Trap gun?

[6pt-sika]

Used to be just trap guns had a high comb . I had a trap stock on my K-32 skeet gun and my skeet scores went up as did my trap scores . That was thirty years ago when the consensus said 28” was perfect for skeet and some trap shooters complained about getting a 32” O/U around for trap doubles . Now skeet shooters use 32” tubes guns for skeet and I’ve not heard trap shooters complain anymore about not being able to get on trap doubles . If I was to build another trap/skeet Krieghoff I’d again have an unsingle for 16 yard and handicap as well as a 32” for trap doubles and possibly sporting clays , but I’d also have a 30” set of barrels with Kolar fitted AAA skeet insert tubes . Also all three barrels I’d want to have Krieghoff screw in chokes . The stock would be a solid UNADJUSTABLE stock . IMHO people that are new to the games want adjustable stocks comb and LOP . I personally want a stock that’s comfortable but I can’t screw with , when you’re new to the game you always think it’s a problem with the gun and 95% of the time it’s not .

[MT Chambers]

Trap guns typically are higher stocked and higher ribbed (but not all), they have a higher impact, allowing the shooter to see the bird and not cover (hide) the bird with the barrel. Higher ribs allow you to see birds sooner as the barrel is out of the way somewhat. Since your eyes are the rear sight when shooting a shotgun, adjustable combs allow you tune your rear sight, this is not to infer that you should aim your gun at all. Some newer trap guns allow you to shoot with a "heads up" posture and may make it more difficult to raise your head to see the bird, a real no-no in trap shooting. Good luck in your trapshooting!

[MrWolf]

First decide how serious you are really going to get. I started of with my Mom's bolt action 410 as a kid and was hitting low 20's out of 25. When my son wanted to try trap shooting all I had was an old Charles Daly 12ga skeet gun with the double triggers. Did fine hitting 22-23 consistently. Here is where the decision needs to be made. Use whatever, pumps even, if all you are doing is enjoying time out. If you want the better scores and to run 50,75, or 100 straight then I would suggest a true trap gun. I turned in two old water bottles I had with coins in them and bought two Browning Citori's at about $2,300 each around 10 years ago. Both our scores went up as did our consistency. Of course had to reload shooting that many every week which also helped tweak a target or two. All depends on your "needs". Good luck.
Ron

[Rex]

Rich, my Grandson shot trap when he was in high school. Saved up his summer wages and bought a real nice Browning BT100 used.
It can be set to either eject or extract and had a bushel of choke tubes and Browning hard case with it. This was a few years back but I think he got it for $900.00. Nice used trap guns are out there, hang around the trap range and put out some feelers.
Rex

[rking22]

Your spec for an extractor only was ,I suspect, to avoid bending over to pick up empties. No need, lots of us shoot ejector guns and just slide our hand up and block or catch the hulls. Pad at the base of your thumb rotates the lever, as you lower the barrels the trigger hand slides forward and the ejectors put them right in your hand, just close and lift the last inch out of the chambers. Lots better than fishing for them laying on the extractor. I have both types in SxS guns, prefer the ejectors. The kids learn to catch them in the air, both at once!

Same kind of thing with pumps, just eject into your hand. Autos have shell catchers for singles, flip out of the way for doubles. Still have to pick up the empties on doubles. For a round of pump gun skeet, that’s four hulls that hit the ground.

Ejector guns are much more common than extractor, especially in the better built midrange guns like Citoris.

[dverna]

Trap guns typically are higher stocked and higher ribbed (but not all), they have a higher impact, allowing the shooter to see the bird and not cover (hide) the bird with the barrel. Higher ribs allow you to see birds sooner as the barrel is out of the way somewhat. Since your eyes are the rear sight when shooting a shotgun, adjustable combs allow you tune your rear sight, this is not to infer that you should aim your gun at all. Some newer trap guns allow you to shoot with a "heads up" posture and may make it more difficult to raise your head to see the bird, a real no-no in trap shooting. Good luck in your trapshooting!

Farmbif,

MT covered it pretty well....the one item he missed is that trap guns will have a center bead. Easy enough to add to a "normal" gun.

My Trap gun also have an adjustable butt pad, adjustable rib on both the single barrel and double barrels to change POI and an adjustable hanger on the double barrel to change POI between the upper and lower barrels. I also have double release triggers and most guns used by competitive shooters can be fitted with release triggers.

Competitive trap is a very demanding sport and the guns are made to get every bit of advantage possible. To win most state championships, you must run 200 straight and then go to the shoot off. I did that once, in 2012 but lost in the shoot off against 4 others who had also shot perfect scores. I went another four fields before being outed and took 2nd. Shot over 275 straight that day. Missed the 285th bird.

