I have an SX3 and it has been a great gun. It shoots everything from small trap loads to 3.5″ heavy loads. Would not hesitate to buy an SX4, and like you said they are easier on the wallet than a lot of the other autoloaders. It is a gas operated gun so should have less kick for a kid too vs inertia.
I remember about 12 years ago helping get the local school here organized and off the ground with trap league. This sure has come a long ways. Most of our students still only do it in the Spring as it interferes too much with Football being the primary Fall focus.
I bought a Girsan a couple years ago and its a fantastic gun. It is inertia so it does kick more, but they are cheap and will shoot anything up to 3.5 inch. They are built mocking the Benelli M4 I think.
I would suggest that he shoots a few different guns to see what he likes, what fits, and if it shoots well for him. Had more than one go buy a new gun that didn’t work out as planned.
I’ll admit the temptation to try predict which direction the next clay is going is there. But if you are thinking that way on the line, it’s a sure way to never shoot a 25.
On another note, are many shooters reloading nowadays? Or is it not as economical as it once was? I have most of my dads reloading equipment and supplies but haven’t touched it in about 10 years.
I can’t speak to the economics of reloading, but I do know as the treasurer of a local rod and gun club…I write a pretty hefty check to deliver ammunition for kids at almost 0 expense to them. There are ~35-40 kids in our small rural school on the Spring team and they don’t pay much of anything.
I’d be curious to hear if more people/places are doing it though.
Bearcat, the boys and mom got me a new SX4 for my birthday a couple years ago.
I fricken love it!! It fits and shoots great, requires minimum maintenance, has zero problems cycling 2 3/4″ trap loads and makes 3.5″ shells a lot more tolerable versus a pump gun.
I did a lot of asking around and research before picking the SX4. It was highly recommended as the best mid-priced autoloader and I have zero regrets.
I second everything TGF said earlier in this thread, you need to actually pattern the gun, choke and load you are going to use to see what works. You want the pattern centered with the highest number of pellets uniformly distributed in a 30″ circle @ 35 yards. Some like the pattern to be a little high for a dedicated trap gun since you are shooting rising targets but for most people that will be also hunting with their guns a centered pattern is best. The only way to know what your pattern looks like is to shoot a pattern board, there are plenty of YouTube vids showing how. But even before hitting a patterning board the gun needs to fit, most gunsmiths can help with this or again find a video. (The gunsmith @ Joe’s Sporting Goods checks youth shooter’s fit for free) Even with an off the shelf hunting gun there are things (pads,shims,etc) that can be done to correct fit.
I dont think I have ever patterned my gun, but it has always shot excellent. Now that my boys have stolen my trusty Beretta A390 that I bought when I was 18 and they have shot it for HS trap I had to get a new gun. Havent patterned that one either. Probably should, but pretty lazy.
My family and I do a lot of clay shooting (mostly sporting clays) and I reload but its not the money saver it once was. Costs me a little over $6.00 a box to reload using hulls I pick up at the range for free. I mostly do it because its easier to have enough reloading supplies around to weather the next time shells become hard to find than store dozens of cases of shotgun shells. Also keep in mind reloads are not permitted in high school trap.
Dont most schools have someone like a sportsmen’s club that pay for ammo? Our HS also did a steak fry where the kids had to work and that raised money for range fees at Deltone.
HS shooters on my son’s team were responsible for their own shells. I believe most years you could pre-buy and the price was just $50/flat ($5 box) but this was 2019 and before the shells escalated in price. Cost of HS participation was about $150 spring and maybe $50 fall.
All HS activities and sports in our community had a fee including shooting sports. The team had scholarships and money for those that requested assistance.
I think this is one of the best programs out there. My son was a youth shooter but they did not have this program before he graduated. So now he helps coach it.
As for Auto Loaders I personally shoot trap with a Beretta AL391 Same gun as I hunted with. I have no idea how many rounds I have put through that gun with not a problem.
I shot in a sanctioned trap league one year just after high school, back when Hudson Gun Club was St. Croix Valley Rod & Gun Club and won the Class “C” Championship with my only shotgun – a Browning Auto-5. Waterfowl, upland, and target shooting, it did everything very well.
They are a tremendous do-all gun, with a recoil-operated action that forces them to shoot a bit high if they have a ribbed barrel, so they excel at trap shooting. I didn’t learn that until I replaced it with a Benelli SBE and struggled to hit consistently. Once I pattern tested the Benelli, and realized it shot substantially lower, I improved. I switched to skeet shooting and won the BESA (Bald Eagle) skeet championship two years in a row with the Benelli – to the dismay of all the guys with expensive over unders who hated my solid black plastic stocked 3 1/2″ goose gun.
The high-shooting Auto-5’s help a great deal with target visibility. Some Auto-5’s have excellent triggers from the factory also, primarily the 80’s and earlier models. If you check them out, be sure to test the trigger, they are definitely not the best on the Mossberg SA-20’s.
