Skeet/Trap

My church had a men's outing last fall to shoot skeet. My only shotgun is an 18" Mossberg 500, with black polymer stock and a heat shield. I knew it looked ridiculous, but I wanted to see how I could do with it.

I actually hit more than I missed. I did better than most of the guys who were using 'real' shotguns.

So, it's possible. It's clearly not as good as a O/U or semi-auto, but it will do in a pinch.

The way I saw it, it was my excuse if I shot really badly.
 
I shot skeet/trap a few months ago for the first time brought an old pump i got for $70 bucks and my saiga 12. I brought the saiga mainly to get a rise out of the Fudds. I had never shot skeet/trap before so I went in with an open mind with the goal of hit one clay. I hit a few with the Saiga then switched to the longer barrel pump and did a lot better. But it can be done
 
Youmay get some "looks" at the club if you do bring a HD shotgun but you can definitely break clays with it.......if you do your part. Some of the trapezoids and fudds will jump on me for this but here goes. I started shooting trap about 18 months ago......with a 30 inch barrel fixed full choke mossy 500 I got used for 150 bucks. First round I broke 18 clays. Time up to regularly hitting 24 and have two perfect rounds under my belt in the last month. A guy at the club told me if I go to a "real" shotgun I'd regularly hit 25. You know what........**** that.......is spending upwards of 1000 bucks worth it to break one more clay per round........for me no.......I don't compete.....I have fun. And doing well with a bread and butter shotgun is cool as hell. Heck a woman at the club showed up last fall with a custom made shotgun her hubby got her......Italian.......purple wood stock stainless single barrel break open with elevated trap sights.....and some crazy looking adjustavmble stock.....said it cost 7k......she had all the gear too......blinders on her glasses and a leather vest........she broke 6...........

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Does the choke make a difference?

Read post 8! But yeah......kind of......full choke let the clay run a bit...,...to let the pattern open up......more open chokes get on the clay faster......
 
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There's no problem with it. It's easy to shoot well with a pump gun, or a cylinder bored 18" gun.

The advantage of the O/Us and the higher end clays guns is consistency. You will find it a lot harder when you're shooting full tournaments. Last weekend I hit 386/400 birds in a skeet tournament which was weaker than I'm capable of, but even that score would be difficult if you were using guns not adapted for the sport (especially since you'd have to switch the entire gun for the 20ga, 28ga, and .410 events).

For regular old recreational shooting, shoot whatever you want.
 
There's no problem with it. It's easy to shoot well with a pump gun, or a cylinder bored 18" gun.

The advantage of the O/Us and the higher end clays guns is consistency. You will find it a lot harder when you're shooting full tournaments. Last weekend I hit 386/400 birds in a skeet tournament which was weaker than I'm capable of, but even that score would be difficult if you were using guns not adapted for the sport (especially since you'd have to switch the entire gun for the 20ga, 28ga, and .410 events).

For regular old recreational shooting, shoot whatever you want.


THIS^ Hey don't read too much into my post (#8). If you compete......I totally get spending big dollars on a higher end gun.......no way in hell I could put 400 rounds through that mossy 500 in a weekend.....my shoulder is bruised after 3 rounds! But to shoot 3 rounds a week for fun at the club almost any shotgun can be used! I do, however, see people show up from time to time with guns that cost thousands and cant even hit double digits! That is funny!
 
Yep. In the offseason I'll bring out the Model 12 28 gauge pump gun, or my Mossberg 500, or the 20ga 870... Hell, I used to use my Xtrema2 in competitive skeet, and was shooting 97-99/100 with it.
 
Is it blasphemy (difficult) to shoot trap or skeet with an 18" barreled shotgun?

As others have stated, an 18" barrel will work for skeet, although not recommended for competition. Trap is different in that one shoots from various ranges from 16 yards to 27 yards (handicap). The 27-yard handicap separates the men from the boys. The 18" will work 16 yards, but I highly doubt that many clays will be hit at 27 yards using an 18" barrel, no matter what choke is being used.
 
