Indians For Guns

I was reading nice article, its written by one of the most successful trap shooter in recent time.
there are many like me who are still novice in the gun selection process, not that we have much choice in india , but still.

http://www.hunttheoutdoors.com/articles ... .php?id=82

Buying Your First Trap Shotgun

by James Russell Publishing

So you want to buy a trap gun? Hmmm, when you look around and see so many shooters buying and selling guns — often selling at a loss from what they paid just to get rid of it — you become confused as to what to buy. Join the club!

Let's demystify the process so you will buy the gun that is right for you… the first time… and save yourself a measure of disappointment, poor shooting scores and money to boot!

The nature of the beast is a trap gun is not like buying a field gun for casual use… it must be custom built to fit you. What this means is you can't simply buy your buddy's gun or snatch one from the dealer's shelf and simply start shooting it. You can, most everyone does, but most everyone can't shoot for beans and this is the #1 prime reason why… their gun's do not fit.

You can not shoot trap effectively (to win large tournaments) if you learn to shoot by conforming to the gun. The gun must conform to you. So you must, after buying your gun, or before the purchase, visit a stock fitter and have the gun altered to fit you. If you are like most shooters, you won't do it. But I hope you will.

You are not interested in shooting registered tournament trap. Don't kid yourself… you will eventually. It may not be this year or next, but you will. I've seen dedicated shooters who have shot for years at the local gun club swear up, down, left and right they would never, ever, never shoot a registered shoot. Then a miracle happens… I see them at an ATA shoot. So this means two things… First, if you buy the proper gun you will shoot better, have more fun and be able to shoot registered targets when that miraculous day occurs (which it will) and two, you will get more money for the gun when you wish to sell it. Enough said. Lets look at the guns.
Which Is The Best Trap Shotgun To Buy?
The gun that breaks the most targets!

So which gun is that? Could be the gun you own now, with a few modifications to ensure it fits you with tight choke(s) you may have the golden goose and not know it. Let's assume you don't, and you don't even have your first trap gun. Where do I begin?

The autoloader shotgun is arguably the best all-around trap gun for the first-time beginner. The reasons being; The stock is easily adjustable to set point of impact (a critical consideration), the gun can shoot all the games; singles, handicap, double-trap, sporting clays, you name it. One gun for everything. Recoil is lowest and that makes it ideal for everyone, especially the women. The drawback is; autoloaders require extra cleaning and worst of all can jam. In trap shooting singles and handicap you can always fire off one shot so jams is not a concern, but in doubles events you will be penalized and lose if your gun jams a wee too many times… though rules do appear to be changing to forgive such incidents… it will still disrupt the squad and yourself. More moving parts require more maintenance and repairs. The autoloader has a benefit of being a low-recoil gun and that is a very positive feature. Overall, the autoloader is a good first and last choice.

The dedicated single-barrel break-open trap gun is dominate stateside (USA trapshooting). This does not mean it is the best gun to own… it only means it is favored in the states at this time. Though the trend has been long-lasting we are seeing a gradual shift away from these guns to the under & over, but don't get me wrong… the single barrel gun will be dominate stateside for years to come. The drawback is; you have to change to another gun to shoot double-trap as the gun will only fire one round. This requires you must now purchase and setup (fit and adjust point of impact, etc,) another gun in your inventory and learn how to shoot the gun. Now you have a duel learning curve… and that is not a good idea for the average shooter. For the accomplished shooter (there are few professional shooters, believe me) this is not a problem. If everyone sees a Top Gun shoot a single-barrel gun everyone flocks to it. People do the same thing in golf, buy the club the pro uses. That's okay, but is it the best weapon to use? Is it practical? Will it increase your scores?

Yes, it is true that each game, singles, handicap and doubles are separate games and no one can argue the point that to have a specific gun designed for the game to play may be best… it is not practical in the overall sense that the majority of shooters are not so professional they could easily adapt to each gun. Remember, when you change guns you better know how to shoot it because it's not going to shoot like the other one. It will point differently, swing differently, balance and weight will be different and even the shot patterns will be altered, to name a few.

So, for all economy and practical purposes, the single barrel guns should be left to the pros to shoot. When you become professional and can shoot with such accomplishments you can then do what you want to do because you have the inside knowledge and abilities to shoot anything well. Shifting from one gun to another is a problem even for the pros, but they can handle it. Can you? Be honest. Look at your scores.

