Best ammo for trap

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I always shoot 2 3/4 dram #8, either 1 ounce or 1 1/8 ounce. The 1 1/8 ounce loads go about 1145fps, the 1 ounce loads go a little bit faster. I happened to stock up on lots of cases of Gun Club before Covid and the ammo shortage. Still working through them.

I avoid the 4 packs you can buy at Walmart, they are usually 3 dram loads and I don't need that much power. They kick a little bit too much for my liking.

 

[vintovka]

Fell into a coupe cases of Russian Made "baikal" brand 2 3/4 dram 1 1/8 number 7 1/2 . Great shooting and other guys always scrambling for my empties cause they have " MADE IN USSR" headstamps.

 

[DustyGmt]

I have wanted to try the Winchester AA #8's for a while but haven't found any until today and it was $11.47/25. A lil rich for my blood. Plus I had been to the sporting goods section about a half a dozen times in an effort to stack up for trap shoots coming around the corner and have come up empty handed but I was able to grab 18 boxes of Winchester Heavy Target #7.5 for 24yd HC and 6 boxes of Light Target #8's for 16yd Singles. I was pretty pumped, @ just under $8 per box.......

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

You probably don't want to hear that I used to buy Winchester AA for $4 a box. Or maybe it was the Remington STS hulls that cost $4 a box and the AAs were a little bit cheaper. This was probably about 20 years ago.

 

[DustyGmt]

You probably don't want to hear that I used to buy Winchester AA for $4 a box. Or maybe it was the Remington STS hulls that cost $4 a box and the AAs were a little bit cheaper. This was probably about 20 years ago.

That wouldn't surprise me, I got into Trap shooting only last year, but I can still recall seeing 250rd flats of Winchester and Remington shotshells @ around $50 +/-.

That wasn't that long ago either, I'm pretty sure during the last administration in fact. I remember thinking "looks like a good price and it won't be that way for long, if only I shot trap". Oh well, $8/25 is better than what I'm seeing just about everywhere else, $100-$160 per flat depending on where you go ....

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Up until a year ago or so around $60/flat was a good price.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Not but about 2 years ago, I was paying under $50 a flat.

 

[entropy]

Walk into most gun stores saying "trap" and you could be lead to several different parts of the hunting and shooting sports. I use skeet vernacular for both skeet, trap, and other clay shooting.

Ammunition requirements for Skeet, Trap, and Sporting Clays differ. If ask for Trapshooting loads and they hand me a box of 2 3/4 dr. eq. 1 oz. #9's I'm walking out and never coming back, unless they immediately say, "this is the only 12 ga. we have." Then I'll set them down, and thank them for checking.
Fortunately, even before I started shooting shotguns, I learned to load for them. It still isn't cheap, I estimate my 1 1/8 reloads last year were running me @ $7 a box, but by reloading I can shoot the loads I want to shoot, not whatever Walmart might get in. I recently decided to save some $ and give my 302 118 bar a rest, and dug out the 1oz.bar, and added a 7/8 oz. to it.

Be advised, anything smaller than 7 1/2'shot will not make it past thirty or so yards. Those 8s and 8 1/2s are fine for 16 yard singles but will fall to the ground before getting to the handicap birds. LOL.
Go to the trapshooters website for unending debates over shot size.
I use 7 1/2, 8, 8 1/2 and 9. Depends on the game.

So true. TS.com, especially over the winter, is a constant source of amusement.

 

[herrwalther]

Ammunition requirements for Skeet, Trap, and Sporting Clays differ. If ask for Trapshooting loads and they hand me a box of 2 3/4 dr. eq. 1 oz. #9's I'm walking out and never coming back, unless they immediately say, "this is the only 12 ga. we have." Then I'll set them down, and thank them for checking.
Fortunately, even before I started shooting shotguns, I learned to load for them. It still isn't cheap, I estimate my 1 1/8 reloads last year were running me @ $7 a box, but by reloading I can shoot the loads I want to shoot, not whatever Walmart might get in. I recently decided to save some $ and give my 302 118 bar a rest, and dug out the 1oz.bar, and added a 7/8 oz. to it.

I used to shoot clay targets at least once a week when I was in college. The most typical load I used was a Winchester AA "Heavy 8" in 1 1/4oz or 1 1/8oz, can't remember exactly. Seemed to work well for skeet, trap, or any other clay shooting I did. Most importantly it was plentiful on the shelves in 100 round bulk packs, which meant plenty of practice. If I had carried on shooting clays after I would have invested in loading my own long ago, but I focused more on the self defense aspect of the shooting hobby. I considered loading your own or finding a lot of consistent ammo to practice with more important than over analyzing shot size.

