I’ve been toying with taking up skeet/trap shooting. What gauges/styles shotguns are preferable? Like everything else, I suppose the prices for shotguns are all over the place. Assuming I were to purchase a new gun, what’s an approximate price for a decent gun?
If you’re asking what the traditional trap shotgun is, it’s an over/under shotgun, long barreled, with a comb the length of the barrel, complete with a variety of chokes, in a gauge you can handle. They are expensive as hell. Expect to spend approximately $1,000 for an entry-level trap gun.
If you ever wanted to see a case of absurdity come to life, do some research into this. It won’t take you long to come across a $50,000 shotgun, and they go all the way up to $400,000 for some gold-inlaid Purdeys. Trap ain’t cheap.
Of course, you can shoot trap or skeet with any shotgun, in which case you’ll only drop a few hundred, but purists would definitely turn their noses up at you for such an amateur approach to their stiff upper lip sport. And the traditional shotguns are actually better, to boot.
And here I thought the cost of getting into the sport would be fairly reasonable.
You might want to see if the local range has a few available to rent, so you can try different types before buying anything. If you’re a novice shooter, start small…say a .410 or a 20 gauge. I think competitive trap/skeet/sporting clays have different divisions based on the gauge of gun to be used. A 12 gauge is fairly typical for an adult male, but shooting one of those all day can leave your shoulder sore and bruised. Also, smaller guns used to be a little cheaper to shoot. I think I may have heard that is no longer true, but I’m not sure. You’d probably want a lower powered load. I’d call them “low brass” shells, that have less powder in them, and thus kick less but also have less power. Low brass is likely fine for clays…may be called “field loads” now, but I’m not sure.
Shotguns have significant recoil. Some models “kick” harder than others. A semi-automatic type will use some of the recoil energy to eject the spent shell and replace it with a fresh one, so less of that energy goes into your shoulder. A single shot, double barrel, or pump gun will kick a little harder. You can get rubber pads attached to the end of the stock to help reduce the kick.
You could probably get a decent weapon, suitable for general purposes, for $200 or so at a pawn shop or a gun show, I think. Haven’t priced anything in years. Airman is talking about actual trap guns, that aren’t really good for much else from what I understand.
A decent quality $500 (new) semiautomatic will work fine as an all around beginner gun (in addition to trap and skeet be sure to check out sporting clays - lots of fun).
Smaller guns are sweet, but harder to hit the target with - assuming you’re a more or less average sized male I’d suggest starting with a 12 guage.
If decide to really get into shotgun sports - well, as far as spending goes the sky’s the limit from there…
I have seen Stoeger recommended for cheap O/U shotguns. I hear quality is decent, but read reviews. Imported from Brazil. Condors starting at $400.
Every place I’ve ever gone to has rented shotguns, and the cost has been pretty reasonable. You don’t need to drop a ton of money just to get started.
I recently bought a Stoeger SF 3000 side-by-side 12 gauge for $350 on sale at Dick’s. That’s a good sale price, but you shouldn’t have to spend a great deal more.
I got it as my starter shotgun for trap shooting, after borrowing a friend’s fancy Italian shotguns (many thousands of dollars each) for several outings. His expensive guns are great to shoot, but I’ve been very happy with the Stoeger. At that price, I like having my own gun rather than renting or borrowing.
And you haven’t even factored in the cost of the games, membership in a gun club, or the cost of shells.
Shotguns are for rich folk. Rifles are for everyone else.
Trap. Getting into can be. I used a Stoeger O/U 12 gauge I got used for like $200 for ages and did fairly well with it; enough that I got kicked back a few yards handicap. But to be really top-end you really are going to need a couple specialized guns; one for singles and one for doubles.
Buying a used gun for trap - interchangeable chokes are the main thing. If it has a natural feel in your hands that’s even better.
Buying a used trap gun - watch for funky modifications. The one I picked up had the safety totally removed. It’s nice to be aware of things like that.
Skeet - not much experience other than with muzzleloaders there so I’ll stay out.
Sporting clays; here a field gun can rule. I’ve won a fair bit here and there with a slightly better than average field gun I got used at a real fair price; A Barretta Essentials. The real secret to this game is playing as often as possible on as many different courses as possible or finding one course you like and shooting it so often you can call the shots in your sleep.
