Trap & Skeet Shotgun

Down the shirt isn't good but its better than the ass crack - best dance I ever did was when that happened :D

I still have a scar on my right arm from a piece of 223 brass coming to land on it after being ejected during a 3 gun match while in a tight position where I couldn't really move to shake it.

Gun handling is paramount and something you quickly develop a hard coded sense for given how important it is. I have seen people literally fall in competition and still put muzzle direction and gun safety above all else.
LOL, reminds me of a farmer friend that was cutting out a seized bearing (I think it was on a header) so he is under there with a torch cutting, wearing just coveralls and shorts (summertime) and a red hot ball fell out and went down his coverall all the way to his junk, he reached down and grabbed the ball (through his coveralls) to pull it away from his junk and burned a hole in his palm. No way he was letting that go. He had “chicken tracks” all down his chest and belly from every place the ball touched on the way down. 😂Regarding muzzle awareness, all three of my grandsons (ages 10-12-13) are like that ( as well as their dad and I). Good discipline has to be taught and practiced.
 
LOL, reminds me of a farmer friend that was cutting out a seized bearing (I think it was on a header) so he is under there with a torch cutting, wearing just coveralls and shorts )summertime) and a red hot ball fell out and went down his coverall all the way to his junk, he reached down and grabbed the ball (through his coveralls) to pull it away from his junk and burned a hole in his palm. No way he was letting that go. 😁. Regarding muzzle awareness, all three of my grandsons (ages 10-12-13) are like that ( as well as their dad and I). Good discipline has to be taught and practiced.

Good for them.

It is a skill for sure. It makes me wince when people dont do it well. You feel like a nag if you have to draw attention to it but its good practice for a reason.

My cousin came to visit in summer. Pretty sure he had never touched a gun before (he's probably 30) but he's a smart dude so I suspect he had read up before coming as he knows I am pretty into it all.

He had it totally figured out. His discipline was off the charts, knew exactly how to handle a firearm / what to do / what not to do. He also listened to instruction very well and was shooting great inside an afternoon.
 
Good for them.

It is a skill for sure. It makes me wince when people dont do it well. You feel like a nag if you have to draw attention to it but its good practice for a reason.

My cousin came to visit in summer. Pretty sure he had never touched a gun before (he's probably 30) but he's a smart dude so I suspect he had read up before coming as he knows I am pretty into it all.

He had it totally figured out. His discipline was off the charts, knew exactly how to handle a firearm / what to do / what not to do. He also listened to instruction very well and was shooting great inside an afternoon.
If a drunk can learn enough “drink awareness” to fall over and not spill their drink, anyone sober should be able to learn muzzle awareness. Same with finger off the trigger. All three GS’s keep trigger finger along side the guard until ready to shoot. A little nagging (politely) early on goes a long way😁
 
You can use any gun you want. The only possible problem with a semi automatic is if it ejects the hulls directly to the side where they might hit the guy standing to your right - it's considered bad form.

Still, I only have one semi that does that - most kick them forwards at an angle, or drop them short.

As to over/unders. You don't *need* one, especially not when starting out. I tell folks who are starting just to get a Mossberg 500, Remington 870, or Winchester SXP - just a cheap field gun. Or look for an old 2.75" pump at a gun show. It's best to have removable chokes, though. I still enjoy shooting pumps. I shoot skeet, trap doubles and 5 stand with an old 870 when the mood strikes me - you are at no disadvantage with one.

Reason being is that a *good* over/under costs money. Do not buy a bargain level O/U. Buy a "B" gun - even a good used one, before entertaining one of those Turkish guns. Yeah the turks CAN make some great guns and I know a guy who shoots a Yildiz clone of a Perazzi, but those aren't "cheap" guns. You're looking at more than $2k for a decent used O/U of quality make, and probably closer to 3 in this market. It's not a purchase to make Just Because.

Anyway, that's my experoence. I just bought a new Beretta on sale, mostly due to the fact that the Browning 725 that I bought site unseen from a friend many years ago Just Because the price was right never truly fit me. I'll be selling that one in the spring

Forgot to ask - I assume this means a "Beretta" or "Benelli"?

