[ShotgunPro]

I took my dad out to a trap and skeet club today. It was both of our first times shooting a shotgun. I'm hooked

We only did trap shooting today, they recommended it for first timers. We each got a box of 25 shells. They took us out and had us take 5 shots from each of the 5 positions. Our instructor told us that the average first time trap shooter at this club will hit 4-5 out of 25. My dad hit 10. I hit 18. That was after missing my first 4, so after that I went 18 for 21, with a 12 in a row string. I was pretty happy with that.

I can tell this is something I'm going to enjoy, I'm sure skeet shooting will be even more fun and challenging.

What's a good shotgun for getting started? I'd prefer the cheapest one that I can get my hands on that will still work well for trap and skeet.

 

[ShotgunPro]

I took my dad out to a trap and skeet club today. It was both of our first times shooting a shotgun. I'm hooked

We only did trap shooting today, they recommended it for first timers. We each got a box of 25 shells. They took us out and had us take 5 shots from each of the 5 positions. Our instructor told us that the average first time trap shooter at this club will hit 4-5 out of 25. My dad hit 10. I hit 18. That was after missing my first 4, so after that I went 18 for 21, with a 12 in a row string. I was pretty happy with that.

I can tell this is something I'm going to enjoy, I'm sure skeet shooting will be even more fun and challenging.

What's a good shotgun for getting started? I'd prefer the cheapest one that I can get my hands on that will still work well for trap and skeet.

No one can answer that question but you. Go out and see what fits you best.

Once you get done with all that, try sporting clays. I used to shoot 30,000 to 40,000 rounds a year back in the 90s doing it. It adds up quick.....

 

[ShotgunPro]

Most people start with a single shot or a pump action shotgun. I would recommend something semi-automatic, like a Remington 1100, or an over and under, like a Stoeger Condor.

 

[ShotgunPro]

No Stoegers. If you want a good all around shotgun, there is the beginner 870. Millions of hunters make it work just fine with a pump after every shot. Myself, I'm a Beretta guy. I won 2 at Pheasants Forever banquets. I have an over/under Silver Pigeon S and a Urika 391 automatic. Both are great for trap and skeet. My friend has the Extemea 2 with no kick auto.
Shotguns go from a couple hundred to 15K. You have to go to a gun club and ask opinions and why. There will be as many as there are shooters but you can narrow it down for yourself.

 

[ShotgunPro]

IMHO semi is bad form for trap. I slapped a 28" bird barrel on my 930SPX the first time I went. The poor guy to my right was pelted with empty shells all morning.

 

[ShotgunPro]

IMO the best gun is one that fits you well.
talk to the gun smith at the range. he can give you an idea of what out of the box would be best.
What kind of price range are you looking at?
A pump gun will work, your gonna have to work it tho on doubles.
A single shot will be cheapest, but wont do doubles. dont care how fast you are.
An auto will be more expensive.
A double gun will be most common. you can start cheap and go up from there.
fit and being able to hit what you want is one of the most important factors.
honestly, I have shot skeet with my Mav 88 and done decent, but doubles are a challenge.

 

[ShotgunPro]

I was thinking about a pump. I'm not sure how much I want to spend, preferably not more than $5-600.

The skeet club that we went to today rented out guns for $2, and they seemed like decent guns as far as I could tell. If I mostly shoot at this place (I'm pretty sure its the only place to shoot skeet anywhere remotely close to me), I can't really justify spending too much on a gun unless I really start shooting a lot. I don't do any hunting or use a shotgun for anything else, so it would exclusively be used to skeet shooting.

As I start going to this club more, I'll try to get to know some of the people and see if I can get some advice or get to shoot some different types of guns that people have to see what I like.

I mentioned to our instructor that my dad was thinking about getting a mossberg 500 or remington 870 or something cheap for home defense. We asked if that gun would work for skeet shooting. He said that guns like that will tend to start breaking about 3-500 rounds through it. It's fine for taking to the range occasionally and having for HD, but if you're putting a lot of rounds through it you want something better that won't break. Is that true?

