trap, skeet or clay sports for beginner?

N

nodule

New member
Hi,

I am experienced with handguns, as I own 3, but a total beginner to shotguns.

I was wondering which of the disciplines is the most fun and easiest to learn
for a total novice.....Trap, Skeet or Clay Sports?

Also, which style shotgun is the most popular for a beginner and these sports....,pump? semi auto? or over-under?

Thanks
 
Easiest to learn? Trap followed by skeet, then sporting clays
The over under rules in most games, but be forewarned, those cheap Soegers and similar are NOT the ones being used.
For someone new, a nicely used Beretta semi will work for the interim.

Go to your local gun club, and try them all, explaining your newbieness, and ask for help, to try guns, and have a great time.

Good luck!
 
Okay, this is pure opinion.
A pump gun will work fine for trap singles. A semi auto will too but you will need a shell deflector or stop so you don't pelt the others with your empties. A gun really made for trap will print the pattern high, because all the targets are rising, and is less adaptable to the other games or the field. I am sure someone will tell you they shoot everything with their trap gun, but it is not ideal.
A field gun will work well for skeet or sporting clays, in fact many skeet guns have the same dimensions as the field guns. A gas operated semi auto will serve you well and help to reduce recoil. A good used Remington 1100 or Beretta will work fine, and if you take decent care of it you shouldn't lose a dime if you decide to switch to something else later.
I think trap is the easiest to do decent at, but the top notch trap shooters and their guns are specialized to go hundreds of rounds without any misses. Its an endurance game, and the skills acquired are less transferable to other pursuits.
Skeet is fun and challenging and the skills acquired will serve you well both in hunting and if you try sporting clays.
Sporting clays are the most challenging to do well at. Diverse target presentations and set ups. It is usually also the most expensive.
 
Trap is the easiest to learn ( less - left to right - target movement ).

Skeet is pretty easy as well...( but you have pairs of targets in the air at once, on some stations ) ...

Fundamentals of each ...will help you transition into sporting clays.

But honestly you should try them all.

Most any 12ga or 20ga shotgun ...with at least a 28" barrel ...will be fine to learn with. Make sure the gun has changeable screw in chokes...and you'll be fine. Like oneounce said ...a good semi-auto is always a good starter gun choice.../ but a pump gun ( like a Browning BPS, or 870 Express will work as well --- just not quite as well ).

Spend some time at your local club ...they might have rental guns / talk to a lot of guys about shotguns before you buy / there is a lot to it. Most of us favor Over Unders - if we shoot a lot of targets --- for a lot of reasons ---and shotguns like Beretta or Browning offer you a lot of gun for the money ...but you're well up above $1,000 for most "target grade" guns and you don't need to jump in that deep at this point.

Shoot some targets / have some fun ...and see where this all takes you .
 
Ok

Thanks for your thoughts!

I actually just got into firearms this past summer...NEVER touched or shot
a gun in my life, not I am hooked! I have purhcased 3 handguns and love
target shooting at the range and I have become intrigued with trap or
skeeting shooting.

This sport/hobby is HIGHLY addictive!
 
I always start n006's on informal trap in a relaxed, but controlled setting...

On 'the line' with 5 stations and other shooters, is no place for someone that is new to aerial targets...

Gently hand tossing a few birds with an old Western hand trap, is so much more conducive to having a beginner feel comfortable...

JMHO

YMMV
 
Agree - you'd be better finding an empty skeet field and starting them on station 7, then moving to station 1, THEN to the trap field
 
Which one is "harder" is sort of a moot argument, no matter how good you become at any of these three games, you don't have to go far to find someone who can do it even better than you.

Then there's always international trap and skeet, invented mostly to keep Olympic game shooting from being and endless perfect score shootoff marathon.
 
Sporting clays for me

A few years ago I started shooting sporting clays. I've since shot trap and think it boring by comparison - but still fun in its own right. Skeet is okay but like trap, a bit regimented. Sporting clays were difficult at first but it really makes you think about all aspects of your shooting, how you hold your gun, how you lead a target, and follow through. And I find the varying presentations challenging.

I use both an over under Browning Citori field gun and my Cordoba semi auto, which is my duck gun, but have seen a lot of other hunters use their pumps. Lots of folks shooting are serious about the sport as their main passion/hobby and only use guns made for clays.
 
>>THEN to the trap field<<

I'd bypass trap entirely, unless you wish to consort with a bunch of grumpy old men. :p
 
Bypassing Trap is a mistake ...because of the swing fundamentals that you'll learn...you don't have to shoot "registered targets" and get addicted to Trap ...I find Trap a little boring too...but I still shoot 30 rounds of Trap a year / just to make sure those skills don't deteriorate too much.

These days I shoot mostly Skeet ...and I find it real challenging with a 28ga ...and it tunes me up for sporting clays.

