Some trap shooting advice (bringing my fiancee into the fold)

[thunderchicken]

Ok thanks -- that was what made sense to me physics wise, but just wanted to make sure. She was definetly shooting with an undersized fun yesterday but given her prior surgeries the instructor wanted the lightest recoil available and that one apparently is softer by a good margin than the rest they have.

She was talking about getting a gun on the way home, and fit is gunna be the most most important -- and she's got some opinions there, ("longer buttstock, 'bigger' buttstock (comb)") but I'd prefer she get something in 12 for all the obvious reasons.

If her prior shoulder surgeries are still a concern she might want to look at the Beretta semi autos with their Kick off recoil reduction system. When it comes to semi auto shotguns it seems hard to beat a Beretta. I would also recommend having her look at some Fabarm Siren models since they are designed with women in mind (stock pitch cut to fit a womans figure better) and some have a more elegant girly look to them and are of good quality.
But don't feel like a semi auto is the only option. With low recoil shells (7/8oz or 1oz) just about anything is an option so long as it fits. A good place just to scroll and look online is Indiana Gun Club's website. Many more options than most gun or outdoor stores

 

[thunderchicken]

I forgot to mention, if she decides on a semi auto buy a shell catcher. Some trap shooters you may end up shooting with have crazy money wrapped up in their guns and get ticked over flying hulls that could hit them or their guns.
Over/unders are probably the most common for any clay game where 2 shots will be involved such as sporting clays. For an O/U about the best bang for the buck are the Browning CX or CXS line. My daughter shoots a cxs and she is 5'1" @ 120ish lbs. 3 or 4 boxes of shells isn't a problem for her. Good luck on the gun shopping enjoy it

 

[larcat]

Wanted to say thanks to thunder chicken, whip_mccord and gregkl again.

Went shooting again today, the two of us -- she rented a 12g 391 this time and ran three boxes of 7/8ths. She was wanting to do another round but we weren't gunna be able to slip a Blythe's trip in if we stayed longer.

I'm considering this a success

 

[gregkl]

Wanted to say thanks to thunder chicken, whip_mccord and gregkl again.

Went shooting again today, the two of us -- she rented a 12g 391 this time and ran three boxes of 7/8ths. She was wanting to do another round but we weren't gunna be able to slip a Blythe's trip in if we stayed longer.

I'm considering this a success

Excellent. This thread is making me miss shotgunning!

 

[thunderchicken]

Wanted to say thanks to thunder chicken, whip_mccord and gregkl again.

Went shooting again today, the two of us -- she rented a 12g 391 this time and ran three boxes of 7/8ths. She was wanting to do another round but we weren't gunna be able to slip a Blythe's trip in if we stayed longer.

I'm considering this a success

That's awesome man! I wish I could have gotten out this afternoon, the weather is fantastic.

Glad to be of help and glad you have broken the ice in sharing the sport

 

[Whip_McCord]

Wanted to say thanks to thunder chicken, whip_mccord and gregkl again.

Went shooting again today, the two of us -- she rented a 12g 391 this time and ran three boxes of 7/8ths. She was wanting to do another round but we weren't gunna be able to slip a Blythe's trip in if we stayed longer.

I'm considering this a success

Great! Glad you are both enjoying shotgun games. I have been wanting to get out and do some skeet, but I tore some muscles in my arm at the elbow recently. Still trying to determine the extent with my Dr. So far I've just been doing a little long range rimfire bench shooting (out to 200 meters) at my club near Knox. Hope you both keep enjoying shooting.

Since you mentioned Blythe's, I run their pistol league in Valpo. It usually runs from Sept thru May on Tuesday nights, but we are trying to figure out what to do about the plague. We usually have a pretty big crowd, so we are talking about limiting the number in the range as we shoot. Many of our shooters are wanting to get back into the range, but some are a little reluctant to get out around groups of people. Might not be the best time to seek out new shooters, but if you two are interested in getting some pistol practice, you may want to check out the league. Newer shooters seem to improve a lot and experienced shooters have some great shooters to challenge and up their game. If interested, PM me and I'll send you some info.

 

[larcat]

We don't own any pistols right now. I'm shopping a little for a mk2 of mk4 but shotguns are the priority right now

When I do eventually pick one up, I'll come check it out.

