What shotgun for trap shooting?

I would caution to have a prospective shooter to try a Browning gun and a Beretta gun. Most shooters will find one more comfortable than the other. I prefer Brownings over Berettas for games, but Berettas for field work.
 
It's all about fit of the shotgun. As an amateur shotgun shooter, I can take a Remington 870 and hold my own against other decent amateurs. But give me a Mossberg, and nope, it becomes a struggle for me to break clays.
 
My son picked up my A5, New Version, for my grandson for trap season. It's the gun that fit him perfectly last year. We would like him to try his dad's 11-87 or SBE this year but he is very stubborn. We are pricing a new A5 wicked wing or camo for him. I would just give him my A5 but it is my favorite hunting shotgun and at 77, I still love going hunting. It's a big investment but it is for a lifetime.
 
If you can find a Beretta Trap 303 used you will be pressed to find a better trap gun. Soft recoil and point excellent. Hopefully you can still find a clip on shell catcher. They sold for $400 when they came out .... if you find a nice one for a $1000 now Buy It!
 
I shoot skeet now and then to support the gun club. I use my mossberg 500 20 GA. It has a select choke. I use the improved cylinder setting. I knock down around 15 each time.
 
I notice the OP never showed back up. I'm assuming he actually went to a trap shoot, spent some time around trap shooters, and now wants nothing to do with any of it. 😅
 
.38 Special said:
I notice the OP never showed back up. I'm assuming he actually went to a trap shoot, spent some time around trap shooters, and now wants nothing to do with any of it.
Click to expand...

Could be. Most trapshooters are sociable but there are exceptions.
My Uncle just wanted pre-hunting season warmup at Skeet, but he wasn't in the clique at that club and was not made to feel welcome.
A wheeler dealer type guy here got a trap gun in a trade and thought he would try it out before he flipped it. He said the regular shooters hoorawed him for coming in with a specialist gun he was not already expert with.

We had shooters here who wanted to shoot fast, each "Pull - Bang" on the heels of the one before. I was careful to let them squad together and rush through as they liked. I didn't dillydally but I did not want to feel hurried to shoot.
 
You'll get and probably already have got great advice on a trap gun here but I'll say this, I thought about shooting trap for a long time and drove past the trap range on my way to the rifle/pistol range for years before I decided to stop and strike up a conversation with the guys and give trap a try and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I don't make alot of rec time in my life but trap is a great deal of fun and it's a great group to get involved with on the range and forum.

I have been bangin away with my 870 TB Wingmaster for a few years and I'm super happy with it. Thousands of rounds down the pipe, didn't take me too long to get my first 25 with it. I shoot with guys who have $30K custom trap guns and they can't help but admire the ole Remington workhorse. Have Fun and enjoy retirement! 😀
 
Actually drive a little over an hr to visit with one gentleman at a trap range.
Super nice guy (and good shooter).
Met a couple of other OK guys at that range

But IMHO, having gone to 3 ranges in different areas..... the "stereotype" fits.

Doesn't bother me.

Not one to try and fit in, clubs aint my thing.
Shoot a couple rounds, BS in the clubhouse between, leave.
Pretty simple.

And low key. I kinda like the relaxed aspect of Trap.

Gone a couple times and not even gotten the shotgun out of the vehicle.
Enjoy watching others have a good round.
 
Grumpy old guys don't bother me.
Rural types may not get urban mannerisms or humor.
I take no offense, but some folks get easily riled.

The older I get the more I gravitate toward being the stereotype LOL
Kinda funny.
 
Some of the grumpy old pricks turn out to be good as gold. One of the alpha grumps in my club ended up being wicked decent after his initial dismissive-ness. Hooked me up with a dead mule mercury weight and even made an honest attempt to teach my wife how to shoot trap.
 
The casual shooters can be as bad as the club cliques.
I've seen a lot of posts
"I can beat them old guys and their Krieghoffs with my Mossy."
Main thing, them old guys are OLD and their eyes and reflexes aren't what they were when they were AAs.
 
The few times I’ve ever shot trap, the finest shotgun I ever handled was a Merkel Trap model that belonged to a former national champion.
Built like a bank vault. Weighed about 11lbs and swung as smooth as a milkshake!
But then again a used one would cost more than the car you drive to the range…
 
Not necessarily. Simpson's Ltd. Has them occasionally, and they show up on Guns International some times, between 3-15,000.
The ones Simpson's has are usually club or estate guns, not as fancy, but just as well made.

By comparison, a Kolar, made right in Racine, WI, to customer specs runs an average of 20,000 to 30,000. You see a fair amount of Kolars on the line at bigger clubs and shoots, used they still run between 15,000 and 25,0000.
 
