So yesterday I shot sporting clays with a typical "target" gun, a 30" Browning clays gun. Just shot stupid. I'm not a super great clay shot, but I really like to hit like 80. Well, let's just say it didn't happen.

So today I said the heck with it. Decided to just have fun. I shot my old 20 ga 26" Citori. Ultimate grouse gun, not really a first choice for sporting, DEFINITELY not what the winners shoot.

I broke 87 with that darn thing.!!! Although I think I hit 90 once in the past, but that was at a course that was known for being "light." I consider today my personal best.

Good for you. It's not always the tool as a pool shark can beat you with a mop handle.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Late last year I picked up a Browning 32" 725 in 410. After Covid last October, swinging a gun has been a great effort. With my other 410 I used to average closer to 75-80%. I shot 2 weeks ago and broke 60% (30/50) but I could feel the gun move and swing from my old instincts! I'm not quite back yet, but I'm coming for ya!

My personal best was in a league about 5 Springs ago. I used my wife's Beretta 391 Sporting 20 gauge and hit 45/50. (with factory AA Super Sports) my old personal best was with a 28" 425 20 gauge, 44/50, took 20 years to go up one bird!

Ivan

You have to enjoy those times when for no certain reason, the ammo, shotgun and shooter all get into a "Zone" and the targets look as big as pies,
they seem in slow motion and every thing falls into place.

Even a shot off target, some how breaks the bird.

I can't explain it, it just happens, now and then.

I remember one day, I could not miss with a rented 28 Ga. O/U from the
16 and 24 line, shooting trap with just two boxs of ammo, from the club house.
I think my final score was 47 or 48.

I sometimes think that "I don't care about the scores" can free a shooter up
and he just is loose and just lets it happen and the brain is "Free" to do it's thing
without worry or being scorned if a miss happens.

After a few years of shooting we all know the angles and leads, needed.
I sometimes think we try too hard at breaking that stupid clay bird.

Gota stick with what works!

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No baby we aint

use the gun you shoot best not the best gun you shoot...

I was shooting my Red Label at Clays, but if I tried to keep my head down on the stock, I ended up with a black eye and a very sore jaw. I borrowed a friend's Citori and shot my best ever score. I bought a new Citori just like his, but have never duplicated that score.

I hope to get out soon and keep trying to improve. I don't have the discipline or time to get perfect, just want to be a bit better.

Congratulations on your good score.

I shot competitive Sporting Clays for many years. It's as much a head game as golf. It seems the harder you try not to miss...the more you do.

I was AA State Champion 15 years ago..and my best score at an official NSCA Zone Tournament was a 92/100 which was good enough for 1st AA class.
Nowadays I only shoot to keep my edge and don't get pulled into any serious competition..unless there is some cold beer on the line..

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My Daddy was a pistol..

In 1999 or 2000, I bought a Beretta 390 Golden Sporting 12 Ga. 30". The next day, I took it to the club and shot my first round with it! No pressure, just seeing how a new gun shoots. I hit 41/50! I believe 42 was the best I shot with gun from then on.

I've never been good enough to compete in tournaments! Now I do whatever I have to, to keep from getting sucked in and being consumed about winning! My pulse would rise, my blood pressure would skyrocket. After having a stroke in 2005, I refuse to become that involved.

So, my brother insisted I enter a 150 bird tournament. I entered in the Hunter class (No Prize money, No Trophy, about 20% entry fee) I shot a 28 gauge, my score was 7th from last. But I would make the other shooters hate me on stations that were up close.

I shoot to only have fun, and I have a great time. Some people get mad at that! And that just makes it more fun!

Ivan

Back when I sold quite a fewcompetition shotguns I found that many shooters tried a new gun out and just couldn't seem to miss. Then they would buy...and it was back to normal for them in short order. I called it new gunitis. Trap shooters were really prone to it for some reason. But Knew a pretty good Trap shooter from Md. He could shoot about anything you put in his hands. Perry was just smooth and would help anyone who asked

Shot clays a few times in CO. Used My 11-87 trap with a imp/mod choke. First time out I broke 71/100. Used a borrowed Browning clays once and broke 56/100. Don't remember what model Beretta clays gun I used, but I broke 82/100. Real fun kind of shooting. Just a little too expensive for Me. Went several time, just never became a habit. Up here all I shoot it trap.

Oh I definitely believe in newgunitis. But yesterday was a case of oldfriendgunitis. That particular gun was my very first OU, a college graduation gift from my dad in 1988. It was the hot setup back in the 80s for skeet and grouse, a 26" 20 gauge. Yesterday it proved it can hit long sporting birds, although no sporting clays shooter would ever recommend a 26" gun.

A few other rules in shotgun shooting. Many shooter want to have a relationship with their shotgun. Torally wrong. Just make sure you always mount the gun the same. Don't stack beads etc etc. Don't look down the rib. Always look at the bird. Never the gun. see the bird...crush it. That little ballistic computer tween your ears will do it's magic. I taught shotgunning back east...mainly to women...from the US and Europe. Am I the best shooter out there??? Oh hell no. But I could teach. And many women took to shooting very well. Of course they weren't red blooded males born with a gun in their hands. I always told them...if you just look at the bird only...all of a sudden they would start breaking...just like magic. Almost with all...all of a sudden the birds would start breaking and they would look at me and say...it's just like magic. From that point...you have to remember look at the bird. The women I taught were almost exclusively hunters. Many shot England and Europe at driven birds...South American doves too. I liked shooting live pigeons at money shoots...I just couldn't afford the practice. At the last World Champion Pigeon shoot I went to practice birds were about 5 dollars US each. It is a very expensive sport!

