Interested in skeet shooting

[jessica47201]

Hello Everyone--

I was wonder if anyone had any advice on skeet shooting. Basically I'm interested in trying it, but I have no idea where to begin. I am not a stranger to firearms. I've been in the military for 12 years and my husband and I own 5 pistols and 3 long rifles. I'm just wanting to find out what's the best firearm to start with, where to go to shoot and what are the must-haves. Thanks for any advice!!

 

[wag1911]

Here is a manual that should help you to familiarize yourself to the sport.

http://www.remington.com/pdfs/skeet_fundamentals_2004.pdf

There isn't necessarily a 'best' gun when it comes to shotgun sports. There are a lot of very good-great guns out there. The best way to find out what is right for you is to ask to shoot someone else's gun. Most are more than willing to allow you to do this as it advances the sport. Skeet will require either an over/under or a semi-automatic shotgun. I prefer an o/u so that I can use different chokes to get the 'pattern' I want. More constricted for longer shots, less constricted for shorter ones (usually the first bird you shoot at).

Others with more experience with skeet will chime in I am sure!

As far as where to shoot skeet - that depends upon where you live. From your intro you say Madison. I really don't see any skeet ranges close by that are in Indiana. However, there may be some in Kentucky that someone on here knows of. The closest Indiana range is Atterbury which is a pretty good drive from where you are at.

Hope that helps - welcome to the forum.

 

[chubbs]

I've been more than pleased just using a basic remington 870 with a 28" vent rib smooth bore. It's affordable and works good on shooting those doubles

 

[soljah777]

I started skeet about 8 months ago and have been hooked ever since. You should start by visiting a place like Atterbury or Indiana Gun Club. Beginers are always welcome and you will find that most everyone is very helpful on teaching you the game. These are both great places to check out and posibaly try a wide variety of shotguns.

Once you learn the basic rules of skeet I would highly recommend checking out Todd Benders fundamentals in Skeet video. It was recommended to me by several people and it changed my skeet score by 100%.

As wag1911 said there isn't a best gun when it comes to shotgun sports. You will find that most people do use a over under and a few use semis. Barrel length is usually 26-30". You can play the game with a pump but you will be at a disadvantage on your reaction time.

Hope this helps.

 

[Adrenaline]

Very interested in what this thread will turn out in advice. I have always been interested in skeet shooting.

 

[erik7941]

I've been skeet shooting since I was about 8 years old. I started shooting skeet 2-3 times each week and I shot registered birds to get my class designation to shoot the NSSA State Skeet Shoot. I placed runner up in my class and my father and I won the parent-child competition when I was 16 so I know a little bit about skeet. Skeet, and the other shotgun sports like trap, five stand, and sporting clays, are always fun and are great ways to hone your skills for hunting as well. In my opinion, skeet is the most fun shotgun sport and the most "wallet" friendly as well. Sporting clays is a lot of fun, but it's time consuming and expensive. Five stand is hard to find at many fields around central IN, but it is also very enjoyable but a little pricey. Trap is fun, but I feel it's a bit repetitive since all the birds are going away from you so there is not a huge challenge to me.
If you're just starting out with skeet shooting, the easiest way to learn to shoot skeet, is to take a day (and a lot of shells) and shoot a box of shells at each station. This way, you'll learn hold positions for each station, the lead distances of each bird on each station, and the basic flight patterns of each bird on each station. If you don't have that kind of time, or are more of a hands-on learner, you can watch someone shoot a round first to get an idea of what to do and then try it yourself. Or you can take/find someone who knows how to shoot skeet to teach you the basics. Depending on where you are located, depends on where you can go to shoot skeet. I live in the Anderson/Pendleton area, so I go to Daleville Gun Club and Indiana Gun Club (located near Geist Reservoir) to shoot skeet. Daleville has 3-4 skeet fields you can shoot on as well as a Cowboy Action Shooting field. Indiana Gun Club has several trap fields, several skeet fields, and half of a Sporting Clays field (it used to be a full field but recent development and complaining neighbors has forced the club to shut down half their Sporting clays field). Indiana Gun Club also has a showroom with new and used shotguns for sale as well as ammo. If you go to IGC, there is usually someone there to help new shooters get an idea of how to shoot skeet or trap.
As far as equipment goes, you have a wide range of products open to you. I started out shooting a single shot Winchester 28 gauge. When I got to the stations that most people shot "doubles" on, I took them one at a time. A couple years later, I got a Remington 1100 20 gauge. With that gun, I learned to shoot skeet and the "doubles" part, and have thoroughly enjoyed it since then. When I turned 15, I got a Beretta AL 391 12 gauge that I had set up just for me (I'm 6'5" with long arms so I have a 30" barrel, extra recoil pad, and an extra long spacer put in to make it long enough for me). I still have my Beretta 391 and have since bought a few others.
A cheap and fairly dependable gun to start with, is any Mossberg semi-automatic or pump action shotgun. Any shotgun that is cheap and dependable and has an adjustable stock or comb (if you have long arms) and removable choke tubes is a good choice. As I said earlier, you have a wide range of products available to you for skeet shooting, anything from Mossberg to Perazzi. The guns, I will leave up to you, but basically, if you know how to operate it, the gun fits you, and it's reliable and safe, you'll be fine to learn skeet. I started with a single shot 28 gauge so anything will work. Obviously, you'll need ear and eye protection to shoot skeet. If you want something that has tinted lenses (sometimes you follow the bird right into the sun so it helps) De-co Hy-wyd's are a good choice since the lenses are easily changed and they offer good, all around eye protection. Any kind of ear protection from plugs to muffs will work. Some kind of shell holder is nice to have for skeet shooting so you don't have to load your pants pockets with shells or have to carry the box around with you. Either a shooting vest or a shell pouch (has a belt with a shell carrier on one side hanging down) is a good option. Vests are a good option since many have built in recoil pads in the shoulders, which you'll appreciate after several rounds of skeet shooting. I hope this info helps you. If you're around Pendleton/Anderson or near the Geist area, shoot me a PM if you ever want to go skeet shooting.