What is the difference between a Trap and Skeet Gun
- Thread starter VIZSLA
- Start date
Trap gun
Most trap guns are designed to shoot a little high, to allow visual contact with the rising target. It is a matter of personal preference, but most skeet guns shoot flatter.
Trap guns tend to be longer in the barrel length. Years ago skeet was shot mostly with 26” barrels, now they have increased a bit. However you don’t see to many 32” barrels on the skeet field.
Of course skeet is shot with a skeet choke. Some older Trap guns with fixed chokes where choked full, or tighter.
Some trap guns a single shots,, no good for skeet.
There are some guns the work well for both disciplines, Browning Citori XS Special, Beretta Parallel target, are just two that come to mind.
Both are great games. I am a converted trap shooter, that shoots almost all skeet and sporting clay now. I was a very good trap shooter, and so far I am an average skeet and clay shooter ,but I can honestly say I have never enjoyed shooting as much as a do now .
Most trap guns are designed to shoot a little high, to allow visual contact with the rising target. It is a matter of personal preference, but most skeet guns shoot flatter.
Trap guns tend to be longer in the barrel length. Years ago skeet was shot mostly with 26” barrels, now they have increased a bit. However you don’t see to many 32” barrels on the skeet field.
Of course skeet is shot with a skeet choke. Some older Trap guns with fixed chokes where choked full, or tighter.
Some trap guns a single shots,, no good for skeet.
There are some guns the work well for both disciplines, Browning Citori XS Special, Beretta Parallel target, are just two that come to mind.
Both are great games. I am a converted trap shooter, that shoots almost all skeet and sporting clay now. I was a very good trap shooter, and so far I am an average skeet and clay shooter ,but I can honestly say I have never enjoyed shooting as much as a do now .
beretta boy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Orillia, Ontario
If you are a hunter ... I would recommend Skeet as the best (initial) practice to learn how to utilize a shotgun - and learn the fundamentals of target angles, stance, foot position, swing and forward allowance. Once proficient, Sporting Clays is the next challenge with all it's "Unknowns" and "Variables" .
Trap is a great target game and will challenge your concentration abilities ... but it seems to me that it's a very rare "pure" Trap Shooter that's really proficient in the field or at the other games. A proficient Sporting Clays Shooter, however, isn't at all uncomfortable shooting either Skeet or Trap ... or game. Please don't take me wrong... I like Trap and am not putting it down ... it takes a huge amount of skill & practice to get to the top, run 100's and earn a 27 yard handicap ... but ATA-type Trap with it's limited angles and known target speed and distances effectively only challenges the shooter on straight-away to quartering birds ( even a hard right or left from 1 or 5 respectively isn't a "crosser" )
Learn the basics on Skeet, then try the other games and choose which one ( or all ! ) that you like to shoot.
Trap is a great target game and will challenge your concentration abilities ... but it seems to me that it's a very rare "pure" Trap Shooter that's really proficient in the field or at the other games. A proficient Sporting Clays Shooter, however, isn't at all uncomfortable shooting either Skeet or Trap ... or game. Please don't take me wrong... I like Trap and am not putting it down ... it takes a huge amount of skill & practice to get to the top, run 100's and earn a 27 yard handicap ... but ATA-type Trap with it's limited angles and known target speed and distances effectively only challenges the shooter on straight-away to quartering birds ( even a hard right or left from 1 or 5 respectively isn't a "crosser" )
Learn the basics on Skeet, then try the other games and choose which one ( or all ! ) that you like to shoot.
The topic of skeet guns vs trap and sporting clays guns came up today at our practice and one chap was saying that dedicated skeet guns usually have shorter barrels, e.g. 26 inches, while trap gun barrels are often longer, e.g. 30 to 34 inches. It wasn't that one couldn't shoot either with different length barrels, of course. But I think when I get enough sheckles to buy a dedicated skeet gun it will have the shorter barrels. Right now I'm shooting 30 inch barrels and doing OK, but it might be nice to have shorter ones.
beretta boy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Orillia, Ontario
Back in the day, 26" was the norm for Skeet guns, no matter what the action type. Over time, people got to realize that a 26" autoloader was virtually identical in length to a 30" O/U or SxS, and that the later action types tended to be better balanced and swung smoother than the 26" doubles.
