Chipperman
Member
Well, I finally shot trap for the first time last night.
In short, it was a whole lot of fun.
I was using my Browning Special Trap 12g with an "M" choke, with the el cheapo Estate 7 1/2 shells. I showed up and told the guys I had never shot trap (or skeet) before. I also told them I had not even fired the gun before. They advised that I watch a round to get a feel for the flow before shooting. I thought that was a good idea. Thankfully, the group was only 8 guys total, so it was easy to ask questions and not feel marginalized.
Suddenly the round was over, and it was my turn to step up. They put me in lane 4. (Do you call it a lane?) I held the shell in my hand, ready to drop it into the lower chamber when the first guy began shooting. I was thinking, "Gee, I hope the gun actually works. I have no idea of the pattern it will throw, even if it does." The guy in lane 3 fired and I closed the action. I yelled, "Pull!" and drew a bead. I squeezed the trigger and...nothing happened. I looked down at the safety, and realized that I had not disengaged it.
At least I had the lever set to fire the lower chamber first.
The guys said no problem, and I called for another bird. I pulled the trigger, and much to my surprise, the bird broke into several pieces. I broke open the action, and the hull flew out onto the ground. I then remembered what I had read about putting my finger there to catch it before it ejected.
The next turn came, and I broke that one also. I dared to think, "Hey, this isn't so hard!" Well, you guessed it; I missed the next 3.
Moved to lane 5. I call for the first bird and it flies out, seemingly at Mach 4.3 almost 90 degrees from where I am aiming. Holy Crap! I missed that one. The next one I was ready for it. Except this one went straight away from me. Well, I wasn't gonna let that crafty bird get away. I pulled the trigger and got it.
Lane 1 was almost the same as lane 5, except the bird tended to fly out left instead of right. Tough lane.
Lanes 2 and 3 came next. They seemed easier, with the birds tending to go mroe straight away. The only problem was, I was not breaking many.
The round was over before I knew it. I went over to the score keeper and he told me I got 12. I was pretty happy with 12, having no idea what I was doing. I asked him ifhe had an idea of where my misses were going. He said it looked like I was shooting low. He also gave me a pointer about lining up my aim further to the right at lane 5, so I would not have to twist my body as much for the birds coming out at a severe angle.
Round 2. I put my new pointers into effect. When I drew up on the birds going away from me, I raised the bead slightly just before pulling the trigger. I got 16 the second round.
Round 3. I realized that I was rushing some of my shots, and made them more deliberate. It seemed that I was breaking most of the birds, but lost count. At the end I asked my score and was pleasantly surprised when he told me 21.
I thought about quitting while I was ahead, but was having too much fun. Most of the guys were leaving. They asked if I wanted to shoot another round, and I could not resist. I was surprised when there were only 3 of us. Well, things get a lot quicker when there are only 3 people shooting. I barely had time to reload before it was my turn again. I was a little rushed, but managed to get 16 again.
I definitley want to do this again. It was a blast. I'd like to try skeet eventually also, but I think I'll do trap for a while first.
Lessons learned:
1. Shooting at night is fun, and I could see the birds just fine with the lights they had.
2. I love my Browning. It points very well for me.
3. I need to get one of those shell holders. Stuffing my pockets got old after the first couple of rounds.
4. Breaking moving targets at least some of the time is not as hard as I feared. Obviously mastering it is quite a different matter.
5. Maybe one of those padded vests is not a bad idea. I do have a small bruise on my shoulder today.
6. The el cheapo shells worked just fine
In short, it was a whole lot of fun.
I was using my Browning Special Trap 12g with an "M" choke, with the el cheapo Estate 7 1/2 shells. I showed up and told the guys I had never shot trap (or skeet) before. I also told them I had not even fired the gun before. They advised that I watch a round to get a feel for the flow before shooting. I thought that was a good idea. Thankfully, the group was only 8 guys total, so it was easy to ask questions and not feel marginalized.
Suddenly the round was over, and it was my turn to step up. They put me in lane 4. (Do you call it a lane?) I held the shell in my hand, ready to drop it into the lower chamber when the first guy began shooting. I was thinking, "Gee, I hope the gun actually works. I have no idea of the pattern it will throw, even if it does." The guy in lane 3 fired and I closed the action. I yelled, "Pull!" and drew a bead. I squeezed the trigger and...nothing happened. I looked down at the safety, and realized that I had not disengaged it.
At least I had the lever set to fire the lower chamber first. The guys said no problem, and I called for another bird. I pulled the trigger, and much to my surprise, the bird broke into several pieces.
I broke open the action, and the hull flew out onto the ground. I then remembered what I had read about putting my finger there to catch it before it ejected.The next turn came, and I broke that one also. I dared to think, "Hey, this isn't so hard!" Well, you guessed it; I missed the next 3.
Moved to lane 5. I call for the first bird and it flies out, seemingly at Mach 4.3 almost 90 degrees from where I am aiming. Holy Crap! I missed that one. The next one I was ready for it. Except this one went straight away from me. Well, I wasn't gonna let that crafty bird get away. I pulled the trigger and got it.
Lane 1 was almost the same as lane 5, except the bird tended to fly out left instead of right. Tough lane.
Lanes 2 and 3 came next. They seemed easier, with the birds tending to go mroe straight away. The only problem was, I was not breaking many.
The round was over before I knew it. I went over to the score keeper and he told me I got 12. I was pretty happy with 12, having no idea what I was doing. I asked him ifhe had an idea of where my misses were going. He said it looked like I was shooting low. He also gave me a pointer about lining up my aim further to the right at lane 5, so I would not have to twist my body as much for the birds coming out at a severe angle.
Round 2. I put my new pointers into effect. When I drew up on the birds going away from me, I raised the bead slightly just before pulling the trigger. I got 16 the second round.
Round 3. I realized that I was rushing some of my shots, and made them more deliberate. It seemed that I was breaking most of the birds, but lost count. At the end I asked my score and was pleasantly surprised when he told me 21.
I thought about quitting while I was ahead, but was having too much fun. Most of the guys were leaving. They asked if I wanted to shoot another round, and I could not resist. I was surprised when there were only 3 of us. Well, things get a lot quicker when there are only 3 people shooting. I barely had time to reload before it was my turn again. I was a little rushed, but managed to get 16 again.
I definitley want to do this again. It was a blast. I'd like to try skeet eventually also, but I think I'll do trap for a while first.
Lessons learned:
1. Shooting at night is fun, and I could see the birds just fine with the lights they had.
2. I love my Browning. It points very well for me.
3. I need to get one of those shell holders. Stuffing my pockets got old after the first couple of rounds.
4. Breaking moving targets at least some of the time is not as hard as I feared. Obviously mastering it is quite a different matter.
5. Maybe one of those padded vests is not a bad idea. I do have a small bruise on my shoulder today.
6. The el cheapo shells worked just fine
