Been Shooting Skeet alot lately.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I've been shooting Skeet every Thursday morning for the last few weeks. Starting to get back into it by shooting my 32" Citori .410 so I've been loading a bunch of .410's which is kind of slow on a Single Stage Press.

The only 12 ga I have right now that is Skeet Friendly is my Ithaca M37 and I need to Dry Practice a lot to get good with it.

I have a Citori XT Trap gun but It isn't really right for Skeet as it is a 60/40 gun so I have to shoot low. Probably gonna sell that one and get another Flat Shooting Browning. I like the CXS's but need to sell the XT before I can buy one. I want 32" barrels but most I've seen only have 30" barrels. I can live with 30's if there isn't anything else available. I can shoot Skeet Trap and Sporting Clays with the CXS. I hate the fore ends on 725's. The Browning guns fit me perfectly right out of the box and the Beretta's don't, so that's why I like the Browning's.

What I'd really like is a 32" Browning Citori Sporting Clays Edition in 12 ga. to match my .410 but that may be a Hens Tooth.

I just got my DL366 Loader down from upstairs and started loading 12's at a higher rate. That's why I needed the other batch of primers. I can load 400/hour no sweat with that machine. Children can do 600/hour with one but I just don't have the patience for that.

So anyway,,, that's what I've been doing.

Randy

[rking22]

You know, thinking outside the box here, you could just get a 366 or 9000 in 410. That 60/40 12 gage isn’t half bad, actually most international skeet shooters like a 60/40 gun to avoid ever obscuring the target. Not that I’d discourage anyone from another Citori :)
I enjoy shooting skeet with the 410 way more than larger bores. Tubed down 28 gage red label, Winchester 42, or an early 11-48 skeet are getting way more use than the 20 ga Citori. You know, a 20 ga 425 with 30s is a really nice handling gun, and plenty for skeet, including doubles. Add a 410 tube set and shoot all weekend:)

[gnostic]

I have the same gun branded as Charles Daly in 410 skeet with what looks like the same case. Both guns are made by Miroku. In LA they have Oak Tree Gun Club for skeet and trap. The club has a bar, restaurant and lighted shooting at night. It's one of the things I miss most about CA...

[Cap'n Morgan]

Don't give up on the trap gun. The last fifteen years I've been using a 31" Beretta 682 with an ever-so-slightly modified trap stock for skeet.
Before that, I shot a cylinder-bored Browing A1 trap (back when people was still touting 26" inches for skeet).
I much prefer to see the target all the time, and it's only a matter of learning to hold a tad lower to smoke them birds.

By the way, and I'm sorry but this must be said: American Skeet is for sissies!
Real men shoot ISU skeet with timer, low gun, 7/8 ounce loads and fast targets... :p

Although, I must confess, these days I and the other old geezers mostly shoot by the 1977 rules with doubles on station 3 & 5, but no doubles on station four.
The latest revision of the rules added two more doubles, and removed the incoming "ferries" on station 2, 3, 5, and 6.
Pure blasphemy! 25 targets and 16 of them as doubles!
Why should newcomers choose a difficult disciplin like skeet when there are no "easy" beginner targets to give you some succes in the upstart?
Apparently the rules were changed to add more challenge to the sport, but the pros still shoot almost full house all the time.
At the latest World Cup in Croatia, even shooting 123 targets of 125, you still needed a shoot-out to secure a place among the six finalists.

[dverna]

Randy

Instead of a 12 ga, look at at 20 ga for skeet. Also, stay with the shorter barrels as those handle better IMO. POI is a personal thing. You need to use what works for you.

If you ever decide to get a 20 or 28 ga, I have a couple of very nice Brownings you may be interested in. The 28 is a joy to shoot. It is a Feather SX and weighs just over 5 lbs.

BTW, I will look out for tutu's now that you have become a skeeter. What is your favorite color?

[W.R.Buchanan]

Don't give up on the trap gun. The last fifteen years I've been using a 31" Beretta 682 with an ever-so-slightly modified trap stock for skeet.
Before that, I shot a cylinder-bored Browing A1 trap (back when people was still touting 26" inches for skeet).
I much prefer to see the target all the time, and it's only a matter of learning to hold a tad lower to smoke them birds.

By the way, and I'm sorry but this must be said: American Skeet is for sissies!
Real men shoot ISU skeet with timer, low gun, 7/8 ounce loads and fast targets... :p

Although, I must confess, these days I and the other old geezers mostly shoot by the 1977 rules with doubles on station 3 & 5, but no doubles on station four.
The latest revision of the rules added two more doubles, and removed the incoming "ferries" on station 2, 3, 5, and 6.
Pure blasphemy! 25 targets and 16 of them as doubles!
Why should newcomers choose a difficult disciplin like skeet when there are no "easy" beginner targets to give you some succes in the upstart?
Apparently the rules were changed to add more challenge to the sport, but the pros still shoot almost full house all the time.
At the latest World Cup in Croatia, even shooting 123 targets of 125, you still needed a shoot-out to secure a place among the six finalists.

