Tacticool shotgun for trap

[ck867]

If I used a tactical looking shotgun for trap shooting, will I become a laughing stock?

Has anyone here tried it?

I'm gonna take my tacticool shotgun to cordova shooting center soon and see how that works out. I went their once with a stock mossberg 500 and since then, I'v added a few things to make it tacticool. I'll see how it works out...lol

[shirow]

I'm gonna take my tacticool shotgun to cordova shooting center soon and see how that works out. I went their once with a stock mossberg 500 and since then, I'v added a few things to make it tacticool. I'll see how it works out...lol

The weather is so nice it's a great time to go out there.

I was there today for lunch for my first time on the shotgun range. I had a "blast".

(using my buddy's 870)

[randy]

Some ranges won't allow a short barreled shotgun on the field.

[series8217]

Some ranges won't allow a short barreled shotgun on the field.

Short barreled by what definition?

[dlihcraw]

Oak Tree Gun Club in Newhall does not allow them. A Place to Shoot, maybe 20-30 minutes away in Saugus, does allow them.

[series8217]

Doesn't allow what? What is their minimum barrel length? Sounds like a strangely arbitrary rule.

[CalNRA]

Doesn't allow what? What is their minimum barrel length? Sounds like a strangely arbitrary rule.

29 inches, so the poor shlobs with their Big-5 Mossberg 28 inch barrel can't participate.

[DVIII]

^ unless we add a muzzle break! LOL...

[CalNRA]

^ unless we add a muzzle break! LOL...

tactical impact device(aka extension with teeth).

[sargenv]

At the range I go to, it used to be that you needed a 26-30" barrel minimum, but then Remington came out with a youth model that was only 25" and it was a full on sporting gun, so they allowed those. Mostly they don't want someone out there with a riot gun who might not know exactly what they are doing. A riot gun would likely be ok on the skeet range, but the pattern will be really wide shooting trap even at 16 yards. I think it's more a perceived thing by the non shooting public and an image thing. I know it sucks, but in the end they want to stay open and not "look" like a bunch of yahoos that "appear" dangerous.

In most cases though, they do not allow a pistol grip only shotgun since that's pretty useless in most people's hands for clay shooting. I'm sure Tom Knapp could do something with it and maybe a handful of us on calguns, but most of us would just be making noise and missing targets while making other people nervous.

[Salty]

They are all over the place at Los Altos Rod and Gun Club. Most are 18-20" open choke barrels and don't bust clays much past 15 yards so well from what I've seen (not enough pellets on target I suppose?). Folks either miss a lot of clays, or bust them right our of the trap. With a choke I assume things would improve greatly.

With that said, I have thought about threading an 18" barrel for chokes to use with a standard stocked pump gun, but more likely I will just buy a 24" barrel threaded for chokes.

[bowfin]

shirow,

You might want to lean forward, get more weight on that front foot. That should help you catch up with those targets thrown hard right.

I helped run a trap range for the local Conservation club the last few years. We have some excellent trap shooters here in our town, including some national champions:

http://www.traphof.org/inductees/hoppe.htm

I have also hunted upland game, turkey and waterfowl for the last thirty years. I mention this only so as to give a background as to how and why I formed my opinions. No doubt some of you have equal or superior credentials, but remember, just opinions on my part and no intention to preach.

If one was to come out to our trap range and bring a tactical, tricked out shotgun, no problems except we might pester you to get a look at your shotgun and ask some questions. Pretty is as pretty does, and no one would dare say anything about your choice if you shot in the mid to upper 40s. Less than that, and you might get some advice or tips, but nothing mean spirited. Shoot what you have, shoot what you want.

If one were to come out and shoot at a thrown target from the hip, I would bounce you out of there so fast it would make your head swim. That's best left for more informal, less crowded venues, if at all. I am not sure why anyone would practice shooting from the hip anyhow, there is ALWAYS time to shoulder the gun and get off a proper shot, even when a covey of quail or a grouse gets up close by in thick cover. So shooting from the shoulder is what should be practiced for practical purposes, but I guess shooting from the hip might be amusing as trick shooting.

As for the practicality of using a shotgun with a pistol grip stock and no choke, you are starting out with a handicap when shooting trap. You might shoot well at clay targets, but it would be in spite of it, not because of it. It would have tendency to inhibit your swing by changing the angle of your wrist and droping your elbow and moving it in closer to your body, kind of cramping your swing. It's harder to swing an AR-15 pistol grip type stock through an arc than a more conventional stocked shotgun, and if you get moved back off the 16 yard marker, your patterns might not hold tight enough when shooting back off the 26 or 27 yard marker, even closer if you aren't a quick shot.

Skeet, a tactical shotgun would not be so much of a disadvantage, because open chokes are called for in that discipline and the targets are thrown in the same predictable pattern, which would take some of the guesswork out of the swing, making that particular pistol gripped stock less of a handicap, though not ideal.

However, if the tactical guns is the gun you are going to use in real life situations (hunting or defense), then by all means get it out there and shoot it. I never was very good at trap because I didn't see it as the end result in and of itself, but a means to practice for hunting. Therefore, I never invested in a dedicated trap gun, because I wanted the practice and time with the gun I was going to use in the field that season, anything from a Mossberg 500 to an SKB/Ithaca 505 OU or my single shot 10 gauge. (try finding a suitable trap load for that!).

So if you want to get the league trophy, might want to get something besides a tactical shotgun, but if you want to get better with the tactical shotgun, don't leave it at home. When someone else starts buying the shells or paying for the round, then their input (including mine) only then becomes relevant, so blast away!

[Salty]

I think it's more a perceived thing by the non shooting public and an image thing. I know it sucks, but in the end they want to stay open and not "look" like a bunch of yahoos that "appear" dangerous..

[ysr_racer]

An 18" barrel with an IC choke will break 16 yard trap targets as well as a 28" barrel with an IC choke will.

Barrel length has little to do with pattern, and more to do with velocity. It has more to do with the perception of the short barreled guns, and the people that own them.

Plus there's the safety issue. Again, the perception is that guys with riot guns don't shoot much and aren't as safe as more "seasoned" shooters.

Me, I wish more of the tacticool goof balls would come out and shoot. Every sporting gun I see for sale has thousands of rounds thru it. Every time I see a tacticool gun for sale, it's hardly been fired.

[professorhard]

anyone done it with an AK converted Saiga-12?