We were goofing around a while back and my son had his 18" slug barrel with rifle sights.
He got 4 out of 5 .
Shoot what you got and have fun.
 
We were goofing around a while back and my son had his 18" slug barrel with rifle sights.
He got 4 out of 5 .
Shoot what you got and have fun.
Shot trap with a guy a few times that uses a saiga! He hits a couple.....every now and then.......but he has fun!
 
i shoot trap with my magpul 870 but i throw a 30inch full choke barrel on it. i have shot in the 20's multiple times with it. doesnt do so well in skeet as a full choke is too tight for skeet/5 stand plus pumping for the pairs adds extra difficulty. if you wanna shoot trap just buy a cheap 28-30 inch barrel and throw it on to shoot and then change back to the 18inch when you get home.
 
My friend shoots skeet with a Saiga and, despite some funny looks and hilarious conversations, consistently breaks in the 20s. Shoot what you have and don't worry about it.
 
I shoot a winchester sxp pump action with a 28" barrel and shoot 22-24's. You don't necessarily need a trap gun to shoot well.
 
I shoot a winchester sxp pump action with a 28" barrel and shoot 22-24's. You don't necessarily need a trap gun to shoot well.

Like others have said.......trap is fun and you can get decent scores with just about any shotgun......

But like Vell said......competing is a whole different story......I could not imaging shooting 8 rounds over two days on a weekend in competition. I would be in pain on the second day and I'm sure my scores would suffer.........this is where the dedicated trap guns would play a role I think. comfort=better scores over multiple rounds. I just can't help but giggle when folks show up with big dollar shotguns and absolutely suck at shooting trap :) My advice is start with a basic gun that costs under 300 bucks until you can break into the 20s consistently then "maybe" go for a better gun......too many getting started in the sport that think $300 spent on a shotgun = single digit numbers and $2000 spent on trap gun = 20 plus clays broken! Nothing could be farther from the truth......some skill is involved to begin with!
 
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Years ago my brother was asked to leave when he pulled out his pistol grip pump shotty. [rofl]

In the GLTL there was a very young man shooting his camo turkey gun from the Lowell club that was very good.
 
No sense in blowing $800 or more to see if you like it.

I've seen short barrels shooting trap. Depends on the level of fudd at the club whether it not people say something.
 
Years ago my brother was asked to leave when he pulled out his pistol grip pump shotty. [rofl]

In the GLTL there was a very young man shooting his camo turkey gun from the Lowell club that was very good.
I've watched my friend break clays with a pistol grip pump one-handed on station 7 [rofl] I also once shot a round with a guy who shot from the hip on station 8.
 
I just use my turkey gun w a modified or i,proved modified choke.
if you own a HD shotgun like mossy 500, usually can just swap out the barrel w something longer like 24+ inches and a mod or IM choke and then youre more thangood to go.

im sure i look like a tool w a mossberg 500 shooting trap but honestly it doesnt matter cuz once I open my mouth everyone knows Im a tool anyway.
 
IMO, if you get hate for your gat at a given club....go somewhere else.

My kid beat a lot of people with "real" trap guns, shooting a 870 hand-me-down at the NH State Trap shoot. I sucked, but more gun would not have helped me....it was not my shoot! [laugh]

You're welcome to bring your Mossy to Southborough!
 
Bring a side-by-side coach gun, and listen for the pucker(akin to wet balloons rubbing together).
As long as the barrell is over 18" I believe... Mike?
 
Bring a side-by-side coach gun, and listen for the pucker(akin to wet balloons rubbing together).
As long as the barrell is over 18" I believe... Mike?

AFAIK, there are no Club rules against NFA guns (town ordinance against FA, though). I'd love to see an Auto & Burglar gun (that was lawfully possessed) at the top of the hill! [laugh]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ithaca_Auto_&_Burglar

Aside from that, yes, 18" is fine. [wink]
 
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