Stoeger Coach for clays?

[headbangerJD]

I am interested in purchasing a Stoeger Coach gun (20in barrel). One of the uses will be for shooting clays, but the salesman told me that the short barrel and choke made the pattern expand to quickly to be used for shooting clays. Is this true?
Can I change the choke to fix this?

Thanks

[5RWill]

While i have no experience with short barreled shotguns such as coach or sawed off i would imagine so, not saying it's impossible but they do expand extremely quick.

[Dave McC]

Not ideal, but not dangerous. Go shoot Skeet......

[headbangerJD]

Better for clays...

Stoeger Uplander (26in barrel) or Baikal (20in barrel) both w/ screw in chokes?

[Rampant_Colt]

JD - are you shooting informally with a friend hand-throwing the clays, or are you going to an actual gun club with 25yd stations and houses & stuff?

[headbangerJD]

I'm shooting informally. I've always wanted a SxS coach gun, but just recently got into (informally) shooting clays and would like to be able to use the SxS for that purpose. I looked at a Stoeger Coach gun today w/ a 20in barrel and the short barrel was both a pro and a con. Pro: the gun handled well and felt good. Con: the short barrel made it harder to naturally find point of aim and the salesmen said the fixed choke would make it a horrible clay gun.

[Rampant_Colt]

I use my 18-1/2" Baikal 'Bounty Hunter 2' to bust hand-tossed clays quite frequently

[Jo6pak]

I've done some informal clay shooting with a coach gun. It's great fun, but you need to get on them fast before they get too far out.

[noyes]

But it comes with 1 barrel Fixed IC & 1 barrel M . Now check out what other fixed choke clay guns come with.

p.s.

Shot size selection will get you where you want to be.
Supreme model comes with screw in chokes.

[headbangerJD]

can you be more specific?

I think I'll get the Stoeger Uplander model. Its got 26in barrels w/ screw in chokes.

[10-96]

The Stoeger Coach Supreme comes with screw-out chokes... and for the life of me- I can't remember which ones they inter-change with, but it's a pretty common make. I know my Win-Chokes will screw in- but not knowing if they're s'posed to be there keeps me from firing it with them in there. There just may be higher sciences and mysteries at work here, and I don't want to screw anything up by tempting fate.

[rtpzwms]

headbangerJD Every once in a while I get the urge to take my lever action 20 inch 12 gauge shotgun out to the trap range. This is a formal shoot... everyone including me laugh about it and I normally don't shoot more than a game or two with it. But among the giant 30 and 32 inch barrels my little shotgun seems so very small. The guys there will normally start betting how many clays I can hit with it. Since I shoot there a lot most of the guys know what I shoot normally. I can't tell you that you'll hit much but like me you might get a good laugh with it and its a lot of fun to shoot!

[zippy13]

Ballistically you won't notice much difference with 20-inch barrels. What you will notice is a big difference in balance and blast. Enough so that some clubs restrict short barrel guns and 20-inchers are usually right on the boarder line. Dave Mc was correct about trying Skeet. They'll just move away from you if they find your gun too loud. On the other hand, trap and 5-stand shooters don't have that option and might get a little ornery if your blasts are bothersome.

[darkgael]

"Clays". I am reading that as informal hand or machine thrown clays. I use a 26" SXS some of the time in my recently acquired trap shooting addiction. If I get to them quickly, then they break. I manage 22/25 - nothing better than that yet. I have FC tubes in both barrels but shoot the right barrel more often than the left.
What I have found is that the shorter barrels of my gun are "whippier" and thus less smooth than any of the longer barreled guns that I have been able to try. The 20" gun would/will be substantially more "whippy" than mine.
Shooting informally, I suspect that the chokes that come with the gun will work OK. If you find that you are shooting at longer distances, you will want to tighten the chokes a bit.

the short barrel and choke made the pattern expand to quickly to be used for shooting clays. Is this true?

Not exactly, no. Theoretically, patterns from a particular choke expand at the same rate regardless of other factors such as barrel length and gauge. In practice, you should pattern your shotgun so as to see what kind of patterns it produces at the distances that you are most likely to shoot. A pattern from your 20" barrel IC should not be very different than a pattern from my 26" IC. But is that the best choke choice for what we will be shooting? An IC choke might open too fast for formal trap shooting but be OK for Skeet (as I understand things).

