Shot my first round of trap today

[DustyGmt]

The guys I shoot with know I won't be selling my 870 TB.

No sir I wouldn't think so, not after waiting to happen by one for as long as you did. I don't have any strong desire to sell mine any time soon. I know what it's like to want for something for a long time and finally get it. Limited runs of knives have been a gut punch for me over the years, the makers do random unannounced drops and they literally sell out instantly and depending on the knife people don't generally let em go and if they do they want a hefty premium, when you finally jump on one at the right time, right place, right price. You have no intention of letting it go.....

 

[Fishingted]

I was admiring your gun in that thread, looks alot like mine . I didn't want to bugger up your thread with a pic of my gun but this is mine.
View attachment 997806


I was a lil unsure of my consumer prowess after having paid what I paid (6 and change), but after the older feller who is well established in the trap scene pawing over my gun and making offers, I felt much better. Your "Grail" thread didn't hurt my feelings either.

Ahwsome!!!

 

[Fishingted]

I was admiring your gun in that thread, looks alot like mine . I didn't want to bugger up your thread with a pic of my gun but this is mine.
View attachment 997806


I was a lil unsure of my consumer prowess after having paid what I paid (6 and change), but after the older feller who is well established in the trap scene pawing over my gun and making offers, I felt much better. Your "Grail" thread didn't hurt my feelings either.

I sold my 870 Classic Trap Limited Edition to my grandson from another Mother. Problem was the gun was too Long for me and rather than change the stock or cut that Beautiful Wood I decided to sell it. At least I was able to Keep it in the family and Hopefully the Young man will enjoy it for years to come.

 

[Fishingted]

Will definitely give it a look. I believe in my Beginner Trap Thread a while back you or someone else linked a video that looked to be from about 1950's-early 60's. Very old grainy footage but very well done. I'm going to revisit it now that I'm officially into it and not just thinking about it.

One thing I noticed while watching that video a while back is the clays looked like they turned into a puff of chimney dust. That's what I was hoping for at the trap range the other day, I thought having a tightly choked trap bbl would do that, I'm guessing maybe modern clays are more prone to shatter and break as opposed to older clays turning into a lil cloud of dust. They appeared to vaporize that's what I was hoping for.

If You Listen closely at the begining of the video they say they are shooting both regular and smoke Targets. That explains the chimney soot on those filmed Breaks.

 

[toivo]

I'm a mediocre trap shooter -- happy if I break 20 / 25 -- but I enjoy it a lot. The best advice I ever got was "Keep your head down and your eye on the bird." Once you get your barrel lined up, shift your focus out front and keep it there. And did I mention "Keep your head down"? OK, just checking ...

 

[Thomasss]

You want to learn trap fundamentals on your own real quick? Go on U-tube and watch "Shooting With the Remington Pros": by D. Lee Braun.
It's 20 minute video. Watch carefully, feet positions, body stance and point of aim. Follow those guidelines and you will be shooting in the 20's in no time.

 

[DustyGmt]

I was reading over this pamphlet George P linked in a different thread and I'm just wondering if I'm interpreting this right. In #1 it says your gunpoint should be "halfway from middle of the trap house and the front left corner" so basically 1/4 of the way in from the right..Right? Pretty much the same on #3 just opposite sides but the illustration (circled in red by me) is showing the point position right on the corner. The illustration in #3 seems to correspond to what's written, #1 does not.

This is all a lil more or less what the guy at the range was telling me except on the far left corner (station #1) he was saying to hold about 6in left of the L corner and 1ft high and on the far right corner told me hold about 1ft off to the right of R corner and 1ft high. Not trying to over analyze it, I know my best bet will be practice on the range.

Just wanted to raise that question on the illustration, did anybody else catch that,

 

[entropy]

The gunpoints shown are good starting points for a beginning right handed trapshooter. They are not set in stone. The area you circled in #1 is hard to show from the viewpoint it is shown. A view from above would show it better. This is better shown in the video at 4:04-4:20. I don't hold anywhere near there for post #1. You'll probably develop your own gunpoints that will be comfortable for you and will give you the best advantage. I set up for the hard left angle on #1, pointing at a spot 1.5 feet up and 2-2.5 ft. to the left. Same thing on #5, reversed. On #'s 2 &4 I hold about a foot high above the left back corner on #2, and the same on the right on #4. I hold just to the left of center along the back edge of the house on #3. In your practice rounds, go ahead and try different gunpoints; If it works for you, adopt it. If not, try something else.

