New to Trap

[Catman Do]

Does it have a recoil pad or a butt plate? That one should be obvious as to the effect it has on your shoulder.

What shells were you shooting? Ounce and an eight at 1200 fps, the so called 3 dram load? Overkill for clay targets unless you are shooting them past 45 yards or so. Look for the 1 ounce target loads. They recoil much less. Better yet is to reload 7/8 ounce shells, but not everyone is set up to do that.

HTH

Thanks. The gun has the standard plastic end plate that has some deformability. I'm not sure of it's proper name, I'm new to shotguns. I was using Winchester AA target loads, which were the 1 oz 1290 fps shells, #7.5 shot. They were called "lite handicap".

At the moment I couldn't tell you how it fit my shoulder, I'd have to go over to my Dad's and try. The gun is quite light, around 7 lbs, which was part of the reason I chose it; so my arms wouldn't get tired after shooting it for the afternoon.

 

[R&R Rancher]

Well, if there is give on the butt you have a recoil pad. A 7 pound gun and clay targets is a recipie for a sore shoulder. Yes it's easier to hold, but a heavier gun will recoil less and the added weight will give you momentum to smooth out your swing and make following through easier.

Handicap shells are notorious for heavy recoil and give you no advantage for all but very long range shots. Buy something 1 ounce with a velocity as low as you can.

Do a google search on "recoil calculators". You can plug in shot weight, velocity and gun weight to see the effects of changing each variable.

I would also bet you shoot in a rifleman's stance leaning backwards and you have the toe of the stock contact a small area on your shoulder

 

[Catman Do]

I wouldn't be surprised if I was holding the gun wrong and had the wrong stance. Thanks for the tips, I'll look up those links you mentiond and buy some shells with a lighter load the next time I go shooting ( probably next spring).