Decent trap gun for $600 or less

[checkmyswag]

My dad is looking for a trap gun and I'm trying to help him out.

I don't know much about shotguns.

What is the best style of gun for trap?

Semi-auto
Pump
Over/Under
Single shot

What is a decent brand/model for $600 or less.

Thanks, he'll be glad to have the advice.

[rc]

You can buy a great $2000 high rib specialized trap gun by Beretta, Browning, Perazzi and a bunch of other makers and go against a kid with a $250 mossberg pump field gun who has been practicing and ......lose This really depends on how competitive your dad wants to be and how much money he want's to spend. A Remington 1100 with full choke and 28-30 inch barrels can serve for hunting and trap. You can get one used for $350 or so and if reliable are a great choice with many aftermarket stocks and parts available. Pumps, autos, over unders all work well for trap. Most useful all around shotgun is a pump or auto 12 guage with full choke. A 20 guage is a wonderful choice for skeet but the trap targets are often farther out and the 12 hits much more consistently. Screw in choke tubes allows you to adjust your gun for skeet and trap. If you want a dual purpose gun for skeet too then get a gun with 26 inch barrels. rc

[bobn]

i recently purchased a lightly used trap gun for 550.(super x one winchester.)... a used rem 870, rem 1100 or winchester trap gun is within your budget.
.....you can always move up if the game intrigues you. for the first day any shotgun will go bang but dont handicapp yourself without the proper equipment. fwiw, bobn

[oletymer]

In addition to the ones already mentioned you can get a Browning BPS trap model for under $700 new.

[oneounceload]

If all he wants to shoot is trap singles, look for a used Browning BT-99 single barrel trap gun. This is NOT the same as buying one the H&R single shots - it is designed and built to go many thousands of rounds without a hiccup and is set up for trap singles. The other guns mentioned can work, but they are typically field guns which weigh less and thus transmit more recoil to the shooter, resulting in fatigue, flinches, and misses over time.

I would suggest he go to the local trap club, explain what he is trying to do and see if he can borrow/rent as many different types of guns as he can to see what will work best for him. If he will be shooting fairly regularly, the price of even a good gun is easily surpassed by the cost of ammo and targets, so it is better to buy quality once, then stuff that will not last as long

[BigJimP]

$ 600 budget ...and a dedicated Trap gun ...is not really going to happen....but a dedicated Trap gun is for a guy that is going to shoot 5,000 targets or more a year or say 4 rounds a week...

If he isn't going to shoot at least 4 rounds of Trap a week ...most any shotgun will work for Trap singles - and he can make that decision when he decides he wants to shoot more and it'll help his game a little.

$600 ....I'd say a good pump gun / like a Browning BPS ...--- or maybe a good used semi-auto ...12ga ....something with at least a 28" barrel if not a 30". A lot of guys start shooting Trap singles with a pump gun ...I did it for at least 10 yrs ...before I went to a "dedicated Trap gun".

One of the best dedicated Trap guns - in my opinion is a Browning XT Trap, 12ga, adj comb, and in 32" barrels. Its a good dedicated trap gun ...you can shoot Trap singles, doubles or Continental with it ....vs a BT-99 that is only a single barrel break open gun ( can't shoot Doubles or Continental Trap with a single barrel break open gun). New the XT's are around $ 3,000 ....used ..maybe you'll find a good one for around $2,000...

[zippy13]

$ 600 budget ...and a dedicated Trap gun ...is not really going to happen...

^^Amen.^^
Do you have an idea what kind of "trap" your dad wants shoot? It could be corn field plinking or ATA singles, handicap, or doubles. A gun that's great at 16-yards may be woeful at 27-yards. Take your dad to the local gun T & S club and see what's going on. Hopefully they have rental or borrow guns and a coach.
And, don't be led astray by incompetent comments like:

If you want a dual purpose gun for skeet too then get a gun with 26 inch barrels.

[oneounceload]

If you want a dual purpose gun for skeet too then get a gun with 26 inch barrels

More like 30" MIGHT be a decent compromise, at least on a good O/U

[checkmyswag]

Ill have to get some more details from him. Thanks for the info so far.