The point is this. The new or up and coming shooter should be shooting "one gun" not two or three guns. One gun! Not only is this the best and fastest way to learn to shoot, it is the most financially economical. So, all you new shooters out there living paycheck-to-paycheck listen up… you only need one gun! Don't let anyone try to convince you otherwise. Just talk to some of the pros who shoot for a living and they will tell you the same thing. That old proverb still holds true, "Beware of he who shoots one gun." Daro Handy is living proof of that fact. He shoots a custom modified Remington 1100 autoloader.

Autoloader guns with a shell catcher works fine with single shot targets but will eject the second hull at other shooters during double trap events. This annoys shooters on the squad and if you reload shells you'll have to perform the Easter Egg hunt when finished shooting to retrieve shells and do so quickly so as to beat the dreaded hull thief. At competition shoots you lose the hull. Rules are you can't retrieve them. The autoloader is inherently unsafe to a degree relative to the O&U as it can be a bit more difficult to see if the gun is in fact unloaded when carried. The O&U breaks wide open and there is no chance the gun could accidentally fire.

The over & under trap gun is a fantastic machine and you should give great consideration here to buy one. You can shoot all the games with one gun, as you can with the autoloader, but there are more benefits to the O&U. There is less maintenance due to no moving parts subjected to the pounding forces of recoil (no gas shuttle as in the autoloader and no jamming) You can even take the gun to the sporting clays events and kick-butt with it… many accomplished sporting clays shooters are using trap specified guns now! If a firing pin fails you can continue shooting singles or handicap with the alternative barrel… two guns in one! They will most certainly break the targets just as hard and fast as a dedicated single-barrel gun. The gun's weight is the same and in some cases less. Recoil is often less due to the mass of the gun and the bore on the bottom barrel is lower. The two shots are fired extremely rapidly as no shuttling time is required which makes it ideal for double-trap, Olympic, wobble or sporting clays, etc., etc. This gun does it all. Maintenance is simply swabbing out the barrel and apply trigger grease once year and that's just about it. Another factor of importance is most all O&U today come with removable chokes so you can customize the shot pattern spread for the game you wish to play. The autoloader can also come with adjustable chokes, but most dedicated single barrel trap guns do not (usually a custom order).

The O&U gun, especially with a high rib and ventilated barrels, greatly reduces heat wave distortions so you can see the target better. You normally shoot the lower barrel on a O&U on handicap targets so the upper barrel acts as a heat sink. Also, the lower barrel is often configured to shoot higher than the top barrel… which makes it ideal for shooting handicap and double-trap. If targets are flying low you can shoot the top flatter shooting barrel to help compensate. If targets are flying high you can use the bottom barrel to raise the point of impact a smidgen and it's all done automatically simply by tossing the selector switch. A bit more flexibility here can come in handy when facing weather related and target setting variations.
Bottom Line On The First Trap Gun To Buy

Take your pick between the autoloader or the O&U. That's the best overall option for the general shooter. This recommendation also considers $ Costs $. Certainly, if money is not an option to you… you can afford to do anything you want buying as many guns as you desire. The O&U and dedicated single-barrel trap gun can have recoil reduced by installing a compression butt-mounted shock absorber device. They work so good you can shoot all day long and never feel any discomfort!
A Word

This recommendation is not to say it is a grave mistake or error to purchase a dedicated single-barrel trap gun. We are recognizing the fact only of economy, practicality and efficiency. You can learn to shoot two-guns. Keep in mind for each new (or used) gun you slide upon your shoulder you will have to fire at minimum 5,000 rounds just to get aquatinted with the gun. It will require 10,000 to become engaged and 15,000 to be married to that gun. The learning curve is intense to shoot a new gun, so be forewarned. Many shooters can't shoot well because they keep changing guns… looking for that magic machine that will take them to the top ranks. It's skill, not the gun to get that job done! Also, by the time you reach these numbers you'll have shot out the gun for it's first round of general maintenance parts replacements so it's important to consider the gun that will last the longest of all. Which brings us back to the O&U again as a good choice gun.

Now some to many shooters stateside will argue with this, but the British / European boys are going to agree that the O&U is the most versatile, reliable and most heavily used guns in that part of the world (which is larger than this stateside part of the planet), and these boys and girls shoot much tougher games than we do over here… and they get the job done with remarkable precision. It's only a matter of time we too will see the light, and it's already happening. More and more shooters are converting to the O&U to shoot American trap… and winning! How slow we are to change, but change will be.

