Another New Shooter?

[Mark Mags]

So,

I finally joined my local club today, which has both trap and skeet. I am more interested in trap..right now so a question or two for some that know...

What size shot to use?

As far as a shotgun goes, 18.5" (887) barrels although would work, do they work? ie. would it be worth to try and miss, or buy a 'proper' lengthed barrel shotgun? I like the 887 and shooting trap seems like the perfect way to break in the action, and try a new sport....but I don't know.

So, any advice for a new guy would be greatly appreciated...and be gentle, remember, I'm new.

 

[Pakiji]

Generally no higher than 7 1/2s for shot size, no less than 9s (9s are used for skeet quite often, less often for trap). Few people use shorter than 30" barrels in general (32" on an over/under is quite common, and some people use much longer, up to 34"), though some 28" on a pump or semi is seen occasionally because the sighting plane is longer than on an over/under (the receiver is longer, so the barrel end is further away from you than it would be for an over/under). In general, smoother swing is helped by longer barrel.

Some excellent trapshooting guides exist online (google first) but generally:

1) keep your head/cheek on the stock all the way through the swing

2) move so that your point of rotation is around your ankles (imagine that your center of gravity is very low, essentially), move your arms/shoulders/torso/hips as a whole unit

3) don't move until you see the target, that is until you can focus your eyes on the leading edge of the target.

4) do not look at the beads/rib/gun, only focus on the target. It's not rifle shooting, in fact it's much closer to hitting a baseball with a bat or playing tennis in that you are always focused on the object you want to hit rather than the tool you use to hit it with.

Try to mount the same every time. Good luck, have fun, breaking clays is very satisfying!

 

[Bigbubba]

Get a 30 inch barrel and some 7 1/2 or 8 shot. 1145 fps 2 3/4 dram loads are lots

Hummason in Ancaster sells these by the case, as does Lawrys in Caledonia. Close to where you are.

Imagine a line going down the station 5 yard line out to the house. Your feet/body should be parallel to the line on every station - so on 1 you are almost facing the house right on and on 5 you are a right angle to the house.

Google remingtons website they have a nice Trap brochure to download - lots of tips. If you can't find it PM me and I will email you.

Shoot where they're going, not where they've been.....