Chezney Posted September 20, 2014 Report Share Posted September 20, 2014 This may be a bit of a simple/silly question but I've struggled to find an answer. When a gun is described as 'sporting' or 'skeet' or 'trap' what does this mean? And what are the major differences between the types? Any comments are appreciated! Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted September 20, 2014 Report Share Posted September 20, 2014 OK simply its marketing. The difference is not specific but trap guns tend to be tighter fixed chokes or MC in one barrel and heavier and higher in the comb.Skeet guns are more open choked, sporting tend tobe multichoke. Barrel length is a fashion and skeet used to be 26-29" sportign 28"-31" and trap 30-33" but lots of skeet shooteruse 32"these days as well as sporting shooters, 32" are currently in vogue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chezney Posted September 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2014 Brilliant, that's cleared things up, thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted September 20, 2014 Report Share Posted September 20, 2014 Doesnt mean you wont find a 34" skeet gun choked full and super full...... or a 24.5" trap gun with a low comb... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontbeck Posted September 20, 2014 Report Share Posted September 20, 2014 The reason being that those are deemed the best set up for those disciplines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayman Posted September 20, 2014 Report Share Posted September 20, 2014 (edited) In run of the mill guns, you will often find that the manufacturer offers some choices of stocks, and barrel lengths. Those who mainly use their gun for trap, will select a Montecarlo stock, or a vari-comb, usually with a longer pull ( gun-up shooting), and longer and therefore heavier barrels give a smoother inertia to the swing - while a skeet shooter who needs a faster gun, will prefer shorter barrels and a flatter line of sight with a shorter stock that makes gun down mounting easier. Largely, these are personal preferences - choked appropriately there's no reason why you cannot shoot trap with a 25" or skeet with a 32" - but when you move up a level to competition discipline specific guns there are various "tweeks" that can make the design perform better in the designed for discipline. For instance, a high rib on a trap gun allows more view below the gun to see the target which is rising, and also keeps the head up, which in combination with the higher comb makes the first barrel shoot high, perfect for the rising trap target - but with full use of the gun, high level trap guns have "focused" barrels, i.e. the second ( over) shoots lower than the first ( under). This aids the shooter in this particular target type, as the first shot is taken with a rising target, so the gun set up is for a rising pattern in line with the average rate of climb for the target, but if a second barrel shot is taken, the rate of target climb has lessened as it starts to flat off, so the second barrel shoots lower to compensate without having to check the rate of gun swing. Similarly, a skeet gun will have a flatter shooting profile, but parallel barrels. It may be retro choked for max pattern width at short ranges, and use porting to stop muzzle flip for two shots taken quickly. The pad will be smooth to slide on the skeet vest in the mounting process, while the trap gun's pad will be ribbed to engage the shoulder and not move - fine if its a gun-up discipline as trap is. These discipline specific fine tunings do not make massive differences to a score, but at the top level, just one extra target hit can be the difference between being world champ or runner up - so Perazzi, Krieghoff etc will build guns from the ground up with specific attributes for the discipline concerned. The discipline specific guns will often leave out features general purpose guns have, as they have no use in the discipline. Most dedicated skeet and trap guns have neither multi-choke nor barrel selectors. They always fire bottom barrel first, and they are fixed choke for the range. Some trap guns have a vari-choke on the first barrel, and porting on that one alone. Some set-ups include more than one barrel set, viz, you can buy a gun with short skeet barrels and long trap barrels for the disciplines, and maybe an intermediate set with M/C for sporting. Combine this with a vari-comb to quickly alter comb height and you get a "gun system" that allows you to quickly alter the gun for purpose. My Perazzi's are like this - the MX series has all interchangeable components, so I have two stocks, one vari-comb long pull and a shorter one with smooth leather pad. Onto this I have two actions, one with barrel selector, one without, and I have 27.5" retro choked, 29.5 M/C and 31.5 closed FC barrels with increasingly higher ribs as they get longer. The two fore-ends are a schabnel ( which I prefer for skeet) and a thinner one I like for trap and sporting. Effectively I can put these together in up to 24 different combinations Ultimately, it is down to personal preferences, and the description of a "skeet gun" or a Game or sporter or trap, is simply that it is the average set-up chosen by the majority of people who shoot those disciplines, but if you want to try shooting skeet with a 24" tactical pump, there is nothing to stop you. Edited September 20, 2014 by clayman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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