Today, most O/U Skeet guns are 28" or 30", with 30" becoming increasingly popular.
O/U Trap guns were almost all 30" with single barrel versions ( either stand alone or as the second barrel on a combo) being 32" or 34" . Today, more and more are looking to 32" Trap O/U's ... at least fore ATA type trap.
International (bunker) Trap, Compac and Helice/Electrocible shooters from Europe, as well as most live Pigeon shooters still prefer the balance, handling & dynamics of 30" barrels, although a few will occassionally use 28" or 29-1/2 guns in the live Pigeon ring.
By and large, most Sporting Clays guns are likely still 30", but 32" is becoming more and more popular with competitive shooters. Some are experimenting with 34" O/U's. Most Sporting autoloaders are 30" - just a tad longer than a 32" O/U.
I've been shooting a 32" gun at Skeet, Sporting and 5-Stand for the past 14 or 15 years, and a 30" before that. I prefer the 32" for Sporting, and don't find it too onerous for Skeet ... I just move your hold points out a bit !
If I was going to purchase a dedicated Skeet gun, it would probably be a 28" or 30".... whichever length balanced and handled best.
Yes, the flavour of what I have been reading on the net suggests that longer barrels are being used in skeet. I don't mind the 30 inch barrels on my Citori for skeet. It seems important to not try and move the gun fast when shooting it though, perhaps because of the weight. At least I seem to do better when things are unhurried and I don't try to accelerate too fast. I do shade hold points a bit, at least in comparison to books I have read I do, especially on station 2 high house. I can't shoot well with my gun parallel to the house and I tend to hit the bird right at the center mark.
With trap I really like the 34 inch BT-99 I bought awhile ago. Everything just seems to work well with it and I've gained an average of two birds on my game at 16 and 20 yards. Part of the reason is that the gun fits, but I feel the longer barrel is easier to point accurately too, and there seems to be a good balanced feel with the longer barrel. I'm so enthusiastic about the gun that I would be reluctant to use a barrel shorter than 32 inches for trap right now. Probably too early for me to be categorical about things though. Maybe there is a ###y little shotgun just around the corner with a shorter barrel that will let me shoot my first 50. One never knows...
sporting
Funny, I fine my best shooting is done fast and aggressively. Thinking about the target before I call for it works better for me. If it is a long crosser that is in coming I don’t even shoulder the gun till it is about ¾ the way there. When I have more time on a target I seem to stop my gun or second guess it ,, not sure ?. When I can shoot it fast, I just look at the target mount the gun and bang! dead bird.
This is for sporting and skeet of course.
Funny, I fine my best shooting is done fast and aggressively. Thinking about the target before I call for it works better for me. If it is a long crosser that is in coming I don’t even shoulder the gun till it is about ¾ the way there. When I have more time on a target I seem to stop my gun or second guess it ,, not sure ?. When I can shoot it fast, I just look at the target mount the gun and bang! dead bird.
This is for sporting and skeet of course.
I too am a converted trap shooter. I too shoot the targets that you describe much like you do. As I am getting older I find that my concentration is good but concentrating for too long a period is not so good. My ability to focus on the leading edge of the target is very good but I can hold this sharpe focus for only a faction of the time that I could when I was younger. Although I can seen the target for a long time I only attempt sharpe focus lock when the target is approaching my planned break point. Once the leading edge is in focus, the move, mount and triggering the shot seems automatic. For me, spending more time on the gun or the target or thinking about anying will nearly always result in a lost target.
beretta boy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Orillia, Ontario
Yup, heard it at least million times .... don't think, just shoot !
Let that finely tuned instrument, your subconscious, do the work with your inherent hand-eye co-ordination. If you try to "think" with your cluttered-up brain, you'll likely miss (generally "behind") as your brain goes into neutral from
sensory overload.
.... or so they say !
Let that finely tuned instrument, your subconscious, do the work with your inherent hand-eye co-ordination. If you try to "think" with your cluttered-up brain, you'll likely miss (generally "behind") as your brain goes into neutral from
sensory overload.
.... or so they say !
Golf with a shotgun.
Wikipaedia has as good a description as any:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sporting_Clays_(shooting)
Try it, you'll like it!