I have enough problems with shooting the .410,,, I got 2 19's today. Some of the guys shoot low gun, which I will convert to after I get back up to speed.

As far as other loaders a .410 DL366 is a $600 loader right now. My .410 DL266 cost me $250 and I was lucky to get it.

We'll see how I do on Sunday at the monthly tournament. I am getting better every time out so it is only a matter of time til I run them. I'm the only one shooting a .410, most are shooting 20's and 28's (rich guys) and a few 12's from guys $ like me.

Randy

[turtlezx]

i like the 410 on skeet gives a excuse when you miss!!! easy when you throw a bag of shot attem in 12 ga

[Cap'n Morgan]

I only tried a 410 on skeet once. A guy showed up with a Franchi (I believe) with a four barrel set.
The 410 gauge payload was a whooping 3/8 ounce of steel #6. I actually managed to break a double on station four
but luck played a major part! If you can get into the twenties - and stay there - with the 410, I tip my hat to you.

[stubshaft]

I've also been slowly getting back into the skeet game and generally prefer one of my 16 gauge doubles. However, I managed to pick up a sweet shooting Beretta 470 Silver Hawk in 20 gauge that I have been using for both skeet and trap (it has interchangeable chokes). It is more economical for me to load 3/4 oz. 20 gauge shells than 7/8th oz. 16's or 1 oz. twelves.

285805

[dverna]

I've also been slowly getting back into the skeet game and generally prefer one of my 16 gauge doubles. However, I managed to pick up a sweet shooting Beretta 470 Silver Hawk in 20 gauge that I have been using for both skeet and trap (it has interchangeable chokes). It is more economical for me to load 3/4 oz. 20 gauge shells than 7/8th oz. 16's or 1 oz. twelves.

285805

Many very good skeet shooters use the 20 ga in the 12 ga event.

[6pt-sika]

God forbid I throw in my opinion but ............ , find a decent used Citori 12 gauge skeet or Sporting with 28” or 30” barrels then if you like it send it to Briley for their most inexpensive set of insert tubes . Once you get a tubed gun you’ll find you wanna shoot the 20 and or 28 the most . In my competing days I shot my first 100 straight with the 28 . My first 12 gauge 100 straight was done with an 1100 but after awhile I went to a 20 gauge for the 12 gauge event and my 12 average went up . Sorry to say the only two things I didn’t accomplish in the skeet game were a 100 straight with the 410 and a 400x400 for a shoot . I doubt I have a 100 straight in any gauge left in me now but I enjoyed it when I was doing it every weekend . My last tube gun was a Krieghoff K-32 with ported barrels and Kolar AAA tubes it also had a higher Monte Carlo K-80 stock so my patterns were 70/30 . I also had an unsingle 34” trap barrel and a 32” Vandalia ribbed O/U barrel for trap doubles . With that one gun with three sets of barrels and the tubes I could grind on NSSA or ATA targets no problem . Now that I’m doing the SxS sporting stuff I go to a four day event with ten different guns , it’s impossible to get the same feel in that many guns especially when I don’t wanna change the dimensions on collectible SxS’s . If I ever buy another O/U for skeet or trap it’ll be a K-32 or K-80 or possibly the predecessor of the K-32 a Remington Model 32 (not a 3200) .

[fecmech]

The 20 and 28ga with 3/4oz. of 9's fill the pattern very well, no need to beat yourself up with anything bigger. A shotgun with .005-.006" choke and 3/4oz of 9's is all that's needed.

[W.R.Buchanan]

As soon as my XT wells I'm looking for a Citori 12 ga CXS 32"

I don't want to get into the other gauges jsut too much other stuff to deal with. I do 12 ga and .410's now and that is both ends of the spectrum so I feel I've got the bases covered.

I like my .410 ALOT!!! and I am shooting it better every week. Once I get the 3,4,5 shots totally wired I'll be into the low 20's consistently, and if I can run them in front of the guys I shoot with it will make my day. It is one thing to Run 25 with a 12 ga. It is a completely different game with a .410 and I will be shaming them to shoot theirs.

One guy has more money in shotguns than his house and usually shows up with at least a Gun worth $25K. He doesn't even consider a $2000 gun worth looking at. He was shooting a K32 3 barrel set yesterday (28 ga. barrels) that was valued at $27K! That one was one of his cheap ones, he's got a Perrazzi that he paid $53K for and then waited 3 years to get it! Pretty gun! Out of my price range.

Randy

[Scooby]

I have a pair of the csx guns, I got them in 2017 and love them. 30" 12ga and 32" 20ga. I wanted both 32" but called everywhere and couldn't find one at that time. I shoot 3/4oz 12ga and 5/8oz 20ga. both claybuster wads. I grew up as a trap boy before the pat traps took over the fields, now I really enjoy sporting clays. There is a local guy I know who is an all American trap shooter who uses a Winchester model 12, I watched him several summers shooting over unders from some high end companies who wanted him to use there guns, he always went back to the model 12. I started with an 870 then a bt99, I like the old ks5 but could never see the money.