[PawPaw]

Rudy Etchen's favorite trap gun was a Remington Model 870. He also shot Ithacas, Parkers, Purdey's and Winchester Model 12s. But, according to the link above, his favorite was a Rem 870.

Rudy Etchen was one of the guys I read a lot about when I was shooting the clay games. A lot of his advise rings true today. He preferred a Monte Carlo comb, a tight pistol grip and a pump shotgun with 30 inch barrels. Go figure. He won just about everything that wasn't nailed down back in the '50s and '60s.

[C0untZer0]

What about the Mossberg 930 Field w/28" barrel ?



BTW... My local gun club instituted a 28" barrel minimum.

[Dave McC]

Rudy Etchen was an infant when he first went to a trapshoot. Later,he won every age class from Sub Junior to Super Veteran.

And he did much of that with an 870.

Back around Y2K when I got serious about shooting clays, I got an 870 TB and went for the gusto. Best straight with that was about 64,IIRC.

Trap, barring doubles, is the only clay games where a pump's no handicap.

Most pumps run a bit light for trap, where shooting 200 shells a day is not uncommon. Judicious weighting will fix that and give one a good trap shotgun for way less than most SBTs,even the BT 99s and 100s.

[zippy13]

Rudy Etchen's favorite trap gun was a Remington Model 870.

True, Rudy was an outstanding Hall of Fame Shooter. He was also a Remington representative. Another old top shot was Herb Parsons, The Showman Shooter or The Wizard With a Winchester -- you can guess who was his sponsor. Either of these gifted individuals could shot very well with anything put in their hands. Just for laughs, contact Remington's custom shop and ask how much more, than the OP's $600, a hand fitted 870 trap gun like Rudy Etchen's will cost (these days, a 870 Classic Trap model has a MSRP of $1,081).

What about the Mossberg 930 Field w/28" barrel ?

It's a budget general purpose auto-loader. Mossberg doesn't make target specific shotguns. If you have a M-930 Field, then by all means, sharpen your skills with clays; but, remember, just because you can shoot trap with a gun doesn't make it a trap gun.

The M-930s have serious ejectors, so if you take one to the trap range remember to get a shell catcher (required by ATA rules and common courtesy). Trap specific guns put the spent shell at your feet, not in your neighbor's face.

[M4BGRINGO]

If he is just getting into Trap as a fun past time and isn't 100% serious about getting into competition on a regular basis, I vote for the Rem 1100 or Rem 870 with 28 to 30 inch barrels. Screw-in chokes are nice, but you can also simply get barrels that are fixed Full, that is what I started with.

I can take my wifes 870 out anytime and break 20+ with no problem. A fellow shooter did 25 with it.

I now shoot with a Browning O/U since I am more into Sporting Clays than Trap. The Browning works great for Trap also.

Get a good recoil pad for the gun, cut the stock down if the addition of the pad makes the LOP too much for him. This is what I did for my wife.

[checkmyswag]

He's looking at getting into it for fun in retirement, not serious competition. He seems to want a pump or single shot. I haven't shot where he will for be shooting for years. I think they just shoot trap, not sporting clays or anything else but it's a nice set up with concrete paths and an automatic thrower and such. Not sure about the distances, but it's over a large stand of prairie grass in a bottomland.

He mentioned a lot of the guys frown on semi-autos as they kick out shells at your neighbors?

I suppose I should ask not only for gun suggestions, but also criteria... such as barrel length, bead vs rib, choke and such.

Thanks for the suggestions, talked with him today and told him about the Browning BPS, will add whatever else you all suggest.

[the rifleer]

You can buy a great $2000 high rib specialized trap gun by Beretta, Browning, Perazzi and a bunch of other makers and go against a kid with a $250 mossberg pump field gun who has been practicing and ......lose

Thats exactly what I did. I showed up the the range with a mossberg 500 and had a guy show and brag about his $8000 custom gun that was fit perfecto to him and I shot the same score he did with a mossberg 500 20 gauge.

[Ricklin]

The Winchester Model 12 ruled the trap field till the early 60's. The only potential handicap is doubles.
There are a lot of these Model 12's around, many of them are just itching to be back on the trap field.
A little shopping will find a built up Model 12 @ 600 or less. One could do much worse.