 

[ShotgunPro]

I mentioned to our instructor that my dad was thinking about getting a mossberg 500 or remington 870 or something cheap for home defense. We asked if that gun would work for skeet shooting. He said that guns like that will tend to start breaking about 3-500 rounds through it. It's fine for taking to the range occasionally and having for HD, but if you're putting a lot of rounds through it you want something better that won't break. Is that true?

He's full of it, and probably an O/U snob to boot. We have a couple of guys in our group that have 500s. I have seen 250-300 go through them in a single weekend. I know for a fact one of them is 2 yrs old, and has never been cleaned.

 

[ShotgunPro]

I was thinking about a pump. I'm not sure how much I want to spend, preferably not more than $5-600.

The skeet club that we went to today rented out guns for $2, and they seemed like decent guns as far as I could tell. If I mostly shoot at this place (I'm pretty sure its the only place to shoot skeet anywhere remotely close to me), I can't really justify spending too much on a gun unless I really start shooting a lot. I don't do any hunting or use a shotgun for anything else, so it would exclusively be used to skeet shooting.

As I start going to this club more, I'll try to get to know some of the people and see if I can get some advice or get to shoot some different types of guns that people have to see what I like.

I mentioned to our instructor that my dad was thinking about getting a mossberg 500 or remington 870 or something cheap for home defense. We asked if that gun would work for skeet shooting. He said that guns like that will tend to start breaking about 3-500 rounds through it. It's fine for taking to the range occasionally and having for HD, but if you're putting a lot of rounds through it you want something better that won't break. Is that true?

If you buy an 870 go for a wingmanster not the express model, there are several quality issues that seem to crop up more on the cheaper models. I would avoid the Mossberg like the plague the safeties have a tendancy to snap in half among other things. A Benelli Nova would be another decent gun to try. As far as Auto's the Beretta 390 series is my all time favorite trap gun but an older 303 would work just as well. The Remington 1100 is another trap fav and with the addition of a shell catcher will not irritate your neighbor on the line. I have used and owned trap guns of all flavors and prices what I have learned is it's not the gun it's the shooter, you will run accross all kinds of people from way to serious to a lot of fun at the clubs and I have watched an old man with a beat to snot 870 trap model clean house against shooters with Perazzi's, Kreighoff's, Kohlar's ect. I asked him how many rounds he thought he had put through that old gun and he just said somewhere around a house worth. LOL

 

[ShotgunPro]

He's full of it, and probably an O/U snob to boot. We have a couple of guys in our group that have 500s. I have seen 250-300 go through them in a single weekend. I know for a fact one of them is 2 yrs old, and has never been cleaned.

Yet I have seen them fail in the first box through them. Also saw the barrel of a Winchester 1200 fall off in a shooters hand. If you are serious about the sport buy the best gun you can afford and shoot the snot out of it. Resist the urge to upgrade every couple of months stay away from adjustable Trap style stocks and but pads and shoot through any slump you go into. I had a boss in Wisconsin that decided to spend a small fortune on a Kohlar combo set somewhere north of $10,000 but with my used Beretta 390 Trap $650 I out shot him every time, singles and doubles. He would get to messing with the adjustable cheek piece on the stock or the but plate and never could find the initial adjustment that it came from the factory with.

 

[ShotgunPro]

I have a Mossberg maverick 88 pump 12g that was under 200$ out the door at walmart. It shoots clays great. It is extremely addicting, I bought myself a battery powered thrower, and it was worth every penny.

If you are thinking about an over under, mosberg just relesed one in the maverick line, it runs about 350$ and has had some solid reviews.

 

[ShotgunPro]

IMO first time shooting a shotgun means you don't own one. rem1100/mossberg500/mossberg590/rem870

Whichever you get get a combo set so you have the ability to use it for home defense. (or take your pick if you want a slug barrel that might be more important to you)

IMO a nice over under would be a smidgen silly if you haven't been doing it a while and B if you don't have a shotgun you could use for home defense.