For most people, any decent gun is going to offer loads of fun at the local club. The guys/gals who get serious about it can invest over $15k in one gun.

[MT Chambers]

Yes I intentionally left out the "mid bead" because I believe it should be used for proper set up of stock on face/eye relationship initially, and just kept in the periphery when shooting, other wise new shooters will use it to "aim" shotgun, another Trap "no-no".

[richhodg66]

For my weekly trap shooting endeavor to become a better wing shooter the past six months, I have been using an old Stevens 5100 in 16 gauge, not because it's a good trap gun but because it's what I wanted to hunt with. I've gotten a lot better with it and no question I have now shot it more than any other shotgun I've ever owned.

That said, a while back I found an Ithaca 37 in 16 gauge in a shop I just happenned to stop in and a deal was struck and it went home with me. It's sat in the closet since, but I decided to get it out and take it to the range yesterday and did about as well as I ever do with the Stevens I'm used to. Kind of surprised me considering it was the first time I shot it, I sort of figured there would be more of a learning curve, and maybe there is something to having the longer sighting plain and tighter choke. Also, the pump action didn't seem to be a problem on the range single loading or keeping my empties, so I may have to reconsider the break open requirement. Seems at any given time on Gunbroker there are Ithaca 37s, Winchester Model 12s, etc., configured for trap.

My son and I shot with several other people including a little eight year old girl who is on the local school's trap team. Wow, she didn't miss often. Talked to her and her mom for a few minutes and the young lady has only been doing it for two years, if she sticks with it through er senior year, she's gonna be quite a force to be reckoned with. I'm sure there are scholarship opportunities out there. I know Kansas State has a trap team, I would think they'd recruit for shooters just like any other sport.

This is a fun game. I'm kind of wondering if when the Covid thing calms down we might could get a team going at the high school I work at.

[fecmech]

Rich--I'd second use of Dad's Ithaca. There is no advantage to screw chokes over the fixed choke in your Ithaca. If it was a dedicated trap gun it was stocked to shoot high for rising targets as in trap shooting and will stay with anything made today. Be careful, you are on a slippery slope starting a shotgun sport. Whatever you do, do not try sporting clays!

[richhodg66]

Funny you mention that, it looks like they're getting ready to start that up again at the range I go to.

I didn't shoot in it, but my students and I helped work a big sporting clays event in Topeka a few years ago and it sure interested me. I'd like to give it a whirl someday.

[rking22]

Sporting clays was created to emulate hunting. It has progressed into a serious sport with target presentations that are beyond the original intent, but is still the best hunting practice you can get. Especially starting low gun, like Fitasc requires. That M37 would be fun on any clay course! They take a bit of fiddling to direct load the chamber, not bad but not as easy as just dumping one in the ejection port like an 870.

Contact your state SCTP director and discuss the school team, it’s an exec elect program. I have been deeply involved since 2003 here in Tennessee. There are scholarship opportunities, my son did college on a shotgun. You will find the experience very rewarding, an exec elect way to give back and help our youth to learn about our passion.

[Dukeconnor]

I was one of those guys who did well with Rem 870's.

I was lucky, I had a first cousin who was getting out of the game at about the same time I was getting in. He had an 870 in a special trap version.

30" barrels, extra high rib and stock, double bead sights. I snapped it up when he offered it to me for 2/3'rds of what it cost.

My best day I broke 48 straight missed one, and killed the last for 49 out of 50.
If I had kept it up I have no doubt the following year I would have nailed that 50, and started work on 100 straight.
But I tired of the game and walked away. The 870 got covered in camo tape and was my main waterfowl gun for a decade at which job it excelled.

My hunting partner had to have hated that gun. He would hammer at a duck twice, while I dropped two, then I'd swing and finish his.
It took a lot of big Canadian Honkers as well. The last 24 years it sits behind the bedroom door loaded, one in the chamber, but the chamber open so it can not possibly fire. Ready to rain chaos and destruction down on anyone silly enough to break into my house.

But in the world of Trap even a single shot is fine. You do want a fairly tight choke and longer barrel if your going to bust those birds out at the edge.
But the further out you go the bigger the pattern, the easier they are to hit.

24 is easy, 25 is hard. 49 is pretty damn hard, 50 is damn sight harder.

[dverna]

BTW, it will be less expensive to shoot 12 ga than those 16's. If you decide to reload, most ranges will give you all the 12 ga hulls you want.