I also recommend learning to shoot with both eyes open. It came naturally to me when shotgun shooting, but most people learn to shoot rifles early on using just the dominant eye, then it’s more difficult to transition to using both eyes.
I have owned thousands of dollars worth of choke tubes over the years, and I now shoot Trulock chokes almost exclusively. From skeet to super long range waterfowl to slugs and even predators, George Trulock makes quality products that are a great value. I recommend Improved Modified for trap – somewhere around .025″ of constriction from the true bore diameter.
Pattern what you have and try to stay with same ammo as that can change dynamics also. I personally use a modified, even at yardage, but it’s a tighter choke.
Yes! The exact point I wanted to make, you HAVE to pattern for 3 reasons.
1. There are tremendous variations in how choke tubes actually shoot. You would NOT believe it, but even within a certain gun brand, I’ve seen IC chokes you’d swear were tighter than modifieds and I’ve seen fixed choke fulls shoot like IM and then another one shot like a super full/turkey choke. It’s all over the board.
You cannot generalize and say just shoot this or never use this. It’s the combination of the load and how the specific gun and choke shoots that matters. My eldest son shot multiple 23’s his first year as a 7th grader using a 20 gauge and improved cylinder.
2. The shooter matters. A shotgun is not a rifle, the combination of face shape, neck length, eye position, etc, etc all matter such that no two shooters shoot the same gun exactly the same. You only know when you pattern, otherwise you’re just guessing where the COP is.
BTW, There is a tremendous benefit to having a trap gun that is tuned (by use of comb, rib, or both) to shoot 80% or more high. Almost every pro coach and top shooter is now saying the current trend is 100% high. The reason is so that the barrel does not cover the target during the swing. Debate this all you want if you haven’t tried it specifically in trap, you have no idea. I was skeptical but I went with it on my personal gun and changing to shooting 80% high changed my life.
3. Kids, I think, benefit greatly from SEEING how the shotgun pattern looks at target range. Most of them have only the fuzziest concept of what a pattern looks like and most of them never knew just how many pellets they have out there. It’s a huge visual and mental help to them to see what is actually going on when that shot load arrives at the target.
This thread is making me want to get back into trap. Have always drooled over one of the browning citori 725 trap max over unders.
I have bad news for you. That gun is, in reality, every bit as awesome as you think it is.
I have shot this gun several times as a demo so it was not set up specifically for me and the only thing I knew about it is that the rep said it “shoots high”. I shot 24-24-23. For reference, I’m just your solid 22.5 average guy in ATA 16.
Any questions?
My kids trap league has a fee through the school but not sure what it is as the school caps fees at $300 for a family per year and we usually hit that before the season starts but I believe it was around $60 per student. Other than the fee there are no additional costs or fund raisers. The program provides all ammo and clays and they shoot at a local sportsman’s club range. This is a great program for the kids and seems to be growing every year.
HS Trap is so fun! The state meet is something to see whether your kid shoots or not. THe amount of boys and girls is just absolutely incredible.
I can’t speak to the economics of reloading, but I do know as the treasurer of a local rod and gun club…I write a pretty hefty check to deliver ammunition for kids at almost 0 expense to them.
There is no ROI to reloading shotgun ammo now. Our gun club has a reloaders community and several guys have shared their spreadsheets on current costs. The cost of components, especially the lead shot is so high that the only guys who now do it are the guys who have always done it and enjoy it just as a hobby and you have to have a supply of free hulls or you lose money. If a person were to have to buy equipment to start reloading, the breakeven point would be decades in the future even if component prices stayed at 2024 levels, which of course they will not. I’ve had 3 of my dad’s friends offer me complete shotshell reloading setups and I’ve turned them down because I just can’t see the point anymore unfortunately.
It’s terrific that your club is buying the ammo for the shooters. Our school trap team gets in on the annual HS clay target league purchase, so we are running right around $9 a box. I have to pay a little more than that for my shooting, I get in on Abel’s free shipping sale every year and get right around $99 a case (10 box cases now) including shipping.
I have bad news for you. That gun is, in reality, every bit as awesome as you think it is.
I have shot this gun several times as a demo so it was not set up specifically for me and the only thing I knew about it is that the rep said it “shoots high”. I shot 24-24-23. For reference, I’m just your solid 22.5 average guy in ATA 16.
Any questions?
I have shot one too as a demo and had a similar experience. It was sporting clays and ended up only missing one clay. I used to average right around 23.1 or 22.9 in trap. Big money though.
Grouse, is there a consensus on foot placement on each station nowadays? I was taught that feet should be roughly shoulder width apart and that an imaginary line across your toes should be roughly perpendicular to the line of the furthest right clay on any given station. (for a right handed shooter, opposite for left) I think there’s some leeway on this based on what feels comfortable. Most importantly, be consistent and once feet are set, don’t move until done with that station.
