel or more with interchangeable chokes. Do not need a 32 or 34" barrel and expensive systems to score well. Many folks like autoloaders as the Remington 1100 that will do well in many roles.
I have an 1100 premier and scored 25 in trap many times with it so do not need to brake the bank to get something more appropriate.
 
some clubs place limits on the length of barrels they allow
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Yep. The place that I shoot at - Staten Island Sportsman's Club - requires at least a 24 inch barrel.

Pete
 
most responsible shooting clubs would not allow it. Many clubs institute a minimum barrel length with other mandatory criteria. Like playing in the PGA Masters with a Louisville Slugger and ghetto shorts...
 
I have popped many a sporting clay with an 18 " 590a1.

Goofy, sure.

Watching the wingmaster guys fall over in amazement as you hit the fallaways : priceless.

Preferred.... No. But its an interesting side venture from tactical stalking cardboard BG's in a CQB setup....and they move a little faster.

Great reflex practice, especially if you start eyes/ barrel down on doubles.
 
Will it be ideal? No. Will it work? Sure.

I shoot my left handed 870 with both a 28" Modified Choke and a modified 28" barrel cut down to 19" and threaded for REM Chokes, CYL tube installed, at my local range. Just shooting skeet, so it is closer distances. I definitly prefer the 28" for the clays, but I wanted to try out the 19" just to see how I did. Honestly, if I do my part correctly (never a guarentee) I can hit most of them out to about 35 yds.

Do yourself a favor and go ahead and get the longer barrel. You'll enjoy your time at the range more since you'll be more likely to be successful...
 
most responsible shooting clubs would not allow it. Many clubs institute a minimum barrel length with other mandatory criteria. Like playing in the PGA Masters with a Louisville Slugger and ghetto shorts...
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Then I must shoot at the irresponsible clubs as I've shot my 18-inch FN SLP at three different clubs with no one complaining. Put a full choke in it and hit 23 out of 25 the first time out with it at the Rio Salado Sportsman's Club in Mesa, AZ. Shoot it at the local club in Albuquerque with no problem and no one complaining. So, I guess the "ghetto shorts" must be working for me...the other shooters seem to get a kick out of it when I load 7 rounds and shoot as many as it takes to get one clay...
 
the other shooters seem to get a kick out of it when I load 7 rounds and shoot as many as it takes to get one clay...
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Unless the club allows such behavior, it is considered unsafe and will get you asked to leave - no more than two rounds in the gun at any time - besides, if you need 7 to get the target, maybe you need some practice with a proper gun..... ;)


The issue with the shorter barrel on on moving targets is the ability to start and keep, a smooth swing - short barrels tend to be whippy - fast to start swinging, and even faster to stop - resulting in a miss. There's a reason those who are in the winner circles shoot the guns they do with the long barrels - it works
 
Unless the club allows such behavior, it is considered unsafe and will get you asked to leave - no more than two rounds in the gun at any time -
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Thanks for the swell safety lesson. However, NOTHING we do is unsafe. At the club I belong to there are no range officers. The first person at the range in use is the defacto range officer. If there are other people shooting at the trap range, and we want to shoot more than two shots, we ask the other group if they mind if we do that. If they say, "Yes go ahead." we proceed, if they say, "No" we use two shots.

If we're there by ourselves (most of the time we're there by ourselves) we do whatever we want as there is nothing in the range operation manual about requiring only two shots at the trap range.

besides, if you need 7 to get the target, maybe you need some practice with a proper gun.....
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Thanks for the concern about my shooting abilities - we do this for fun, not competition. A lot of the time we shoot at the larger pieces of a broken clay - sort of doubles, triples, and whatever else is left. We don't keep score we, just shoot shotguns for fun - you might want to try that sometime.

The issue with the shorter barrel on on moving targets is the ability to start and keep, a smooth swing - short barrels tend to be whippy - fast to start swinging, and even faster to stop - resulting in a miss. There's a reason those who are in the winner circles shoot the guns they do with the long barrels - it works
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Gosh..thanks for the swell short course...I generally shoot with an NRA certified trap instructor who's best is 99 out of 100 and who shoots competition at least 2x per week - once trap, once sporting clays, sometimes wobble. I think I understand how trap works...but, to refresh your memory, we're doing this for fun, not competition.

I have a 28-inch barrel for the SLP, but sometimes it's just fun to see what we can do on any given day with the short barrel. But to refresh your memory just one more time - we're doing this for FUN..do you get FUN?
 