There is a percentage of shooters, (many who just shoot for the money) who only shoot the handicap events and nothing more. In this case… it is highly recommended to purchase the single-barrel trap gun. Autoloader or O&U. Though the O&U can still do the job, the extra barrel and weight is not necessary and the expensive dedicated single-barrel guns can be purchased in a wide array of price ranges.

So, when you really look at the situation, with all things considered, the O&U gun is still the best all-around trap shotgun one can buy for it plays all the games, gets the job done, is highly reliable, requires low maintenance, and most of all… you only need to learn to own and shoot one gun.
Who's Shooting What?

The most popular gun manufactures at this time, particularly in the USA; Browning Citori, Perazzi MX, Remington 90-T, Beretta, Ljutic, Cole Arms, Golden Seitz. In Europe the Browning and Beretta take the lead with Perazzi.

The most popular manufacturers for USA & European shooters — among the beginner shooters (and accomplished shooters) looking for the most features at the lowest cost is Browning. Among the pros the Berretta and Perazzi, and other guns.

Keep in mind that when buying the expensive guns (technically all trap shotguns should be included) these machines are not designed to be purchased off the shelf, but custom ordered to fit with the features desired such as; POI adjustment, length of pull, high/low or adjustable rib, back-bored, lengthened forcing cone(s), trigger pull setting with release or pull trigger, etc., etc.

-- Sun Jul 11, 2010 18:26 --

Another good link.
http://www.tipsforshooting.com/trap/spe ... st_tra.php

A very informative,article.Thanks for sharing.

pleasure is mine, knowledge is meant to be shared.

Another, I liked this one better as it tells the finer point about the gun fitting and things to watch out on stock.
So i am pasting the gun fitting section. complete can be read from the site itself.
http://www.skylinegunclub.org/shotgun_buy.html
Gun Fit

You should be aware that, as a novice to beginning level shooter, your shooting style and gun mount skills (if shooting sporting clays or hunting) are still developing (changing), and both affect how a shotgun should fit and feel to be optimum for you. If your interest is in a shotgun for either trapshooting or American Skeet - both shot with a pre-mounted gun - it is easier to get a proper fit for the less experienced shooter. For sporting clays, international skeet, or hunting, the gun fit is connected to how you mount the gun from the ready position as you are moving to take a shot. The gun mount is a developed skill, just like a golf swing, tennis stroke, or any other physical skill required to play a sport or game. With this in mind, it is often the case that a gun that fits well this year may not shoot just where you are looking next year, and may need a stock adjustment of some sort to bring the fit back to proper eye-to-barrel alignment. However, it is usually possible to get a pretty good fit the first time by observing a few guidelines. Also, many of the current autoloading shotguns that many shooters start with have stocks that can be adjusted by simply loosening a bolt and changing a shim plate. If you are considering a double- barrel gun, many target models are available with an adjustable comb, so that some aspects of fit can be adjusted without permanent modifications.

Stock "fit" involves a number of different dimensions and angles, but they all combine, when the fit is right, to put your dominant (shooting) eye in alignment with the barrel rib automatically when the gun is raised to the face during the gun mount.

Notice I said "raised to the face." During a proper gun mount, the head stays almost stationary with the comb of the stock brought up to the face, and then slid back slightly to settle the butt into the shoulder. The most common error of the novice shotgunner is to mount the gun by jamming the butt against the shoulder, and then flopping the head down to get the cheek to contact the comb. Toward that end, the first thing to do when checking the fit of a shotgun is to assume a comfortable shooting posture, CLOSE YOUR EYES, mount the gun UP TO THE FACE (not into the shoulder) without moving the head or neck, and then let the butt slide back into the shoulder pocket. Then, without moving your head on the comb, open your eyes and see how the alignment of your "shooting" eye is with the rib.

In all cases, the eye should be nearly perfectly centered (left to right) over the top of the barrel, and the view should be right down the center of the rib. This left/right alignment is partly affected by your shooting posture, the width of your face, the spacing of your eyes, and also how you bring the gun to the face during the mount. This left/right alignment aspect of "the fit" is affected both by the shape of the top of the comb (broad and rounded to narrow and almost pointed), and the amount of "cast" (that is a subtle bend in the stock that puts the center of the top of the stock on offset and slightly angled from the line right down the center of the barrel). For the beginning shotgunner, just so your eye is about over the center of the barrel, that will be good enough.

The other direction of fit is up and down, or how high your eye is above the rib. In general, a good starting point is to have at least a little bit of rib visible to your shooting eye. If the gun happens to have two beads (many target models), a small one in the middle of the barrel, and the main larger one at the muzzle, these should appear somewhere between mostly overlapping, to touching to form a "figure 8" shape. If there is no mid-bead (mostly hunting guns), then look for about the same amount of rib visible as the height of the main bead.

