Learning to shoot one shotgun well vs. owning a bunch of specialized shotguns

[bofe954]

I am looking at picking up a shotgun for clays. Right now I am shooting trap exclusively because that is what the club I am a member of has. I would like to start hitting other clubs and shooting skeet etc.

Right now I have a winchester 1300 with a 30 inch barrel, all synthetic. Bought it when I was 18 for $150.00. I can afford a little nicer now.

Anyway my debate was whether to pick up a BT-99 for trap, since really that is all I am shooting now. If I decide I need to shoot skeet or something I can still use my 1300 (it isn't really worth trading in). Down the road if I go skeet crazy I can pick up an O/U. I can get the BT-99 for <1K used or new for about $1300.

The O/U's I have been looking at seem to fall in the $1500 range.

So my question is whether I'd be better off getting an O/U now and learning to shoot it in skeet and trap and just accept that it won't really be the best trap gun? I'd probably get a 525 with 30" barrel.

Since I am going the jack of all trades, master of none route would I be more successful with one gun then switching back and forth between an all out trap gun and an all out skeet gun?

I am not out to start going to ATA championships or anything, just shoot well. Right now I am getting into low 20 averages with the 1300. I only shoot once a week or so.

 

[sm]

Learn one gun.

Gun fit, correct basic fundamentals, and quality lessons in a discipline is how one becomes one with the gun.

 

[Oldnamvet]

I have several shotguns but when I am shooting serious, my old wingmaster is what I go to. It fits me and I have 4 barrels for it to cover anything from trap, SC, or skeet as well as upland bird hunting. All my other shotguns are used as loaners or for people to try out different guns to see what will fit them. When you get used to one gun and switch, it really throws off your balance. I have enough work compensating for a change in feel when I just go from a 26" to a 30" barrel.

 

[foghornl]

One gun...

I have a Maverick 88 with both the 28" Mod choke for my "Woods-N-Water" use, and the 18-1/2" plain cylinder choke (no choke) for my HomeLand Security setup.

Also have late father-in-laws Mossberg 500 with a 28" mod barrel.

 

[bofe954]

I did send a pm.
SM, I know where you are coming from with the "people trying to buy scores instead of working on shooting" mentality. I do agree.

I just want to point out that it isn't always the fault of laziness or ignorance on the part of the shooter.

I live in a world where between work and all the other crap I have to do I don't have that much time to shoot, take lessons etc. People in urban areas don't even have that many places to shoot, or they are distant and it basically requires a whole day just to get somewhere and shoot.

I think frustration with these kinds of situations is a lot of what drives people to try and "buy" proficiency somehow. They know they want to get better and don't have the time so...

I am also trying to shoot pistol competitions and would like to do some 3 gun too. My goal is to shoot all firearms reasonably well. Not to knock down 200 birds in a row but not know how to shoot pistol at all.

There is some crossover too, I think, trigger control and sight picture are always a part of any shooting.

 

[sm]

I got the PM.

 

[Border]

I shoot all the clay sports reasonably well with my Browning XS in 30" which I think is perfect for an all around clay gun. Works on pheasants too. I think if you are doing national matches you might have a point in getting a speciality gun but you'd probably be dropping the other sports anyway? That being said, if part of the fun for you is in buying and shooting different guns, then by all means do so but you don't NEED more than one gun in my opinion. I like to shoot different bows (traditional) however so I am guilty of "buying just to buy" pistols too!

 

[PJR]

Some years back I had two primary shotguns. A long and heavy trap o/u with 32" barrels fixed choke IM and F and a 28" o/u with choke tubes for skeet and sporting clays. I was shooting about 75 per cent trap at the time.

The trap gun was acquired well used, eventually developed a headspace issue and back it went to the factory to be rebuilt. In the intevening months I used my remaining o/u for everything. Initially my trap scores dropped but eventually came back to where I was shooting before. But during that time I noticed that my skeet and sporting scores started rising.

When the trap o/u came back I went back to shooting it and all my scores suffered briefly. Trap came back up but my sporting and skeet scores stayed lower than before.

I made the decision to buy a fitted 32" o/u with choke tubes that I would shoot for everything. The other two guns were sold.

My conclusion is that if you are going to shoot multiple games having one gun that works for all of them is better than switching guns. I do have other clay target guns -- an autoloader and a subgauge o/u -- but they fit the same and don't handle as differently as my former trap and skeet/sporting guns.

The only way I'd go back to a dedicated trap gun is if I decided to shoot trap and nothing else. YMMV.

 

[dmarbell]

One gun

I recently bought a Beretta 390 "Wal-Mart" synthetic. I bought it from a skeet shooter intending to use it for skeet. No one was shooting skeet the day I bought it, so I headed for the trap field where there was a squad. I shot two rounds of 22-23, and thought that maybe I had stumbled on a gun that fit me well.

I changed the shims for max up and right cast. Since then I have shot 93 and 91 on two 100 shot rounds of trap. I also have 3 25s - my first of those with any gun. I was a solid mid-80s shooter before this, having just started in January.

I am also shooting much better at the skeet range. I'm heading to the SC range this weekend.

The gun just fits me. I shoot it where I am looking. When you find such a gun, shoot it till it breaks.

Danny

 

[Dave McCracken]

Keep the Winchester.

Everyone needs a good pump gun and the Winnie qualifies.

I'm shooting my White Onyx Plaything slightly better than I do my beloved 870s, largely due to better fit. Not having to pump may get me one bird out of 100 but I still get beaten by good pumpgunners.

And since I've shot it solely since last year my "Chops" are tight with it.

I suggest you shoot your pump for now and try out a few shotguns to see what works for you.

Then, get one shotgun and make it work for all the games.

Trap guns are great for trap and not much else. If trap is all you plan on shooting, you certainly can get one. But, lots of us use a more versatile shotgun and do well at trap with it.

HTH.....