I reload 12 ga because I used to shoot a lot. For the casual shooter, the promo loads at Wally World, or any of the sporting goods places, are cheap to shoot. I only save about $1.box with reloads over shooting the promo loads.

[richhodg66]

BTW, it will be less expensive to shoot 12 ga than those 16's. If you decide to reload, most ranges will give you all the 12 ga hulls you want.

I reload 12 ga because I used to shoot a lot. For the casual shooter, the promo loads at Wally World, or any of the sporting goods places, are cheap to shoot. I only save about $1.box with reloads over shooting the promo loads.

I bought out an estate sale and got a TON of 16 gauge shells along with a lot of other stuff. By the time I sold off the stuff I didn't want, I still had a few thousand shells and have been shooting them up. I have all the stuff I need to reload them and will eventually.

My son has been using his 12 and for what you can buy 100 shells for, I doubt you could get the components any cheaper.

[green mountain boy]

i started shooting trap with an 870, then went with an 1100 trap model (still use it) then bought a remington 3200 for doubles. you can not go wrong with any one of them. i have a wall of trophys to prove it. get one, learn to shoot it and dont play the " oh i need a more expensive gun " game as so many do.

[6pt-sika]

BTW, it will be less expensive to shoot 12 ga than those 16's. If you decide to reload, most ranges will give you all the 12 ga hulls you want.

I wish that were the case at the couple sporting clays courses I frequent here . Sure you can get a bag full each time you’re there but generally it’s all RIO’s and the cheap WIN/REM hulls not STS or AA hulls . Usually anymore when I go to a Sporting course I’m shooting a 16 so I’m always looking in the barrels for hulls and very rarely do I find any 16’s or any good 12’s , 20’s or 28’s just the RIO’s , Fiochi’s and the Wally World stuff . I’ve got about 6K 16 gauge shells/hulls because I bought that many flats of ammo so I’m in good shape for 16’s . 12’s , 20’s , 28’s and 410’s I’ve got an abundance of STS/AA’s for all four gauges . I had a problem for awhile with 10 gauge hulls but I fixed that , I bought in maybe four orders 1,500 new REM 10 gauge hulls and now they’re all cut to 2 7/8” . Only thing left for me is to recieve the 500 new WIN 8 gauge I’ve got on order and I’ll be flush for the seven different gauges I load for .

[6pt-sika]

As I stated earlier I have a nice Browning Broadway 32" trap gun as well as the Ithaca Knickabocker single barrel . And I'm still on the hunt for a Parker SC single barrel . Once I acquire a Parker the Ithaca will leave my accumulation . But today I saw something that intrests me a good bit , a Remington 3200 32" Trap LNIB . Gonna have to see if I can deal on that one .

[richhodg66]

I just took out that old Ithaca trap gun my Dad gave me, sure is pretty. Too pretty. No safety, makes sense for a target gun like that, I suppose.

I will likely take t out and see how it shoots a few times, but I think I really do want to get something for myself and I'm beginning to warm to the idea of a pump. I see the occasional Ithaca 37, Winchester Model 12 or Remington 870 built as trap guns on Gunbroker, I think if I'm patient, I could get a good deal and have one I'd do alright with. Anybody know about these Winchester SXP Trap guns they're making now?

As an aside, I went out for my usual Tuesday night two rounds of trap. Was in a hurry and my son couldn't make it, but I broke 20 the first round and 22 the second, not good by a lot of you guy's standards, but considering where I started a few months ago, I'm pretty pleased, especially having done it with that 80 year old short, open choked 16 gauge side by side.

[rking22]

I’d say those are pretty good rounds with a SxS, they give me fits on trap! The pumps work well for casual trap and can win shoots with a good shooter on the trigger. Considering you already have a 37, give it a try and see if you are good with the single loading. M12s carry a bit more weight up front and are easier for me on trap, side eject is also easier to load. I’ll fumble one onto the ground, on occasion, with the 37. If you are considering doubles then you might still look into a nice Superposed ��

[sigep1764]

Congrats on your improvement Rich! Its funny you mention K-State, I never went to competitions but was a member. Some friends and I shot in the league ran by the range there. I started with an 1100 that I had Carlson Chokes work the barrel. It was my Grandpas and it did really well for me. That winter as I progressed, I received a CZ Redhead Deluxe in 12g for a Christmas present. That gun saw a ton of rounds through it. Both guns are just as reliable as they were 15 years ago. The CZ is still tight to open. I would recommend one. They have competition models as well. Pretty reasonable for what you get and CZ USA is headquartered in Kansas City.