Trap & Skeet Shotgun

[Col Del Rio]

I started shooting Trap & Skeet again after a 10 year hiatus. I use my old Browning Auot-5.  I am thinking of getting a new shotgun just for clay birds.  I don't want to get one gun for skeet and another for trap. Anyone know of good combo shotgun that is usable for both?

I like autos but O/U is okay too.

 

Thoughts?

[Trigger Mike]

A High schooler on the school shotgun team uses a winchester sx4 semi auto for trap, skeet and sporting clays and does really well.   

 

My sons use a beretta 686 and 690 for all three.  

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

It’s less about the gun than the shooter. And maybe the ammo and choke(s). Your Browning should be fine, especially if you were proficient with it before. I like my Remmie 1100 and have never felt the need to replace it, especially since I hunt live birds with it too. 
 

However, if you’re looking for an excuse to buy another gun, go and have fun shopping!

[Duffield, SASS #23454]

Caesar Guerini makes a couple of models that would work for you.

[Charlie Harley, #14153]

I made the switch to a 20 gauge semi auto due to neck issues. The Benelli Super Sport won out after lots of research, and it has been a dream for trap, skeet, and sporting clays. 
 

It also comes with a set of shims that let you adjust pitch and cast of the butt stock. It’s made a world of difference to me. 

[John Ruth]

I use a Browning Cynergy O/U and have had equal success in trap, skeet, 5 stand and sporting clays. But I'm not a competition level shooter either. 

[bgavin]

I shoot a Remington V3 for trap.
This does not have quite the beautiful finish of my 1980s 870 Wingmaster, but it is a fine shooter.

I wanted a soft shooter so I wouldn't feel mauled after several boxes of shells during a session.
One of the reviews mentioned a Remington engineer stating they shot over 70k in factory tests, without cleaning the gun.
That is mighty impressive for a gas gun.

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

Depends on how serious you get. Trap shooters like a fairly high, straight comb on the buttstock. Skeet shooters just the opposite,  

 

I am sure one gun will get you started just fine. I would generally start with one of the o/u that are sold today. Generally most are pretty good guns, just depends on your budget.

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

2 hours ago, Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life said:

Depends on how serious you get. Trap shooters like a fairly high, straight comb on the buttstock. Skeet shooters just the opposite,

 

This is the key.  Any shotgun CAN be used for trap, skeet and sporting clays but they are different games.  I have several dedicated trap guns and aside from being single shots the stock shape and POI are all wrong for skeet and sporting clays.  I also have some shotguns set up for sporting clays.  Also, what kind of budget are you talking about?  The old Auto 5 is a great gun but the old long recoil mechanism will beat you to death if you shoot a lot of clay game matches with it.  Again before I could make any kind of recommendation I would need to know the price range you are looking at.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

My 28" bbl Remmy 11-87 has been fantastic. 

OLG 

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

3 hours ago, Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life said:

Depends on how serious you get. Trap shooters like a fairly high, straight comb on the buttstock. Skeet shooters just the opposite,  

 

I am sure one gun will get you started just fine. I would generally start with one of the o/u that are sold today. Generally most are pretty good guns, just depends on your budget.

Not to get to far off topic but a local gun store has a browning Citori that has had perhaps twenty holes drilled into the top barrel yet none in the bottom barrel. Why would you want one barrel ported and the other not?

BTW if I hit 16 out of 25 I am happy, 18.... time to celebrate!!!

Regards

   

Gateway Kid

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

22 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

My 28" bbl Remmy 11-87 has been fantastic. 

OLG 

 

For what?  Shooting doves?  Seriously as I said earlier any shotgun can be used for any shooting sport.  However an 11-87 is generally not considered a trap gun, not considered a skeet gun and not considered a sporting clays gun.  Go to some matches and you will be hard put to find an 11-87 on the line.  The question gets back to what the OP intends to do with the gun.  An occasional trip to a clay range or some serious shooting?

 

2 minutes ago, Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life said:

Not to get to far off topic but a local gun store has a browning Citori that has had perhaps twenty holes drilled into the top barrel yet none in the bottom barrel. Why would you want one barrel ported and the other not?

BTW if I hit 16 out of 25 I am happy, 18.... time to celebrate!!!

Regards

   

Gateway Kid

 

Ports in shotgun barrels were a fad and most competition shooters don't like them.  They are loud and a PITA to clean.  Don't know if the gun you are looking at is new or used and the ports are factory or aftermarket.  One reason could be because the lower barrel tends to push straight back when fired as it is more in-line with your shoulder.  The upper barrel tends to lift a bit because the sight line is higher and the ports could have been an attempt to lessen barrel rise.

[Silver Sam, SASS #34718L]

My SKB 200E came with a 2 barrel set one for Skeet & one for Hunting ......

I cut one down to 19" for CAS and saved the Skeet Barrel for Cowboy Clays.... It works Great!!

