Skeet Ammo

[Crawlin]

I've been around guns my whole life but I've never been skeet shooting. A few people are going tomorrow morning only I'm not sure on the ammo. I'm guessing just normal bird shot should do the trick but I want to make sure. So, what ammo is best for a new skeet shooter?

 

[Jim Watson]

A light field load of the smallest shot you can find. Standard skeet loads are 12 ga 2 3/4 dram 1 1/8 oz of No 9 shot; 20 ga 2 1/2 dram 7/8 oz of No 9.
I normally handload 12 ga with one ounce of No 8 shot for use at trap and skeet both.

Really about any ordinary load with shot size 7 1/2 or smaller will do. No need to spend money or put up with recoil from express loads, it only takes a few shot to break a target. Don't take anything bigger than No 7 1/2, the fields some places will not hold larger sizes that fly farther.

 

[Nhsport]

J Watson is correct.
I have been off the fields for a few years but Winchester AA loads used to be more or less the standard-about 75% of what you saw being shot.
If you are bringing your own gun and have any kind of choice you want the most open choke you have.Most guys will use ear plugs as opposed to earmuffs. Have fun !

 

[BozemanMT]

BTW, this should be in Shotguns

Assuming you are really shooting the game skeet (and not just clays in general, sometimes people confuse them)
Skeet is a very close game. the longest shot is 24 yards away (low 6 or high 2). The closest is about 4 feet (low 8).
You want wide open chokes. cylinder or skeet (similar, almost the same)
and you want lots of pellets.
#9's work the best
#8's are 2nd best (and a lot easier to find)
#7.5's don't work so well on skeet, but they work great on trap. #8's work great on trap too. #8's are about the best all around for close and longer shots. They'll break rabbits too.

Get the 12ga 1oz load. Estate #8LSI's about $4 currently (ugh, no inflation my butt) at Sportsman Warehouse, Gander, everywhere. Low recoil loads, you need no mroe than 1oz and your shoulder will thank you. AA's and STS's are great shells, but they cost like 6+ dollars a box and you won't notice any difference on your first time out.

Again, this should be in shotguns, but luckily I'm a freak.

so, #8 shot, 1oz load, 12ga
oh, and have a good time, it's a hoot. (beware, it's addictive)

 

[Long Knife]

The best skeet load being made in the U.S. is the Remington STS. I've been loading shot shell ammo since the 50's and the STS hull is the best shell I've ever had the pleasure to reload. With that said, Remington Gun Club's and Game Load's are very good and also easy to reload. The Winchester AA is now a piece of crap with poor plastic (Korean recycled plastic) and is no longer a one piece hull. It has a funky collar that has been known to separate and the hulls split after one shot. I also shoot Mirage, RIO, Estate, and Fiocchi for sporting clays and leave them in the trash barrel. The shell I really like a lot is the RIO 1 1/16oz. #8 game load. It cycles in my Camo Lion and is just a superb quail and sporting clay round. Really all you need in a skeet load is one ounce of #9 and it will break normal targets all day long. As a side bar, if you are shooting biodegradable targets from Winchester, they are a bit more difficult to break, when hit. My club quit using them as they were killing the grass, plus they are more expensive.

Federal's are pretty good, too. I have a huge supply of Federal paper hulls that I use for special double gun loads. I love the nostalgic smell of the hull after it has been fired. It takes me back to my yout.