I get fun - guess you missed the smiley in one part, eh? Smart aleck comments and unsafe practices are what make us all look bad when something goes awry..............but nice to see you are having fun......keep it at your "range"
 
It is not a matter of what firearm but a matter of what the situation, the shooter and attitude.
My club has awesome reputation like many others, we even have a few champions state and country wide so the day I shot the saiga was between a few old friends including some of the directors, got a big laugh and that's all. Nothing more, nothing less.
Then we went back to our over&unders and corderoy jackets.

Dose: Laugh at least once a day before or after meals. It doesn't matter.

Cheers,
E.
 
oneounceload said:
Unless the club allows such behavior, it is considered unsafe and will get you asked to leave - no more than two rounds in the gun at any time -
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Ok, why is this unsafe? :confused: I'm not saying a club can't have rules against loading more rounds, or that it may inspire bad shooting habits, or mask some people's abilitys or lack there-of. But if I have a gun that is factory designed (870) to hold 4 in the tube, why would it be unsafe to have more than 2 rounds loaded? To me the 2 round rule would be more for fair competition than for safety...

Anyways, at my local range, I load 4, and shoot two sets of doubles before I reload. Since I'm the only one at the station, and I'm not waiting on others at a trap range, it just makes it more fun... If i happen to miss a shot (fair chance :banghead:), I have the option to follow up with a third shot to try and hit it farther out... allowing me additional practice with a clay that would just smash into the dirt anyways... Just my $0.02... :D
 
You have three handicaps:

If it's a factory 18" barrel with no choke tubes it is probably a cylinder choke designed for home defense. The pattern won't be tight enough to reliably hit at trap distances.

The 18" barrel isn't long enough for good swing characteristics. This doesn't make it impossible to hit, just harder.

Serious trap guns are set up with a high comb and special rib to make the point of impact higher than point of aim. All the shots in trap are rising away. This is a difficult shot with a conventional shotgun because if you lead the target you can no longer see it because it is below the barrel. Serious trap guns shoot high so that the gun has a built in lead which allows you to see the target and still hit it.

So if you want to fool around and burn some ammo and the range allows it, use your gun as is. If you want to shoot some trap and actually break targets consistently, get a longer barrel that will take choke tubes. If you want to shoot trap competitively, get a dedicated trap gun.

P.S. you would do a lot better at skeet than trap with the gun you have.
 
Two rounds max is for safety because it is easy to forget your gun is still loaded as you move between stations - I have seen folks do it more than once, even with only two rounds in the gun - something tweaks, focus is lost for a second, they start to turn towards everyone with a loaded gun................you can see where that can go. No one thinks or believes they are unsafe, yet AD/ND do happen to the best of folks - the idea is make sure it doesn't hurt anyone else. Guns designed to hold more than two rounds tend to either be field versions, or , a gun designed with both field and targets in mind. Dedicated target guns are either a single shot trap gun, like a Ljutic, or a gun capable of two shots.

Do some clubs hold fun shoots where three shots are the rule? Yep, been to them - lots of fun, BUT everyone knows what is going on and basically they are throwing three birds, so you should still have fired all the rounds in your gun before you leave the station.

If the cub management okays shooting more than 2 rounds, and everyone around you is aware, and safety is first and foremost, then go have some fun. What I tend to see is someone comes out before hunting season with a new-to-him gun of some sort, not too sure how it all works, isn't that up to speed on safety, and ten starts loading his gun to the max capacity from behind the station with a shooter in front of him - THAT'S where I am coming from - if that is not your situation, then good luck
 
Whatever we do around firearms whether is shooting, handing one to someone, cleaning, or whatever, DO NOT EVER assume anything. Always be aware of the firearm and your surroundings.
Get complacent and you might pay the price.

When I shoot and someone in the excitement of the game or the moment forgets safety I always indicate "your are loaded", or "you are still hot". Nobody is or should be ever upset of any remarks as safety is the main objective around firearms.

If you see all firearm rules in all places are solely based in common sense.
Think like Murphy (Murphy's law) and you should be always ok.
 
...by the way any safety infraction back in the service was a kick in the nuts from behind, skinned head, one month's arrest and w/o pay.
So like in the comedy movies someone turning towards the firing line with a closed action they would kick your ass like you wouldn't believe.
The sloppy guys learned quickly.
 
For what it's worth, on average once a year I shoot trap with my 18.5" Benelli M1S90. It's my 3-Gun shotgun and has ghost-ring sights. I do pretty well on the trap range, but using the full choke is key.
 
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