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

7 hours ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

 

For what?  Shooting doves?  Seriously as I said earlier any shotgun can be used for any shooting sport.  However an 11-87 is generally not considered a trap gun, not considered a skeet gun and not considered a sporting clays gun.  Go to some matches and you will be hard put to find an 11-87 on the line.  The question gets back to what the OP intends to do with the gun.  An occasional trip to a clay range or some serious shooting?

 

 

Ports in shotgun barrels were a fad and most competition shooters don't like them.  They are loud and a PITA to clean.  Don't know if the gun you are looking at is new or used and the ports are factory or aftermarket.  One reason could be because the lower barrel tends to push straight back when fired as it is more in-line with your shoulder.  The upper barrel tends to lift a bit because the sight line is higher and the ports could have been an attempt to lessen barrel rise.

LOL, 11-87-very light recoil that helps with a second shot. Used mine for trap,, skeet and 5 stand plus hunting. Have several patches and trophies to prove the gun worked and worked well in competition.

Never cared for over and under SG.

OLG 

 

[watab kid]

IMHO a trap gun is totally different than a skeet gun for the serious shooter , but i have found trap and sporting clays guns can cross over a bit as long as your not too serious , 

[Buckshot Bob]

A Browning Citori or a Beretta 1301 are hard to beat , but there are tons of great guns out there anymore. Just depends on what you want to spend and how serious you are . You can go from a Turkish made semi to a Kreieghoff or Perazzi 
A gun with a adjustable comb on it might be a option for you so if you start shooting more of one than the other you can adjust for the desired poi. 
If you reload you won’t have to pick up all your mt’s with a o/u 

[bgavin]

My best round with the V3 is 23 out of 25, with a Carlson extended full choke.
I shoot with my lodge brothers, so I asked if they objected to me shooting a round with my 870 and 20" cylinder barrel, loading 5 at a time.
When asked why.. I said I wanted to train my muscle memory for when ANTIFA comes calling at my house.

[Tom Bullweed]

On 12/21/2021 at 1:45 PM, Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life said:

Not to get to far off topic but a local gun store has a browning Citori that has had perhaps twenty holes drilled into the top barrel yet none in the bottom barrel. Why would you want one barrel ported and the other not?

BTW if I hit 16 out of 25 I am happy, 18.... time to celebrate!!!

Regards

   

Gateway Kid

First shot is top barrel and the sporting keeps the recoil down so that the second shot can be made faster.  International trap is a 2-shot on a single clay game.

[DocWard]

If I were going to limit myself to one shotgun, and try to shoot trap, sporting clays and skeet with it, I would more than likely go with the Beretta A400 Xcel with a 32" barrel. The Multitarget model has adjustable rib and stock, but is a bit pricy for some budgets. The parallel target is just a little easier on the wallet and would still work well.

I'm glad I don't have to limit myself.

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

Kinda of a waste to keep posting since the OP has never responded.  Without knowing what he wants to shoot and how much he wants to spend I would agree with DocWard.  I have two A400 Xcels and aside from having horrible triggers they are good solid guns.  This is the Multitarget it is adjustable to adapt to different sports.

 

[DocWard]

25 minutes ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

Kinda of a waste to keep posting since the OP has never responded.  Without knowing what he wants to shoot and how much he wants to spend I would agree with DocWard.  I have two A400 Xcels and aside from having horrible triggers they are good solid guns.  This is the Multitarget it is adjustable to adapt to different sports.

 

Huh... Now I want to go back and try one again and pay attention to the triggers. I never paid much attention to the triggers on my trap guns, but I suppose a BT99 trigger on a gun with well over 50,000 rounds (maybe closer to 100,000) is going to be smoothed out, and a K-80 had darn well better have a nice trigger.

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

Or a Perazzi or a Seitz or a Ljutic.  Part of what you are paying for with a competition shotgun is a decent trigger.  The Beretta Xcel autos have the same triggers as their hunting guns.

[DocWard]

8 minutes ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

Or a Perazzi or a Seitz or a Ljutic.  Part of what you are paying for with a competition shotgun is a decent trigger.  The Beretta Xcel autos have the same triggers as their hunting guns.

 

Yep, I agree. With the Xcel I tried out, I don't recall it being terrible though. Of course, I was focusing on other aspects of the gun and finding the targets. It was also a few years back, so that aspect may have faded with time.

[Painted Mohawk SASS 77785]

On 12/22/2021 at 4:45 AM, Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life said:

Not to get to far off topic but a local gun store has a browning Citori that has had perhaps twenty holes drilled into the top barrel yet none in the bottom barrel. Why would you want one barrel ported and the other not?

BTW if I hit 16 out of 25 I am happy, 18.... time to celebrate!!!

Regards

   

Gateway Kid

Tis' strange  normally the bottom barrel is ported, maybe they swapped chokes & shot the top barrel first..never did care for porting, don't think it really does much..in saying that my old A' Grade Browning  had the bottom barell done by a previous owner..I often get the comment by the shooter beside me that it sounds like a cannon.!!!..bloody good gun though.