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.....
No one can answer that question but you. Go out and see what fits you best.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.
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 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. LOLI 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?
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.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 have seen a Browning Citori break the firing pin on the first trigger pull too.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 wouldn't say he is full of it. perhaps a bit misguided.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.
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!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.