Grouse, is there a consensus on foot placement on each station nowadays? I was taught that feet should be roughly shoulder width apart and that an imaginary line across your toes should be roughly perpendicular to the line of the furthest right clay on any given station. (for a right handed shooter, opposite for left) I think there’s some leeway on this based on what feels comfortable. Most importantly, be consistent and once feet are set, don’t move until done with that station.
Same thing the kids were told yesterday.
As for rounds the school supplies them all or the sportsman club we shoot at, not sure which one but it’s all included in the cost.
Another member here reached out with a franchi affinity 3.5 for sale so we are going to try to check that out here soon. As bad as a dedicated trap would be sweet, I won’t be buying him one and I know he won’t be buying him one. Maybe down the road, but not right now.
As for lightness and length. I’m in the mind set if he can’t swing his duck gun fast enough for trap league then he shouldn’t ever hunt. That gun used in the woods should be mastered in many applications. Just like shooting my hunting bow in a target league, just pushes one to be the best they can with the equipment they will use in the field.
I havent seen a whole lot of talk about foot placement and I havent asked my kids what their coaches have suggested, but noticed each of them had way different placement and both worked equally well for them. I think it boils down to what they are comfortable with. Obviously you need to make sure you can properly swing for certain shots. My middle son who just graduated he had pretty much an open stance and was their best shooter. The older one shot more closed and did awesome too.
Grouse, is there a consensus on foot placement on each station nowadays? I was taught that feet should be roughly shoulder width apart and that an imaginary line across your toes should be roughly perpendicular to the line of the furthest right clay on any given station. (for a right handed shooter, opposite for left) I think there’s some leeway on this based on what feels comfortable. Most importantly, be consistent and once feet are set, don’t move until done with that station.
That’s pretty much what our coach teaches as well. The kids eventually work into a position that’s comfortable for them, but I think the key is that they first understand how to stand so they don’t run out of range of motion and stop their swing on the hard off-side target angles.
I constantly point out to kids to watch both our top shooters and top shooters from other teams and see how they set their feet and then don’t move them once on the stand. Just one of a long list of consistencies I try to point out in the top guns out there to reinforce this is a game of consistency. One of our top 5 shooters is a young woman and she is an absolute model of consistency. Everything the same, every time, start to finish, right down to the way she drops her spent shell beside the bucket so that all of her hulls are in a little pile. Just rock solid consistency.
Grouse I appreciate all the information you put out there. Definitely helpful. Especially coming from some one who is part of the sport
That gun used in the woods should be mastered in many applications. Just like shooting my hunting bow in a target league, just pushes one to be the best they can with the equipment they will use in the field.
I did a season of sporting clays a handful of years ago purely to get better at wing shooting. Even though I got made fun of, I would not shoulder my gun and yell pull, but have it down in the ready position by my hip so that I could learn the muscle memory of shouldering my gun as I swung to get on target. No idea what they teach kids in trap now adays, but I recall you would already have your gun shouldered prior to the clay flying.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bearcat89 wrote:</div>
That gun used in the woods should be mastered in many applications. Just like shooting my hunting bow in a target league, just pushes one to be the best they can with the equipment they will use in the field.I did a season of sporting clays a handful of years ago purely to get better at wing shooting. Even though I got made fun of, I would not shoulder my gun and yell pull, but have it down in the ready position by my hip so that I could learn the muscle memory of shouldering my gun as I swung to get on target. No idea what they teach kids in trap now adays, but I recall you would already have your gun shouldered prior to the clay flying.
They told him to have it shouldered and then say pull. He did it like you which is how we do it at the farm. They told him he was at a disadvantage but he shot the best of the 8 kids. He’s used to grouse and duck where it’s always surprise shots. I told him to work on being in the ready, but if what he does works then it’s tough to argue. He missed the first 4 shots last night and that was after standing how they thought him and having the gun already readied. He said it was goofy. They also taught them to keep saftey off and ready, but he couldn’t go against what he was always taught so he used his sadtey until he drew
FITASC – Sporting clays game that starts with the gun down when you say pull.
Shoot how you prefer but understand that if you chose to be ultra-competitive and win that most people benefit from incorporating some level of standard starting points and positions.
Beware of instructors that want to over instruct and those that are really not qualified to be teachers beyond the very basics. If it the club champion with some wins beyond the home field and has teaching credentials … listen, maybe try, and decide if that might work for you.
Cripes, this all sounds way too complicated for me. I just pattern my gun and shoot it. Change out chokes/guns occasionally for grouse or pheasant. Just pattern them with diff loads/chokes. Idk
Start at modified or IC. If necessary go up or down from there. I’ve actually started to prefer skeet tubes for grouse/woodcock recently.
I shoot with a Briley Improve Modified for trap. If works for me.
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