Classic single barrel trap guns

M

masshunter

Active member
I shoot a little at our club using my hunting guns, and on a good night might break 14 or 16. Never plan on competing, just having fun, but the guys keep telling me the right gun would boost my scores. Used BT 99's seem to be running $800 to $1000. but don't really give me a spark. I see from time to time these old classic Ithaca and L.C. Smiths for sale, beautiful guns, beautiful wood,and only $1500 to $2500. I find them very attractive,and was wondering if anyone on here has any experience or advice.
 

Most of the "old school" trap guns you mention will not boost your scores much. took a special style to shoot those low stock guns. Classic Ljutic's can be found in that price range. As well as Perazzi Tm-1's True classic trap guns.
 
Remington 11/87 Trap guns can be had for cheap.
Even the field 1100s and 870s will clean a trap. Best advice I
ever got was to shoot in front of them.
 
Thanks Guys, I usually shoot my 12ga Red Label, tried my Mossberg 930 before I put the red dot on it but it threw cases onto the shooter to my right.
Sometimes my 16 Ga model 12, or one of my drillings, also 16ga.
I had wondered about the stocks but that may be the reason they are out there. I just like the looks and thought to ask . Conn Shotgun had a L.C. Smith on their site that looked nice and I'm sitting on a refund from a trip to Ireland that got cancelled by covid. Maybe a couple cases of shells and an afternoon of instructions would be better.
 
Yes on the shells and training. 14-16 numbers are low no matter what gun you are shooting.

I could never shoot a Trap gun gun well, I tried a few. When I was shooting competitively I shot a Win 101 field grade 30"F&F at International trap and a 101 field grade 28" M&F on 16yard singles and doubles. My wife shot an 870 with a 28" Mod and would swap on a 26" skeet barrel and clean most peoples clock on the skeet field.
 
the thing that will boost your scores the best would be to pattern your gun at about 27 to 30yds and see where its pattern is in relationship to point of aim. my guess is that it would be a 50/50 gun. And in trap you are always shooting a rising target and most trap guns are set up to be a 70/30 or even a 90/10 and some 100% gun. Which means you want 70% of the pattern above the point of aim and 30% below. You can use your field gun to shoot trap you just have to make a few changes that are simple. Go to walmart craft section and get some of the 6x8 foam stick pads that are roughly 1/8" thick and cut 4-5 into 1-1 1/2in x6in long strips stick them on the comb 1 at a time and see where the gun patterns once you get to a 70/30 or 80/20 take a full sheet and lay it over the top to cover them up. It will save you a bunch of money for just fun shooting. They are perfectly safe for your wood stock and will peel right off when you need to. We have done this to many of our youth trap shooters that don't want to spend the money on a trap gun that they may not use after a couple years. Just a suggestion. Have fun.
 
If you shoot Trap targets quickly with a field gun you may have to cover the targets to hit them solid. So if you can see the target when you pull the trigger you will be shooting under the target that is climbing. That is why Trap guns are set up to shoot high.

You can put a Wrapid Comb on your field gun to make it shoot a little higher.

https://www.gunsolutions.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3

I have a old Rem 870 that I put a Wrapid Comb on because the stock was to low for me to shoot it while hunting.
 
Year's ago when I got into trap shooting there was a older gentleman and his first words on getting a better score was the gun has to fit you. So I took his advice and took my old model12 trap pigeon grade to a smith that did trap guns and had a him fit it to me and I was surprised at the improvement in hitting the Clay's and some more practice 24 to 25 got to be the norm. It might be worth looking into just say.
 
Thanks all. Deaddog, I thought about raising the comb, but didn't quite know how, after hunting season I'll be doing just that. Derby that explains why I miss the straight aways, but break the hard rights almost every time. I remember being told to "miss in front" somewhere. My buddy says I stop sometimes on the straightaways which habit maybe from using the same guns for coyote, turkey, and squirrel hunting. I may slow down as I watch the target.
 
Can you borrow a dedicated trap gun for a few rounds at the club? If so, see if that helps your scores. If it doesn't improve scores then you need instruction and practice more so than a new gun. A dedicated trap gun throwing a 70/30 pattern makes hitting birds from the trap range easier and might give you two or three extra broken birds on the score sheet. But it's not going to give you ten or twelve extra birds. For that you need to know how to shoot trap first and foremost.
 
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