Buying Advice for a Newbie

[carbine-13]

I'm new to shooting clays and I have a shotgun question. I currently have a 12 gauge Ithaca 37 that has interchangable barrels. One barrel is 26" (IC choke), which works well for sporting clays. The other barrel is 30" (full choke), which works well for trap. Thus, I can shoot either clays or trap with the Ithaca, but because it is a field gun, it kicks like a mule and my shoulders are a little sore after 100 rounds.

I'd like to get something more comfortable to shoot and I'm thinking of a sporting semi-automatic in 12 gauge or 20 gauge.

Is the recoil of a 12 gauge semi-automatic considerably less than the recoil of my Ithaca? If so, I could get a 12 gauge and shoot clays and trap comfortably. If not, should I move to the smaller 20 gauge for clays and maybe look for an O/U for trap? Any advice? Thanks.

[marinakorp]

I'm new to shooting clays and I have a shotgun question. I currently have a 12 gauge Ithaca 37 that has interchangable barrels. One barrel is 26" (IC choke), which works well for sporting clays. The other barrel is 30" (full choke), which works well for trap. Thus, I can shoot either clays or trap with the Ithaca, but because it is a field gun, it kicks like a mule and my shoulders are a little sore after 100 rounds.

I'd like to get something more comfortable to shoot and I'm thinking of a sporting semi-automatic in 12 gauge or 20 gauge.

Is the recoil of a 12 gauge semi-automatic considerably less than the recoil of my Ithaca? If so, I could get a 12 gauge and shoot clays and trap comfortably. If not, should I move to the smaller 20 gauge for clays and maybe look for an O/U for trap? Any advice? Thanks.

Generally speaking, semi auto's have less recoil, as the action is cycled, a bit of the recoil is sucked up in this process... how much... depends.

Try using a differnt butt plate on the shotgun to see if tht makes a difference before spending $$ to buy a new gun (not that I'm against it or anything!)

[Big Dog]

Frankly, shooting clays should not hurt no matter what gun you shoot especially if your using a target load. Sounds to me like a gun mount issue.

[Hawk]

I second the above. I'm thinking the gun doesn't fit you or you're not mounting it correctly. If you're going to shoot trap with a squad they typically don't like guys with auto loaders unless you have a device to keep the shell from being thrown from the ejection port. Some guys have $10,000 guns and don't like hulls being thrown towards them. I'm guessing the length of pull (stock) is to long or to short for you. Also, if the gun is smacking you in the cheek, it doesn't fit you, or you're not mounting it correctly, or you're picking up your head off the stock when tracking the bird. You should have a rubber recoil pad made for shooting sports and a shooting jacket with a recoil pad built in. Checkout www.trapshooters.com for more advice.