Bit of a Different Range Report

[JEBar]

I thoroughly enjoyed spending a couple of hours shooting Trap at a private gun club near Brookings, SD this afternoon .... fired 4 rounds, 100 shells .... its been just short of a year since last shot Trap at our 2019 gathering in Kansas City and I had what for me was 4 good rounds -- 22, 24, 24, 22 .... I do hope to have an opportunity to visit the range a few more times this summer

[Hatchdog]

Nice shooting, gotta love a pair of 24’s.

[JEBar]

as one who has shot trap, off and on, for many years, I'm very happy with 24's .... that certainly doesn't mean I wouldn't like a 25 ..

[Rifletom]

Jim, that's pretty good shooting. The best I've ever shot, was 91. ONCE! Usually, it's in the mid/lower 80's. What's your shotgun?

[Ernie]

Good shooting. I would be very happy with that score.

[JEBar]

I have 5 12 ga shotguns .... our 30 year old Remington 11-87 is the one I use whenever I need a shotgun .... as a hunter, it has taken deer, ducks, geese, squirrel, rabbits, wild dogs/cats, grouse, doves, quail, black birds, racoons, opossum, beaver, and I'm sure there are other critters I can't recall right now .... in nonhunting use it has fired literally tens of thousands of rounds at skeet and other such objects .... in addition to its gas powered semiautomatic action, it has a 3" mercury recoil suppressor installed in the stock, the OEM recoil pad has been replaced twice with the most effective one available at the time, its barrel was ported by Mag-na-port .... the reason for replacing the OEM recoil pad was to find a better one .... the reason that recoil pad was replace is I'd literally worn it out .... in thinking about it that's the only recoil paid I've used so much that I've worn it out .... this combination of up upgrades reduces felt recoil firing low brass skeet shells to a point where even when I was on blood thinning meds, I have literally fired 300 shells at a single session without so much as my shoulder turning read .... I can't say that after shooting a single round of Trap with any of our other shotguns (side by side, over/under, pump, semiauto) .... its old and has earned every blemish in the wood and blued metal .... the only part ever replaced has been a rubber O-ring that serves as a seal in working the action

[Grunt67]

That's one of the few things I never tried, but looks like you had a good day. Congrats.

[brettitt41]

Those are good scores JEBar. I dabble at sporting clays but that's about it.

[JEBar]

kind words appreciated .... we do shoot sporting clays but in our area its pretty expensive .... at the club in Brookings they only charge $6 for a visitor to shoot a round of 25 birds (skeet) on their Trap ranges .... members pay $4

[Rifletom]

Jim, thanks for the shotgun info. Interesting improvements you've made. My only 12ga semi is a Mossberg 930 "Duck Commander Signature" model in camo and OD green on receiver and barrel. This a shooter. I don't get to the trap range as often as I'd like; maybe that will change.

[JEBar]

as both matters of preference and medical necessity, recoil reduction mods to my hard kickers have been a necessity .... over time I've spent more money than I care to remember on it .... some mods have proven to be effective .... some haven't .... as one example, a bolt action rifle chambered in 300 WBY has a harsh felt recoil and significant barrel jump .... my 120 some pound wife has fired ours from a rest without a problem ....

[hillbilly0331]

There is a great sporting clays range in Lexington Va. Quail Ridge is Veteran owned and operated by a retired Jarhead.

[hillbilly0331]

Oh forgot to mention, very reasonable too, and I believe he has side by side utility vehicles to travel between stations.

[JEBar]

2nd Shoot :

on Sunday, July 5th I visited the Brookings Gun Club Trap Range for a second time .... sunny (OK make that hot) with light/gusty winds out of the south east .... I had a delightful time meeting and shooting with 4 young people who are new to the sport and have become enthusiastic about it .... bottom line, I thoroughly watching and shooting with them .... as usual, I fired 4 rounds of 25 .... I was happy with my scores of 22, 21, 23, and 24

[Team Roper]

Oh man, this brings back memories from about 40 years ago. A friend invited my Dad and I out to shoot skeet for the first time ever. There was another guy shooting the course with us and he wanted to let me try his $5000 Skeet gun. I refused ,thinking that if anything happened with it in my hands, there would be heck to pay. I politely refused and shot the course for the first time with my hunting shotgun, a Remington 1100, 20 ga. The guy that took us get a 25 and I beat out the guy with the $5000 gun when I, myself ,for the very first time, up at bat, got a 24. We were all mortified when we seen the guy with the $5000 gun, slam his muzzle into the dirt and walk away. I never went back to shoot again. That poor sportsman type conduct ruined it for me.

[JEBar]

OUCH .... I hate to see good equipment abused .... the young fellow shown next to me in the picture above is in the 11th grade and is on his schools shooting team .... I'm not up on Beretta shotguns but his semi-auto was beautiful .... absolutely no clue as to its price tag .... he handled it well and I quickly became comfortable standing beside him in line .... I first shot trap about 9 years ago when our oldest son started his residency in St Louis and have managed to shoot at least once a year since .... I've tried skeet, 5 stand and sporting clays but I prefer trap

[JEBar]

on Sunday, July 26th I once again visited the Brookings Gun Club Trap Range .... the first two Trap rounds I shot with 4 others and fired a 23 & 22 .... as we finished the second round they opened the Club's 5 Stand course .... two of the fellows went over there to shoot and two had finished for the day .... that left me as being the only shooter for my last two rounds .... with that being the case I decided to go about it in a bit different way .... at each of the 5 shooting stations I loaded 5 rounds into my 11-87 which allowed me to switch to rapid fire .... in doing so fired them as quickly shoot, resume a ready position and holler "Pull" .... now that was fun .. .. it was the first time in many moons I've felt the barrel get that hot .. .. on both of those rounds of 25 shot I hit 20 .... I had a great time and am looking forward to going back down there next Sunday

[JEBar]

one of my sisters-in-law went with us to the Trap Range today .... with her son-in-law also shooting, she wanted to take pictures .... the one shown below impressed me .... in it the skeet can be seen at the instant it exploded ....

[JEBar]

yesterday I returned to the Brookings Gun Club and fired 4 rounds (100 shells) on their Trap Range .... my scores 21, 22, 22, 23 .... a strong quartering wind sure made things "interesting" .... when flying a trajectory moving to the right of the bird house, wind could get under the skeet and it would suddenly jump .... we are scheduled to leave for home 2 weeks from today and I hope to get down there 2 more times

[North Country Gal]

That's impressive work with the shotgun, JEBar. I can't even remember the last time I sot blue rock with a shotgun. It's been that long.