Shooting clay....

BuddyHollyDied

BuddyHollyDied

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Ok, here's what I want to do.....I want to shoot flying things in the air and have them shatter into pieces.

I know nothing about shooting skeet or trap or even what the difference is. I have no interest in taking part in competitions - never will. But I would like to fool around with a cheap shotgun and shoot cheap clay targets launched from a cheap thrower.

I have been searching online for a place that sells this stuff in Canada but haven't really found anything...soooo a couple questions if I may:

1. Can someone point me in the right direction to a website or place that has the clays and throwers....cheap ones.

2. Can someone give me some good examples of what I need for a shotgun, looking for some of the cheapest models out there, I am wanting a Side by Side and an Over/Under - but the O/U's I have seen are quite costly so if there are some cheap ones out there please let me know. Used is just fine also. I am thinking well under $500.00 for each, if thats possible, cheaper the better.

3. And lastly - choke......I will only be using these guns for clay targets, what kind of choke would you suggest with the above mentioned cheap shotgun ? I don't know much about chokes either or how they are measured, I guess something in the middle of the road?????:redface:

Basically I would like to shoot as cheaply as possible and very informal messing around......a couple guys wasting an afternoon shooting stuff.

I would appreciate any advice....
 
my advise

Buddy

Don't buy a shotgun or a thrower. Go to a trap club and talk to some guys about different guns. Before you know it you'll have all kinds of guys letting you shoot their shotties. When you find one that fits you and your pocket book buy one. Quite often trap shooters have guns for sale.

As far as throwers go, you'll find the trap club will sell you targets(clays) cheaper than you can buy them for never mind the thrower and a place to shoot them-----Cowboy
 
Yes thats good advice, however I do not have handy access to a skeet club to be able to use their facilities to shoot on somewhat of a regular basis. The more convenient thing for me to do is step out my back door and shoot clay at my liesure using my own thrower.

I will try to get to a skeet club and see what people are using as far as guns though, but to me CGN is a great place for as much info as any club, aside of course from being able to fondle a few guns.
 
Here's a good article on clay trap throwers.

http://www.rangeinfo.org/resource_l...ce/a_buyers_guide.htm&CAT=Facility+Management

I'd look for a Western trap at your local gun club. Should be had for 200+ bucks. It's been the benchmark for target presentation (singles & doubles) but has fallen out of favour because of the need to hand load each target. Works on 110 V AC. Swift Current SK R&G has a number of these. Talk to Steve. Check out our website for more info or drop me a line. www.traploader.com.

Ian
 
Hey,

I was in the same situation as you a couple of months ago, wanting to shoot some clays but knowing very little about it, but I did some reseach and this is what I found, I hope it helps.
In terms of the scatter gun the over/under are by far the nicest shotties around, they seem to fit really well and they are pretty accurate. Stoeger sells a lower priced over/under I think between 400-500 cdn, Condor model, it is a pretty nice gun, decent quality for an O/U. But I am sure that you can get a second hand one for a cheaper price.
As for the chokes if you are just going to be fooling around then probably a modified or improved cylinder would be just fine.
The throwers can be picked up cheap at either Canadian Tire (about 50 bucks) or LeBaron sells them for about 40 buck to 200 bucks. These are throwers that are spring loaded and you have to #### them after each throw but it isn't that hard to do, it beats having to carry a charged up 12V out to the field everytime you want to shoot.
The clays can be picked up at most local shooting supply stores, I get mine at Canadian Tire, 135 targets for about 15 bucks.
I hope this helps, this is what I found worked for me, something cheap and fun to do was my goal too.
Have fun and be safe
 
trap shoot a while back. I brought a bunch of my guns from the vault including several Ithaca 37 pumps and an old rusty Savage pump. The savage shot the best of them. Just buy a cheapo pump gun and and have fun.
 
Thanks for the replies.....Some very good advice for someone like myself that isn't gonna take this too serious or compete.

It seems most any gun will do the job, and this was one thing I had concerns about - didn't want to spend a bunch of money on something I know nothing about and waste that money because the gun wasn't doing the job - which takes away the fun factor in a hurry.

Clays seem pretty cheap at 15$/135....I had no idea what they were worth.

I seen a thrower on some US site that had a chair built into the frame, that looked pretty neat and I think it was less than $200.

So I think I will buy a cheapo thrower and build a chair and frame myself, pick up a couple shotguns, probably used O/U or maybe a SxS, jeez I like the side by sides, or maybe a pump, something in the 2 to 300 dollar range with a modified choke, pick up a bunch of cheap ammo and have at er.

Allin set up for less than $700 and waste massive amounts of shells while making a huge clay mess on the back 40. :D

Thanks all....I'm hooked already.
 
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Heck, if you're shooting with a buddy and want to go cheap, you can get a plastic hand thrower for $15 at canadian tire, too. It presents the targets a little randomly, so if you want to practice for competitions and keep track of your scores, a mechanical thrower will be needed, but if you're just into having fun, throwing hand-thrown clays is (imho) just as much fun... At least to get you started.
 