[BigJimP]

A used Browning BT-99 34" or used Browning XT Trap in 32" ....yes mid bead, yes on adj comb....is your best buy in a dedicated Trap gun. Browning BPS Trap model - even in 30" is too light for a dedicated Trap gun - but it is priced right. But rather than the Trap model --- if he wants a BPS - the BPS Hunter model in a 28" in a 12ga is a better buy - and while its a "field" stock ...its ok to learn on Trap with - and its a gun he'll have for a long time ( I still have mine, I bought in the the late 1970's - both in 12ga and 20ga --even though I rarely shoot them anymore).

I keep hearing about these guys that show up with their pump guns and beat guys shooting $5,000 guns ...and while I will be the first to congratulate a guy, regardless of what gun he shoots ...if he can shoot in the mid 90's out of 100 ....I have rarely seen it happen. But if you can't shoot in the mid 90's as an average ( at least a 92 or better ) ---then bragging about your scores ...is better left for the watercooler ...not on a shotgun forum - in my opinion.

If you dad goes with a semi-auto --- he can install a shell catcher / so the spent hull does not smack the guy next to him.

[M4BGRINGO]

When I use my Rem 1100 (semi auto) I have a little clip that I put on the ejection port that stops shells from hitting the person to my right. My wife LOVED it when I put that $15 piece of metal on there.

It does make loading a little strange, have to do a k-turn with the shell while loading, but it is very easy to do.

I never saw Trap take two shots at a time, but there are a lot of different shotgun sports out there. Skeet is designed for two shots, so is Sporting Clays.

[zippy13]

I never saw Trap take two shots at a time

ATA trap doubles is a standard event, but some clubs don't have machines that will toss doubles. In international trap, you get a second shot if you miss with the first.

[BigJimP]

Some clubs might call the game Continental Trap vs International trap ..../ or maybe its a west coast vs east coast thing...not really sure. But in Continental ( the term I'm used to ) ....machines wobbles up and down as well as cycle from right to left....and its a little smaller bird ...than conventional Trap singles from the 16 yd line ...and speed is quite a bit faster than a typical Trap single bird.

And I'm not trying to correct my friend zippy ...vs just saying, in my area of the US, we refer to that game as Continental Trap ...and I'm not a big Trap shooter ...but to my knowledge, they are the same game ...shot from the 17 yd line...where you get one bird ...but you can load 2 shells.../ and like zippy said, its a dead bird whether its killed with the first or 2nd shell.

I find standard Trap singles ...or Doubles ...pretty boring .../ if I'm going to shoot Trap, I'd much rather shoot Continental Trap - but shooting it with a pump gun, would be a distinct dis-advantage vs an O/U or Semi-Auto.

[oneounceload]

Bunker, aka International trap has 15 machines, 3 per station set to a specific trajectory to make sure everyone gets the exact same targets from each station - the chore becomes trying to remember which one you had at each station as you only shoot one target before changing - which is why a bunker squad is 6 folks, one standing behind station one to keep the squad moving, and yes you do take two shots at the targets as they are moving 50% faster and further than standard American trap targets

[zippy13]

Jim, my friend, I was talking about International aka Bunker aka Olympic Trap. It requires a bunker/trench with 15 trap machines. They are expensive to build and fairly rare in the US. Sometimes wobble traps are used as an alternative.

[checkmyswag]

Sounds like I need to find out if he only plans on shooting single birds.

He mentioned/really likes single shots, but then would be limited if he shot doubles or sporting clays/skeet.

[Viper225]

The wife and I got into shooting trap a few years ago. I bought us both an 870 TB on Gunbroker at a very reasonable cost. Most shooters at the range seem to prefer semiautomatics and over unders. The 870 will still stay up with any of them. For whatever reason my old fixed choke 870TB seems to have more range than the more modern screw in choke guns. Shooting an Aunty Oaklie I can break birds almost in the grass.

I also like the way the 870 TB functions. Drop a shell in the open chamber, and shut the slide when ready to shoot. After firing jack the shell out in your hand and put it in your shell bag.

The wifes is a 28" with a Montecarlo butt stock. Mine is a 30" with a field butt stock. I have no desire for anything else, the 870 works fine for me.

Bob