Need advice before I shoot Trap for first time

[Trebor]

I'm going to shot Trap for the first time on Weds (or next Weds if the weather is bad).

I am NOT a shotgunner. My only shotgun experience was shooting a few rounds of Sporting Clays about 10 years ago. IIRC, I didn't do very well as I didn't have much idea about what I was doing.

The gun I'll use is a Lefever Nitro Express in 12 Gauge. I've already got some light trap loads. I have no other equipment.

I have absolutely NO idea how Trap works. What are the stages, how many shots, where to stand, etc. I'm sure I'll get some coaching when I'm there, but I'd like to at least know the basics of the CoF and procedures. After that, some tips on basic shotgunning would be much appreciated. Assume I know NOTHING.

So, any help?

Rob

 

[Hawken50]

i'm kinda new too so here goes. first i'll go with the what, then the how.

there are 5 stations in a line usually 16 yards behind the trap house (where the birds come out). the stations are usually in a slight arc so each one is the same distance from the house. the stations are probably 5-7 feet apart. it's pretty easy and once you shoot one round you'll have it figured out.

groups of 5 people, called squads, shoot together. station one (on the left facing downrange) calls for a bird and shoots only once. if it's a hit the trapper says nothing, a miss he says "drop" then station 2 goes, then 3, then 4, then 5, then one again and so on. after the 1st guy shoots his 5th shot, the trapper (scorekeeper) will yell "end" to help you keep track. after everyone has fired 5 shots the trapper will yell "switch" and every one moves on place to the right. the #5 guy goes to #1 station. then it starts all over, only this time the guy at the #2 station goes first. i.e. if you start at the #1 station, you will be the first guy shooting for every five shot round. this goes on till everyone has fired 5 shots at each of the 5 stations. that's it. usually the trapper will read the scores for each set of 5 shots. that will sound like this "1-4, 2-3, 3-5, 4-5, 5-3" with the first number being the station you started the round at and the second how many birds you hit.

each person will fire 25 shots total. if you have a vest or something to carry the shells in for quick access, great. if not just take a whole box to the line with you.

believe me, it's alot more complicated to type out than it is to do.

as far as saftey, you'll probably need ear and eye protection. keep the muzzle pointed down range, only load one cartridge at a time and don't chamber that cartridge untill it's your turn to shoot.

as far as how to get a good score, you'll have to ask someone else that.

 

[BozemanMT]

Trap is an optical illusion. The bird is rising, not just going away. Everyone aims at the bird, but you need to be in front of the bird. Aim slightly in front of the bird.
from stations 1 and 2, aim slightly over the house to a point halfway between teh midpoint and the left edge, your front foot should be in the same place.
On station 3 aim in the middle (just over the house)
on station 4 and 5, aim halfway between the midpoint and the right edge of teh house.
FOLLOW THROUGH.
get on it fast, it's not a rifle, don't aim, if you cover the bird, let the trigger go, it will blow up. the closer it is, the easier it is.
have fun.
shotguns is fun.

Oh yeah, don't load until ready to shoot. Keep the shotgun action open when not ready to shoot, and carry an empty gun between stations. (a lot of new guys blow this, unload it before you move. you'll make everyone around you feel more comfortable.).

 

[TrapperReady]

First of all, as always, SAFETY is paramount. As has been already stated, you can keep a shell in place while waiting to shoot, but don't close the action until it's your turn. I typically close the action on my gun as soon as the person preceeding me pulls their trigger.

The game is played on a field with a single thrower and 5 stations, numbered from left to right. For beginners, you should be shooting "16 yard trap", for which you use the line closest to the trap house. Inside the trap house is an oscillating thrower (which you cannot see). When you call "Pull!", the thrower will release a clay target on one of 5 angles, but with a consistent trajectory (unless we're talking about "wobble trap" -- unlikely).

All of the shots will be taken at rising targets which are moving away from you... kind of like simulating hunting pheasants over a dog. Since there are 5 stations and 5 angles at which the targets can be thrown, there are theoretically 25 different presentations you can see. In reality, they boil down (roughly) to the following:

* straight-away
* slightly left
* slightly right
* moderate left
* moderate right
* hard left
* hard right

Straight aways and slightly left or right really don't require any lead. The moderate presentations will require that you at least get past the leading edge of the bird. The hard lefts and rights will require some actual lead. All of this is variable based on how fast you move your gun, what your follow-through is like and such. I can't tell you how much lead to use... but as a rule of thumb, beginners most often will shoot behind the bird. If you are missing on the "crossers", try increasing the amount of lead you have and see if that helps.

Try to focus on the target. While others are shooting, try to visualize the absolute front edge of each target. Don't look at your bead. Look at the target. Shoot early, while the bird is still rising. If you wait, then it becomes a longer shot and the trajectory will start to change. Trap targets which are easy at 40 yards become very dificult when dropping at 60 yards.