Yeah I seen those hand throwers, definately cheap but I am way too lazy for that. :D

I found another option instead of building a chair/stand, I am going to use an old school desk for 10 bucks and mount a thrower on that. The kind with the chair and desk all in one.

And a swivel rocker recliner to shoot from. :D :D
 
BuddyHollyDied said:
I found another option instead of building a chair/stand, I am going to use an old school desk for 10 bucks and mount a thrower on that. The kind with the chair and desk all in one.
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You might want to rethink that plan. The springs on these throwers is VERY powerful(will snap your leg like a twig) and it throws out some serious torque. I think it would be hard to properly mount one to a desk and have it stay put. The last thing you want is to have one of these things flying off and hitting someone. IMO, unless you can weld it on somehow, you're better off sticking it in the ground like it's meant to be.

Personally, I would go with the hand thrower mentioned by rudar. Anyone who's had to load a box or two of targets into a mechanical thrower can tell you it get's tiring quickly. I find it much easier...and quicker...to use the hand thrower. Plus, you have MUCH more variation in where your target goes. You'll find that it doesn't take very long to be able to predict where the target is going and hit it every time. Making adjustments to the mechanical units is a pain, and throwing them by hand gives the game more variety and challenge.
 
I Got a Trius one step thrower from Wholesale sports.Came to under 170 bucks shipped to my door.I was wanting to do the same with just going out occasionally and shooting reactive targets.I use my Marine Mag and and my other remmy with a 14 inch barel.I have no problem with hitting them.Nice thing about the Trius is you can shoot by yourself.
 
Yuri Orlov said:
You might want to rethink that plan. The springs on these throwers is VERY powerful(will snap your leg like a twig) and it throws out some serious torque. I think it would be hard to properly mount one to a desk and have it stay put. The last thing you want is to have one of these things flying off and hitting someone. IMO, unless you can weld it on somehow, you're better off sticking it in the ground like it's meant to be.

Personally, I would go with the hand thrower mentioned by rudar. Anyone who's had to load a box or two of targets into a mechanical thrower can tell you it get's tiring quickly. I find it much easier...and quicker...to use the hand thrower. Plus, you have MUCH more variation in where your target goes. You'll find that it doesn't take very long to be able to predict where the target is going and hit it every time. Making adjustments to the mechanical units is a pain, and throwing them by hand gives the game more variety and challenge.
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Well I had this in mind, just wanted to convert the school desk....the frame and chair is already there just weld on what I need.
Not a dual, though that could be done also....was planning on getting one of those throwers from CanTire, can't remember what they are called.....I can extend the frame if I need to and I can also build an adjustable base to change the direction and angle of the throw easily, ....

The adjustabilty on the CanTire thrower did seem like a PITA , so I would build the adjuster to make it quicker.

The guy sitting in the chair can wear his hockey equipment ..:D :D :runaway:
i223858sq03.jpg
 
If you have a metal frame to weld it to, then yes it could work. Just make sure it's on there really well.

But if you're willing to go that far, why not just save up and get something like in your pic? Not only are you easily able to shoot targets in almost any direction, you can also get a "3/4" model where the arm swings around and cocks itself 3/4 of the way for the next time. It makes it much easier to operate. Not to mention you would be able to put it away when you are done, unlike your desk project.

Something else you might want to consider, is one of the Post Mount models. You just mount a 4x4 post into the ground and it slips over the top. Cheaper than a chair model, and way easier to use than the ground version.
 
Good point Yuri....

I may just look into the one I pictured, being it is a dual thrower I wouldn't "outgrow" it any time soon.

I also like the 3/4 #### you mentioned, I didn't know there was such a thing, this is definatley a plus...thank you.

Incidentley, I have aborted the school desk idea as my plans have ballooned..:) Also the frame of the desks are not all that strong to weld to, thin metal.

So, because I like to build stuff myself, and generally I can improve on the designs of store bought equipment like this, I may still build my own stand/chair from scratch and source the throwers separately.

I thank all who replied.
Cheers,
BHD
 
BuddyHollyDied said:
I may just look into the one I pictured, being it is a dual thrower I wouldn't "outgrow" it any time soon.
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Damn right! It's not cheap, but the one pictured is about as good as you'll get without stepping up to an electric model...ie: $$$$$

Make sure to post some pics if you end up building something! :)
 
Buddy Holly: Where in Sask. are you? I'm sure there is a cheap gunclub some where near you, where they throw cheap targets for people with cheap guns, and cheap shells, they may even supply cheap lunches, and cheap coffee too. Memberships are probably cheap, and cheap friendships could be founded....just some cheap advise!
 
get yourself a 50 buck spring loaded thrower from crappy tire and weld it to a tire rim, works wonderful. If you just push it into the ground, it will eventually pop out of the ground, or shift on you.
That is what used to happen to me all the time.
Have fun
 
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