Beretta Blue A400 Excel 32 inch Barrel.

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SUPER TENERE

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Just bought one of these on EE with the 3 supplied Chokes. Not sure about the long 32 inch barrel. Will be using it for Trap, Skeet and hopefully 5 Stand. Currently using a 28 inch O/U which doesn't fit me great. For some reason I am OK at Trap but lousy at Skeet and 5 Stand. Hoping I can get better faster with an Auto Loader which fits me better. Whats my best bet on Barrel length. Hoping to hear from anyone with some experience on the Clay games. Thanks.
 
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That 32" barrel will not handicap you in any way on any of the clay target games. If the gun fits and shoots to where you are looking that is all that matters. The 32" on an autoloader is a nice long sighting plane and smooth swinging gun for trap, especially handicap where shots are longer but leads are less due to less flight angle on the targets as you push further back on the pad. Go out and practice, have fun and erase any thoughts of the barrel hindering you or it will play on your mind causing you to lose focus and ultimately blame the gun instead of the computer system behind the gun!!
 
When you are shooting 98/100 consistently on a skeet field, then the gun might be holding you back. Until then it will do just fine. And on a trap field there it is a great gun.
 
Having shot various A400s, the 32" Excel is a gun I'd own. The longer barrel is very smooth on distant targets and no handicap on close in shots. The only reason I don't own one now is I already have target guns that are working for me.

If you want to get better at clay target games once you have a gun that fits and shoots where you are looking find an instructor who can teach you how the games are shot.
 
Thanks guys. All sounds like good advise. Did take a lesson at Silver Willow and did OK at Sporting Clays but am having a hell of a time with Skeet.
 
SUPER TENERE said:
Thanks guys. All sounds like good advise. Did take a lesson at Silver Willow and did OK at Sporting Clays but am having a hell of a time with Skeet.
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Go online and order an instructional skeet video by Todd Bender. I borrowed a friends Bender instructional video a little over a decade ago and it changed the game for me overnight!! I shot more straight rounds in that first summer of continually going back to that video than in the previous twenty years of shooting skeet.
 
SUPER TENERE said:
Thanks guys. All sounds like good advise. Did take a lesson at Silver Willow and did OK at Sporting Clays but am having a hell of a time with Skeet.
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Most people that have trouble with skeet do one of two things, they either stop their swing when they pull the trigger, or they try to use the beads to aim the shotgun. Either one will cost you a lot of targets.
 
Nice work on the gun ST.

I bought a new shotgun this year as well and have been thoroughly enjoying the challenge of shotgun sports.

Maybe seeya at one of the club nights.
 
Skeet will take time to get very proficient at it, took me 2 1/2 years to shoot a perfect round. Each sport has it's own nuances, in sporting clays each course is unique. I shot a tournament on Saturday at a club I'd never been to before, 100 target 5-stand set-up on 2 fields, hard and downright tough. Shot a 44/100, I wasn't happy with my scores even though it was in the upper half of the pack. Changing guns also will change your learning curve until you become proficient with the new gun and it's handling characteristics. Not sure what gun you shot before but the A-400 will have about 8" length difference than your O/U, probably weighs different, certainly has a different sight picture and swinging characteristic, all of that will take some time to adjust to. Some people shoot a different gun every trip to the range, I principally shoot 1 gun but rotate between 3 others on a regular basis, the reason being I want to be equally proficient with my field guns as I am with my target guns, I shoot clay targets to improve for bird season. The last thing I want come Oct.1st is to pick up my field gun, swing through a grouse and wing it because I not completely comfortable with my field gun's handling and feel. My advice from all this rambling is this, shoot your 5-stand as well as the skeet field, you will improve at both, focusing just on Skeet will only help so much, the break from it will refresh your mind. At our club, we shoot principally Skeet, however a lot times one member in particular, will want to shoot a round of Skrap at the end of his visit, I never miss the opportunity to shoot a round of it even though it's not my strong suit. The round afterwards, I'm typically up a target, that change of scenery/discipline gives your brain a reset on it's sight pictures.
 
Think of it as an extreme version of handicap trap, the skeet stations sit 27 yrds behind the trap house. You use the main 7 stations of the skeet field, then move back 5yrds behind station 6, 5, at station 4 we move up a road behind station #4 5yrds at a time, top of the road on our field is 55yrds behind the trap, on a rare day the game is won from the parking lot. It is shot with a single box of shells, whoever breaks the last target wins, whoever runs out first gets the pickle and is required to pull the rest of targets for the squad. You are only allowed 5 shots per station to break that stations target. I shoot 1oz loads of #8 and frequently run out of usable pattern at about the 35-40yrd behind the trap mark. From Station #1 or #7 a hard extreme target requires about 10' of lead.

The other unique habit at our club is to shoot skeet doubles from the Make-a-Break stand set-up 10yrds behind our skeet field.
 
Super Tenere :

What choke are you using for Skeet ? ... if you are having problems, anything as tight as I/Cyl. will be a challenge. Try Cyl. or Skeet. On most of the 5-stand courses that I've
shot, even Mod. is a little tight. I've found I/Cyl. or Lt.Mod. to be adequate for 5-stand and a lot of Sporting Clays set-ups. Rarely use Modified, Imp.Mod. or Full at these games, and then, only for the very long target presentations.

A 32" auto-loader at Skeet is a bit of a challenge to get started , but otherwise, swings pretty smoothly. Your 28" O/U is likely better balanced and about 6" (or more) shorter than your new auto-loader. Doesn't seem like a lot, but is. You might try starting your "hold point" a little further out on the target flight line. Most importantly, use the supplied stock shims to get a good sight picture. You want to be looking "flat" down the rib, with your eye centred, neither right nor left of centre. If you can find an experienced shooter familiar with "fit", enlist a little help, and by all means pattern the gun to ensure it is "shooting where you're looking" !

At one time, 26" pumps and auto-loader and 26" SxS's and O/U's were the "bees knees" for Skeet. As the game became more and more competitive, longer barrels evolved.
Today, very few pumps and SxS's are used in competition and the O/U's are typically 30/32". The auto-loaders I see are mostly 28/30", but again the over-all length and balance of an auto-loader seems to be quite different ...the auto-loaders having a considerably longer receiver.

I have a 32" O/U and two auto-loaders one 28" the other 30". The O/U gets used a lot for everything, the 28" auto-loader for Skeet and the 30" for 5-Stand and Sporting. I have taken considerable effort attaining good fit and balance on all guns and have patterned them extensively. Being a right-handed shooter, I find I need less drop at comb than most, prefer a "straighter" comb (less drop front to back) require cast-off(being a righty) and like less pitch down than the factories provide. When I moved-up from a 29-1/2" O/U to the 32", at Skeet I found I had to move my hold points out a little further, especially for 2H's, 5L's, 6L's and both 8's.

Good luck with your shooting ! ;)
 
I had a 30" version, it was a great soft shooter, just didn't fit me quite right. i have an a400 xtreme and it feels like it fits differently/better for me. If it fits you properly i think its a gun to own!
 
Thanks for all the info guys. I have since gone back to my 28 inch CZ Redhead O/U and find I am doing better. Actually hit a few more at 5 Stand but still need lots work. Using Cylinder Choke and IC for both 5 Stand and Skeet. Modified for Trap. Still finding Trap the easiest and 5 Stand the hardest. Friend of mine bought some High Speed Target Loads 1400fps with 1 0z Shot rather than our usual 11/8 oz at 1200. Would that affect your Leads at all?
 
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