Newbie, Newbie Questions

I'm basically looking for a run down of the sport from a equipment standpoint. 

I started sport clay shooting last year (went once). Honestly, one of the first times that I'd shot a gun. It was in a bid to become accustom to shooting as my first foray into other types of shooting. There's very little in way of inherited knowledge being from the city and a family that isn't too into guns. Also, there's only one range within my geographical area, about 80km from my home. But I have been getting out as much as possible this year and I'm getting better at it. 

I started off with Stoeger Condor 20g (not the Competition) and worked my way through some of the cheaper ammunition. The gun seems balance and it fits just ok. I started with Remington Gun Club Target Loads, and seem to have been using the Winchester Supertarget and Supersport as of late.

A lot of the guys I'm shooting with (also newbies) are shooting the Remington Model 1100 12g. 

My aptitude seems to be getting better. I've set a three personal bests this week. So I'm happy with that. At the same time I'm starting to doubt my equipment, probably just because I'm getting more into the sport, want to get better at it, and don't know much about equipment. 

I've combed the internet, but putting piecemeal info together seems less advantageous than going to the source. So I have a few questions.

1) I think my gun is rudimentary and doing me no favours at this point. Am I correct?

2) Do you think it's acting as a handicap compared to the Remington everyone else is using?
 

3) Would I conceivably see gains by upgrading to the competition Condor with a 4" longer barrel? (I'd rather not spend $2,000 on a OU right now and the Competition seems reasonable in price)

4) I seem to be becoming less confident in the range of the gun than I was when I started. I'm sure I'm crazy about this, but it's affecting my shooting decisions and I'm seemingly having a harder time with targets father away than I did earlier this year. Does a 12g have advantages for clays farther away?

5) Ammo. What should I be looking for in ammo? I don't think I have much in way of options. I think I've tried all but Federal Premium. But what should I be looking for?


Thanks in advance. I don't have too many folks in these parts to ask, but I am liking the sport. 

Hi Welcome to the forum,

Where about's are you located,? 

:santa:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 

Hi and welcome to the forum.
Can't say much about your gun, we simply don't really come across them much in the UK. I believe they are a budget kinda gun though. I think we can get Stoeger air rifles over here, not sure about any of the shotguns. As for whether it is a handicap, well only someone who's seen you shoot, such as an instructor, could tell you that.
Remington are well known over here and some guys like them, however autos are not as popular as over and unders for clay shooting in the UK. To see one on a trap layout would be a rare sight indeed!
Most people would advise starting with a used quality gun, such as s Beretta, Miroku or Browning as the quality is good, the guns also shoot well if correctly fitted. These guns are also easy to sell on once its time to trade up or change.

I presume that you are shooting our equivalent of sporting clays. That is, clays from differing directions and at different distances. The gun that you have will do the job OK but, if you are not happy with the gun, it is unlikely that you will shoot well with it. Obviously, I am not aware of the cost of a lesson over there, but I would say that one or even two lessons to get the basic technique sorted out correctly, would be money well spent. With regards to the cost of a gun in relation to it's performance, all I will say is a $100 gun that you can shoot, beats the hell out of a $1000 gun that you can not. Try not to become a 'tackle tart' and aquire a load of useless equipment, the saying "all the gear and no idea" is quite common over here. Try and shoot for a while, this should help you in making a more educated decision, when buying a gun. Try not to spend loads of cash on your first gun and try to get a good second hand model. You WILL want to change it quite soon anyway. We have people in this Country who have spent 50 years or more looking for the 'magic' gun, they are still looking. 

I'm only 10 months in so ......

Gunshops can be tempting and one could easily blow a fortune in no time. Beware! That having been said, getting the basics right early is important so seek out a coach or instructor who knows his oats.

Gun fit is probably more important than gun brand. I took out a Perazzi for a day and couldn't hit a dustbin lid with it if I'd used it as a club!

The other thing to do is watch what the winning guys are doing, not with hardware but mentally, this game is surprisingly reliant on focus, preparation and consistency.

Thank for the advice guys.

What I'm getting from this is focus on gun fit and metal acuity for the time being, and look at getting a coach, which I will do today. My current gun, my first gun, is what I'm using now and it was relatively inexpensive, though it had glowing reviews.

On the question of ammunition, is there a big difference between brands, and what should I be looking for? Is the effective range of a 20g the same as a 12g? 

I spent ages reviewing the available guns here, which I'm sure you have found is limited. It seems to be the Stoeger's and CZ's which from reviews are guns with a short lifespan or $3,000+ Brownings, and not much in between. I ended up importing a Bettinsoli from England and really like it. I couldn't believe how easy it was! As everyone says the best money spent though is on lessons.

Gun fit is indeed more important than brand however in the early stages your method can change considerably so even gun fit is not as critical as one would think unless of course it's miles out. The best thing to spend money on in early days is cartridges and practice. Only my opinion of course but I don't do coaches or teachers never did. From my Experience For certain types of people more can be learned from the following

doing it

and

make friends with an experienced shooter who will be only to willing to pass on his or her knowledge.

That's not a bad looking gun for £280! At that cost I'd have some questions sbout it's reliability and longevity though.

Over here most guys will be paying 5 times that for an entry level gun. 10 times that for a serious piece of gear and it's not uncommon to sea blokes with 30 to 40 times that in their hands.

26" or 28" barrels are significantly shorter than the trend over here for sporting targets. 30", 32" or even 34" are what's 'in'.

Remember some folk shoot rather well with 28" weird old fashioned horizontal barel things. Sometimes I wonder if it's people who shoot targets rather than the gun ?

Stoeger are part of another larger outfit............ beretta group.

20 gauge is an unusual choice for a clay gun over here at least Ladies and juniors all shoot 12's sounless there is a really good reason for a 20 i would go for a 12. That said you cannot buy scores with a gun if you did everyone with the funds would be AAA class shots. As someone many will know says " they haven't invented the gun I can't miss with yet and i've tried them all" 

The bore of the gun is largely irrelevant you a 24g 20 gauge load is the same number of pellets as a 24g 12 gauge load fired at the same speed they will carry the same energy to the target.

GO and have a few lessons (what are you shooting? Trap? skeet? sporting?) and see what happens.

Your 20 bore will do all that any 12 bore will do, on the targets that you are shooting. It is just that over here, there is a greater choice of cartridges in 12 bore compared to 20 bore and 12 bore are normally a bit cheaper. Point is, if you are happy with your gun then just shoot it and enjoy.

I'm shooting sporting clay in a cold arctic Canadian wind. Personal best today. Granted I was on a Browning/Citori 725 Field which felt immensely different than my Stoeger at five times the price.

Hey, here's a question. What's a reasonable score?

Jesse James Richard said:

I'm shooting sporting clay in a cold arctic Canadian wind. Personal best today. Granted I was on a Browning/Citori 725 Field which felt immensely different than my Stoeger at five times the price.

Hey, here's a question. What's a reasonable score?

Click to expand...

One better than the last time you shot!

Ha ha. 

Nimbusgb said:

One better than the last time you shot!

Click to expand...

Yep 725 is a fine clay gun but a 325/425 should be yours for half the cost of a new 725 not the same but similar £1400 gets a 725 here £800 a 3/425