Addressing the original question...... trap and skeet are two very different games and the best guns for these two sports have evolved differently. Skeet is very close, very quick and a doubles game, can not be shot with a single shot and very few ever acquire the skill to do it well with a pump. Best gun is open choked, quick and responsive and totally reliable for a second shot. A good fitting open choked field gun serves many shooters adequately for this at the beginner to intermediate stage. For a beginner, if you include skeet or sporting clays ( which have many doubles targets) you can eliminate singles and pumps as impractical.
Trap competition is broken into three sections, 16 yard singles, doubles (shot at 16 yards) and handicap which is long range singles, for men normally starting at 20 yards and earning a progressive handicap yardage back as far as 27 yards over time by winning competitions. Beginners and some intermediate skilled shooters normally only shoot 16 yard singles, maybe occasionally trying doubles or handicap and if you forget doubles any action type will provide hours of fun and lots of broken birds. 16 yards is the place to learn the fundamentals before getting too serious about more difficult target presentations. Dedicated trap guns have evolved as usually tightly choked ( because of the long range handicap targets) heavy and somewhat deliberate guns ( heavy to help absorb the recoil of 300 or more shots in a day of competition), they frequently have longer barrels ( 32, 34" ) to achieve this and are stocked high to deliberately shoot high to a greater or lesser degree because trap targets are taken on the rise and this allows the shooter to keep the target in sight as well as providing a degree of built in vertical lead. Trap targets vary in angle of presentation but have fixed elevation and rise so they are somewhat predictable, allowing a more delierate swing. So the ideal trap gun has evolved as long barrelled 8-9 pounds, tightly choked and speciallized singles are favoured by many for 16 yard and handicap - totally different than a skeet gun. Yes, you can shoot both sports with any gun capapable of two quick repeat shots but the wrong type of gun for either sport will be frustrating for anyone who really wants to learn and improve.
Sporting clays is another different game where you walk around a course and shoot at many different types of presentations, mostly doubles, in different locations. This was designed to simulate a wide variety of hypothetical hunting situations and requires a well fitted versatile gun. Many do well here ( not championship calibre) with their favourite hunting gun and although there are specialized sporting clays guns many differ little from a field gun. So really the sporting clays gun or the field gun is the most adaptable to any shotgun target sports for a one gun user. As many have repeated for many years, find something of good quality that fits you naturally, shoot lots and you will improve and you will enjoy it. Stay clear of inexpensive poorly made guns, no matter how pretty they are, they will lead to frustration and disappointment. You are far better off with a good used Browning, Beretta , Winchester 101, etc than an inexpensive brand new low quality gun, if you prefer an autoloader the same would apply to Remington, Beretta, Browning, etc and at a later date if you decide to upgrade or leave the sport all together your gun will be much easier to sell and your loss, if any, will be minimal. After a few years and 10,000, 20,000 targets or more if you want to specialize you will be in a position to judge what will work for you. Shoot lots. Have fun.