 

[ShotgunPro]

Yet I have seen them fail in the first box through them. Also saw the barrel of a Winchester 1200 fall off in a shooters hand. If you are serious about the sport buy the best gun you can afford and shoot the snot out of it. Resist the urge to upgrade every couple of months stay away from adjustable Trap style stocks and but pads and shoot through any slump you go into. I had a boss in Wisconsin that decided to spend a small fortune on a Kohlar combo set somewhere north of $10,000 but with my used Beretta 390 Trap $650 I out shot him every time, singles and doubles. He would get to messing with the adjustable cheek piece on the stock or the but plate and never could find the initial adjustment that it came from the factory with.

I have seen a Browning Citori break the firing pin on the first trigger pull too.
We are all shooting our beat to hell mossbergs and remingtons, and he pulls out this $2800 gun with scroll work that looks like it should be on women's jewelry that fires exactly once. I nearly fell on the ground laughing.

FWIW, the Mossberg safety is a $20 fix, and it never happens again.

 

[ShotgunPro]

if you want to shoot clays, go for the O/U, or a SxS if you want to get in on the cheap. having a break-open so you can easily stick in chamber plugs might be real convenience depending on range and competition rules.

If you want a real challenge, I used to try for doubles with a bolt action .410 from time to time.

were I you, I'd continue to rent for a month or more to see if the bug takes hold real strong first.

 

[ShotgunPro]

He's full of it, and probably an O/U snob to boot. We have a couple of guys in our group that have 500s. I have seen 250-300 go through them in a single weekend. I know for a fact one of them is 2 yrs old, and has never been cleaned.

I wouldn't say he is full of it. perhaps a bit misguided.
A pump will run for thousands of rounds. but like anything with moving parts, its gonna wear. its gonna get dirty, its gonna get short cycled.
The gunsmith probably has noticed more failures out of pump guns than O/U guns.

That said, you will see double guns used in many shooting sports and dangerous game because of their reliability and simplicity. A pump gun will serve you nicely, just remember that you will get a longer, happier life out of the firearm with regular cleaning, oiling, and inspection.

 

[ShotgunPro]

Thanks for all the help everyone

 

[ShotgunPro]

I like the weatherby pa08 myself.

 

[ShotgunPro]

I dont buy his "break" argument either. However, i also think a HD shotgun and a Skeet or Sporting Clay shotgun are 2 different things. You can get by shooting trap with a pump or single shot but skeet and SC are going to be tough with a pump and impossible with a single. Personally, i like SC the best out of the 3 games. Trap just gets boring to me. But, if your going to get into trap and want a gun for HD and trap...get a pump. Then if you get into more buy a double or auto loader. A lot of sporting clay courses will rent guns too...

 

[ShotgunPro]

I took my dad out to a trap and skeet club today. It was both of our first times shooting a shotgun. I'm hooked

We only did trap shooting today, they recommended it for first timers. We each got a box of 25 shells. They took us out and had us take 5 shots from each of the 5 positions. Our instructor told us that the average first time trap shooter at this club will hit 4-5 out of 25. My dad hit 10. I hit 18. That was after missing my first 4, so after that I went 18 for 21, with a 12 in a row string. I was pretty happy with that.

I can tell this is something I'm going to enjoy, I'm sure skeet shooting will be even more fun and challenging.

What's a good shotgun for getting started? I'd prefer the cheapest one that I can get my hands on that will still work well for trap and skeet.

Wow! Nice! I think I hit 8-9 my first few times! I then went over to Wobble and hit 22 of 25 and got my confidence back! Lol!

 

[ShotgunPro]

Mossberg 500....what kind of safety do you prefer? I like like the tang safety its much easier to to use than the cross bolt safety and quicker but thats my opinion.