 

[PapaG]

Nostalgia: A case of shotgun shells used to contain 20 boxes.
That case of AA could often be bought for under $80.
For a while in the ugly seventies (for S&W) A real case of S&W trap loads, silver base, blue hull, was about $45.
I have never gone first class, still shooting my $180 1975 870 TB and reloading whatever shot I could find.
For some reason 7 1/2 works best for me and my gun. In 42 years in my home club I've taken top honors at the annual championship shoot twelve times, been runner up another dozen and rarely was out of the top five. And, really, in the grand scheme of things I'm not that good.
My normal summer has this old man competing in three leagues, one which has a round at 16, one at 20. Another has a round at 16 and your team score sets your handicap distance (my team's is usually 25 or 26.). The biggest league has sixteen and a running team average sets your handicap. Here we spend the summer around the 25 yard line. For the sixteen I usually shoot 8s. For the 20 yard, again 8s. For the rest of the league handicaps it is 7 1/2. We ran experiments a few years back to see where we were breaking birds at the 16 yard line. Most of us were breaking birds at around 33-34 yards. I almost always use 1150 fps loads ( 2 3/4 DE).
That's my story, without sarcasm or judgement. BTW, I shoot three guns, all with fixed full choke.

 

[f451]

I prefer 12 ga, 1 1/8 #8 @ 1145 fps for 16 to 20 yards. Same amount of 7 1/2 back to my league handicap of 24-26 yards. 1200 for hcp if it's windy.
Factory, my reloads, either works.
Sometimes, for games, if the other guys are pushing it I'll use 1 1/4 of #6 in the Annie's for third shot or back fence games.

My preferences as well. 8 to the 22, 7.5 23 and beyond. mod choke then improved mod then full way out their. AA, STS and NITRO 27 for reloading, RIO, MIRAGE T1 are both good. get a shell configuration and stick with it. consistency is the key!

 

[f451]

I used to shoot clay targets at least once a week when I was in college. The most typical load I used was a Winchester AA "Heavy 8" in 1 1/4oz or 1 1/8oz, can't remember exactly. Seemed to work well for skeet, trap, or any other clay shooting I did. Most importantly it was plentiful on the shelves in 100 round bulk packs, which meant plenty of practice. If I had carried on shooting clays after I would have invested in loading my own long ago, but I focused more on the self defense aspect of the shooting hobby. I considered loading your own or finding a lot of consistent ammo to practice with more important than over analyzing shot size.

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! !/8 ounce is max legal in ATA and NSSA, 7.5 to 9 shot is also only legal.no ranges i know here in Oklahoma will not permit even practice with any other ammunition. 1 ounce for 20 gauge max.

 

[paul harm]

You'll probably just be shooting 16yd line, so 1oz of 8 or 81/2 will do. Finding them may be harder than shooting em.

 

[paul harm]

I think Ok will allow lesser loads and the state would have trouble enforcing a policy of shot size or amount of shot . I know ATA will only allow 7 1/2 or small shot and 1 1/8oz load as max..

 

[glassman]

I load Federal paper. 1-1/8 load #8 shot. There are enough people at my club who buy it off the shelf and are kind enough to save their hulls for me. Otherwise, top gun or gun club in the same configuration would be my choice.

 

[The old gunsmith]

Been out of the game for a few years but get the cheapest 3 dram 1 1/8 oz loads of 7 1/2 shot you can find. If you do your part, they will break targets from the back fence. The first perfect round I ever shot was with federal game loads.

 

[Random 8]

The market is so dominated by 1 1/8 oz loads, this is what you are likely to find because everybody thinks more is better. They will also likely be '3 dram" loads at 1200fps for the same reason.

I load my own, and I shoot 1 oz of #8 at roughly 1145fps. I am always in the top 3 at my club at the end of season, and that's vs a handful of serious ATA shooters (lookout when I retire and have time for such silliness if my eyes and body can still take it!). There is something to be said for low recoil, and I believe my patterns are more consistent delivered thussly.

I will step up to 1 1/8 oz loads for handicap or when shooting in below-freezing weather (my light loads do not like to be fully consistent when the mercury drops), and those feel like magnums compared to what I'm used to.

If price is a concern, any of "top gun" gun club or Fiocchi Rio loads will do nicely. If all you ever shoot is 1 1/8 oz heavies, you will never know the difference. I'm spoiled with my light loads LOL. If you can spend a bit more and be patient to find them in stock, the "extra lite" loads from Win, Fed, Fio will be much more pleasant to shoot and break just as many targets.

 

[kudu]

I load my own, and I shoot 1 oz of #8 at roughly 1145fps.

There is something to be said for low recoil, and I believe my patterns are more consistent delivered thussly.

I load 7/8oz 12 gauge loads and usually put 8.5's shot in them for both skeet and trap shooting running about 1150fps. I can crunch targets back to 22-23 yards with these shells on the trap range and smokes skeet birds. I'll go to handicap loads if money games are being shot, but just prefer light target loads for general shooting.