Shooting Trap -- With a Scoped Shotgun.......

[Old No7]

OK don't laugh! There is a good reason for such madness!

I wouldn't recommend doing this, but after shooting 1 round of trap with a scoped shotgun and going 18 for 20 (90%) on the last 4 stations, I have proved it can be done.

Why you may ask ? ? ? ? ?

Well, I've mounted a 1-4X scope on a Marrochi O/U 12 ga over 222 Rem which I will use for coyote hunting this winter in the thick woods of Maine and I wanted some experience tracking moving targets in the scope and firing at them.

This isn't mine, but it looks about the same:

Scoped SG.jpg

I missed ALL 5 at the first station, and the small group of spectators behind me began to have their doubts... Me too!!!

Then I got the hang of it and missed only on the most extreme left and right presentations. Obviously, I had the scope on 1 power, the lowest setting possible.

A neat feature of the Marrochi combination guns (based on the Finn's Valmet design and made on their tooling which was sold to the Italians) is the rifle barrel is fully adjustable for both windage and elevation.

The funny thing is...

2 of the 3 guys watching are now "on the hunt" for a similar combination gun with a shotgun over rifle (what the Germans call a "Bock-Büchsflinte") so they can use it for predator hunting too. It should do really well in that role, as my shotgun barrel is right on at 30 or 40 yards, and I shot a 1" group (3 shots) with the rifle at 75 yards.

I should add that I had the trap field to myself when I did this, and if any serious trap shooters were shooting a round, I would have used my Citori CX myself. But in a lull while others weren't there, I did a round all alone.

OK -- let the flaming begin!

I'll be away from this site for a week -- I wonder what I'll be coming back to..............

Old No7

[harry]

I have about the same setup just different chambers, 22 mag over 410.

[Paladin]

Well done don't have your OU but have shot scoped shotguns a few times, very handy.

[GunnyMack]

Hey 7- You did well, using a scope certainly not what you would normally see on the trap range but the fact is it worked! I can see this could be a help for guys that are head lifters!

I've never seen a Marrochi, but now that I see your pic I think that is what my Redheaded Stepchild is/was. I put it together from a box of parts 25 years ago... Sadly some scumbag thing decided to lift it from my truck while I was at the trap range. It was my skeet gun/ sporting clays gun.

[RIHMFIRE]

hmmmm I never thought of doing that...I bet it was challenging.
Our club insurance does not allow drillings or regular rifles on the range...grrr
I have shot skeet at stand no 7 with a snake slayer....
it was fun and pretty easy once you figure out where the thing shoots...

[OldWin]

I know at the end of Gunsite's scout rifle course they shoot skeet with a scout rifle. Nobody goes 10 for 10, but there are more hits than you'd think.

[crs]

Scoped turkey gun:
.22 Hornet over 12 gauge.

Picture taken in NM prairie dog town.

[AJMD429]

Talk about using the wrong shotgun for clay birds; I shot clay targets at a friend's house with my Striker....
I sold it a couple years later (had to have a dealer help with the ATF forms, as it had been reclassified as a 'destructive device'....it did destroy the clay targets though....!)

I remember hitting a few. Maybe 1/3rd or so. Wouldn't be my first choice for sure... Silly they were reclassified, as an ordinary semiauto with extended magazine shoots way faster; just doesn't look as 'scary'.

[6pt-sika]

Lujtic made a trap gun often referred to as a “Space Gun” thirty plus years ago and I saw pictures of several of them with one power scopes . Never tried it but it worked for some , but then again I knew guys that shot skeet and or trap with release triggers . The few times I tried shooting someone’s release trigger gun was a fiasco .

[GunnyMack]

I have shot Space Guns, ugly as sin but broke targets.

I also saw a guy have an AD with a release trigger, sprayed lead all over when the gun went off pointed at concrete.

[6pt-sika]

I have shot Space Guns, ugly as sin but broke targets.

I also saw a guy have an AD with a release trigger, sprayed lead all over when the gun went off pointed at concrete.

A friend years ago had a Perazzi TM-1 I believe it was , single barrel trap with a release trigger . They claim you use far fewer muscles with a release trigger . But every time I fired that gun I jerked it up and shot over just about every target I fired at .

[6pt-sika]

I’ve seen release single triggers , double release and release pull triggers . I never liked shooting skeet or trap for that matter with a release trigger person . If they got broken targets out the house it was a royal PITA to get the gun opened etc and it would throw the rythem of the squad off .

[GunnyMack]

I agree completely! Not only are release triggers disruptive but dangerous to those guy that switch to them.
I shoot Olympic trap and you dont see release triggers in that game.