 

[Thomasss]

I am 6' 10" and compensate because I am also left eye dominate, shoot right handed and keep my left eye closed, my aim is just inside the front left corner and just below the top of the house. As I progress down the stations from 1 to 5, I raise my point of aim a couple of inches on each station. At # 4 I am aiming at the right front corner maybe 2 inches high off the house and station 5 I am aiming 12 inches high and 1.5 feet off the right of the house. Bare in mind not all houses are set perfectly on center or level and how the trap thrower is mounted in the house. There should be metal stakes marking the trap field and they are good reference points. I shoot a 92.5 average at 16 yard trap and have done so for 40 years. Cause of my height and 39 Inch sleeves people do complain I'm 3 feet closer to the house than the rest of the squad. lol

 

[DustyGmt]

Aw-oh,
Sounds like you got trap-bit. It has been a near lifelong hobby of mine.

Congrats on your first round.

good fundamentals and timing will get you about 88%. It takes a good mental game to get the last 12%.

Don't get too bug-eyed over those high $$ trapguns. I've broke plenty of 100s with a 870 and a model 12 .

View attachment 997334

What model 1100 is that? I've been checking out Gunbroker and can't find one like it. I rather like it. I may soon be in the market for an 1100. Are there certain models or vintages of 1100's to look for or are they all good at chucking lead.

 

[George P]

I'm a mediocre trap shooter -- happy if I break 20 / 25 -- but I enjoy it a lot. The best advice I ever got was "Keep your head down and your eye on the bird." Once you get your barrel lined up, shift your focus out front and keep it there. And did I mention "Keep your head down"? OK, just checking ...

And don't stop your swing

 

[Armored farmer]

What model 1100 is that? I've been checking out Gunbroker and can't find one like it. I rather like it. I may soon be in the market for an 1100. Are there certain models or vintages of 1100's to look for or are they all good at chucking lead.

That's a Sporting Clays Competition.
@entropy has one also.

 

[entropy]

And like AF, I'm keeping mine.

 

[toivo]

And don't stop your swing

Right -- I forgot that one ...

 

[DustyGmt]

Went to my 2nd trap shoot today. I didn't really pay much attention 2 weeks ago when it was my first time because I was preoccupied but this week I paid attention to my misses. With a pump it's harder to keep track I think, I notice the other guys with break actions pull their shells and throw a shell on the ground for a miss or in a different part of their pouch, with a pump they are all on the ground in a lil pile at each station so you have to keep a mental note, which I found kind of distracting.

I shot 73/100. I went 17/25 on my 1st round, 18/25 2nd round and 19/25 for rounds 3 and 4. It was my goal to at least get 20 or better in a round but such is life. I started out strong on my 4th round and completed 3 stations with no misses and then started sucking and screwed up my hot streak. I'll get better, I'm definitely in it now. I really love it and imagine I'll be a regular fixture on the trap range from here on.... The black flies were HORRENDOUS though, going to have to come better prepared next time with repellent, as they were a terrible distraction as well.

The guy who runs the trap range invited me to an ATA hosted shoot (tournament maybe?) this coming weekend at the state capitol. It's supposed to be quite a gathering. I'd like to go if for no other reason to just learn more about the sport and take in the spectacle. Not sure if I'll be able to go but it sounds like a good time...

 

[Goes211]

I just rejoined my local club and along with using the rifle range like I've done for decades id like to start shooting trap, skeet and five station.
Is there an affordable o/u that would be ok for each sport, or do each of the three required a specific type?
I currently own a Winchester 1300 pump that I hunt deer with. I gotten 3 deer with it but it doesn't fit me very well. The recoil of three or 4 slugs slams my cheek so hard I look like I went three rounds with Tyson.
My only other shotgun is a Mossberg 590 with a Surefire slide. That gun fits me like a glove and I can shoot slugs and high brass buck shot all day with zero discomfort. It might look a little out of place on the trap line but its all I have.
I was eyeballing a few CZ O/Us and they are definitely in my price range.
Any suggestions for an inexpensive gun for a rookie trying all three sports?

 

[DustyGmt]

I just rejoined my local club and along with using the rifle range like I've done for decades id like to start shooting trap, skeet and five station.
Is there an affordable o/u that would be ok for each sport, or do each of the three required a specific type?
I currently own a Winchester 1300 pump that I hunt deer with. I gotten 3 deer with it but it doesn't fit me very well. The recoil of three or 4 slugs slams my cheek so hard I look like I went three rounds with Tyson.
My only other shotgun is a Mossberg 590 with a Surefire slide. That gun fits me like a glove and I can shoot slugs and high brass buck shot all day with zero discomfort. It might look a little out of place on the trap line but its all I have.
I was eyeballing a few CZ O/Us and they are definitely in my price range.
Any suggestions for an inexpensive gun for a rookie trying all three sports?

Guy I've been shooting with shoots a CZ side by side vs the o/u. He is sort of new to trap and shot 24/25 with it. The CZ he shoots is beautiful. It's one of the less expensive guns on the trap squad with my 870 being the least expensive/fancy.