Because the 20 is lighter, you’re probably swinging it faster. Most misses at clay target games are because the shooter shot behind the target. Either they’re stopping the gun movement, aren’t seeing enough lead, or they aren’t swinging the gun fast enough.

I shoot Sporting Clays and Skeet with a target versions of Caesar Guerini in 12 and 20 gauges. I too tend to shoot the 20 a little better.

With the added weight of a 12 Ga. shotgun.........
any type of "Sporting Clays" is not for the lazy shooter.

You do need to see the bird early, mount and shoot and with no hesitation
on the first shot and don't get sloppy on the second shot, either !!

At our Reno club, the SC course was usually set up for a IC-Mod choke for a O/U shotgun
but don't let the bird get too far away on those long shots, with a Mod choke.

One of our old Pro's shot the 16 Trap with a I/C choke !
All bent over, walked with a shuffle, all gray hair but his reactions were like lightning
and most birds were broke 20 yards or less from the house.
I tried to do the same but my brain was not wired fast enough and I would miss a few, tring this style of shooting.

It's all fun, though, hit or loss.

Glad ya mentioned a 26 inch barrel. Used to a 30 inch in my Rem.1100 but maybe a 26-28 will serve double duty for field and Trap. Could try that new Remington Fieldmaster 870 in 12 gauge.

Every shooter has their way of doing things.

For me, it comes down to 75% Head (math) , 23% gun fit (picture) and....
2% from the guy above, watching over you. Some call it luck.

I shot a friends Caesar Guerini. It was a 20 ga with 32 inch bbls. My that gun was pretty. All engraved up...beautiful wood. He wanted to sell it. I shot a round of practice and smoked 'em all. Shot my 12 ga event at the state skeet championships with it. Ran a 100 but lost out in the shoot off taking runner up. I should have bought the gun but I shot a Bavaria Grade K-80 with tubes for the small gauges and the CG just wasn't practical for me. It was a very nice shotgun though. I never became enamored with Sporting Clays. Just wasn't for me. I did shoot a little trap ever now and then!

K-80....... how sweet it is.

I really loved the Beretta Silver Pigeon that I had but during night shootings
with a glove on, I would hit or brush the selector switch and
go to the other barrel or a fired round.

I ended up with an ugly Browning Citori, to do all my trap shooting..........
since the wife would kill me if I came home with a K-80 !!

I never wanted one in my hands for fear of what might happen and
I never tried a release triger in all my years of shooting different shotguns.

One of these days I might even load a 3/4 oz, 12 Ga. load ?
However my 7/8 have no recoil in my 8 pound XT and they smoke the trap and skeet at practice, so far with reclaimed #8's.

3/4 oz loads are amazing. I load 3/4 in everything (12,16,20, & 28) except .410 obviously. Actually I now shoot very little 28 since I'm essentially shooting 28 gauge loads in the bigger guns. I only shoot my 28 gauge Wingmaster when I have a burning desire to shoot that gun. With the price of shot these days, it's nice to see the shot level in the bottle not dropping so fast.

Curiously the K80 never appealed to me. I realize what a superb machine it is, but to me they're ugly, too Germanic. Give me a nice high grade Browning, Beretta, Perazzi etc. any day. Just my opinion

Actually the K-80 isn't really a Germanic gun. It is a remake of essentially the too expensive Remington Model 32. But no matter. I load 3/4 ounce loads but not in the 12 ga. I loaded some for a friends daughter when she was 12. A little instruction and that gal culd shoot. She is of course a bit older now and I gave the load data to her uncle. She still shoots 3/4 ounce... And outshoots her father regularly She still shoots 3/4 ounce even in trap and outshoots a lot of the more experienced trap shooters of the area. Oh...She shoots a K-80 that belonged to my skeet shooting partner who passed away. That gun has probably been shot at least 1/2 million rounds and is still good and tight. But like a good vehicle you have the gun serviced every couple years. As far as the loads...it's not how much shot you put out there...it's where you put it that counts

Edited to add...When I first started to shoot live pigeons I used an ugly gun.. A Browning Broadway trap gun. It wass like shooting a 2x4 with pipes attached. But it worked well because it had tight bores. Then I bought a really nice Franchi Live Pigeon O/U. Has boat oar wood with 30-32 lines to the inch checkering...tight chokes but it handled better than hat Browning. Won enough at a World Pigeon shoot to pay for all the expenses of going to the shoot(in Guadalajara Mexico) and coming home with a 1000 buck profit. LOL... I thought I was at the top of the world...but... was just a small cog in the wheels of pigeon shooting

I loaded some 3/4 oz. loads for my grandson when he was small. I had the stock cut on a 12 ga. M686 Beretta and Briley fixed the inertia trigger so it would fire the second barrel. Very little recoil and he liked that. I shot some at Skeet and they did ok but I prefer 7/8 oz. Larry

I shot some trap with friends, using my old duty shotgun (Vang modified Mossberg 590). 18" barrel, extended tube, ported, with a sling and rifle sights. It was loud and crude, but I knew it pretty well. Did ok for a rank newb. I suspect that shooting a platform with which you are familiar and successful under other circumstances is a big factor.

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NHI, 10-8.