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Skeet shooting I'm HOOKED

Water Monkey

The man, the myth, the monkey
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Went skeet shooting for the first time on Saturday at a range really close to my house. Brought my 930 SPX with the Turkey barrel 24" ported

Did 2 rounds.

First round probably nailed 6 of 25 clays.

Once I figured out what the hell I was doing I went back for round 2

Probably nailed closer to 15 clays.

I'm all in. SOOOO much fun compared to nailing stationary targets at the other range. And much cheaper for 5x the fun.

So here's my problem.... I want a sporting gun now. I've seen the Mossberg Reserve II models. Are there other brands you guys are using that dont make me sleep in the dog house when my soon to be wife realizes what I paid for it?

FWIW I want a reliable really sexy gun for this. All I own are black guns (not that there's anything wrong with that!) But I want this one to be perrrrty and within $1,500 price range.

Help a brother out. Looking to buy near the end of the year I will be saving $100 a paycheck in a piggy bank for this one.
 
Welcome to the club that shoots at flying targets.
The clay games are extremely addictive!
Asking about a good clay gun on a forum tends to get you TONS of answers.
Some answers may be correct for you and some may not be.
I shoot A LOT of clays.
My 1966 Remington 1100 is my go to Trap gun and has won me my division a few times.
When it comes to Skeet or Sporting clays, I have many shotguns that I can choose from.
The SxS's and the O/U's come out of the safe to play every now and then.
I mostly reach for one of my 500 pumps for the other games.
It really gets the O/U snob crowd upset to be beat by a guy with an inexpensive pump gun :lol:
 
I'm going to use my JM 930 but will swap mag caps and springs to cut down on weight. You're right, it is addictive. Shot 5-stand Saturday. I missed the ones I thought I'd hit and hit the tough 2 at a time shots. Go figure...
 
Yeah cant wait to hit the range this weekend.

I think I settled on the Browning Citori White Lightening.

Been looking a the Beretta and Mossberg models all day and I keep coming back to the Brownings. Maybe I can convince the woman to kick in a piece of the cost for our 1 year anniversary next year... Game on gentlemen.
 
Welcome to the world of clays. It's addictive.


I've put many 100's of rounds down range with a Rem 870 Express. After a time I had no problem keeping up with guys shooting much more expensive guns. The double barrels were never really my thing though; I'm more of a utilitarian multitasker. LOL

You'll definitely want to start saving those hulls, if you do this for any length of time you will want to start reloading.
 
Ive never shot skeet, did shoot sporting clays for a few years. My advice is to research till your eyes hurt and you dont know which one you want. Also, if you find yourself in the club house or on the range and in a conversation let it be known your looking for a new gun. You'll get alot of suggestions but more importantly you'll find some guys that will let you shoot theirs. Most of that will come from loyalist who will be tryin to get you on their wagon.

Personaly I shot alot of EAA IZ-27 had 3 of them 12, 20, and 28. I paid roughly $400 for them new but that was several years back. They shot great however the 12ga I did run into a issue, after the gun got good and warmed up sometimes it would fire both barrels with a single squeeze of the trigger. The 20 and 28 never once gave me a issue though. I also owned a Beretta 390, Browning B80, Remington 878 which for $200 was a really good gun never once had a issue out of it and it shot soft and broke birds. Only reason I stopped using it was because it didnt have a vent rib and had a fixed improved cylinder barrel.

The one thing Id tell you to keep in mind (not that Im a expert by any means) when looking at a gun is figuring out its point of impact compaired to where or how you like to lead the target. One reason I used the EAA so much, other than price was the fact they shot straight. The Beretta shot low and the Browning shot high. If you spend all summer using the Mossberg than Id figure out its point of impact and then look for a pretty gun that has the same. That away when you get the new gun you dont have a learning curve on how to lead your targets. Nothing can be more fustrating than having a gun you paid maybe twice as much or more but are not breaking the same numbers you did with you cheaper gun.

Lastly just a suggestion, dont forget to check out the CZ line of doubles and autos. Im looking at a CZ 28ga now and its sticker price is less than $800. Tom Knapp is now using the CZ 712 autoloader. Cant go into length about them but they seem like a nice gun that retails a few $100 cheaper than the big boys.
 
Thanks for the post MT2!

I'll check out CZ as well!

My plan is to save $100 a paycheck till this time next year and get me a real nice shotgun. Hopefully the market will have calmed down by then.

I appreciate everyone's help!
 
A friend of mine shoots a weatherby PA-08 but his is the combo set-up comes with a interchangeble slug barrell with sight mount for around 500.00 dollars from a place that offers online or in-store layaway down the road from me and he does skeet shooting with it and he is very happy with it. I am planning on going to the place in person at the 1st of the month and putting one on layaway. If I am allowed which I do not know I will be more than happy to post a link to it or you can pm me.
 