If there is a mirror available, another good way to check the fit is to do the "eyes closed" mount straight at the mirror. Then, open your eyes and you will see your own eye from the muzzle end of the barrel. The pupil of your eye (the center black spot) should be directly above the front bead (not off to one side at all). The pupil should appear somewhere between partly behind the front bead, up to some amount of the iris (the colored part of your eye) showing between the pupil and the top of the bead. If the center of the pupil is within about 1/8" of the top of the front bead, the fit is plenty close enough for the beginning shooter. As experience and shooting style develop, you may find that small adjustments to fit will help you hit a few more targets consistently - mostly those that are quite far away, say over 35 yards. Beginning shooters should be focused on developing visual skills and shooting technique to consistently hit targets closer than 30 yds anyway, so the fine tuned fit is less important to them.

Many buyers are very concerned with the stock length, and immediately bend their elbow, stick the butt of the stock in the crook, and check to see that their finger will curl over the trigger. This is a start to see if the length is in the ballpark, but is by no means definitive. Most beginning shooters have a tendency to want to have the stock a bit shorter than optimum (for various reasons). A good guide to length fit is to do the "eyes closed" mount, and then check to see how far your nose tip is from the back of your thumb where it comes over the top of the stock. About "3 fingers" is a good place to start, that is, if you can fit 3 fingers between you nose and your thumb, the overall length is probably pretty good. Less than 2 finger-widths and the stock will probably be too short. More than about 4 finger-widths will probably be difficult to mount and feel awkward. Guns for trapshooting often are fit with a length of about 4 finger-widths, while some American Skeet shooters like a stock a little shorter, about 2 finger-widths. Remember, these are guidelines and each shooter may find shorter or longer better for themselves. If you are to have the fit not quite right, a stock that is a bit too long is more forgiving, easier to compensate for with gun mount, and can always be shortened later if necessary. A stock that is too short tends to impart more felt recoil to the face, make the shooter develop bad gun mount habits to compensate, and requires spacers or very thick recoil pads to add length (unattractive appearance). If resale of the gun is a concern, if the stock is left at nearly standard factory length, it is usually easier to sell and will bring a higher price.

Now, about "feel" or handling characteristics. First, there is overall gun weight. Second, there is the balance, or where the center of gravity or balance point is along the length of the gun. Finally, there is the issue of where the weight is distributed in the gun.

Gun Balance: The balance point of the gun is probably the most noticable characteristic when a gun is first picked up. Beginning shooters will do well to select a gun that is "neutral," that is, when the gun is picked up and mounted, each hand is holding about half the weight of the gun. If the gun is muzzle heavy (a lot of weight in the front hand, pretty light in the back hand), the gun will feel awkward to mount, and a smooth, even, controlled gun mount will be more difficult to achieve. A gun that is muzzle-light may feel very lively and easy to point in the store (particulary shorter-barreled hunting side-by-side double barrels), but will likely prove difficult to point to the target easily, since the front hand only needs so little force to accelerate the barrel. Also, the back hand has more influence on where the gun ends up pointing, so the beginner, without a very consistent and practiced gun mount, will have problems getting a muzzle-light gun pointing to where they are looking.

Gun Weight: In general, hunting guns tend to be lighter, so they are more comfortable to carry a long time (and only shoot a little), while target shotguns tend to be heavier (more comfortable to shoot a lot, but not carried around all day long). Target shotguns (12 ga.) will usually be around 8 to 8½ lbs. Some sporting clays guns are a little lighter, while some guns set up specifically for American skeet will tip the scales at over 10 lbs. Unless you are very small in stature or very slight in build, adults (men or women) can typically shoot an 8½ lb. gun just fine, assuming a proper gun fit. Young shooters, less than about 100 lbs body weight, will probably need a "youth model" gun that is a little lighter, probably with a shorter stock, and maybe in 20 ga. or 28 ga.

Hugely informative article, thanks Sa_ali.

If gurus like you start thanking, then .
This is very small compared to what you all are doing. I am just copy pasting but you ppl churn out the original.
Thanks for the appreciation.

sa_ali wrote:If gurus like you start thanking, then .
This is very small compared to what you all are doing. I am just copy pasting but you ppl churn out the original.
Thanks for the appreciation.

Oh ho a very diplomatic Sa_ali . But your efforts deserve an applause .