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Life isn’t fair one walk through a parking lot looking at vehicles should tell anyone that.

3rd class driving is still much better then first class walking.

All sorts of actual trap guns can be had for most budgets. Trap guns tend to work best for trapshooting…
 
Shot some trap for the first time today, 3 rounds, got some tips from other guys shooting at the same time, by the 3rd round was able to hit maybe 18/25 but only really explode maybe half that. Seems like I have trouble with the middle station, and also ones that fly really left when I'm standing on the left station, and fly right when I'm standing on the right station (don't know if there are names for these scenarios). Anyway tons of fun, will shoot more for sure. Definitely do not regret getting a shotgun. For a little bit I was able to achieve a small amount of that mindless focus that I usually look for in smallbore targeting shooting, so I think I will enjoy this.

Did get conflicting advice from 2 separate guys there, one said I should be using full choke, other guy said I'm fine with modified. I ended up using IM. Don't think I'm good enough to tell the difference and experiment yet. Still need to play around with the cheek rest height.
 
At this point your fine with mod, im or full choke so don't sweat it. Having said that, IM is a good choice.

Stations are number from left to right... 1 to 5.
Body position is important for station 1 and 5. On 1, turn your body a bit left so that when the target goes left you have no trouble turning with it. On station 5 position your body slightly right so that you can turn easily with a hard right target. Don't over do it so that you can't comfortably shoot the opposite way target but so that your comfortable with left or right targets from each station.
 
You want to stand with your body cutting the station in half on a 45 degree angle. In doing so for a right handed shooter you will notice if you were to hold your gun across your chest as if in a position to catch flushing game that your barrel will be aligned with the extreme left hand target on the left side of the field(stations 1&2) and on the centre station (3). On stations 4 & 5 the left hand target is going to be your straight away target from those two stations. This enables you to rotate from the hips to chase the opposite angled targets from all stations(right hand) w/o running out of nice fluid swing and prevent pushing your gun off your cheek.
I shoot the same style Brad Dysinger used to shoot and teach whereby I hold my gun aligned with the straightaway target for each station and in that way on the left side of the field(stations 1 & 2) all my shots will be a swing to the left with the exception of the straightaway target of course. On the right side of the field(stations 4 & 5) all my shots will be a right hand swing again with the exception of the straightaway target. It's not a method for everyone as many find it a long ways to have to swing to the extreme angle targets but it also has the advantage of eliminating having to look equal distance each side of the barrel in your soft focus area. I know all the targets will be from my barrel to left when I'm on the left side of the field and on the right from tge right side of the barrel. I only have to look in that reduced size soft focus area to see a target emerge.
The year I started shooting that style of shooting instead of the old tried and true traditional method I shot 6-100 straights in singles out of 1350 registered targets. It is also the year I went to a high rib gun which offered an almost unobstructed view above the traphouse roof line.
 
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I have never heard of that technique Spank. Not a big trap shooter, but I shoot a few rounds every year. I am going to give it a try. I have always held for the severe angles and as a result, my misses are usually the straight aways.
 
That is quite interesting, you've given me a lot to think about. I am typically pretty analytical with my shooting, its just too bad I can't get out there more often.

the spank said:
You want to stand with your body cutting the station in half on a 45 degree angle. In doing so for a right handed shooter you will notice if you were to hold your gun across your chest as if in a position to catch flushing game that your barrel will be aligned with the extreme left hand target on the left side of the field(stations 1&2) and on the centre station (3). On stations 4 & 5 the left hand target is going to be your straight away target from those two stations. This enables you to rotate from the hips to chase the opposite angled targets from all stations(right hand) w/o running out of nice fluid swing and prevent pushing your gun off your cheek.
I shoot the same style Brad Dysinger used to shoot and teach whereby I hold my gun aligned with the straightaway target for each station and in that way on the left side of the field(stations 1 & 2) all my shots will be a swing to the left with the exception of the straightaway target of course. On the right side of the field(stations 4 & 5) all my shots will be a right hand swing again with the exception of the straightaway target. It's not a method for everyone as many find it a long ways to have to swing to the extreme angle targets but it also has the advantage of eliminating having to look equal distance each side of the barrel in your soft focus area. I know all the targets will be from my barrel to left when I'm on the left side of the field and on the right from tge right side of the barrel. I only have to look in that reduced size soft focus area to see a target emerge.
The year I started shooting that style of shooting instead of the old tried and true traditional method I shot 6-100 straights in singles out of 1350 registered targets. It is also the year I went to a high rib gun which offered an almost unobstructed view above the traphouse roof line.
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Westward1 said:
I have never heard of that technique Spank. Not a big trap shooter, but I shoot a few rounds every year. I am going to give it a try. I have always held for the severe angles and as a result, my misses are usually the straight aways.
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This is the fellow who taught that method. I am guessing it worked for him? LOL

Inductees (traphof.org)
 
sharp shooter said:
I am no expert but I plant my feet so that I would naturally point to the centre pin in front of the trap house from each station. Has been working so far.
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So if you are a right handed shooter and you are pointing your centre mass(belly button) at the centre stake you are restricting your swing to the right severely. Your gun at rest(layed across your chest) has the muzzle pointed a long ways inside of where you need to be for a left hand target and you will not have any natural swing to the right. You are forcing your swing to right hand targets. That will require a lot of physical effort on your part and put you in a position where you are pulling the gun off your cheek. On station 3 as an example you cannot even get to the straightaway target w/o having to pivot to your right. On stations 4 & 5 my belly button is pointed at the target height setting stake on the next trap field to the right of me.
What I try to teach new shooters at our club is stand feet parallel with your body at a 45 degree angle on the pad. Lay your gun at natural rest and see where the muzzle is pointed. It should lay as close as possible to the extreme left angled target for a right handed shooter. For a lefty it's the opposite.
 