You'll get some good answers for your question here, these guys will have all sorts of guns to sell you, lol. one of these guys had me contemplating a $7K Ljutic about a week ago.

 

[entropy]

Just trying to help.....
You're getting there Dusty, paying attention to your misses is a start. Knowing how to reduce/eliminate them is your next lesson. This is best accomplished with the help of a good coach. A clinc form Nora Ross, Phil Kiner, or Harlan Campbell Jr. will be money well spent. Getting their videos is the next best thing. Selecting a good coach at your club is a bit harder; the best shooters aren't necessarily the best coaches, and vice versa.

Any suggestions for an inexpensive gun for a rookie trying all three sports?

Goes 211: Under $1000; will be a used Remington 1100 or Beretta a303, or 391. O/U's, maybe, maybe you can find a used Browning Citori for that; this would be a better choice than a new CZ, though they are nice guns for the money, they aren't going to stand up to a lot of league or competition use. A pump isn't a good choice for Skeet or Sporting Clays (or Trap doubles, for that matter) unless you are already very good with one.

Between $1K and 2K, a Remington Competition Synthetic is an excellent choice, if you can find one. It comes with everything you need, and some you didn't know you needed. You might find a used Browning CX, designed to be a cross discipline shotgun, in that price range. There are three versions: CX, CXT, and CXS. The CXT is gear toward Trap, but is still useable for Sporting, or Skeet also. The CXS is geared toward Sporting Clays and Skeet, but is still useable for Trap.

The only good single shot in that range is the Browning BT-99; Used Ljuitcs, and even the odd Perrazi TM-1 can be found starting around $2K. But of course, not a good choice for Skeet, Sporting or doubles gun, either.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I was a lil jittered out about being new and trying to follow the rhythm of the squad and get into the swing of it so I didn't pay super close attention to how many I missed or what my best round was, all I know is I hit more than I missed and on the 4th round one of the guys started giving me good pointers and they immediately improved my shooting.

Howdy

Don't sweat 'following the rhythm of the squad'. It's your target, you paid for it. Take as much time as you think you need to get ready for each shot. Most experienced trap shooters will know you are new, and they will not begrudge you the time you need for your shots. The guys who don't are jerks and will always be jerks.

It will help if you pattern your shotgun. Some clubs have a patterning board, some don't. You can take a big piece of paper and draw a circle 30" in diameter on it. Make a big black spot in the center that you can see easily, or put one of those day glo orange dots in the center of the circle. Mount the paper to a sturdy frame and step back. 40 yards is recommended for 16 yard trap, that is the distance you will actually be breaking the clays at. Stand and mount your shotgun the way you always do. Pay particular attention to the sight picture you are using. Are you aiming directly at the spot? Are you holding over or under it? Most important, what does your sight picture look like. Right here is where a lot of guys are going to jump in and say you don't aim a shotgun, you point it. Ignore them for a moment. How you see your shotgun when you are ready to fire is very important. Most field guns are 'flat shooting' The shooter's sight picture is pretty much just the bead at the end of the barrel. Most trap shooters prefer their shotguns to point up slightly. You may have noticed some guys have a bead halfway along the barrel, as well as one at the front. The idea for trap is the front bead should be sitting right on top of the middle bead, so together they form a figure 8. That means your barrel is pointing slightly up. Anyway, sight your shotgun the way you always sight it and fire a shot at your target. Don't just fire one shot. I like to fire three, to get a good sense of where I am patterning. Now take your target and see where the center of your pattern actually is in relation to the dot you were aiming at. That will tell you how your shotgun patterns the way your were holding it when you fired the shot.

Chokes: Most guys seem to like an Improved Modified, which is slightly tighter than a Modified choke. I learned to shoot with a Full choke, which is tighter than an Improved Modified, and that is what I always use. The tighter the choke, the tighter the pattern. The trade off is with a tighter pattern you have a denser pattern of pellets, a more open pattern makes for a slightly wider pattern, but with a more open pattern there can be 'holes' in the pattern that a target can fly right through unscathed.

Smoke: In trap, if you break off one tiny chip, that is a hit. You don't get any more points for disintegrating a target than you do if you only break off tiny chip. Of course, the better you smash a target means you were 'right on' for that bird. Learn to 'read' your hits. If you just break stuff off the top, you were aiming a little bit high. Break stuff off the bottom and you were a little bit low. With targets traveling fast from one side to the other, if you only break off chips behind it, you were a little bit behind, if you break chips off of the front, you were a little bit ahead.

Counting misses: When I miss a bird, I put that shell in my shirt pocket. That way when the round is over I know how many misses I had. I usually stop counting after 5 misses.