I still am eyeing a Krieghoff - used ones often come in well under the $10,000 mark - but two things are stopping me. One is that I'm spending just about all of my "gun money" on actually shooting. The other is that I'm not sure I'll ever "outgrow" the BT-99. I've spent some money on it to improve it for my needs (action work, release trigger) and will probably spend some more (Gracoil), but at the moment I'm up to about a 94 average and don't feel like the gun is holding me back at all - the birds I miss are my fault entirely.

Or, put another way, investing ten grand in ammo and range fees would unquestionably improve my scores far more than any new gun would.
 
You NEED that Krieghoff, a week at Trap is not complete without some Doubles.

I owned several trap guns and tried many more but never found one that would buy me more singles targets than my Remington 1100 TA.
I did prefer an U/O for doubles, though.
 
Jim Watson said:
You NEED that Krieghoff, a week at Trap is not complete without some Doubles.

I owned several trap guns and tried many more but never found one that would buy me more singles targets than my Remington 1100 TA.
I did prefer an U/O for doubles, though.
Click to expand...
If I had to do it over, I'd probably get a Browning 725 combo, with doubles in mind. The big problem is that the local trap range is about 25 minutes away, but the closest trap range with doubles is about an hour-and-a-half. So I'll keep grinding away at that AA singles classification and let the rest of the chips fall where they may - at least for now...
 
.38 Special said:
I still am eyeing a Krieghoff - used ones often come in well under the $10,000 mark - but two things are stopping me. One is that I'm spending just about all of my "gun money" on actually shooting. The other is that I'm not sure I'll ever "outgrow" the BT-99. I've spent some money on it to improve it for my needs (action work, release trigger) and will probably spend some more (Gracoil), but at the moment I'm up to about a 94 average and don't feel like the gun is holding me back at all - the birds I miss are my fault entirely.

Or, put another way, investing ten grand in ammo and range fees would unquestionably improve my scores far more than any new gun would.
Click to expand...
If you want a Krieghoff, and it will give you pleasure, then by all means....get one. The whole of it is about having fun and living.
Trapshooters are great competitors, but ultimately it's your own enjoyment that is the trophy you will cherish.
I have been very successful in the sport, won a dumpster full of trophies, and i always wanted a Ljutic mono gun....and i never bought one despite being financially able....I just didn't.
I might still be shooting trap if I had....?
Just don't loose interest if you're really wanting a new gun....its just a gun....it'll sell if necessary.
 
Armored farmer said:
If you want a Krieghoff, and it will give you pleasure, then by all means....get one. The whole of it is about having fun and living.
Trapshooters are great competitors, but ultimately it's your own enjoyment that is the trophy you will cherish.
I have been very successful in the sport, won a dumpster full of trophies, and i always wanted a Ljutic mono gun....and i never bought one despite being financially able....I just didn't.
I might still be shooting trap if I had....?
Just don't loose interest if you're really wanting a new gun....its just a gun....it'll sell if necessary.
Click to expand...
That's a fabuous way of words...............!!

Hats off to you, my man........ :)
 
Armored farmer said:
If you want a Krieghoff, and it will give you pleasure, then by all means....get one. The whole of it is about having fun and living.
Trapshooters are great competitors, but ultimately it's your own enjoyment that is the trophy you will cherish.
I have been very successful in the sport, won a dumpster full of trophies, and i always wanted a Ljutic mono gun....and i never bought one despite being financially able....I just didn't.
I might still be shooting trap if I had....?
Just don't loose interest if you're really wanting a new gun....its just a gun....it'll sell if necessary.
Click to expand...

Not might, you definitely would be still shooting Trap if you had one. Eventually we'll get together at a Trap club, and my Ljutic will make it there.
 
I just want to win, and as long as the gun doesn't get in the way, I'm happy.

At some point the hot blood will start to cool and I'll start to think about "pretty". Then I'll have to cut back on shooting so I can afford the new gun. :D
 
Jim Watson said:
The casual shooters can be as bad as the club cliques.
I've seen a lot of posts
"I can beat them old guys and their Krieghoffs with my Mossy."
Main thing, them old guys are OLD and their eyes and reflexes aren't what they were when they were AAs.
Click to expand...
While I've never claimed to "beating out the old guys and their $$$$$ customs", it can be a lil intimidating showing up with a sub $500 shotgun when everybody else has shotguns that cost 60x what yours did and many more decades of experience, so it is a lil bit of self assurance that you don't need to take you and your sorry gun home and come back when you stop being poor. But yeah, no need to get all arrogant and go around saying you can beat everybody, that's not cool.
 
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