trap shooting

jkoj

Inactive
Hello everyone. I mainly shoot pistol and rifle but I'm thinking of doing some trap shooting this spring.I've gone a few times and I usually shoot my buddies Browning Citori White Lightning. I need your opinions on a good shotgun for trap shooting under 500$ and preferabley new. I saw a charles daly at wall-mart for around 300 also a Fausti which I never heard of for 499.The daly was semi auto and the fausti was over/under.Anyway thanks for any help.I don't want to buy one too expensive because I spent all my money on sigs glocks springfields rugers and bushys.
 
I've never had any experiances with either of the ones you mention, so no advise directly at either of them. You can do a search of this forum for Daly, I already have and there were mixed reports. There has also been the occasional super sale on Rem 1100 also, usually around the $300 range.

My recommendation is not on a specific shotgun, as it is a kind of shotgun. And that would be one made by a known manfacuterer. I.E. a Mossberg, Winchester, Browning, Beretta, Remington Etc. You will find a variety of quality Pumps, Autos and O/U in that bunch. Pumps being the cheapest and O/U the most expensive and suited for clay sports.

Both me and my best friend shoot informal Trap/Skeet with pumps. I've got a Browning BPS and he has a Moss. 500. Both are good guns and I'd recommend them in a heart beat. The only disadvantage a pump has is on doubles, where as you've got to work the action instead of just pulling the trigger twice with the O/U and Auto's. That being said we both hit doubles with ease and even some triples once we are warmed up a bit. Then again we spend a bit too much time behind the buttstocks of our guns.

Then auto's are better than pumps because they get off a second shot quicker and make you look like you have more money than a pump shoot. Not trap related but nice for picking up on women at the trap range.

And then there are O/U. Not only can you have a quick follow up shot, but you can use different chokes for the different distances the clay birds will be at. Having something like a Mod. for the first shot then a Full choke for the 2nd. I've never owned either a Auto or O/U so thats pretty much all the info I can give on them, I've had the chance to shoot each once, but didn't relly think they made me a much more effective shooter.

Sincerely,
Adam

P.S. Not directly on the topic but you can also do different ranges with a Pump and Auto just like having different tubes of an O/U, it just takes a bit more testing. But my best luck has been with a light 1 oz. game load of 8's for the shot, then a premium load (AA, STS) of 1 1/8th oz. with 7 1/2 shot. The softer pellets of the game load deform more and give you a more open pattern for the clsoer bird, and it's a light load also so recovery time is lower. Then the harder/less deforming shot of the premium shotshell give a denser pattern out at longer ranges plus you are putting more pellets downrange. Always an interesting thing to try after you get your shotgun and become a good shot with it.
 
Instead of what you suggest, I recommend a Remington 1100, 11-87 or my favorite, the time honored 870 pump. Second choice, the Walmart 390 Beretta, if you can find one.

Most trap shooters go through a number of guns at the start, some keep on trading for decades. Using one of the Remingtons or that syntho pizza gun means having a reliable, durable shotgun that WILL have some value when you decide to trade up or across.

An informal survey of the Geezer Leagues reveals the various Beretta gas guns, the 1100 and the 870s are not only quite popular, but last a long time. I shot today with a guy who says he's replaced almost everything on the 1100 he's used since the 60s,but he claims Remington has been very understanding, and the thing keeps perking along.

I expect to shoot 100-200 rounds a week for the rest of my life, and expect all my 870s to outlast me by generations, not years.

Bruce Buck, the Technoid over on Shotgun Report and editor of Shooting Sportsman,says the 1100 lasts about 35K rounds at least, and longer with replacement of O rings,etc. He also states the Berettas outlast the 1100. An informed opinion....

As to the ones you mention, I'm wary about furrin guns mostly, pathological about off brands, and since the best is not that expensive, why not go with them?

BTW, except for the 391, the latest Pizza gun, all the other mentioned run in your price range.

The Dalys, etc, may be excellent field guns, but it takes a great design, great materials and workmanship to build a shotgun that will hold up under the use clay games give it.

HTH....
 
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