doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com SxS for skeet: What would you want, ideally?

If the "ready for holiday shipping" in the first ad doesn't move this gun, nothing will. Gil

Beware of the man with one gun who has the proper gun [ or shall we say chokes ] for the game he's shooting. With choke tubes you'd have that. All my guns have fixed chokes and they're LM in both barrels. At my ability I don't feel too handicapped shooting skeet, and they're fine for anything out to 35 to 40 yards, like most SC's targets I shoot. If the cost is not too prohibited, a new shooter should be given every advantage to shoot good scores and at skeet that would be SK/SK or even CYL Bore. Same with trap - Mod choke. If you're a newbe, you're not out to impress others with smoke balls, but shoot a decent score and learn something. You can always screw in the full chokes latter and show off. JMHO

Fudd, I'm impressed with your ability to sift through very diverse commentary without getting frustrated. "There are no absolutes" - oh, so true.

I shoot a M-21 26" Skeet model when the objective is a high score; I shoot the occasional 25 with it. And, I shot a respectable 42/50 at this years Fall Southern sportin' clays with it. However, my current fun gun (liking it better with every outting) is a 1946 Woodward boxlock pigeon (a W&S Proprietary finished by JW). It is choked Full left and mod right with 32" sleeved barrels. With 3/4 oz loads, I broke about 65/75 "skeets" this afternoon. One round was with spreaders and had no noticeable improvement in score.
Interestingly, I have been shooting about the same level at 16 yd trap. Historically, I have not shot trap well with a skeet model gun.

Above said, I'd be more worried about stock dimensions than choke. Some transition easily from skeet to trap with the same stock. Others not transition so easily. It would be good to know were you are with stock configuration.

BTW, I am a real fan of the 3/4 oz 12 ga loads and tighter chokes for fun/practice.

DDA

The commentary is diverse, but it�s not perverse. Nobody�s told me that they won Olympic bronze shooting a SPAS-12 off a Harris bipod with 00 buck, and that I should try it.

Regarding stock configuration, all I can tell you is that the coach at the club I visit took a good look at how I hold my Browning, and pronounced it a �pretty good fit.� And... I seem to be able to shoulder it consistently, since I�m never fiddling around making coarse adjustments before calling the pull. I feel very comfortable with it. It�s as-shipped, pistol/beavertail, factory buttplate.

The only other SxS I�ve ever fired was a friend's Baikal, 20-odd years ago. Shot it at hand-thrown Maria Muldaur LPs in a sand pit. Not much of a baseline for comparison.

Shot four rounds of trap today, rather poorly. Was about to roll up and leave when I inexplicably decided to not go home until I�d tried my hand at skeet with the Browning.

There were two skeet fields in operation today. One was being heavily used by a party of four, all old buddies, and I didn�t want to be the newb who messed up their afternoon by having to be told how to shoot every station, so I wandered over to the next pair of towers. There was one guy loitering there, waiting for the trap kid. He asked me if I was going to shoot.

�Yes, skeet?�

He nodded.

I got my ticket out and handed it to the trap kid as she arrived. She looked surprised.

�You�re shooting this?� She knows I'm green as grass, and had only ever pulled American trap for me.

�Yes...?�

�This is Olympic skeet.� At which point, the other shooter came over with his ticket, and I saw he was wearing a Team Canada vest and had what looked like a try-gun over his shoulder. Adjustable in every respect save bore diameter.

I�d already accepted the invitation to shoot alongside. I shrugged. �That�s okay.�

I shot two rounds. It was hilarious.

The speed of the things! I felt like a flak gunner on his first day at work at Ploesti during the Low Raid. My stance and shouldering were all screwed-up, and I admit to having made a few shots without my face glued to the buttstock. Because reaction time. (Broke one very cleanly, that way. Total fluke.)

I didn�t hit very many, and my second round was worse than my first, but the ones I did break broke well. My last shot of my last round, from station 8, has to be the best-centered shot I�ve made with the gun since I started using it in August. It was like a giant puffball had exploded in my face. Nothing but dust.

There is no doubt in my mind that I can hit many more with this arcane farm implement, if I just get some basic coaching on how to hold the gun unshouldered, how to stand, and where to be looking at the pull. So glad I tried it. I had fun. Thank you to everyone who told me it was do-able. I�ll be trying it again.

Olympic skeet is a hoot, you miss a LOT in the beginning and once you're dialed in and start hitting more than a dozen the rush is very satisfying. Seasoned shooters on your squad shouldn't mind if you start from a high or modified low mount till you get the speed down. Using reduced 1 oz. or 7/8 loads should not come till you get the low mount and bird speed mastered.

Gun fit is most important. If an Olympic skeet field is not available practicing American skeet from a low mount with Olympic bird sequence (if your trappers will do that many will not or do not know the sequence) will get you going.

Once you can break in the low 20's or even the high teens in Olympic you're doing a lot of things right.

I really enjoyed my time shooting international

It's too bad you live north of the border. We would be glad to give you instruction in ISU Skeet down here. The International Shooting Center in Pennsylvania would be a good place to investigate.

IMO, I bought the perfect skeet gun from eightborh--a pre war M-37 with a cutts fitted with a spreader tube.