best choke for trap shooting?

What screw-in choke tube should I use when I go to the trap range?

12 ga., Rem 870 - 26 or 28" barrel, I forget how long it is.

I use full choke with 30" barrel

Most guys use a full choke.

I like full

some people like MOD or Improved MOD

it depends a little on the range and how the house throws

you determine the sweet spot range where they sort of hang there some ranges do some don't and pattern with a few rounds of your trap load with each choke and decide from there enough density but spread ok also

I follow the old farmers theory if your on target full works for just about everything.

when looking at used shotguns in a city or non farm area tended to be you saw a lot of mods , when you hit farm country seemed everyone had a full

shops sold mods and farmers ordered fulls

every choke and gun is a bit different so pattern

long barrels give nice sight picture with a long radius form the rear sight your eye and the front sight the bead that said I shoot fine with a 20 inch barrel and like it for it's fast handling and easy carrying when I don't hit with the short barrel I know why and it is that I broke the trigger too early or the bird took a dive as I was breaking the trigger

Remington actually made an 870 Trap Gun with a fixed choke that was marked "Mod Trap". I have one but it need to be re-blued.

they could be ordered with mod or full barrels in the 870 trap

the trap model added a middle bead, and a few wood options both nicer wood but also shape differences in the stock.

Kart29---if you are just starting shooting trap you will likely be shooting 16 yard singles. That is the closest distance you will be shooting trap in normal circumstances. I have seen it shot closer when new shooters are being coached for the first time but thats definately an exception. In singles, a shooter with good eyesight/fast target acquisition and fast reflex/response can get by with less than the full choke as the bird is taken somewhere around 30 yards away for alot of shooters where modifieds work nicely. Upside is that more open choke sometimes gives you a little wiggle room to not be perfectly centered on the bird. And target breaks tend to help the mental game when you are just starting out. Downside is that everyone will read a bird slightly wrong and get beat with that bird then slipping out past the 30 yard mark before the shot is fired so the more open chokes start to let birds slide thru that a full may have not. Depending on the range/machine and wind, targets generally rise at first as they go away from you, then hit a flat peak and then start falling. As they are rising, the target gives more dome profile and is a touch easier to break once you learn what the picture looks like. When the targets get a touch further out and peak, they sorta seem to for a fraction of second pause or go into slow motion and are easy to line up on but the flatter profile now gives less to hit and require more choke.

As your skills progress, you move farther back from the trap house based on handicap. When i was younger, could get away with modified choke most often in singles and imp modified back to the 20 yard line but those days are long over. Now i'm better off slowing down and using a full. If you are shooting for fun or hunting practice, i'd go with something like a modified that might mirror what you hunt with. If you are wanting to become a good trap or sporting clays shooter, the full will likely become your friend.

What shot are you using and how many ounces? I would use mod with 1 1/8 shot. For trap. Now is you walk over to the skeet range if they have one go to a IC choke.Skeet is a little more fun to shoot and 5 stand is even more fun.

Back when I shot trap in highschool, I used a bolt action marlin goose gun, 36" barrel with a full choke. It was a neat gun, handled well, and with that long barrel I could practically just reach out and knock em out of the sky with the tip of the barrel.

On the 16 yd line no need for a full choke a modified is plenty IMO if you move back for the handicap then a improved modified is what I used.

I have an 870 that is badged TC trap. It is a fixed full choke.

I use a improved modified when I'm hand throwing them to myself and full when at the gun club

1 oz- 1 1/8 number 8 shot 28" barrel. Modified is a good start from the front line (16 yards) as your confidence builds and you start shooting from the 20 yard or longer range full will suit you a little better.

I always use a skeet tube

The two tubes I use the most in my O/U are .035" (full) and .025" (imp mod)..........and in that order of usage frequency. I like the full tube because of two reasons. First, the tighter pattern makes me bear down more and concentrate on the bird. Less margin for sloppiness. And there's fewer "chips" and "nippers". Nothing more satisfying than totally smoking a bird.

A full choke will push the bird as it breaks telling you if you’re behind, shooting high etc.

Most targets are broke 20 yds past the house. 16 yard line plus 20 yds past the house is a long shot. Many new shooters wait to long and the target is 50-60 yards away and dropping.

Think about a crossing mallard at 40 yards and the full choke gets the nod.

Good luck!

PS, I shoot a Light Full (LF) in my BT99 from the 16-27 yd line.

If you want to just use one choke I would recommend an improved modified.

That is what I use and it breaks them good at the 27 yd line.

<< AA-27-AA shooter.

