Trouble shooting trap

[BigBoomStick]

I have been trying to get more into Trap lately. I have shot my fair share of clays in the past, but have never been great at it.

While spending more time at the local ranges and reading as much as I can, the first thing I decided to address was my posture. Until recently I have been keeping my Benelli Super Black Eagle tight on the middle of my shoulder and with my neck crouched down and sideways to line up the sights. I have been taught the gun should "come up to me" rather then my head going down. This is where I have my problem. When I bring the shotgun to my face, the buttstock sits really high and almost on my neck, making it extremely uncomfortable and painful.

What am I doing wrong? Is my Super Black Eagle not good for this sort of hold? Any tips would be appreciated!

[soberbyker]

I gotten into trap shooting as well, after a few years of rifle shooting. Two very different animals. When I place my shotgun against my shoulder the top of the butt is a couple inches above my shoulder leaving about 3/4 of the butt on my body. This works well for me.

I know you've said you've read a lot, but here's an article that helped me, especially if you were into rifle shooting before shotgunning.

http://www.bunkershooting.com/rifleman.html

I hold my right arm fairly high, so as to open up the concavity or "cup" between the shoulder and the collar bone, which conveniently cradles the butt of the gun. If you mount the gun with the right arm too low, that "cup" will turn into a hard bunch of convex-shaped muscles, which will tend to push the butt out, rather than taking it in.

.

[Hawk]

You are talking about "fitting" the gun.

Your right. The gun should be brought up to your cheek (not the other way around) and then pulled straight back into you shoulder. The key is to be able to achieve a proper sight picture while having your head as erect as possible. You should be able to see the front bead without seeing the top of the rib (or most of it). If you have a middle bead the proper sight picture should have you stacking the front bead on top of the middle bead to form a figure "8".

Proper Length of Pull - You should have about 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 inches from your thumb knuckle to your nose with your shotgun mounted. If it's too close you need to add spacers, if too far, cut down the stock.

If after you mount the gun and the butt of the rifle is high and uncomfortable to shoot, you'll need to install an adjustable stock butt pad adapter to lower the pad.

Links to stock adjusters :
http://www.graco-corp.com/t/adjustable-butt-plate

http://www.cabelas.com/stocks-grips-...il-pad-1.shtml

http://recoil-less.com/


There is a lot more to fitting and shooting a shotgun for clay sports. What it boils down to is how serious you want to be about the sport. If you want to break 25 you'll need to get the gun fitted. If you'd be happy with mid teens, you can probably make do with what you got.
You'll never get to low 20's without learning how to "point" the shotgun.
(you don't aim it, like a rilfe).

Some more reading:

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/st...0001&langId=-1

http://www.sidebysideshotgun.com/art...g_article.html

http://www.americaoutdoors.com/shoot...s/ten_tips.htm

[Helter]

My guess would be that it's your stock. Trap guns often have a monte-carlo stock, with a fixed or adjustable riser that your cheek rests on. Without that, you have to bring your cheek down farther, or bring the but up more. You can change the stock on your gun if it's important to you, but I'd just ignore this one. As long as your head is aligning with the gun in the same way every time, and you can still move the two together (freely) the details of exactly where that's happening aren't critical.

I've been shooting trap for a while now, more than 15 years, and in my experience most "generic" advice is less than stellar. If you really want to improve, get a coach. Someone who has experience, and will give you suggestions on how to improve *your* game, rather than tell you how they shoot and suggest that you try to conform to that. I've gotten lot's of catchy advice on how I should be shooting. The only advice that has ever helped has been a result of someone watching me shoot, and noticing something that I'm doing that makes getting hits harder.
Things like improving your stance only help *if your stance is causing you to miss shots*. If your stance is less than optimal, but it's something else entirely that is causing your misses (which I'd be money on), then you'll be wasting your time.

[BigBoomStick]

When I place my shotgun against my shoulder the top of the butt is a couple inches above my shoulder leaving about 3/4 of the butt on my body. This works well for me.

I try doing that, but I get well less then 3/4 of the stock on my body. I wind up having it just as the base of my neck which is not fun after 100+ shells.

Thanks for the link, I will check it out.

[BigBoomStick]

You are talking about "fitting" the gun.

Proper Length of Pull - You should have about 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 inches from your thumb knuckle to your nose with your shotgun mounted. If it's too close you need to add spacers, if too far, cut down the stock.

I bought the shotgun second hand, but it does have some shims to slightly adjust the angle and length. I will have to see if anything I have may help.

Thanks!

[BigBoomStick]

If you really want to improve, get a coach. Someone who has experience, and will give you suggestions on how to improve *your* game, rather than tell you how they shoot and suggest that you try to conform to that.

I agree about getting a coach. I think, though, that I need a better shotgun before I spent my money on a coach. I think given all the trouble I am having a new shotgun would be a good start so I don't have its ill fitting as an excuse.

[MOUNTAINORACLE]

IMHO the shotgun doesn't fit you correctly or your stance is in need of help. In shooting that the first you do is get a shotgun that fits you.

[KennyPowers]

IMHO the shotgun doesn't fit you correctly or your stance is in need of help. In shooting that the first you do is get a shotgun that fits you.

You need to know that your stance is more or less correct before you can tell if the gun fits you. If you change your stance, the gun's fit may also change slightly. Find someone who knows what they're doing, have them get your stance and body position worked out, then evaluate the gun's fit.

[West Chester]

Taking some professional lessons from the beginning will help to keep from developing bad habits from forming.

Orvis Shooting School