Great! Glad you are both enjoying shotgun games. I have been wanting to get out and do some skeet, but I tore some muscles in my arm at the elbow recently. Still trying to determine the extent with my Dr. So far I've just been doing a little long range rimfire bench shooting (out to 200 meters) at my club near Knox. Hope you both keep enjoying shooting.

Since you mentioned Blythe's, I run their pistol league in Valpo. It usually runs from Sept thru May on Tuesday nights, but we are trying to figure out what to do about the plague. We usually have a pretty big crowd, so we are talking about limiting the number in the range as we shoot. Many of our shooters are wanting to get back into the range, but some are a little reluctant to get out around groups of people. Might not be the best time to seek out new shooters, but if you two are interested in getting some pistol practice, you may want to check out the league. Newer shooters seem to improve a lot and experienced shooters have some great shooters to challenge and up their game. If interested, PM me and I'll send you some info.

 

[Whip_McCord]

We don't own any pistols right now. I'm shopping a little for a mk2 of mk4 but shotguns are the priority right now

When I do eventually pick one up, I'll come check it out.

Sorry, when I saw Blythe's mentioned I assumed it was to use the range since that's mainly why I go there. Nothing wrong concentrating on shotguns. My two buddies that shot skeet & trap with me moved recently, so I am missing shotgun shooting. My messed up arm doesn't help either.

If you ever want to try out some MkII pistols (I have 5) or a MkIV (Black Mamba) let me know. I could meet you at Blythe's and let you try them out. They are fun pistols to shoot.

 

[larcat]

Appreciate that! Will take you up on it. The black mamba is the volquartsen tricked out one, yeah?

Sorry, when I saw Blythe's mentioned I assumed it was to use the range since that's mainly why I go there. Nothing wrong concentrating on shotguns. My two buddies that shot skeet & trap with me moved recently, so I am missing shotgun shooting. My messed up arm doesn't help either.

If you ever want to try out some MkII pistols (I have 5) or a MkIV (Black Mamba) let me know. I could meet you at Blythe's and let you try them out. They are fun pistols to shoot.

 

[larcat]

Anyone have input on the Beretta kick off system?

She's shopping pretty hard now, looking at 391s, 300 sporting's and 400s.

She's shot 2 391s and had a regular 300 and a 300 sporting in hand. Likes the stock and fit of the sporting much better than the regular 300 so the 300 sporting is sort of the baseline.

Main thing she's wondering is if the kickoff is worth it or not. She's been shooting 7/8ths and I had her try a couple shells of ~1250 fps (I think it was) 1oz. The 1oz was noticeably more recoil for her, the 7/8ths pretty comfy tho. We're trying to guesstimate if the kick off on a 400 would be sufficient to use a heavier target loads or not. She held a 400 upland as well and liked the feel but that's not a sport so didn't really focus on it too much.

The recoil obsession is because she wants to make sure that a shooting session isn't gunna trigger lymphadema.

Anyways, anyone have experience with and without the kickoff?

 

[Whip_McCord]

Appreciate that! Will take you up on it. The black mamba is the volquartsen tricked out one, yeah?

Yes, the Black Mamba is built on a Ruger MkIV 22/45 frame with Volquartsen parts inside and their barreled action (I got the 6"). A Ruger MkIV is a nice gun, but a buddy had Blythe's order him a Scorpion and I had them order me a Mamba just to be different. It is a nice gun for steel challenge, but so are my other Rugers.

 

[thunderchicken]

Anyone have input on the Beretta kick off system?

She's shopping pretty hard now, looking at 391s, 300 sporting's and 400s.

She's shot 2 391s and had a regular 300 and a 300 sporting in hand. Likes the stock and fit of the sporting much better than the regular 300 so the 300 sporting is sort of the baseline.

Main thing she's wondering is if the kickoff is worth it or not. She's been shooting 7/8ths and I had her try a couple shells of ~1250 fps (I think it was) 1oz. The 1oz was noticeably more recoil for her, the 7/8ths pretty comfy tho. We're trying to guesstimate if the kick off on a 400 would be sufficient to use a heavier target loads or not. She held a 400 upland as well and liked the feel but that's not a sport so didn't really focus on it too much.

The recoil obsession is because she wants to make sure that a shooting session isn't gunna trigger lymphadema.

Anyways, anyone have experience with and without the kickoff?

First let me be clear, I have no firsthand experience with the Kickoff system. Having said that many people seem to like it quite well. From accounts I have seen, many compare it to much more expensive recoil reduction systems. Since recoil is a concern, I would recommend it.