Good info here!
If new start with a modified to get some confidence. My personal experience is that a mod choke gives a bigger pattern, but has less force, so you can miss bigger and maybe get a break or maybe get a dust (which isn't dead). Once you've shot some, tighten up to a full to powder those targets! I'm still very young in this sport, and it can be real fun, if you don't let the misses beat you down. Just have a good time, and try to visualize "why" you miss, and not "that" you miss! Good shooting!

Interesting, I also shoot a BT-99, but my older Browning Superposed (1960’s) is my go to trap gun, even on singles.

I took my boys and my dad out trap shooting to celebrate Dad's birthday. I noticed he had his rifled choke tube screwed in.

I still only broke two more targets than him.

My boys really enjoyed it, though. They are already asking to go back as soon as they recover from the bruise on their shoulder.

when I get a kid having issues I put a target stand on the roof of the house with 8 foot 1x2s and cardboard at the top, draw a clay size dash in the middle back up to 30 yards 3 yards past the 27 yard line and have them shoot
lots of them need to know where to hold their gun patters high or low

good form ,the angle is right , cheek down well bead lined up , bird sitting right on the bead

it is amazing how few people pattern a shotgun

we talk about follow and through taking that mental snap shot of what the sight and target looked like when you broke the trigger , in rifle shooting calling the shot before you see what it hit
same thing applies in trap once you get to doing it you often know your going to miss as the trigger broke
especially the pump gun users that is the time to rack the slide and get back on the bird as good practice because that is how you pick up birds in the field.

my son was shooting trap league last fall got such a pattern going he was shooting 24s and 25s but when he had to shift gears to 3gun practice the first bird I threw him he smokes it then drops his gun to his hip and ejects the shell into his hand and places it in his pouch. SO much muscle memory. I had 2 more clay in the air and was like what the heck man don't get into the birds only come one at a time if you plan to shoot anything but trap.

As usual, that seems like a some great shooting advice from GCP.

Seriously, man... I think they need a full time gun rack editor at F-F-G since Ed Hall retired. You would be excellent at it!

I’ve seen some awfully good shooters go less than full. It depends on how you shoot, and take the bird.
Some take the bird well before the peak and have a bit of a reason for a spread string opening quicker.

Osky

I mainly use a Remington 1100 Competition Synthetic. If I'm shooting skeet with it, it obviously has a skeet tube in it, it is a little unwheeldy for that game. For trap the mod or imod gets the call, though sometimes the light mod is used. It all depends on weather and field conditions, wind, slow, high, low, curling birds. Sporting, on a duffers course generaly I use the skeet tube, maybe the ic. On a big boy course or a tournament I carry two tubes, a light mod and an improved mod. It has never had the full tube put in it. For ammunition, skeet I use 7/8 ounce of 9's. Trap practice I use 7/8 of 7 1/2's, league shooting I use 1 ounce of 7 1/2's. Sporting I use 7/8 or 1 ounce depending on target presentation, always 7 1/2 shot.

I have shot competatively since 1972, started in college. In my college days I would go through 1000 rounds +/- a week. I didn't pay a dime, other than tuition, school payed for it all. My game was International Trap. Two shots at every target, break it then break the biggest piece. I wore out a tournament grade 1100 trap in a year. I then went to a Winchester Super X Model 1 that I bought with my own money. Smoother, faster lock time, and better built. I still have it. It has always worn the Imod barrel it came with. The only parts that have ever been changed out were the magazine and hammer springs and the recoil buffer.

Life got in the way and my shooting slowed down quite a bit what with work, a wife and kids. It never stopped though, just slowed down. Now the kids are grown and out of the house. They all shoot very well. My son is a two time state junior champion, NSCA Sporting. My two daughters just shoot because they like to. We all hunt. One of the first things I learned in my shooting carrer is in the vast majority of cases a shooter doesn't miss a target because he has too much or too little choke. The target is missed because the muzzle wasn't put in the right place at the right time. The second thing I learned was I would rather chip my way to 200 straight than ink ball my way to a 199. Ink balled targets are just an ego thing. The "X" on the score sheet is the same for that ink ball as the target that gets broken in half.

Guess it depends on what you want to do. I never cared whether they became a poof or I chipped them. A hit was a hit. When I shot competitively I always used improved modified.

depends on if you are playing a game or getting practice for game birds

I want them dusted it tells me I was ON it and hit it with multiple pellets , if I get a chip that's great for a score but I would rather dust 21-22 with 3-4 misses than have a 25 with half of them chips

I hunt pheasants with no dog we are the dog so some of them run first and take flight 20-30 yards out I use a full on those and trap and I want to put them down right there.

For me, personally, a smoked bird is a huge confidence booster. Faith in technique, form and equipment. Once I start second-guessing ANYTHING my scores suffer.

I got to go with what Big Leo would say here " anything that has full in it" he win more trophies at shooting than most ever will.

Some use modified from 16 yd line. I am too slow.