doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Low gun trap?

Trap, IMO, puts a premium on "stable" gun dynamics. That is, high mounted swing effort (high MOI at shoulder). When shooting a gun with much lower swing effort, one must be much more accurate. Trap is, by and large, a long range game, so allowable aiming error is much smaller. Instability is a real problem for shooting game guns at trap. You can do it, but it takes more work than with a trap gun. As noted above, gun fit is usually way less than optimal for trap. My best efforts have involved shooting the game gun by the instinctive method; hard to do if you have developed muscle memory for trap with a trap gun.

DDA

I believe this post came the closest to explaining the OP's difficulty with low gun trap.

The "trap type" presentation is one of the most difficult for many FITASC shooters for the same reason. The computer between the ears is gauging the speed, angle and changing elevation of a "surprise" target and the hands must start from a low position and travel a considerable distance to complete the mount with upward momentum which has to be so tightly controlled that the gun can be fired the instant the muzzle touches the target. To score high requires a pretty flawless mount matched with a good understanding how/why you connect or miss.

You're likely to never be "competitive" at trap with a low gun, since competitive means breaking 98+% no matter what class you're in. That requires 101 perfect mounts as a minimum and then there are still several other ways/reasons to miss 5 targets out of 100. But if you're serious about breaking 80% or more at low gun trap, I suggest you lock the trap at a hard angle you like and practice that target without the element of surprise. When your mount is smooth as silk and your timing is such that you're scoring 90+% kills on that target, change the target to the opposite angle and your results will likely plummet. When your success rate rebounds it's time to free the trap and introduce the element of surprise. You won't be so smooth anymore.

It's removing the variability of the mount that makes pre-mounting so necessary to shooting perfect trap. International skeet is shot low gun, but even international trap is shot with a pre-mounted gun.

ANY clay target shooting is beneficial to wingshooting. And ANY clay shooter who is truly accomplished in any of the diciplines will outshoot, after a short learning curve, any gameshot who does not shoot clays.
Stick with low gun clays if keeps you interested. I can testify that 50 straights in American trap and 20/25 at bunker trap is doable with a 32" SxS from the low gun start.

Reminds me of an afternoon 7-8 yrs ago when I shot a round of low gun trap with Kim Rhodes. Just me and her. Fun round. Kind of a speed shoot as well.

Gun hold has to do with gun speed . If you are a one eyed shooter you have to hold a low gun. If you are a two eyed shooter you can hold a higher gun.

I haven't a problem with trap shooters with their speciality shotguns or the sporting clay shooters with theirs. I just plug along with my hunting shotguns and dismiss their disappointing looks. Heck they don't like any SxS, has to be an O/U. Oh well, to each his own.

I have encountered quite the opposite...many SC shooters approach me and want to know what kind of SxS I'm shooting. When I took my Parker Repro w/CSM .410 barrels out for the first time, I recieved a couple compliments and one guy talked to me for about half an hour. Actually, the Parker Repro in it's .28ga trim got a few compliments as well.

I don't shoot trap but about once in a few years.

A really interesting array of responses here, with many very helpful tips. I find Drew Hause's post very illuminating also, since Fulford ran 421 straight shooting low gun with a Remington 1894 (presumably) sxs. So, it can be done, but like Mike Campbell said, it requires intense focus and discipline, and practice. That said, the only competition I really care about is the competition with myself to master something that is intrinsically [more] difficult. I am a bit of a contrarian, I admit, and I enjoy self imposed limitations on my fun. So, I'll take what I've learned here and plug away at it. I might even enjoy it too.

I grew up in California in the 60s and my late father shot trap with a low gun. He shot a German 16 gauge side by. He would have the gun down at his waist, yell pull, mount the gun, and bust the clay pigeon. Everybody else shot Winchester Model 12s, Remington 870s, and, for those who could afford them, Browning Superposed. These guns were specifically made for trap shooting. His was an upland game gun and his shooting trap with a low gun was a continuation of his bird huting. There weren't too many times he missed. The times he did was because he had the gun to his shoulder when he yelled pull. I was 13 and asked him why he was missing. He told me he was getting stares and comments from the other shooters and he was looking for the gun. I told him he should not worry about the other shooters, but shoot the way he did and break the clay pigeons. As for me, I have the gun mounted to my shoulder when I yell pull. The bottom line is, shoot the way you feel comfortable and don't let some old fart tell you otherwise.

That's what I dislike about trap, there's always someone complaining about how you shoot or better yet, blaming there misses on you. "He let out a fart in the station next me that's why I missed!" They're always so quick to blame someone else when they don't make 25. Y'all can shoot trap all you want, as for me I'll shoot a few rounds of low gun trap just before pheasant season to get limbered up for hunting, if I miss a few so what, only God's perfect.
Steve

I shoot trap with an 1890 LC Smith Damascus hammer gun. I don't do that well as I am a rifleman but I do have fun. At one trap house at my club there is a group of serious trap shooters with the expensive guns. They are having fun. The group of guys that I shoot with are just there to have fun and are not all that serious about it. If someone has a good round we all congratulate him. If he shoots a round where he does not do too well no one makes fun of him. I think that the name of the game at the range is to have fun.
Carl