Sharptail
This is what Todd Bender tells his students to do on high two, divide the field into 3 equal sections and make your hold point 1/3 of the way out plus 3 feet from the high house, then focus your eyes back towards the high house about 2 feet from your barrel, You will be looking at an empty patch of sky give yourself a few seconds to focus there and then call for the bird. If you do it right the bird will slow down, won't get ahead of you, and you'll break it before the center stake.
It will seem that you are holding to far out, but what will happen is when you see the target and start moving the gun, the lead with automaticaly be correct and all you have to do is keep swinging and pull the trigger. When you do it successfuly it will put a smile on your face you will walk thinking, man that was easy. (but don't get all cocky and talk yourself out of the next ones) Shut off that noodle and just shoot.
I took todds clinic this past summer and it was execellent. Sometimes his techniques are difficult to comprehend at first but he has an amazing ability to put it into relative terminology that you can immediatlely grasp and apply.
Now everyone has their own style and favorite top shooter, but this is the professional advice I recieved from one of the top 3 shooters in the world of american skeet.
Best of luck, and if you ever get the chance to take a course from todd wether here or in the states do it, you won't regret it.
Buying his dvd wouldn;t hurt either lots of good info, but you have to watch it many times keep applying yourself to it.
I have heard of Todd Bender, of course, but sadly, I haven't had the opportunity to read his books or see his videos yet...soon. In fact, I haven't attended a clinic or had any instruction either, being more comfortable in the beginning with learning primarily by reading and applying what I've read. Part of it is just wanting to develop my own style of doing things and wanting to not be overwhelmed by information during the early stages. Having a structure to fit information into helps with this and I find I can then incorporate what other people have found into what I'm doing. I don't particularly want to completely adopt someone else's method either, as I have often found that all parts of a particular method don't apply to me. It may not be the best way of doing things, you spend quite a bit of time reinventing the wheel, for example
, but it is my way of doing them. I find comments on these threads, such as the above, very helpful though and I'm far enough along now to attend workshops or get some instruction. In fact, I'm really looking forward to it. Moving my hold point further out, as suggested, is something that I'm going to try. It seems like I end up chasing the #2 high bird, in contrast to what Bender is suggesting should happen and I feel the pressure to move fast when standing on #2, that's for sure. What has been keeping me in the ball park is concentrating on looking for the bird, not panicking, and ensuring my swing involves my body rather than my arms. Like they say; "smooth is fast". It's really possible that a slight modification in hold point and some change in the idea behind the strategy of what I'm doing will make things a bit easier. At this point I expect to play catch-up on the bird when I'm up there and this might not be necessary. Thanks for the comment. Fred
- Location
- Ft. Mac. Alberta
I shoot both, and have shot registered birds when I was younger in both.
However, these days I shoot skeet almost exclusively, low gun with safety on and finger off the trigger before Ii call for the bird.
This is because i use it for upland and waterfowl practise.
I find that for shooting upland birds, or decoyed waterfowl, skeet is a wonderful thing to sharpen your skills, only because i am over 300 miles for the nearest Sporting Clays club.
barrel length IMO, is some thing that is a personal thing.
Most people find that a field gun with 28" barrels , and IMPCYL/MOD chokes can do both skeet and trap, until someone tells them they need a 30" barrel in full for trap!
I've shot skeet with 30" and 34" barrels as well, but like shorter guns in a layout or the woods, so use mostly a 26" barreled SXS in 28 or a 27" barreled O/U in 20.
Cat
However, these days I shoot skeet almost exclusively, low gun with safety on and finger off the trigger before Ii call for the bird.
This is because i use it for upland and waterfowl practise.
I find that for shooting upland birds, or decoyed waterfowl, skeet is a wonderful thing to sharpen your skills, only because i am over 300 miles for the nearest Sporting Clays club.
barrel length IMO, is some thing that is a personal thing.
Most people find that a field gun with 28" barrels , and IMPCYL/MOD chokes can do both skeet and trap, until someone tells them they need a 30" barrel in full for trap!
I've shot skeet with 30" and 34" barrels as well, but like shorter guns in a layout or the woods, so use mostly a 26" barreled SXS in 28 or a 27" barreled O/U in 20.
Cat
