Bringing this one back.
I've been shooting Trap singles for a while now with my Wingmaster and breaking birds quite regularly -- nothing to brag about but my numbers keeps climbing. I recently tried Skeet with it also. Singles were no problem, but shooting Trap singles left me with some bad habits for when the doubles come up.
When shooting singles racking the slide is a rather casual afterthought and I single load through the ejection port rather than using the magazine. Well this has led to some very bad muscle memory when shooting Skeet doubles. I nail the first bird and when I swing to take the second, the dead hull is still in the chamber. I beat this a couple times but I had to really concentrate on racking the slide immediately following the first shot. I took both birds on a couple of occasions, but it was a forced mental exercise rather than a natural motion.
Doubles with an 870 is very doable, but if anyone wants to start shooting any of the Clay games with an 870, I strongly recommend you start out with Skeet or Sporting Clay and NOT Trap singles. A few of the guys recommended I switch to an autoloader or an O/U. While I do intend to buy an O/U, I really need to fix this problem first.
Therefore, I won't be shooting Trap for a while. I'm planning to do some dedicated Skeet doubles work from the stations that require doubles. Shoot a few rounds only from those four stations. Hopefully I can train in some muscle memory so that racking the slide is more natural and not an afterthought.
Skeet shooters are notoriously bad for trying to get you to shoot a round with thier favorite shotgun.
BTDT. One of the guys I shoot with swapped me his Lightning for my 870 during our second round of Skeet (he shot the 870 extremely well); the Lightning may have helped ruin me
A high quality O/U is so nice it feels like cheating compared to an 870. I will definitely be getting an O/U, but first I need to finish what I started with the 870. An O/U is good for games, but a good pump gun with an extended magazine can do so many other tasks well. Once I really feel comfortable with an 870 shooting doubles, I'll treat myself to an O/U