chokes for trap

"Of the 75 shooters 70 are paying the other 5 to shoot . Week in week out the same people win do you know why ? It is not because they shoot only for fun ."


And it most certainly is not because they only use a full choke, either.
 
While the other 70 are shooting for fun, as for paying the other five to shoot, options are called options for a reason.
 
where I shoot trap(two times a week), no money changes hands and every one pays for their round(3.50), so how do others pay for the few(semi pro,s)? if its a money shoot and the 70 lose every week they need to quit shooting for money.
 
"Of the 75 shooters 70 are paying the other 5 to shoot "

For the most part, that "other 5" has yet to break even.

One trap shooter told me "I shoot singles for glory, handicap for money, and doubles to get the taste of the handicap score out of my mouth"

To me, a good day in trap is when I beat my average. A bad day in trap is when the referee counts up the x's instead of counting down the 0's.
 
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I shot trap for years with a Remington 870 Wingmaster. Almost every Thursday night, full case/250 rounds each night, for 6 years. 30 inch vent rib barrel with full choke.
Two things helped me the most.
1. Ammo consistency. I reloaded for almost all those years and being very familiar with my ammo was a plus. Jumping from brand to brand, different size shot, or weights, even wads make a difference. Stick with what works and don't change.
2. Follow thru with your shot. I tended to stop the barrel and not follow thru and was shooting behind. My scores jumped right up as soon as I learned to follow thru.
So...there's my 2 cents worth of advice.
 
Bwillsonhunter4, first, please excuse, and ignore the few who are acting like little children. Second, welcome. Most in the sport are great folks and eager to help new shooters. What Frank said in post #3 is worth reading again (and the others who said the same thing).

I am the Head Coach of my boys HS Trap team in our inaugural year. We have three really good shotgunners as coaches and 2 who help any way they can. With 24 on our team, we had 1 who had ever shot a round of trap before 10 weeks ago, competing against teams with lots of experience. The first 3 competition weeks, we were in last place, but the last 2 weeks, we jumped to first. Our top averages are in the 20 to 22 range, but they have been climbing every week. I asked all of my athletes to go with a M choke and we focus on the things Frank talked about.

Without seeing you shoot, it is hard to say. But we start with stance, move to fit, then the rest is on vision. Seeing the leading edge, hold points high enough to slow down the game and eyes under the gun with a soft focus looking for the target. I can tell you this personally...90% of the time I miss a clay, I see the front sight clearly, which is a lapse in focus on the type of game I am shooting. Being young, you should be able to see the ridges on the clay. With 24 athletes, each of them has their own little issues to work on that have increased their scores. The value of a good coach who can see what you are doing, and help you learn the game, is invaluable. If your coach is not skilled enough, ask him or her to seek out a coach to work with you for an hour or two from the local club. I have helped out kids from other schools, and vice versa during practice. Trust me, most of us love to help.
 
If you prefer luck to break your birds, use an open choke.

If skill is what you prefer, shoot a tight choke. Luck will run out, generally at the most inopportune time.
Skill does not run out.
Trap is a game of perfection, perfection is breaking every bird, that will not happen consistently with an open choke.
 
B.L.E. said:
My best trap score was 100/100 using 1 1/8 ounce 7 1/2 shot, CB 1112-12 wads, 15.2 grains Alliant e3, and W209 primers in Remington Gun Club hulls shot out of a 32 inch barrel BT-99 using a modified choke.
Click to expand...
Sounds a lot like my old recipe, was loading 1&1/8 of 7.5 shot, claybuster figure8 wads (I forget the #), 700x powder, cci primers and was using the Remington green hulls.
 
The Claybusters "figure 8" wads are CB8118-12. I accidentally grabbed a couple of bags of them intending to buy the CB "WAA12" or CB1112-12 wads. They are practically interchangeable and shoot just as well.
 
A bit far afield

Please shoot whatever choke works for you. A previous poster mentioned an important point. We are shooting our clays "edge on" in trap, it just does not take much of a hole in the pattern for a bird to slip through.

Choke should be far down on the list. A gun that fits, a consistent and repeatable mount, focus on the clay, and follow through.

Go look through the dead birds on the trap field, you will find many with one and some with two holes in the dome portion. Those birds were not X's on the score card.
 
Ricklin said:
Go look through the dead birds on the trap field, you will find many with one and some with two holes in the dome portion. Those birds were not X's on the score card.
Click to expand...

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There are actually two reasons why you should shoot quickly in trap. One is so the bird is still close enough for the pattern to be dense enough to break the bird, the other is so that the pellets are still going fast enough to break the bird.

My trap scores improved after going to 8 to 7.5 shot. I give up a little pattern density but I gain pellet energy that ensures that those one or two pellet hits on the fringe of my pattern still breaks the bird.
Remember, that the pellets on the edge of the pattern are usually also the slowest and if the pellets in the center of the pattern are marginal in energy, the ones in the fringe of the pattern are going to be sub marginal.

If pellet energy didn't matter, we'd all be using #9 shot for trap, of course, 9's will break trap birds if you have that bird centered in the dense cloud of those tiny bb's, but so will #7.5.
 
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