Trap and Skeet

M

mitchntx

New member
I've been a total of two times. I officially suck at it, but it sure is a lot of fun.

First time I shot my Dad's 870 that I inherited. It is a Tx DPS issue and was presented to him after his good friend, a DPS trooper, passed away. So, I really don;t want to shoot it.

Last time, I shot this open barrel Mossberg 590 Mariner. Everything went fine, but it's not the best option.

So, while cruising around a LGS, I saw an American Arms Water Fowl. It's a 12G 28" O/U, chambered for 3 1/2" shells and it looks to be in really good shape. It's no Barretta Silver Pigeon, but it didn't cost $1800 either.

I decided to take a chance and brought the AA home for under $200.

I'm headed out to a range today and will run a few rounds through it.
 
for trap and skeet something with longer barrels will help as the pattern will be better. Also having adjustable chokes will help also. I have a variety of shotguns but the motto the right tool for the job does work for skeet/trap.

picking up a inexpensive o/u shotgun with a longer set of barrels and some chokes and you will see your hits/breaks go up dramatically.

shotguns ive used for trap and the order i used them
870 wingmaster with bird barrel
browning a-5
browning citori lightning sporting clays in 12g
browning citori lightning sporting clays in 16g
blaser f4

good job on the gun buy and let us know how you made out.
 
Different conficgurations for Trap & skeet..

for trap a longer barrel 28" / 30", with IMP CYL, MOD, or IMP MOD, is best as the
clays are alway going away from you on a rising then falling trajectory.
the stage to hit them is on the rising side to just before they DROP!

For skeet is best to have a 24" or less barrel with a SKT 1 or SKT 2 choke,
as those birds are either racing away or in, from STA 1,2, 6, & 7, then you get the left right crosser at STA 3,4, & 5. Nominal range is the crossing stake @ 25 yds.

If the 870 was a 18"/ 20" barrel then you have to pattern it to see where the
POI is related to POA. It will be different and may need a stock adjustment to get consistent hits.


This does not take into account the wind direction and or velocity!
Winf can either make those birds rise /fall depending on the bird heading into, then rise or DROP if a tailwind. If GUSTING then its like trying to hit "DAFFY DUCK" going yahoo, yahoo out there.

Just remember either trap or skeet is a delightful way to DRIVE YOU CRAZY!

Not even going to touch Sporting clays!
 
Take a good look at your American Arms o/u to see who made the gun.

I have a American Arms Black Magic auto loader, its a Franchi AL48.
Looking at older posts on ShotgunWorld the owners of the AA guns generally liked them. Many of the o/u's were made by Fausti.
 
for trap and skeet something with longer barrels will help as the pattern will be better.​
Baloney
For skeet is best to have a 24" or less barrel​
More baloney
 
Well it shot just fine.

Markings on the gun are:

American Arms Inc NKC Mo
Waterfowl Special
12G 3 1/2

CAM 89
KG 1650

It has a Full and Improved Cylinder chokes installed.
 
Look on the bottom of the barrels the proof marks will tell you country of orign. If Italy then there is a date of manufacture code stamped on them.
 
I see the circled double star with PSF.
So that means its Italian made

I see a BC so that tells me it's made in 1993.

Correct?
 
for trap and skeet something with longer barrels will help as the pattern will be better.

Baloney
Click to expand...

longer barrel will keep the shot group tighter together than a shorter barrel on the same firearm would.

pattern a shotgun then hack the barrel down and you will see how much the pattern opens.

I didnt think it would make a difference either since its a smooth bore barrel for a shotgun but it does.
 
Mitchntx the BC is 1993 and the PSF with the circle & star is from the Gardone & Brescia proof house. It is the finish proof for firearms for sale.

No my Franchi the right side of the barrel shows American Arms and on the left side is L. Franchi, is there any markings on the left side of the barrel?
 
baloney

Quote:
for trap and skeet something with longer barrels will help as the pattern will be better.

Baloney
longer barrel will keep the shot group tighter together than a shorter barrel on the same firearm would.

pattern a shotgun then hack the barrel down and you will see how much the pattern opens.

I didnt think it would make a difference either since its a smooth bore barrel for a shotgun but it does.
Click to expand...

Barrel length has little or nothing to do with how well (or not) a barrel patterns. The pattern is determined by the choke, not the length of the barrel. If you cut down a barrel and the pattern opens up, there are a number of reasons that can cause the difference. The most probable one is that, it cutting down the barrel, the choke was cut off and the barrel is now Cylinder bore. Another is that the finish on the muzzle is not smooth enough and the pattern is disturbed. (And, Yes, I have cut down barrels and patterned them. The barrels were Cyl before and Cyl after cutting. The pattern was the same.)
Barrel length has everything, however, to do with swing mechanics.; In the Trap game, longer barrels are the most common amongst the serious shooters - the guys burning 10-20-30 thousand shells a year. Barrels at 32" and 34" are the norm. Short barrels are handy in the huckleberries when chasing Grouse, lively and quick. But in Trap....short barrels start fast and stop fast; longer barrels smooth the swing out and help with follow through.
About chokes - Not IC, M, or IM - though they will, of course, work. Most fellows that I know are shooting FC (when I bought my Browning BT-99, it came with one choke tube...Full). The bird starts at 16 yards, by the time the average shooter picks it up, tracks and swings through and fires, the bird is at double that, 32 to 40 yards, not IC distance.
 
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ok with that being said about length i will concede the issue as I am able to admit i am not correctly informed.
 
usually model specific. But different ones may fit different models. a quick look at manufacturers website should tell what style chokes will fit
 
So what I'm reading is I need an American Arm Inc., 12 gauge, Water Fowl special chokes.

I bet they have those at Wal-Mart ...
 
Give TruLock or Briely a call for chokes, they have chokes for every mfgr.

I found a post on shotgunworld referencing a Amercan Arms o/u and the note was that the o/u's were made by Fausti till 1998.
 
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