I’ve found just the opposite to be the case. Just like in colonial times when the smoothbore was the arm of choice for the poor farmer or “sometimes” shooter (due to the wide range of game it could be used against) the shotgun is the everyman’s gun today. And the shooting games being developed now (sporting clays and “sure shot”) are adapted to that.
And with a shotgun it really is hard to buy your trophy; through financial ability assure yourself a win or close call. I can and have taken a well-used Mossberg 500 out and run 85 of 100 birds or better. Lets see a rifleman with an old Herters 30-06 make himself known on the 1000 yard range.
Your mileage may vary but that’s my thoughts FWIW
I shoot Skeet, Sporting Clays, and occasional Trap. I have two Browning Citori’s. The skeet and clays gun is a double barrel O/U, while the trap gun is a single barrel.
A semi auto such as a Remington, Baretta, or Benelli would work fine as well, but if you plan to reload, and it cuts the cost by about 50%, you’ll need to retrieve your empty hulls from the ground. Some places don’t allow this. If it hits the ground, it theirs. Double barrels allow you to just pick the extracted hulls from the chamber.
I started with a CZ Redhead Deluxe bought from Cabelas. It was slightly dented on the wood stock, so the price was somewhat reduced. Cabelas usually has a good selection of used shotguns. I’d suggest a visit if there’s one nearby.
As mentioned above, many places have guns for rent. We shoot once a month at the Olin Brass/Winchester range in East Alton IL and they rent guns for a few dollars.
I don’t belong to any clubs, at least for clay shooting. All the places we go charge by the game. Also check with your state Conservation Department as some run public ranges. I can shoot at one near me and it’s $3 for a round of skeet or trap. You supply the shells.
I currently usually use a Weatherby Orion O/U 20 gauge with automatic ejectors, but I also use a 410 O/U when I want more fun. When I was a poorer very young beginner I used a Stevens 311 sideXside 20 gauge. I still occasionally use an old Side by side when I get in the mood to use an old sXs double. Side by side doubles are pretty uncommon these days, but my SxS double could outshoot most everyone else. The point is , that if you are good, if you pracice , you can break those clays with a cheap Stevens $250 gun. Actually, a good shooter can break all the clays with a $100 pump. I personally like a light recoil, light weight gun if I am doing a lot of shooting.
Once you break most of your clays with the double, and once you get more money, then you can move up to the O/U.
A 12 puts out a lot more shot so a 12 is much much easier to get hits, but a 12 kicks too hard for me, esp if I am shooting for several hours. I never use a 12 anymore, its too uncomfortable, and I just dont need a 12.
Shells for the 12 and 20 are usually about the same, but a 410 costs a lot more. 410’s are usually only used by very proficient shooters.
Just because very expensive guns exist for those who are willing to buy them, doesn’t mean you need one. It doesn’t have to be expensive. Having a better gun may allow an otherwise equal competitor to bust an extra bird or two and win…but that is only if they are EQUAL. Thus the top competitors are going to want the best guns so that they are never limited by their equipment. Having a gun that fits you well matters a lot, but you can adapt over some range, so it doesn’t have to be perfect. Other than that, it has to all work “right”…crisp trigger, never misfire, feed well if an auto, etc. A perfectly serviceable shotgun can be had for under $1000 easy, and probably half that as noted above.
Even though it will make almost no noticeable improvement in their scores, lesser competitors are still going to want the best equipment, because:
1)it couldn’t possibly be their skill that is the limitation.
2)using the same equipment as the champion facilitates their fantasies.
3)it would be a shame not to reward the company that sponsors the champion.
4)It might allow them to finish 24th in a field of 30 instead of 25th.
You see exactly the same thing with bicycles, golf clubs, bowling balls, sailboats etc. If turd polishing were a sport, there would probably be weekend warrior TPs forking over kilobucks for carbon fiber/titanium composite, ceramic bearing, gold inlayed polishers like Ivan Ushit (the world champion TP) uses.
I hit around 15 per round using a stock Remington 870 12 gauge. You don’t have to spend a lot.
Well said!
This snobbery and stuff about “purists” and their “stiff upper lip sport” is making me laugh. This is where I shoot skeet. A friend’s backyard. I use a Winchester 120 that cost 200 bucks at a pawn shop. It is a fantastically fun time and there’s no snobbery needed.
I think informally breaking some clays is great fun too, but skeet implies shooting a series of targets launched at specific angles over a given semicircular regimented course (it’s an Olympic sport).