Pete

[oneounceload]

that the short barrel and choke made the pattern expand to quickly to be used for shooting clays

The choke, not the barrel length, determines the pattern. IC/M from 20 or 30 inch barrels SHOULD pattern the same. The short barrel will be a hindrance with swing dynamics as it is real easy to stop the swing on a gun with short barrels, but it can be done.

[Charles Ellis]

Stoeger Coach and Uplander guns with interchangable tubes use WINCHESTER threads and are safe to use with Winchester choke tubes.The length of the barrel will not affect the patterning of the shot.20in,26in,or even 32in barrels will pattern the same with chokes of the same constriction.Barrel length affects the looks(entirely up to the person looking),balance and handling qualities of the gun.Long barrels tend to be easier to keep a consistant swing with because of the weight and inerita that they impart.Shorter barrels are much easier to carry around in the field but are somewhat more difficult to shoot with consisentancy.I find 26 inch barrels to be a good compromise.I do O.K. with them,both in the field and on the skeet range and interchangeable choke tubes make for a more versitle gun.Buy the one that you like and enjoy.

[danez71]

Not meaning to high jack the thread......

Which is more "reliable"... the single trigger or double trigger system?

[headbangerJD]

Thanks for all the info everybody. Here's a pic of what I ordered. It is the Stoeger Uplander w/ 26in barrels and screw-in chokes.

[darkgael]

That'll work. Enjoy.

Pete

[zippy13]

darkgael,
Pete, my friend, now that your getting serious about your trap it's really time to change. There's a reason folks shoot long SS or O/U guns for trap. As you've now learned, SxS guns obstruct your view of the raising target and have a short sighting radius. Your scores will soar with a trap specific gun. I know there were questions about the old Ithaca you were pondering, anything else on your horizon?

[darkgael]

Zippy: I am lusting after the guns that I see on the Trap line every Wednesday. P-guns, Kreighoffs, Ljutic, etc.
They are beyond me now financially. Even the nicer O/Us in the Browning family are gonna require a bit of savings.
That's why I'm using my field guns. I have spent a few dollars for a used Mossberg Country Squire 12 ga, FC, rib, 30" barrel. It was Very affordable and doesn't interfere with saving for a better gun. I'm hoping the the longer barrel and the rib will have a positive effect and take me to a 25 for the first time. Hopefully the gun will hold up.
I lengthened the stock a bit so that it fit me better (I've 15"+ LOP in shortsleeves).
I am having the most trouble with the acute left handers from stations one and two. Everything else I can hit regularly but those are giving me fits. (I'm right handed. Shoot with both eyes open). I'll shoot 14 or 15 on stations 3-4-5. But shoot 5-6-7 on the first two. I'm either stopping the gun or shooting behind the target for some other reason.
Pete

[zippy13]

I'm either stopping the gun or shooting behind the target for some other reason.
Pete

What often happens, a shooter will lift his head a little to get a better look at the lefties -- you may be seeing the correct lead, but you'll shoot right over the top. At posts 1 and 2 try to be extra diligent with the lefties -- keep your face on the stock and following through -- keep the gun moving until long after you see the target break.
If you're having trouble getting on the hard lefts, you might consider shifting your hold point a little to the left at posts 1 and 2. Hold high but not so high that a lefty can sneak under your barrel.

[oneounceload]

You might also want to change your stance just a bit so it is more facing to the left. This will make the shots mostly straight aways - even the hard left ones.

Good luck, and when you get tired of trap, there's always 5-stand, sporting and FITASC to humble a person..........

[Dead]

I used a 20" coach gun for trap before. Fun Fun!

[darkgael]

a shooter will lift his head a little to get a better look at the lefties

That may well be it. I can see now that the SXS - as much as I love'em - was maybe getting in the way of the target as it came out of the house. I felt - feel - as if I'm always playing catch-up. And that little gun is so easy to stop. I know that I need to follow through more plus what ever else.
One fellow was watching me shoot the 26" gun and said "you gotta get to them quicker with that gun." I wasn't. Always behind or something...maybe over like you say.

Oneounce: I have tried Sporting Clays with a SXS. That was great fun. Too bad there's no facility close by; if there were, I'd shoot it more. Same for skeet.
Pete