[nfmMike]

The Sportsman's Association that I belong to has a trap shoot every first and third Thursday, and the first night I went up, I took my 13 yr. old daughter with me, she wanted to watch. Being as there are SO MANY women that shoot trap in your average "gun club" she was of course made a big deal out of, she felt right at home, and everyone looked around for a 410 or 20 ga, a few offered to run home and get one, but she declined. One fella in particular told her next time he would bring his little gun, and she smiled and said ok, and was not allowed to forget that the next time she would be expected to participate, if she wanted.

WEll, he brought a 410, it was alittle long for her, but she went through two rounds, and broke two birds in each round. She was so pleased with herself, and so pleased with the slight bruise on her shoulder! I dropped her off at the airport the next day (today) and she could not wait to show her cousin the bruise and tell her about shooting the shotgun.

I am very glad to have found this group of people, what comeraderie!

 

[Marshall Stanton]

If that young lady went 2 for 2 with a .410. with it's rather smallish pattern and thin pattern density, LOOK OUT! She'll be a real contender with a 20 or 16 ga shotgun! Best part is that she had 100% success on her first experience. My bet is that she's hooked, and hooked well!

Good job, and thanks for sharing!

God Bless,

Marshall

 

[nfmMike]

I am sorry to have missled you, she went two rounds of 25 shots each. And she is thrilled and hooked, when she broke the first clay, everyone cheered, nad the only thing that kept her from jumping up and down was that she remembered there was a shotgun in her hands.

She is hooked, and she has the discipline to want to do well the things she likes, so, she ought to be out shooting me in a few years! And I am going to be on the lookout for a good inexpensive 20 gage, that I won't mind shortening the stock if needs be.

 

[MikeG]

I think that trap is a little harder to start with than skeet. When I was in college we had a club and the new people invariably did a little better with skeet. There are some targets that are pretty easy to hit, and there isn't the element of surpise with regards to exact trajectory. Getting a few broken targets on the first round helped keep some enthusiasm for the sport. Sounds like that's not a problem though.

If you don't have a skeet field, then I'd recommend finding some time at the range where you can set the trap to just throw straight, and do some practice like that. That way there can be a little more concentration on proper foot position, gun mount, etc. Have someone show her the proper starting positions for the gun and her feet on every station, if you haven't already. It will be a lot easier to learn this now than after some bad habits have set in. I didn't learn for years, until I happened to see a video and now I wish I could tell you what the title of it was.

Also if you have to stay with the .410 a little longer, then maybe even move up in front of the 16 yard line. The thing about trap is, you can do it with pretty light loads, but you have to shoot QUICK and the quick part is tough for the beginner.

The price of .410 shells will probably motivate you to find a 20 real quick!

She did real well, can't think of anything harder than starting trap shooting with a .410 unless it would be sporting clays.

 

[nfmMike]

Two out of the four were going straight away shots. There is a manual thrower (wind up, I don't know the terminology) that only launches in one direction. That will be good for practicing and confidence building, and the sooner I get a 20 gage, the better.

We'll get there, I am sure she will keep bugging me till she has a shotgun of her own! LOL!

 

[Jack Monteith]

Hi, Mike:
As MikeG said, although I know little about skeet. It wasn't shot around here in my college days, and I'm lucky if I get to the big city trap club once every other year now.

Yes, practice the straight aways with the manual trap, or with an automatic locked on center. Once she can go 5 straight, move to station 2 or 4 and learn the shallow angles. If she's right-handed, go to 4 first, as her left eye isn't blocked by the gun, and she'll pick up the bird quicker.

A 20 gauge doesn't give up much to a 12, but a .410 is a different story. I figure a 20 gauge does a better job of varmint control at 40 yards than a .410 does at 20. We use a Berretta 301 20 gauge for the kids. It's a light gun and has low recoil. It's disadvantages are a high comb that's too high for even some of the juniors and women, a tricky action, and it won't cycle Winchester AAs. Federal targets work, as do hunting loads and a couple of low recoil handloads.

Actually a light 12 gauge autoloader and the new low recoil loads might suit her as well as a 20 gauge. Stock fit is still a most important factor, for recoil as well as hitability. If the stock's a bit long, you could try taking the butt plate off and using the PAST pad. That will give the same length of pull and better recoil absorption if the buttplate is one of those thick plastic ones.

One thing I learned on my occasional trips to the trap club is that those old boys shoot fast, between shooters, as well as at the birds. Since I'm rusty, I'm not as ready for my next bird as I should be. So if she or you have to shoot in a squad, get in a full 5 shooter squad, not a 3 or 4 shooter squad. Gives you more time to think about the last shot and prepare for the next.

Bye
Jack

 

[nfmMike]

It's the length of pull, but also the amount of barrel after the fore hand. The weight of the 410 was ok, it was a pump, but to keep the barrel up, she had to keep her fore hand as far foreward as possible, and it made for a little less stability than it looked like she could use.

So my thought is this: an NEF single 20 is about $89 around here, the barrel is not all that long, and if I have to cut the stock down, I am not going to lose sleep over it, I can always get a replacement. I figure if I take 2 inches off and put on a .5 to .75 inch recoil pad on it, that should work for a couple years.

Thanks for all the pointers and suggestions folks. This is going to be a great year!

 

[MikeG]

Mike, good idea on starting her out, just make sure it doesn't end up so light that it whacks the snot out of her.

Those guns are an incredible bargain, and a great way to start out any youngster.

Do make sure she is keeping her knees bent a little and putting more weight on the front foot than the back. Fear of falling over backwards can induce a mightly flinch.

Also put a little time into researching the available 20ga loads, even if you have to special-order them. At least in 12ga there are 'slow' loads for target shooting, this will help take a bite out of the recoil. Slow tends to help patterns, anyway. Perhaps someone here can make suggestions. The 'economy' discount loads are actually a poor choice, too fast, soft shot, and lousy patterns.

If you have to spring for the 'real' target loads then save the hulls, you can either reload them or sell them to someone who does for a nickel each or so and get a little money back that way.

 

[Jack Monteith]

Hi, Mike:
As MikeG said, again. Looks like Remington is the only one of the big 3 that makes a low recoil 20, although a velocity of 1135 fps rates as a 2 1/8 Dram Equivalent load or a smidgin more. A 2 1/2 Dr.Eq. load goes 1200 fps and C-I-L had a 2 1/4 Dr.Eq. load 30 years ago.
http://www.remington.com/ammo/shotshell/sts_lowrecoil_20ga.htm

Anyhow, there's lots of light recipes in the reloading manuals.

That NEF Youth gun might fit her as is, with it's 12 1/2" length of pull, although I take it that she's a bit on the small size. Some of the girls her age around here have already hit the 6' mark. Watch her posture. That's a major problem for some small shooters.

I'm concerned about that 5 - 5 1/2 lb. advertised weight. Recoil will be up there. Some weight in the buttstock will help if it doesn't throw the gun out of balance. If it moves the balance point back past the front of the trigger guard, forget it. The grip looks small enough, unlike some youth models. If it's too big, a rasp and Tru-Oil is in order.

http://www.hr1871.com/firearms/index.php?cat=3&subcat=1#3

Bye
Jack

 

[nfmMike]

That one looks like it may be just the right size. We'll see, I want to take her with me when we get something, I want to see it at her shoulder before I spend the money, although for the price, it can barely be beaten.

I like your Tru-Oil and rasp line of thought, "we can rebuild it, we have the technology"!