It seems every gun I like happens to be a Beretta anyways :D

Now I think about it don't Benelli have anything for these sort of sports? I handled a SBE3 and liked it (it felt very light and compact) but guessing that it doesn't really fall into the sporting category in the same way the A400 Xteme doesn't.
 
For one it states in the description that "The Beretta A400 Xcel Multi-Target 12 gauge (32″) is engineered for peak performance in trap, skeet, and sporting clays". Is this accurate or a "Jack Of All Trades" with compromises for each?

I'm shooting a Beretta DT11 ACS which stands for All Competition Shotgun and the Multi-Target is the semi-auto version of the same concept. I've found no compromise for skeet and sporting and the gun can be adapted by adjusting the rib and stock to shoot higher for trap if that is your preference. I set mine up to shoot a 55/45 pattern and use it for all the games although I do not shoot that much trap.
 
I'm shooting a Beretta DT11 ACS which stands for All Competition Shotgun and the Multi-Target is the semi-auto version of the same concept. I've found no compromise for skeet and sporting and the gun can be adapted by adjusting the rib and stock to shoot higher for trap if that is your preference. I set mine up to shoot a 55/45 pattern and use it for all the games although I do not shoot that much trap.

The DT11 looks like the pinnacle of guns for these games.

From what I can tell having the gun "fit" you is super important - maybe I have been lucky but I have never been fussy with fitting all the firearms I have run, but perhaps it is more important in these sort of games though.

Sense that is where the DT11 shines. It looks very adjustable. Do guns with more traditional styles (like the A400s and 688 I like the look of) have adjustability?
 
I have been testing patterns @ 18 yards. Thought I heard that somewhere but it looks like I should move my pattern board to 35yards????

I would assume it depends on which distance the pellets are most likely to come into contact with the clay?

That would be the best distance to "tune" your gun (rib and choke) for I am guessing?
 
I would assume it depends on which distance the pellets are most likely to come into contact with the clay?

That would be the best distance to "tune" your gun (rib and choke) for I am guessing?
ATA birds are about "35 yards to dead" IIRC, so for trap , that is where you would want to start.
NSSA skeet station #4 is 21 yards I think, so much closer.
Traditionally , pattern boards were 35 to 40 yards for trap guns and waterfowl guns.
Cat
 
Couple of my squad mates just bought these guns. They love them. Having great luck on the skeet and trap end of things...still struggling a bit with the perfect set up for Sporting Clays.
Once Rick got his pattern board work done, he went 74/75 on the skeet field. He said he HAD to stop cuz he didn't want a 99..LMAO
He did his first ...3 rds of trap..23,23,22. He figures he was recoil sensitive and never knew it. This Fabby is the softest shooting shotgun he's ever fired !! Been shooting a 694 O/U for a few yrs..Blaser before that.
 
Go and watch them shoot trap and skeet , , all the skeet shooters shoot gun up [pre-mounted] so a trap stock works . Most big name guys shooting skeet today are shooting trap stocks . A compromise would be a 30inch trap gun in a o/u . Or your leaning toward a gas gun a Berretta multisport . Get a shell catcher a hull hitting a high end gun next to you may not go over very well ..
 
Couple of my squad mates just bought these guns. They love them. Having great luck on the skeet and trap end of things...still struggling a bit with the perfect set up for Sporting Clays.
Once Rick got his pattern board work done, he went 74/75 on the skeet field. He said he HAD to stop cuz he didn't want a 99..LMAO
He did his first ...3 rds of trap..23,23,22. He figures he was recoil sensitive and never knew it. This Fabby is the softest shooting shotgun he's ever fired !! Been shooting a 694 O/U for a few yrs..Blaser before that.

Which guns?
 
Yes..the first number represents the upper percentage of shot in your pattern that would be high above a centerline...second is below centerline.
The 2 "B" guns are Browning & Beretta

I have looked at a few more guns. Couple of things I am starting to notice.

It is common for the same model of Over / Unders to be offered with two barrel lengths (ie 30" & 32") - in almost every instance the 32" is sold out and the 30" is still available. Logically it seems the 32" is the preferred choice which is counterintuitive from what I would have thought initially.

Looking at Browning and Beretta - your money seems to go much further with Browning but they don't have the really high end models like Beretta does.
 
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