Sidearms & Scatterguns Trap shooters

I have shot a Browning Citori XT for the past few years and like it. It wasn't a ton of money but shoots just as good as those higher end guns. I agree with 308Pirate that it gets tediously boring when doing it regularly.

Doubles is where it's at but gets expensive fast if shooting multiple times a week.

After I encountered PRS shooting a couple years ago, I built a custom rifle and focus more on that than Trap. Also been looking to do more defensive pisol and AR training so trap is on the backburner.
 
So all you guys that say it's boring or too easy are AA-27-AA shooters?

Nope, and I agree that it's not easy. I just don't find it near as fun to put the time in to get to AA-27-AA. I have way more fun shooting PRS matches and finishing mid pack rather shooting ATA registered shoots and finishing close to the top.
 
I have shot a Browning Citori XT for the past few years and like it. It wasn't a ton of money but shoots just as good as those higher end guns. I agree with 308Pirate that it gets tediously boring when doing it regularly.

Doubles is where it's at but gets expensive fast if shooting multiple times a week.

After I encountered PRS shooting a couple years ago, I built a custom rifle and focus more on that than Trap. Also been looking to do more defensive pisol and AR training so trap is on the backburner.

Just as good is like saying a stock700 shoots as well as a custom LRI or AO,ect.

I used to compete with a citori before I knew any better and didn't have alot of money. Compared to a 686 they are a brick. A 686 feels like a brick compared to a CG. A CG feels like a brick compared to a zoli. Now we are getting Into the high end guns that is more personal preference than quality. Here is the ASE90/DT10/DT11/Zoli/blaser/perazzi/kreigs and kolar ream where everyone has one they like better but they are all high quality guns who stand up to heavy use and win.

Like most things you get what you pay for. I can shoot holes in the dirt with a psa ar15 but the SR15 is much more enjoyable if you actually shoot them.

Good shotguns start around $3K used and go up fast.
 
Just as good is like saying a stock700 shoots as well as a custom LRI or AO,ect.

I used to compete with a citori before I knew any better and didn't have alot of money. Compared to a 686 they are a brick. A 686 feels like a brick compared to a CG. A CG feels like a brick compared to a zoli. Now we are getting Into the high end guns that is more personal preference than quality. Here is the ASE90/DT10/DT11/Zoli/blaser/perazzi/kreigs and kolar ream where everyone has one they like better but they are all high quality guns who stand up to heavy use and win.

Like most things you get what you pay for. I can shoot holes in the dirt with a psa ar15 but the SR15 is much more enjoyable if you actually shoot them.

Good shotguns start around $3K used and go up fast.

I have shot Perazzi's, Krieghoff's, CG's, and a Beretta DT11 that my friends and fellow shooters own. While I agree they are beautiful guns, they did not help me break more targets. Now I am not saying I'm officially AA-27-AA to maybe really appreciate the differences, and I really can't afford them haha. But I can say that I have beaten guys that shoot high end guns with my lowly XT in ATA competition. Trap is just one of those games that if a gun fits you, and you shoot it well... don't change. Not trying to argue that one gun is better than another.

I find that's where the difference in rifles vs. shotguns lie. A $6000 custom rifle is considered high end and should flat out shoot more accurately than a $1000 Remington. In shotguns, $5000 is considered cheap to some, $25k is expensive... and the accuracy level is still the same between the two. Trap is still fun and I have shot thousands of rounds over the last few years, just a different game with different tools I guess.
 
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I have shot trap guns that cost upwards of 35Gs, I shot a Winchester 101Trap when we shot Annie Oakley with that game it is more about your loads than your gun. I switched to a Beretta with a Extra full choke as some of the shoots we would end up 46 yards behind the trap house. I was shooting 1 1/4 once of 6s extra hard shot for close up and an 1 3/8 of 5s for the longer targets. You know you have a good load when it will break a clay pigeon on its side at a 100 yards. What you are paying for in the good trap guns are the back bored barrels and the fit and finish
 
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So all you guys that say it's boring or too easy are AA-27-AA shooters?


No, if I had to shoot ATA trap enough to get rated I’d probably die from liver failure or sticking my head in the oven.;) I find it very boring. Being able to hit trap shots at will is an important skill to have but beyond that?

Continental is a little more interesting and Bunker/Olympic gets my attention as it hones the mental game. If I had to pick one clay sport that was the only one I could shoot it would probably be FITASC. Sporting clays is fun and had been my passion for a number of years but is to repetitive in competition for me anymore, i really have no interest in shooting the same pair 4-5 times in a row.
 
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This isn't my gig either --I'd rather stick around and plink all the clays that landed on dirt with a .22!

When I installed alarms, we used to shoot the shit before going out in the QA's office. So we got to talking about garage sales somehow, and the QA had bought a shotgun on a whim at one. Probably in FL, he used to live in that long populated strip north of Miami.

He spent just a few dollars and I recall him even talking 'em down. He "just had a feeling" and didn't know shit about shotguns. Neither did the seller. Turned out it sold at auction for $18,000!

Shit like that never happens to me.

There's an ancient Chinese saying, I forget who or where, but it goes: "If an archer is shooting (for shits and giggles) he'll have about him all his skill. If he's shooting for a silver buckle, he'll have half his skill about him. If he's shooting for gold, he'll have lost most of his skill." The idea is that the more there is on line, the less the shooter focuses on shooting. I found this to be so true and learned it just in time too, always take the one shot for what it's worth. I never gave a shit about the prize, just shooting was fun to me.
 

Primus, I think you will be pleased with your Zoli. My last trap/sporting gun is a Zoli "Z" gun. It is a gun made for Dakota Arms with a single digit serial number, 32" barrels. about 8 3/4#, drop trigger grp. and even with the weight and long barrels it balances at about 1/2" in front of the hinge.