[6pt-sika]

I agree completely! Not only are release triggers disruptive but dangerous to those guy that switch to them.
I shoot Olympic trap and you dont see release triggers in that game.

When you say Olympic trap you mean the same thing as bunker trap ? I’ve not tried that game yet , but I will before I turn into worn food. Also wanna try box birds .

[GunnyMack]

Yes bunker and Olympic are the same animal. Used to be bunkers everywhere, but slowly they have disappeared. I think there are 3 inPA, 1 in MD and I'm not sure if the bunker at Quantico is still in operation...I know there was an accident there years ago and it was closed up... couple in upstate NY.
24 gram of shot (13/16's ounce) about 1350fps of hard shot. Targets are same dia, not quite as tall but much thicker. Targets must go 76m+/- to be legal. Anything from 0° to 45° L or R, 1.5m @10m to 4.0m at 10m distance. 15 traps in the bunker. I've been shooting it since 1984, it's the only game for me!

[6pt-sika]

Yes bunker and Olympic are the same animal. Used to be bunkers everywhere, but slowly they have disappeared. I think there are 3 inPA, 1 in MD and I'm not sure if the bunker at Quantico is still in operation...I know there was an accident there years ago and it was closed up... couple in upstate NY.
24 gram of shot (13/16's ounce) about 1350fps of hard shot. Targets are same dia, not quite as tall but much thicker. Targets must go 76m+/- to be legal. Anything from 0° to 45° L or R, 1.5m @10m to 4.0m at 10m distance. 15 traps in the bunker. I've been shooting it since 1984, it's the only game for me!

I was told Quantico was still in operation , but a person like myself would need special permission etc . Liberty University in Lynchburg VA built a rather diverse shooting facility last year and a bunker trap setup was included . A friend designed and oversaw the whole thing . He supposedly is gonna take a couple of us down one day to give it a try but we haven’t as of yet . They have two skeet fields one for American skeet and the other setup for euro/ Olympic style skeet .

[marlinman93]

Back when I shot a lot of trap I took my Marlin Model 410 lever action shotgun out to shoot for fun. It caused quite an uproar with numerous guys approaching me to tell me I couldn't use a rifle for trap shooting, even if I had shot loads in it!
The lever action .410 did quite well, but you did need to be on the clay pigeons, or a little off would end up in a miss or an unbroken bird.

[6pt-sika]

Back when I shot a lot of trap I took my Marlin Model 410 lever action shotgun out to shoot for fun. It caused quite an uproar with numerous guys approaching me to tell me I couldn't use a rifle for trap shooting, even if I had shot loads in it!
The lever action .410 did quite well, but you did need to be on the clay pigeons, or a little off would end up in a miss or an unbroken bird.

I got the same commotion a few years back on the skeet field at my club !

I had one of the recent manufacture guns . I learned a lesson that day as well ! It pays to loosen them up a bit before trying doubles . That day I fired two rounds and the only targets I missed were the second on doubles . The darn lever was very stiff(the gun was still new unfired when I did this) and 3 or 4 times I couldn't get it worked for the second shot in time .

[GunnyMack]

Nice to know about that bunker in VA!

I have shot both of my 28s and my 410 on the bunker. Little tough with the 410 bring choked IC/M it's a little under choked but I did break some targets with it!
The difference between bunker shooters and ATA shooters is if you want to try something different the bunker shooters say go for it and can I try it too? The ATA guys just tell you you cant do it, wont try it and stick their nose in the air. I get a real kick out of it when 'good' ATA shooters come to try the bunker. 1&1/8 oz shot and they break 10 or 12 and get discouraged, then we say well heck you should try bunker loads. Oh what are they? We shoot 7/8 oz and we have no problems shooting high scores. A lot of times they cant get the trigger pulled the 2nd time.
Heck a couple weeks ago I shot a 25 and didnt need my 2nd barrel at all. Yes I was shooting at pieces, always do, helps to keep your face on the gun.

[marlinman93]

I got the same commotion a few years back on the skeet field at my club !

I had one of the recent manufacture guns . I learned a lesson that day as well ! It pays to loosen them up a bit before trying doubles . That day I fired two rounds and the only targets I missed were the second on doubles . The darn lever was very stiff(the gun was still new unfired when I did this) and 3 or 4 times I couldn't get it worked for the second shot in time .

The old original Model 410 from around 1930 is so much lighter than the newer version, and so quick pointing too! Plus smooth as butter to work the lever for doubles. Really a shame that most sit in people's safes and don't see much if any shooting time. I had two of them, and one was minty, so the other saw a lot of shooting at the club and for game too. Great dove gun, or quail.