Thanks I'll take a look at those guns as well.

Like I said I will save up I want something really pretty and can be very versitile if I choose to go hunting field birds. Plus I want something that can be passed down the generations.

My eyes keep focusing on the Browning Lightening IV. Sexy and versitile. I wont be buying until next year so I can save up the scratch by next March. I will be trying the other clay sports too like Trap and 5 Stand.

Gonna be a fun Spring, Summer, Fall this year.

VP told me to get a Shotgun..... lol
 
Water Monkey said:
Thanks I'll take a look at those guns as well.

Like I said I will save up I want something really pretty and can be very versitile if I choose to go hunting field birds. Plus I want something that can be passed down the generations.

My eyes keep focusing on the Browning Lightening IV. Sexy and versitile. I wont be buying until next year so I can save up the scratch by next March. I will be trying the other clay sports too like Trap and 5 Stand.

Gonna be a fun Spring, Summer, Fall this year.

VP told me to get a Shotgun..... lol

Dont forget sporting clays 100 targets, diffrent presentation at each station ranging from 10-12 stations. Teals and rabbits are my favorite crossing targets are fun with you can run the full station of 10 birds on only 5 shots :cool: dont happen that often though
 
shot a round of skeet today. It is fun...harder angles than 5 stand. I can see how it can be addictive...but I'm not giving archery up just yet. But it may take the place of 3 gun till ammo is more available...
 
Nice another skeet fan.

I may solo for a while on skeet. My friends are not fans. Probably because I out shot all of them on my first outing lol.

I'm hitting it this weekend. Scored 100 rounds of bird shot at lunch time
 
,,,,,,did someone mention SKEET,,,,,,



i'll meet you in Yaphank!
 

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I was checking out a local gun range in Garland Tx near pleasant run and the George Bush Turnpike and they had a setup for skeet out there. Well after going inside and talking to them about membership (pretty cheap but the city of Rowlett tx had a court order on them banning .30 cal ammo but all other calibers allow including 7mm :roll: go figuire. But I was in my van fixin to go and I watch this guy popping 4 clays at once :shock: . He stood in the middle between 2 stations with a 12 guage auto and had 2 peeps launch 2 clays at a time and I watch him for about 15mins blasting away not missing at all but blasting solid hits :eek: . When he took a break I got out of my van and walk up to the fence and ask him if he did any quail and dove hunting and he said he did and I mention he must get his bag limit the 1st day and he laugh and said yea.
 
It's contagious! I took the "beginner's course" at a local range today. After the class we shot 25 from the #7 box. They provided low recoil #8 and it was smooth. I'm shooting a Mossberg 500 Combo with the 28" barrel. After class I watched some guys shoot skeet, trap & 5 stand. VERY COOL! So I went back in and paid for 2 rounds. I used Dove & Target loads and they packed quite a bit more wallop. I shot 1 round of trap and 1 of skeet. I think I had my gun too far out on my shoulder as I got pretty bruised up there. The gun performed flawlessly and it was a lot more fun then shooting paper targets in a pistol lane all by yourself.

I have 2 questions- 1) My accuchoke set includes an improved cylinder (which I used today). Is it worth the $18 or so to get a real live "skeet" choke?
2) Is there a better recoil pad (since this gun is pretty light) that I can mount or am I just a hemophiliac puss?
 
IC is good although I just popped for an extended skeet choke. Limbsaver makes a replacement recoil pad for 500's. I put one on both my 500 and my 930. Helps a lot if you're shooting heavy loads or a lot of rounds.
 
I'm using a Mossberg 500 Combo with the 28" & 24" barrels. The gun has a wooden stock and fore stock. What I found was the Limbsaver recoil pad listed for the Mossberg Turkey gun fits perfectly. It is sold at my local Academy Sports! Got one!
 
Got out this morning before heading to the office with some friends. 5 of us with 2 new skeet shooters. Had a blast. Last round I hit 19/25 so I'm feeling like a big man today.

One thing I did was to bring 3 types of ammo to see if my 930 was a hater on. Seems Winchester super sport and Federal target load cycle like champs. It's the Estate White Box Dove & Target load which seems to cause FTE. So that will be used for my pump.

Oddly enough we had one person join our group who was rocking the old Mossberg Reserve. He was really a nice guy and he let me use it the last 10 shots of the third game. Kicked like a mule compared to the 930. I wonder if the Brownings kick like that.

He said he's had it for several years and hasn't had an issue with it despite the problems with the firing pins which his model is known for.

All in all a grea day and I finished up early at the job so I'm going home for my honey do list.
 
,,,,,you lucky dog. i got to close my pool today. :x

you still go to Calverton?
 
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