Good point Dreaming...let's see what OP says / but its possible he just wants an O/U too...
Another point : ... Skeet in general, especially competition skeet, even at local club level is dying. I have seen a number of shoots - where 15 yrs ago it was common to get 300 shooters in the 12ga event, maybe 200 in 20ga event, 150 in 28ga and .410 events...( with maybe 100 shooters, shooting all 4 events ) .... / in the last couple of years, those events were lucky to get 30 shooters in the 12ga... and there was very little interest in 20ga, 28ga or .410 ..
Now we are talking "registered" NSSA shoots ...where costs to enter one event are probably $150 - $ 200 .../ but even "club" shoots, not NSSA sanctioned or recorded targets -- are lucky to get 25 shooters out at $ 25 entry fees ...( plus targets and expense for shells which is another $40 for 100 targets) it can be expensive.
Regionally around the US...it is a little more popular ( Ivy League schools, Military Academies ...some well run clubs )...but even at my local club - we ran special instructional leagues for young shooters, we had sponsors that covered a lot of the expense, parents carpooled...when we started we got about 12 kids ...and in 2 yrs it was over, no interest. We even started with Skeet, 5 Stand -- went to Sporting clays.../ but the kids just didn't have a lot of long term interest ( my grandkids are mostly the same / they want to go a few times -- then they move on to other stuff as they get into high school, etc )...out of 10 grandkids, 2 of them are sort of into it ...at 12 and 14..but none of the older kids are still involved.
Most days at my club...average ages on skeet squads are easily 60+...( me too )...
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Sub gague events ( 20ga, 28ga and .410 ...) ... are only commonly shot in sporting clays on bigger events ( regional or state shoots ) / on regular club shoots on weekends you can shoot whatever gague you want but its a single event ...not separate field setups for the subgagues. So sub-gagues are only shot a few times a year competitively.
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So a good all around 20ga or 12ga....for a new shooter is just the smart option ...( and they can shoot Trap, 5 stand, Skeet and Sporting clays with one gun ).
Another point : ... Skeet in general, especially competition skeet, even at local club level is dying. I have seen a number of shoots - where 15 yrs ago it was common to get 300 shooters in the 12ga event, maybe 200 in 20ga event, 150 in 28ga and .410 events...( with maybe 100 shooters, shooting all 4 events ) .... / in the last couple of years, those events were lucky to get 30 shooters in the 12ga... and there was very little interest in 20ga, 28ga or .410 ..
Now we are talking "registered" NSSA shoots ...where costs to enter one event are probably $150 - $ 200 .../ but even "club" shoots, not NSSA sanctioned or recorded targets -- are lucky to get 25 shooters out at $ 25 entry fees ...( plus targets and expense for shells which is another $40 for 100 targets) it can be expensive.
Regionally around the US...it is a little more popular ( Ivy League schools, Military Academies ...some well run clubs )...but even at my local club - we ran special instructional leagues for young shooters, we had sponsors that covered a lot of the expense, parents carpooled...when we started we got about 12 kids ...and in 2 yrs it was over, no interest. We even started with Skeet, 5 Stand -- went to Sporting clays.../ but the kids just didn't have a lot of long term interest ( my grandkids are mostly the same / they want to go a few times -- then they move on to other stuff as they get into high school, etc )...out of 10 grandkids, 2 of them are sort of into it ...at 12 and 14..but none of the older kids are still involved.
Most days at my club...average ages on skeet squads are easily 60+...( me too )...
--------------
Sub gague events ( 20ga, 28ga and .410 ...) ... are only commonly shot in sporting clays on bigger events ( regional or state shoots ) / on regular club shoots on weekends you can shoot whatever gague you want but its a single event ...not separate field setups for the subgagues. So sub-gagues are only shot a few times a year competitively.
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So a good all around 20ga or 12ga....for a new shooter is just the smart option ...( and they can shoot Trap, 5 stand, Skeet and Sporting clays with one gun ).
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