Shotgun options.

[Flyluis]

Hey guys and girls.

So I'm looking into getting into more of the clay pigeon shooting and some wing shooting.
Not too sure if I should just go all out and look at one of the expensive brands? Is over and under the only option?

Any advise as I'm new to this.

Thanks in advance.

[SeanW]

Howzit and welcome...

Flyluis - how much clay target shooting have you done already and what have you shot with; SxS (Side by Side), U/o ( Under over), Semi Auto.???
Is there a gun that you've tried that fits and you shoot well?
You can buy the most expensive gun you like, but gun fit is paramount. This piece of info will get drummed into you.
U/o's are probably the most common, some guys like the semi-auto's.

Browning or Beretta are the go to brands and never write off 2nd hand either- there are some beautiful guns out there however they are scarce.
And yes there are guys out there that for quite a few bucks can bend a stock to fit you should you find a bargain.

Not knowing how much clay target shooting you've done my advice is to hop around at the various gun clubs depending on where you are based and try shoot a
few guns and ask as many questions as you can. Give yourself about a year to find something nice that fits and you shoot well.


my 2c

[shooty]

Fit is crucial.

Then high on list should be interchangeable choke selection.

As then you wont need more then one Shotgun.

In Trap you use Full choke.
In skeet you use the widest open you can have.

You cant successfully shoot a Trap shotgun in Skeet or a Skeet Shotgun again in Trap. As their chokes differ. And the distance to clay differs greatly.

So being able to adjust chokes is a huge benefit to then only having one Shotgun.

In Sporting Clays and hunting most will use a half choke and a Full choke.

A Shotgun setup for Sporting will not work for shooting skeet. But you might be ok in Trap due to full choke.

But again Fit of Shotgun is paramount to hitting clays or birds in field.

[shooty]

I shoot a Browning GTS Special O/U. And cant for the love of me hit anything with my friends Beretta o/u''s. Best ive done with his Beretta's is 14/25 on skeet.

Then again he struggles to shoot my Browning again. But does very well with his Beretta.

[Flyluis]

Howsit!

Thanks for the info. Have only done it a few times with a SxS.
Grew up shooting lots with a SxS on the farm so very comfortable with them. will try get hold of a few clubs and test the waters.

Thanks!

[bruce.patience]

If it is your intention to shoot in competition you can’t a semi in some cases. S by S are generally lighter so are great for hunting when you carry it all day and shoot little. They have more recoil than OU trap guns that you carry little and shoot lots.

So while fit is most NB the use is also a huge consideration


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[johannvdg]

It's been said above, gunfit is paramount, most of the games does not allow for checking/confirming whether you have mounted the gun correctly, a miss mounted gun mostly means a lost target.

And not all guns are suited for all purposes, some guns can be forced into duty for most, but you'll never reach your true potential, in the games that the gun is not suited to. Such a gun is however perfect if you want to shoot a little bit of everything.

Let's take the semi-auto, it'll do for Sporting, but has drawbacks, for 1 shot Trap games it works perfectly, as long as you can prevent your hulls from disturbing the gun next to you, it is easily accomplished using a rubber band. For 2 shot Trap games, it is much harder, to ensure this, usually requiring modification to the ejection port.

A dedicated Trap u/u gun on the other hand can be used for other games, but being choked Improved Modified and Full will mean that on the closer targets, you'll either smoke them or it will be a clean miss, not to mention the relatively high POI, so basically not conducive for learning and the true competitors use the correct gun for the game they are playing.

And so I can go on.

All one really have to do, is look at what the leading competitors are using, and draw you conclusions from there.

I think it is important to decide what you want out of the sport, then we'll be able to better advise.

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