My sucess in sporting clays, even on a small regional scale, were directly attributed to my confidence and fundamentals I learned and polished on the Skeet fields. The repetition ...and smoothness ...and understanding hold points, follow-thru, foot position, balance, etc ...was all brought home to me, with repetition, on the Skeet field ....and then I was able to take that to the sporting clays fields. Shooting Skeet reasonably well ...also improved my Trap scores...

My point is ....when you can run 50 straight on a Trap field ...and consistently shoot a 23, on a bad day, ------ and you can do the same thing on a Skeet field ( run 50 , and your bad days are a 23 out of 25 ) ...then you have the "fundamentals down" ...and can take your shooting to the next level. Jumping right into sporting clays ...and shooting a 45 one day, a 65 one day, a 48 the next day ...will tell you, you have some learning curve issues....

But yes, registered Trap shooters ...are kind of a grumpy bunch...

Draw the same correlation to your handguns...you might be great with a 5" 1911 in .45 acp ....then you transition to something with a hinged trigger like a Sig Sauer in 9mm ....and then to a revolver in .357 mag in a 4" ...and back and forth ....and try to run the same drills ( draw, double tap a target in under 2 sec ) ....and do it with all 3 guns ...are your fundamentals there / or are you yanking the trigger / hows your draw ..foot position, balance, watching the front site....all of that stuff ....and make the translation to shotguns and the clay target fields ( and no matter what ---enjoy the challenge of them all ---and have some fun ).
 
Seeing that you are in Mercer County NJ take a ride over to Citizens Rifle and Pistol Club. They have Trap there open to the public on Sundays, opens around 12:00 after they are done with the youth program. Talk to the guys there, they are a great group of guys. If Howard is there, he can tell you everything there is to know about ALL the Clay Sports!

I haven't been over there since winter started, but they are still there weather permitting and this weekend is looking-good!

I started with Trap over there, but I really like Sporting Clays much better. I go to Lehigh (in PA), M&M down at the end on the Turnpike, and Cedar Valley in the Vineland area for Sporting Clays.

There is also Mallard in Monroe for Trap, they also have Wobble Trap. They are open on Saturdays right now. Many others around also.

A Rem 870 Wingmaster is just fine for all these places. My wife uses one and we have a 26" barrel for Sporting Clays and a 28" barrel for Trap. Paid $600 for all of it and it is great.
 
Which game suits you best depends on your personality, ability and budget. Those who get into shooting in their retirement years may not have the eyesight nor reflexes required for the faster games, so trap is their favorite.

What's available locally is also a governing factor -- you can shoot only what's offered. For the club, it's a matter of economics: A trap field is the cheapest to build and operate. And, trap takes the least acreage, followed by Skeet and sporting clays. When sporting clays was starting, we wanted to set it up at our club, but we didn't have the space. So, we compromised and installed 5-stand clays on two of the overlaid fields.

Skeet is my favorite, but I've competed in both NSSA and ATA events. Among Skeet shooters, there's a saying: If you learned how to get along well with others in kindergarten, then Skeet is the game for you. If you didn't, then you might be better suited to trap because they keep the shooters separated on their own little squares, and you don't have to share. You can draw your own conclusions why sporting clays are shot from cages. ;)

Many folks start shooting the clay sports with field or general purpose guns -- some entry level pumps. If you find yourself attracted to the games, you'll soon want to get a target gun. My first gun was a budget pump that was soon abandoned in favor of an Japanese O/U. Over the years, that first O/U was superseded by several custom O/Us.

My friend TheKlawMan is another example: He came to TFL wanting advice on getting a shotgun. He purchased a R-870-Ex and used it to get acclimated to shotgunning. The acclimating soon became an addiction and he started reloading his own ammo. These days, he's a range regular with his new O/U.
 
Zippy, you made me laugh.

Your description of Trap and Skeet and how well you get along with others is right-on.

Trap, you get to stand all by yourself in your little area. No one to talk to lest you send birds flying with the automated setups.

Skeet, you are standing by yourself while shooting and hanging with your group when you're not.

Sporting Clays, you get to stand in a booth by yourself like you did something wrong. :D
 
My advice is to start with TRAP and use the shotgun you plan to hunt with or use for defense for that matter. That's what I do.

Then again those guys with thousand dollar over unders dont like me very well. I don't tell them that I have rifles worth more than their shotguns, I just enjoy shooting my home made shot and reloads from $100 shotguns and annoying them ;) :D
 
Zippy, you made me laugh.

Your description of Trap and Skeet and how well you get along with others is right-on.

Trap, you get to stand all by yourself in your little area. No one to talk to lest you send birds flying with the automated setups.

Skeet, you are standing by yourself while shooting and hanging with your group when you're not.

Sporting Clays, you get to stand in a booth by yourself like you did something wrong.
Click to expand...

Then you would love FITASC - where you stand in a hula hoop on the ground.....:D
 
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