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the spank said:
So if you are a right handed shooter and you are pointing your centre mass(belly button) at the centre stake you are restricting your swing to the right severely. Your gun at rest(layed across your chest) has the muzzle pointed a long ways inside of where you need to be for a left hand target and you will not have any natural swing to the right. You are forcing your swing to right hand targets. That will require a lot of physical effort on your part and put you in a position where you are pulling the gun off your cheek. On station 3 as an example you cannot even get to the straightaway target w/o having to pivot to your right. On stations 4 & 5 my belly button is pointed at the target height setting stake on the next trap field to the right of me.
What I try to teach new shooters at our club is stand feet parallel with your body at a 45 degree angle on the pad. Lay your gun at natural rest and see where the muzzle is pointed. It should lay as close as possible to the extreme left angled target for a right handed shooter. For a lefty it's the opposite.
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I think you have miss understood me a bit Spank. I'm not pointing my body to the centre pin. If I were to close my eyes and pull up my gun and naturally point it, it would be at the centre pin from each station.
 
sharp shooter said:
I think you have miss understood me a bit Spank. I'm not pointing my body to the centre pin. If I were to close my eyes and pull up my gun and naturally point it, it would be at the centre pin from each station.
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I see. You are talking hold point not stance meaning you are holding your gun over the centre stake from each post(station)?
 
Went again today and was able to explode way more targets, very satisfying!
Also took my old man, and I think he got beat up a bit by the shotgun. Note to self, if I bring anyone else, make sure they have a tight seal between gun and body, on the entire recoil pad, and lean into it some. I did that today and no bruises, unlike the first time I went. Learning the hard way
 
machohugeaxe said:
Went again today and was able to explode way more targets, very satisfying!
Also took my old man, and I think he got beat up a bit by the shotgun. Note to self, if I bring anyone else, make sure they have a tight seal between gun and body, on the entire recoil pad, and lean into it some. I did that today and no bruises, unlike the first time I went. Learning the hard way
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Fire up the youtube videos and learn proper mount and stance from some of the good coaching sources. For trap look up videos by Leo Harrison III, Harlan Campbell, Nora Ross, Susan Nattrass etc. Check with club members and see if any have older training videos by Kay Ohye or Brad Dysinger too. You can glean some fantastic information to improve your game from A to Z.
Sounds like you are on the road to improvement, great job. Practice good fundamentals always, develop them into your routine and you'll be on a good path always. Practice your stance, mount and shooting at home. Purchase a Terry Jordan Wall Chsrt and follow advice in the manuals and you'll develop superb routines that will up your game very significantly. It will be the best $150 you spend in trap accessories.
 
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How many rounds usually does it take to break in an action for an over under? Asking because I have to use a hand to push it past the point of ejection and trigger reset, but I do see others doing this with gravity only. I've greased the contact points but wondering if theres any point in me opening and closing at home, since I'm not able to get out there too often.
 
machohugeaxe said:
How many rounds usually does it take to break in an action for an over under? Asking because I have to use a hand to push it past the point of ejection and trigger reset, but I do see others doing this with gravity only. I've greased the contact points but wondering if theres any point in me opening and closing at home, since I'm not able to get out there too often.
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A few thousand. Good guns wear in, bad guns wear out. :)
 
machohugeaxe said:
How many rounds usually does it take to break in an action for an over under? Asking because I have to use a hand to push it past the point of ejection and trigger reset, but I do see others doing this with gravity only. I've greased the contact points but wondering if theres any point in me opening and closing at home, since I'm not able to get out there too often.
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Don't worry about it opening easier. Some guns will be 10,000+ rounds to get to the point they are easy to open and close. Put grease on the hinge pin, on the sides of the monobloc where it contacts the receiver as it rotates into the action, grease the forend iron where it pivots on the receiver, grease the forend latch. Basically anywhere you have metal to metal contact on pivot points. Especially a new gun. You don't want to gaul the metal. Not all are designed the same either. Some the hinge pins are for rotation primarily, like on a Perazzi(Boss style action) where as some the hinge pin is full width and is the main part taking the stress of recoil and absorbing the motion of the barrels/bloc in the action upon firing. If using greaee for your lubricant instead of oil make sure to clean it off after each outing and apply fresh grease before next use. Grease holds powder residues, dirt etc and if left on will cause premature wear. What kind of gun are you using? Brownings and Beretta's are notorious for being very tight when new and take a good number of rounds before smoothing and taking less pressure to open and close. Tolerances are tight on good quality guns and they are made from good materials that take much longer to wear. Maintain them well and they will run hundreds of thousands of rounds.
 
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Picked up a bettinsoli xsport on a relatively good deal, says used but looks like it hasnt been fired at all. I.e. I shot about 200 rounds through it and thoroughly cleaned it and it doesnt look quite like new the same as when I got it
 
I've had guns that took a few hundred rounds to break in up to 10,000 or so. The longest one I ever had to break in was a new Bl4 Beretta 12 gauge that was so tight that it took both hands to break it open over my knee for the first thousand rounds or so, then it took all of my strength in both arms to open it for the next couple of thousand rounds not using my knee, after that it slowly got better and by ten thousand it was pretty good but not to the point of falling open by itself if you tripped the top lever. Eventually the gun became one of the smoothest opening guns I ever owned but it took probably 20 to 25,000 rounds to get that way.
As Spank said, the key to all this is to keep the gun lubricated and the trunions or hinge pin clean. I always use grease and wipe it out after every outing then relube it. The surface between the forend iron and the receiver must be well lubricated as well, that's where you often see galling on a gun that hasn't been lubed well.
 
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