A single round of trap consists of 25 targets for each member of a squad. At a minimum, I'd recommend that you take 27 shells to the line. You never know when you might have a bad primer, and it's in good form to be prepared. After your 5th shot at each station, wait until the trapper says "Move" and then proceed to the station to your right. If you are on station #5 (the one on the far right), proceed back to station #1. When doing so, make sure that you keep the barrel(s) pointed in a safe direction and the action open.

As far as where to point the gun when you call for the bird... BozemanMT described one method. I use a little different approach. I aim at the roof of the trap house, about 1 foot down from the front edge (I'm calling the front edge the one where the clays come out of). Essentially, I'm aiming at the roof. From stations #1 and #5 (the end stations) I aim at the nearest corner of the house. At station #3, I aim at the middle, and from stations #2 and #4, I aim about halfway between the middle and the corners. Try it each way if you want and see what works best.

Be safe. Don't worry too much about it. Once you see a squad shooting, all of this will start to make sense. Enjoy yourself! It's an addicting little game.

 

[larryw]

I think TrapperReady just spilled the beans on the genesis of his handle.

Good stuff.

 

[Trebor]

Thanks guys.

Still got a couple questions though:

Are all the shots singles? No doubles? Which barrel do I load to fire singles? Which trigger? (Lefever Nitro Express)

Any good shotgunning web sites I can peruse?

Thanks,

Rob

 

[Jim Watson]

16 yard trap singles is all singles. Unlike skeet where every round includes some doubles, trap doubles is shot as a separate event.

Which barrel?
Depends on the choke. For 16 yd trap, I'd use the modified barrel. So it depends on whether your gun is choked modified and full or improved cylinder and modified. Most doubles, the front trigger fires the right barrel which has the lesser choke.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Trap is simpler than it sounds, though we do our best to complicate things.

I hold pretty much for the straightaway shot from that post. It puts me a little at a disadvantage on the hard angles, but since the straightaway's the shot I (and many others) miss the most, I accept the tradeoff.

Do not aim. Focus(You'll see that word frequently here) on the leading molecule of that clay and direct your shot there.

Your Nitro Express is a fine field gun, but I think you'll do better with a heavier shotgun for trap. It's fine for starting out though.

HTH....

 

[Trebor]

Thanks guys.

The whole purpose of the exercise is to actually shoot the Nitro Express I inherited from my grandfather. The gun hasn't been shoot in probably 50 years. I did have it checked out by a gunsmith, so I know it's OK to shoot with standard lead loads (No steel though).

I just want to enjoy shooting the gun and learn a little about shotgunning. I don't think I'll buy another shotgun just for trap unless the bug really bites me. (I kinda hope it doesn't. I'm overextended on shooting hobbies as it is)

 

[Dave McCracken]

I can see where you're coming from, Rob. And I agree that it's a worthy cause.

Enjoy your Nitro Express.....

 

[chris in va]

If your field offers Wobble Trap, definitely give that a try. IMO so much more fun than regular trap.

Wobble has 5 stations at different heights on platforms. First shot is a single, then two sets of doubles. Then you rotate up one station, and do that 5 times for a total of 25 clays. Very fast game, very fun.

I'm pretty damn new to trap, but one thing I did learn is swing gently into the clay, not fast and try to hold it on target. Basically intercept it with a mild follow through. Lately I've been getting 23-24 with my 410, if that means anything.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Chris, not all wobble traps are set up as you say, though the one at Bull Run is. That set up is delightful, giving a much better assortment of angles and those report pairs.

PGC's wobble is set up on a standard Trap/Skeet field. Less variance in angles but still more fun than oughta be legal.

 

[Trebor]

I wasn't able to go yesterday. Next week for sure (I hope). I'll let you know how it goes.

Rob

 

[Spinner]

I have to report a difference in trap shooting in New Zealand.

Here the game is often called Down The Line or DTL (an English influence??) and for the most part it sounds exactly the same. 5 stations arranged in an arc 15 metres (16 yards) behind the trap house. Trap is oscillating unseen inside a trap house that is partially underground and flings out a target somewhere in a prescribed arc at a constant elevation. We have a squad of 5 shooters and the shooter on station 1 is the squad leader - he always calls for the bird first even when he moves to another station.

The differences start with the fact that we've got 2 shots available per bird. A break with either barrel is still a break. After each of the 5 shooters has shot at one target they all move one station to the right (shooter on Stn 5 moves to Stn 1). Each shooter eventually has 5 targets at each station, but you don't get the 5 targets all in a row. The angles are constantly changing with each target.

Variations on the game are single barrel DTL (you get one shot at each target), points score DTL (5 points for a first barrel break, 3 points for a second barrel break, 0 points for a lost bird) or double rise DTL where you are presented with true doubles everytime you call for a bird.

One of the things that I have found to help me is to have an initial hold point before calling for a target which is a bit lower than some people. The trap house has a sloping roof and as you stand on the stations you look slightly down on it. If I hold the muzzle of the gun at the level of the back of the trap house roof rather than the front of the trap house roof then I have to swing the gun further, the gun has more momentum and its therefore harder for me to stop the swing and miss behind. I find it works a little better for me.

