Trap/Skeet Questions
Question:
> What choke should I use for trap(Rem. 870)? Skeet? > What loads should I use? > I’m new to this!
For my 870, I use a Skeet choke for skeet. You can use an Improved Cylinder but a Skeet choike is more open. For trap, I use a Modified and have no problem. If you shoot handicap (from greater than 16 yards) you may move to Full. Eric — So Many Hobbies, So little time Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/ To leave the Hunting listserv list, send a message with SIGNOFF HUNTING
Response:
>What choke should I use for trap(Rem. 870)? Skeet? >What loads should I use? >I’m new to this!
12 gauge, right? In trap, the target starts at least 16 yds in front of you and goes away fairly quickly. Therefore, you need a somewhat tight choke and a shot size the will maintain velocity without sacrificing too much pattern density. I believe that a modified choke is fine for 16 yd trap. You may not smoke many targets, but it will break them. Improved modified may be just a little better, depends on your shell. I think full is too tight for regular guns with factory loads at 16 yds. You should use 8 or 7 1/2 size shot. Either 1 1/8 oz. or 1 oz. The 1 1/8 oz. loads should be 2 3/4 dram eq. which ought to produce just under 1200 fps. The 1 oz. loads may offer a little less recoil. They will break targets just as well. In skeet, the targets are generally closer. Improved cylinder is a good choice for choke. There is, of course, a Skeet choke, this works well. Cylinder bore is also quite good if you break station 4, low 5, and low 6 over the stake or before. Almost everybody uses 9s in skeet. 8s work fine. 7 1/2s do too, but most would consider their use to be heresy. There are some other things you need to consider: WEAR HEARING PROTECTION!!!! In trap and skeet, it’s nothing to shoot 100 targets in about an hour or so. This will wipe out your hearing and give you a bad headache no matter how macho you are. WEAR SHOOTING GLASSES!!!! When you’re on the field, you’re in danger from something happening to your shell or gun when you shoot, from a target pieces, and believe it or don’t, from pieces of shot careening off targets. You can’t shoot if you can’t see, so protect your eyes. Do something to make your gun fit. Get some help with this. The guys at the club will be glad to help. The procedure of putting the buttstock into your elbow and reaching the trigger just makes you look silly; it has nothing to do with gun fit. You have to be able to bring your gun to your face, the same way every time, without having to lower your head. You need to be able to do this because your eyes are your rear sight. They have to be in the same position every time, or you will miss. Gun fit is also important to a beginner because it eliminates much of the percieved recoil. You are going to be shooting many, many shells. If your gun kicks, you are going to develop some very bad habits. Forget about yardwork. Before I started shooting seriously, I was very proud of my yard. It wasn’t very big, about 75 X 120 feet, with a house, shop, and in-ground pool. I worked very hard on it. It took me three to four hours every Saturday to mow, trim, and clean up. After I started shooting, I realized that if I didn’t water it, I wouldn’t have to mow it. <G>. Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/ To leave the Hunting listserv list, send a message with SIGNOFF HUNTING
Response:
For skeet try to stay with 8-9 size shot with 1 1/8 oz of shot at either 1,145 or 1,200 ft. ; I use the heavy load (3 drams of powder) for 1,200 ft for both, trap and skeet. Try Improved Modified or full chokes; you may use modified if you shoot fast enough. The choke for skeet would be either skeet, cyl. or imp-cyl (use whatever you have). For trap you will do better if you use 7 1/2 -8 shot and if you are a fast shot, even with 9’s. Use 9’s for skeet. Try to use the same velocity (either 1,145 or 1,200 ft/sec which is 2 3/4 and 3 drams of powder respectively) for all of your shooting. It is a good idea to stick to one powder load (velocity) to get used to the swing or lead on your follow through. I do advice you to pattern your shotgun with different brands and loads of shells to determine what works best for your shotgun. Try patterning your 870 at 30 yards by shooting to the center of a 30" circle. You will sometimes find big clusters, and with some other shells you will find that the pattern is very well spread inside the circle. Do the patterning for several loads-brands-chokes combination. I know that it is tedious at the beginning but you will only be doing it once, and once you find the right combination, you will have your right foot into the sport!. Good Shotgunning, EL ALMIRANTE – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > What choke should I use for trap(Rem. 870)? Skeet? > What loads should I use? > I’m new to this! > Thanks! > TC > Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: > http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/ > To leave the Hunting listserv list, send a message with SIGNOFF HUNTING
Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/ To leave the Hunting listserv list, send a message with SIGNOFF HUNTING