Most important: Keep your head on the stock. Even old guys who have been shooting trap forever will sometimes lift up their head off the stock without realizing it just before they shoot to see the target better. Particularly true with straight away shots, that you would think would be easy. I wish I had a nickel for all the times I have lifted my head off the stock for a straightaway. This of course gets to how well the shotgun fits you, but before each shot make sure the butt is well planted against your shoulder, and keep your cheek glued to the stock.

My favorite trap gun is this 12 gauge, full choke, Winchester Model 12 that left the factory in 1948. I have since had an adjustable butt piece added so it points where I want it to.




I have a Remington Model 1100 Trap Model too, but I don't seem to have a photo of it. I actually prefer to shoot the old pump Winchester.

 

[George P]

Just trying to help.....
You're getting there Dusty, paying attention to your misses is a start. Knowing how to reduce/eliminate them is your next lesson. This is best accomplished with the help of a good coach. A clinc form Nora Ross, Phil Kiner, or Harlan Campbell Jr. will be money well spent. Getting their videos is the next best thing. Selecting a good coach at your club is a bit harder; the best shooters aren't necessarily the best coaches, and vice versa.



Goes 211: Under $1000; will be a used Remington 1100 or Beretta a303, or 391. O/U's, maybe, maybe you can find a used Browning Citori for that; this would be a better choice than a new CZ, though they are nice guns for the money, they aren't going to stand up to a lot of league or competition use. A pump isn't a good choice for Skeet or Sporting Clays (or Trap doubles, for that matter) unless you are already very good with one.

Between $1K and 2K, a Remington Competition Synthetic is an excellent choice, if you can find one. It comes with everything you need, and some you didn't know you needed. You might find a used Browning CX, designed to be a cross discipline shotgun, in that price range. There are three versions: CX, CXT, and CXS. The CXT is gear toward Trap, but is still useable for Sporting, or Skeet also. The CXS is geared toward Sporting Clays and Skeet, but is still useable for Trap.

The only good single shot in that range is the Browning BT-99; Used Ljuitcs, and even the odd Perrazi TM-1 can be found starting around $2K. But of course, not a good choice for Skeet, Sporting or doubles gun, either.

In the 1-2K range you also have several good gas guns

 

[toivo]

I wish I had a nickel for all the times I have lifted my head off the stock for a straightaway.

You and me both.

 

[DustyGmt]

Shot again this afternoon. Went ammo hunting yesterday evening and again this afternoon. No luck. I have enough to do one more trap shoot, hoping I can dig up some shells pretty soon so I don't lose my momentum. I shot horribly the first round. I think I hit 14/25 but then I started to do better. I only shot 3 rounds, 1 round of handicap and I actually didn't shoot too badly from a distance, I can't recall what distance we shot from, it was almost as far back as we can get.

I sat out the 4th round because the guys were shooting doubles to prepare for the memorial day competition so I just observed and was hooked right in. I want to try doubles badly, but with an 870 pump I think I'll try that when I'm by myself or with one or two others, not a full squad. I would really like to get fast enough with my pump, I think it would be a great challenge. I will also be looking for an O/U at some point along with a semi, but I want to master this 870, so I'm going to stick with it for a while....

One of the guys was nice enough to show me how to open the range and set up the machine/call boxes, etc... apparently I can open if nobody is there to host the shoot as long as I collect for the club at the end of the shoot, I can even set the place up and shoot by myself as long as I keep track of what I shoot and pay.

I went to the monthly club meeting as I just want to get to know everybody and learn everything I can and be on good terms with the range. Best way to do that is to get involved, help out, come to shoots, etc...

On my ammo hunt this afternoon I came across this book and gave it a quick flip in the store, it's used and appears to be old but still gonna be good reading I think.

 

[DustyGmt]

The semi 12ga on the cover ^^^ (Rem 878 I believe).

There was a used one on the rack on the gun shop I went to today, the bolt and reciever engraved which doesn't really appeal to me but other than that I rather liked it. I'd rather the 1100 but I am pretty tempted to buy it, it's was $295.

Is the 878 Automaster a good semi worth having? I'd almost rather hold out for exactly what I want but it looks like a good price and was in pretty good condition.... any of you guys running an 878? Good, bad?

 

[Jim Watson]

The 878 was Remington's second gas operated automatic, the first self compensating for different loads. Only made for a short time around 1960.
$295 might be cheap enough to take a flyer on, but an 1100 is a better gun.

 

[Lo-Profile]

I love shooting Trap.
Shoot a Beretta Mark II ... I bought it used for less than $500. It's still going strong after 45+ years. 34" full choke
Trap Guns don't have to be expensive, you can still pick up a very nice Browning BT-99 or other quality guns for under $1000 that'll break clays just as well as a $20,000 gun.