The other tip that helped me tremendously was where to look when I call for a target. I hold the shotgun pointing at the trap house, but I lift my eyes and look for the target about 1-2 feet above the trap house. If I look at the trap house itself or (worse still) if I look down the barrel the target appears to rocket out of the trap and race off into the distance with me frantically trying to catch up with it and sort out where its going and how fast its getting there. If I look above the trap house I see the target in my peripheral vision as soon as it appears but I'm better able to track its speed and direction, the target appears to travel slower and I find I'm better able to swing the gun up and through and break the target.

It sounds strange but I find that the target is broken with my eyes. I look for the target, track it with my eyes (focus on the target .... the leading edge of the target), the gun just swings up to follow where I'm looking. As the barrel blots the target out I pull the trigger. If the planets are aligned correctly and I've held my tongue the right way there'll be a cloud of dust where the target was.

That's how I shoot trap FWIW but I'm sure there are as many ways to do it as there are shooters and I'm far from the most experienced shotgunner here so I'm sure there'll be better advice than I can provide.

Spinner

 

[Trebor]

I finally made it to the Trap range tonight.

I was quite succesfull at turning commercially loaded ammo into empty hulls suitable for reloading. I also made a bit of noise. The good news is that the club will save money since they'll be able to resuse the majority of my clays.

I did have a good time, but it was frustrating. I shot three rounds. The best round was the first where I shot 11/25. I made the mistake of being only one of two shooters on the line for my second round and felt rushed the whole time. I broke 9/25 then. It didn't seem to put me off that much though, as I only managed 10/25 in my final round.

I couldn't make any shots that required any amount of lead. The whole "focus on the bird and pull through the target" thing is still a mystery to me. The only ones I'd hit where when I put the bead right on the bird and squeezed.

I was glad to finally shoot my Grandfather's Lefever Nitro Express. I'm begining to suspect it may have been my Grandmother's gun though. The stock had been considerably shortened and the length of pull was too short to be comfortable for me. I'm seriously thinking about getting it restocked. Any idea on who could do that and how much it might cost?

The gun was a little stiff. I thought I'd lubed it correclty, but either I didn't use enough lube or didn't put it in the right place. I had a hard time opening it enough to extract the hulls a few times. I had to whack the barrel down with my hand to get it to pivot enough.

I don't think I'm going to be getting into any shotgun games anytime soon. I've done Sporting Clays and now Trap and why I can see why people enjoy them, I don't think their my thing. (I think I did slightly better at Sporting Clays back about 10 years ago. I remember breaking slightly over half of the birds).

I'll probably go back out sometime, but I'm not going to make it a priority. The range is an hour from my house and I don't have the time or money to chase every shooting event that I find interesting. I'm still planning on getting into Highpower and possibly Bullseye. They seem to suit me better.

Thanks for the advice. I did have a good time, even if I am a little disapointed in how poorly I did. I know I could do better with practice, but I'm going to put my practice time into other shooting sports. I'm sure a gun set up for Trap would have helped as well, but the main point of this excercise was to shoot Grandpa's gun. It was probably the first time it was fired in my lifetime.

Rob

 

[SASS#23149]

Sounds like a useful way to spend the day to me.

You and the gun had a good time,and that's a good thing. If you get to try it again,remember it's a 'point and click', not aim,hold breath and squeeze.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Lefever Nitro Express in 12 Gauge

Wow. Lucky you, nice shotgun.

Your scores sound pretty good to me, although I've never shot trap. Sounds like maybe some work on lead and follow-through would help. I'll leave it to the experts to help more.

 

[Trebor]

Yeah, the gun is pretty nice. I'm seriously thinking about getting it restocked so it fits me better. The LoP was just too short to the point where it was uncomfortable.

Any ideas on where to get a shotgun restocked and how much it might cost?

Btw, my shoulder is SORE today. I should have worn more than just a T-shirt.

 

[Kar-el]

Have you thought about putting a recoil pad on the stock? Depending on how much more length you need that might work without a whole new stock.

Then you could get away with only wearing a t-shirt..

 

[Trebor]

There is already a 1 1/2 inch Pachmyr recoil pad on the stock. When I said the stock was shortened, I meant that it was *really* shortened. It's got the length of pull of a "youth" stock now. It was funny to see the gun in the rack next to the other guns. The LoP was so noticeably shorter it looked odd.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Wenig's can restock your Nitro, but it's not cheap. Numrich may have an old, uncut stock on occasion, but these are rare.

Someone like Turnbull or the Gregos can add a piece of walnut and match it up to the present stock, but again, it's not cheap.

 

[Trebor]

Thanks. I'll try Numirch first.

Can you give me links or contact info for those other companies? I'm not familiar with any of them.

Can you give me a ballpark for "not cheap"? Are we talking over $200, over $500, or what?

Since it's a family heirloom, I'd like to get it size for me so that I can use it comfortably on those rare occasions where I shoot shotgun. I'd like to have a nice job done on it. I'll wait and save up if need be. Would any of those places also be able to do a good reblue?

Thanks,

Rob