SKEET shooting with a "COMBAT" shotgun.

8

8200 rpm

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I recently tried skeet shooting for the first time. It was blast, but I think I barely busted about half of them.

The gun that I was using is the only shotgun I own, a police contract overrun 18" barrel 870 express "terrestrial" magnum (just like the 7-shot marine magnum but with a parkerized finish).

Am I a goofball for using such a gun? Is this going to impede me from learning the basics? Or should I just go and have fun?
 
Well I also just shot "hand trap" for the first time with my new 870 Express with 20" IC barrel.
This was the first time I've ever even fired a shotgun and it was a real hoot.
I salute you for your attempt at skeet. I expect that is way more difficult than hand tossed clays.
Are we nuts? Who cares? Did you have fun? I thought so!
Mike
 
Certainly not a goofball

The first round of trap I ever shot was with an 18" cylinder choked 870. I got hooked on the game and bought a different gun that is better for the sport.

I still own that 870 and use it on a round of skeet from time to time. Nothing wrong with it at all and it's very good practice.

Paul
 
Anything that gets you acquiring targets and manipulating the shotgun is not a waste of time for that purpose. If your purpose is to get good at skeet, you'll probably want to get a slightly handier shotgun or just invest in a second barrel.

Trigger time is trigger time. But - to develope specific skills you need specific drills.

Have fun!

Giz
 
Go have fun, 8200. FYI, most folks only get about half the targets at their first skeet round.

A short bbled 870 may lack the esthetics of a fine double, but it's the only gun I ever had a triple with on quail.

That same 870 does a yeoman job at trap,SC, and I bet it'd be a good practical shotgun, tho I have others better set up for that.

Shoot your pet "Serious" shotgun any way you want to, but shoot it often and correctly.

Been thinking about a little more weight up front on my 870TB trap gun. The homemade mag cap weight I have runs about what a 2 round extension does. If they made them with a Royal Blue finish, one would grace this claycruncher in a heartbeat(G).
 
You probably got a slight edge with the 18" barrel at close flying targets at the pattern would be more open.

I do remember, however, some college roomates and I went (hand thrown) trap shooting with a Mossberg 500 20 incher. Trap being completely different than skeet, we were lucky to hit any targets. (I also unknowingly kept throwing the pigeons to hard (far).:D )

I had shot a Sporting Clays course for the first time earlier this year. I had used a black Remington 11-87SP (28") that I had 'tacticalized', i.e., a 10 round extended mag. The weight of the mag, however, actually helped me swing the gun better, much like an over/under. I'm sure I looked like some kind of doomsday survivalist/militia type as I was also wearing black BDUs (I wanted lots of pockets for shells) and me with my usual black Ranger-type cap with a SIG patch in front and a Varmint Hunters Association patch in the back. I'm sure I scared a few exclusive gun club members that day.:D (The gun club is closed membership geared towards the more affluent. A vendoer from work paid for the outing. If It's Free, It's Me. Gotta Pay, No Way. I'd be a fool for not accepting a run at Sporting Clays. It was incredibly fun even though I barely hit 50% of the time.
 
I think using your combat shotgun is a grand idea. Shooting skeet is going to teach you how to lead like nothing else. If you get in a SHTF scenerio, and this is the gun you would grab, you will be used to similar shooting tactics with it already. Otherwise, it's sort of like carrying a 357 Magnum for defense, but only practicing with your 45ACP. They are going to handle differently.
 
I've been taking up bandwidth here for a while with pronouncements about shooting your WIHTF shotguns. Shooting skeet,trap or SC with your "Black" shotgun may not get you lots of trophies, but it will make you much more proficient, and pure D dangerous in an AS scenario.

My approach to shotgunning is not the one gun for everything way. It's one MODEL of shotgun for everything,which is why my battery is so 870 redundant.I've the same controls and manual of arms for everything from trap to defense. Dunno how much shooting trap helps my "Serious" shotgunning, but it sure doesn't hurt.Samesame, dunno how much shooting a fast COF at multiple tombstone targets helps me when it's deer season, but I'm sure it does....
 
I've been thinking about putting the pistolgrip on my 1300 and taking it to shoot some clays. I would look cool, if i could hit anything ;)
 
Join the club; I do my skeet shooting with a rifle-sighted 870 (extended mag-tube, sidesaddle), and I do better with that set-up than I do with my 1100. For trap, I use a Citori, but when it comes to skeet, I find that my "combat" 870 fits me better and lets me hit more birds (usually ~19 or 20 out of 25).
 
I often use my 7shot 20" bbl mossberg on hand thrown clays the cylinder bore allows me to get em close with minimal effort My freinds have 28" bbls and only the Mod choke it came with. they have to wait for the bird to stabilize.
Last time we had a spring thrower, and they were telling me how they would beat me this time. i pulled out my 11-87 that rarely gets shot (I'm a clutz and don't want to bang it up), screwed in the x-tra full choke and dusted nearly everyone. I think i convinced them to quit being tight and actually get some more choke tubes so they can match the conditions
 
I've seen John Satterwhite (I think he won gold at the Olympics back in the '60's) doing his shooting exhibitions on skeet ranges with Benelli extended-magazine autoloaders. These are about as far from "traditional sporting" skeet guns as you can imagine, but his shooting was AWESOME. (I've shot skeet with a "combat" type Benelli too. I'm not quite as good as Satterwhite.)

The two most important things are how the gun fits you and how much serious practice you do. If you do well with a Mossberg or Remington or Winchester or whatever, good for you!
 
I wonder what John is doing these days since Tom Knapp took over. Only saw him on American Shooter when it was on ESPN. Didn't he also do the shotgun portion of the old HK/Benelli promo tapes?
 
Satterwhite was on Page's outdoor show the other day. He seems to be affiliated with some quail hunting operation down South. And, he neatly dispatched a handful of thrown clays with what looked like a Benelli.
 
It might have been, I was more interested in the technique than the tool.Damn, the man's a phenomenon!!.....
 
Heh.

I tried skeet shooting a week or two ago (the range I joined recently had an area set aside for it, some folks where there, I took a few friendly plinks at their insistence.)

I liked. Was fun. Want more!

Only problem, of course, is that I don't own a shotgun, in fact, know next to nothing whatsoever even about shotguns. Beyond that, I've fallen for eye candy -- while searching for info on shotguns, I ran into the Neostead, and now I want one! Arg. I realize they aren't currently available, but from everything I've heard, they may be soon.

This seemed like a reasonably appropriate thread to ask this question in, anyway -- presuming I could get one, would using the Neostead for skeet be completely ridiculous, or not? I have no intention whatsoever of ever hunting live game with the thing -- I just enjoy making things go "boom" in challenging ways.
 
Using the Neostead ( if ever available) for skeet may get you some odd looks, but whattheheck. I do think there's better tools for the game, including most short bbled pumps and autos.

I've never seen anyone not enjoy a round of any of the clay games, unless they were getting hurt by bad form, Magnumitis, bad fit, or a combination of same.

While you're waiting on the Neostad, try out some different shotguns at different games. I'll wager the usual flagon of mead you'll have lots of fun, and maybe find some shotgun meant for you....
 
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