18 inch barrel on traps

[neomentat]

I was wondering how well my 18 inch barrel 12 gauge will work on traps and skeets, it has ghost right sights on it too.

[Black Majik]

It'll do as well as the shooter is capable of. GRs make it just a bit tougher to lead the bird but you should still do fine once you figure out where to lead.

A bead barrel would have been easier. A long 26" or 28" bead barrel would have made it even easier.

But go out and have fun. Ignore what others think and go enjoy yourself. Shooting trap is a blast.

[1BigPea]

I shoot trap and skeet with my 18" 870. I always say to myself i'm going to buy a longer barrel for when i go but just never have.

You'll be fine.

[x-ricer]

i use 18" on my 870 with ghost rings and surefire fore-end.

looks kinda dumb....and makes it a little more difficult..but who cares? it's fun =)

[sb_pete]

I've done it plenty. It's fine. Heck I think the 18" barrel might even help a bit at the stations closest to the houses in skeet. For trap, it really is nicer to have a 28" barrel with a tighter choke, but it's really only when the bird gets further out (or you back off from the house) that it comes in to play. Anyways, it's great practice for hitting moving targets with your go to shotgun. Another way to look at it - it might not be the best gun for trap and skeet, but trap and skeet are great ways to get proficiant with that gun.
-Pete

[Crusader]

People who claim short, un-choked barrels cannot hit clays usually say that because they cannot do it, not the firearm.

I had an 18" SuperNova and could break 15-20 clays fairly easily. And I'm a pretty bad shot.

[sleepur606]

I've used my 21" 870 for shooting clay. Not at a range where there are machines throwing for you like most Trap and Skeet ranges, but off hand throwers. The only time I struggle to hit clays is when using #00 Buck...it's hard to hit a clay at 50 yards when it's moving pretty good and you only have nine little pellets. On the other hand, with 6, 7, or #8 birdshot, I can hit just about anything thrown. Never got real far out, maybe 75 yards or so; out there it's pretty tough, but not impossible.

I'd like a long gun for shooting clay, but can't justify it as I've got two AR projects under way and a few more things on the shopping list to get first...including a house.

EDIT: A buddy of mine received a Charles Daily 18 home defense style shotgun. Took it out and he couldn't hit a thing and I was throwing pretty easy. After some trial and error, I took hold of it and hit 5 of 7 which isn't bad considering I'd only been a gun owner for about 2 months and had been shooting all of 3 times. Of course, I let him use my 870 and he still couldn't hit clays very well, so I'm not entirely sure it's the tool as much as it's the Tool.

Remember kids, when you can't find the problem, check to see if there's a loose nut behind the wheel.

[sargenv]

For skeet, not such a big deal. the "Skeet" choke that people use is just a tad more constricted than the full "cylinder" most shorter barreled guns have. Cylinder is no constriction or .000". Skeet is usually .005" constriction.

Trap at 16 yards can be done with a cylinder bore. It'll be difficult if you let they clay get much past 35 yards, but it can be done. When you move back to handicap range (say 22-27 yards) it becomes much more difficult to reliably get hits since by the time you pick up the target, it will likely already be 40 yards out. This is the realm of Modified choke and better.

It can be done, but not as well as a properly choked gun. Sporting clays will be even more interesting since you have all kinds of shots, target sizes, and distances involved..

[ar15barrels]

The 18" barrel is fun on skeet, but a longer barrel is better for trap.

[vormav]

. The only time I struggle to hit clays is when using #00 Buck...it's hard to hit a clay at 50 yards when it's moving pretty good and you only have nine little pellets. On .

i took a couple of shots with 00 buck on a clay once, hit one clay by luck most likely, but it was alot of fun, no pieces of it hit the ground, it was vaporized completely into dust in mid flight

[bohoki]

i took a couple of shots with 00 buck on a clay once, hit one clay by luck most likely, but it was alot of fun, no pieces of it hit the ground, it was vaporized completely into dust in mid flight

hmm that is normal with birdshot

in fact i dont count my hits unless they turn the disk into a little black cloud

when i just wing one so that it busts off a chunk and goes flopping that was a miss

[Salty]

I see people shooting clays with short barrels and most likely no choke all the time at my local range (just launchers, not an actual trap or skeet range). Works find, you just get to get the clays while they're close. A guy let me take a few shots with his ghost ring sighted shotgun once, the sights obstruct the view a bit more than I'm used to, but it's no big deal.

By the way, shooting buckshot at clays is a bit dangerous, no? Those big ol' pellets are gonna come down a lot harder than birdshot.

[kpw001]

I've hit clays with an 18in. barrel on my 500. I haven't hit many but that's not because of the barrel. Either way it's still fun and it makes it more of a challenge.

Buckshot at clays.....something to try out on the next range trip.