My introduction to formal trap was with an L.C. Smith, field grade, featherweight, 16ga., I/C & Mod, field gun. Next came an 870 that I restocked with a butt stock from Herters. Ugly as hell but it worked. Next was an 870TB. When I got out of the service in '70 I bought a Model 12. This was not a Model 12 Trap but a gun that was built up. It had a Simmons rib, monte carlo stock and we simply crushed targets. Never should have sold it but I did and it's replacement was a Y Model Trap which I shot pretty well but not like the built up gun. In the end I bought the Zoli but vision deterioration pretty much destroyed my shotgun shooting.

What Primus is alluding to in the more costly trap guns is dynamics. It is the attribute which allows a gun to start out fast to the target but retain inertia in a manner that prevents you from stopping the gun when you pull the trigger. This requires some refinement in the design and balance of the gun.

As far as pressure and money there is nothing in precision rifle that I have ever heard of that is equivalent to the shotgun world. I learned to shoot trap at a large and old club which hosted large shoots including state championships. It's a long time ago but as I remember there were calcuttas for all of them and the money was significant. Thus the anecdotal stories of shooter hiring bimbos to distract shooters.

Then there is the sport of boxed bird or columbaire shooting. It involves the shooting of pigeons released from a box or actually thrown by a an individual in the case of columbaire. The money can be large and the side bets are whatever shooters agree to.

Now back to the shotguns. One of the reasons that guys shoot Kreighoffs, Perazzis, etc. is the history of reliability. There are no mulligans, gimmes or do overs in the shotgun sports. If your gun fails it is an absolute your f'kd. Many of the higher end guns have drop trigger groups, Most failures occur in the fire control systems. The drop trigger groups allow a shooter to switch and be immediately be back in the game.

Edit. My computer put this post up last night without my permission. So to finish this I'll address boring trap. It's only boring when you can't do it. I looked up the record run on targets. The article indicated that the reord run on registered 16yd. targets was set in 2008 and was over 2100 registered taregets without a miss. The previous record was from 1998 and was around 500 targets less. I can't imagine anybody having the focus to accomplish that but that's because I know I can't.
 
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Well said. I shot the us open with an old citori and you get 3 mechanical malfunctions for the tourney. On my 3rd malfunction I had to run to my truck to get a backup gun ( Beretta sport so a semi vs the o/u I trained with) and shot like piss the rest of the weekend. Bad firing pin design and poor materials resulting in firing pin erosion.

If I was shooting a better designed and built gun that wouldn't have happened. It's like buying an SR15 instead of a Bushmaster or Smith. Not only will it have better features it will be designed as a system with shootabillity and durrabillity in mind.

I think heavier use shotguns really start around the $3-4k range and go up. Even a newer 725 or 686 sporting is going to have some flaws and break down faster than say a D10, guerini,zoli,ect. If your only shooting 5000 Clay's a year than it's not really a big deal. If you plan to shoot more buy something designed for hard use plus you get a better handling gun and usually a prettier gun.
 
Been shooting trap for several years. Shot k guns. Kolars. Ljutics. Etc. So many nice guns available these days its hard to stick with just one lol. Trying to find a really nice older bt99 plus to buy.
 
It takes autistic levels of concentration to do the same fucking thing 500 times in a row everyday for years. What's fun about that?

At least sporting clays, FITASC, ext provide different shots or the same targets from different angles. That's the definition of a good shooter...not seeing the target till you shoot it and actually jugding on the fly. These sports we're all designed to hone hunting skills. A bird doesn't fly the same speed, bearing and height every time . Even with Lookers it's hard as shit..hence why there are hand full of people who can consistently break 95% +on a professionally laid course.
 
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How many FITASC tournaments have you won?
None, my best was a Fla state shoot at The Dollar in the late 70's or early 80's 200x200 @ 16's 199 Handicap, an 98 doubles. The next year in Orlando 16's was 100x100, handicap 100x100 an 99 in the doubles. Quit shooting trap in about 2005-2006 Started with a 870 won a 1100, shot it for years, then won a 3200, found/shot a Broadway an never looked back.
 
I shoot sporting clays quite a bit & really enjoy the shit out of it, haven't shot trap in a long time, there's a really nice clays course about a half hour from me, shoot mostly a browning citori but sometimes shoot my old 870 20 ga, shooting clays is just a ton of fun.
 
I shoot sporting clays quite a bit & really enjoy the shit out of it, haven't shot trap in a long time, there's a really nice clays course about a half hour from me, shoot mostly a browning citori but sometimes shoot my old 870 20 ga, shooting clays is just a ton of fun.

Have you ever shot 5 stand? It's like sporting clays and trap combined.
 
I found a gun club with a 5 stand course about an hour & a half north of me I'm going to go up & try it one of these days, sounds like great fun, have trap, skeet & sporting clays local but no 5 stand.
 
Just recently started shooting sporting clays. I've enjoyed it. Wife bought me a Winchester 101, 1964 model. Found it at a pawn shop of all places. It's been a good gun. At least it's better than I am at this point.
 
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Shot trap competitively for around 10 years. Had the opportunity to travel all around and shoot at almost every major event in the country. Some of the best days of my life. Some people mentioned Leo Harrison, Dan Bonillas, etc. absolutely great people in the sport. I had a good run and took several state and regional titles and a win at the grand American in Vandalia with a 200 straight in the championship event. Shooting off for the title with the best in the world was something that I will never forget as long as I’m alive. Since they closed down all out facilities here in SoCal I haven’t competed in years and since took up pistol shooting and long range stuff, but boy do I miss those days....