Shotgun shooters

[Lutes]

Any trap shooters out there? Years ago people use to take Remington 870 barrels and cut the chambers off and plug them for muzzle loading  trap guns. Is still the practice today?
 Mods. Sorry I should have posted this under gun making. Please move if necessary.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Most of the folks here are traditional builders/shooters.  Using a stubby modern barrel for a pelter (probably for the choke) doesn't interest me, for example.  I love shooting trap, but am not very good at it.  Daryl and Leatherbelly whooop me regularly.

[BrownBear]

I'm an enthusiastic small game/upland bird/waterfowl hunter with ML shotguns, but I don't shoot trap.  It's cylinder bores all the way, with range adjusted suitable for the gauge and patterns.

[northmn]

I built this one using a "modern" shotgun barrel that i got at a gunshow for $5.00.  It was a 32" mounted on a inoperable singleshot action and no stock.  Cut off about 1 1/2inches of breech and installed a long breech plug with a powder chamber drilled in the face of it (off hand cannot remember the type) such that it should never be loaded with less than about 50 grains of powder (as its a 12 that is not much of an issue)   I also reamed out the full choke.
I did this on a whim to see how inexpensive I could make a gun as I already had the lock and I cut the stock out of a birch tree on the place.  Other parts were also utilized.  Could ahve done a better job had I done more thorough research.  Other than for a reason like this, I really recommend that one get a good fowler barrel and do that.  There are a lot better suppliers today than in the early times when I started building.

DP

[turtleman]

Most if not all of the serious trapshooters I know all shoot a modern choked barrel of some type. The remington 870 is very popular. I shoot a octagon to round trade gun barrel but it has a jug choke. You really can not compete with cylinder barrels. Once the range gets longer you have too open a pattern to consistently break birds.

[Robby]

Lutes, I really enjoy trap shooting with my 16Ga., nothing formal, mostly when my boys come home for a visit. I did rig up my trap to sling the clays using my foot so I can shoot alone. Best string is 21 for 25. On the practical side, it also puts meat on the table.

Robby

[Lutes]

Thanks for all the replies.

[smokinbuck]

Lutes,
I built a scaled down shotgun for my grandson using an 870 barrel on an underhammer action. It has a 26" 20 ga barrel with an improved modified choke tube.  I cut off the barrel extension and threaded the chamber for the breech plug. Works fine and breaks birds. I use a 36" 12 ga full choke barrel on an underhammer action. Both barrels have vent ribs. These are relativley simple to make and work well.
Mark

[Habu]

Mark, I may borrow your idea and put a 20 gauge barrel on an underhammer for kids use.  The rifle is already set up with a flat buttplate, and somewhere here I've got a 20 gauge parts gun (a Savage, if I remember right) I could take the barrel from.  Thanks for the idea!

[Daryl]

As a matter of fact, we shot trap today - only 3 of us showed up, Taylor, Hatchet Jack and myself. All used 20 bore flintlock singles with Taylor starting off with his 15 bore Manton SXS cap gun, then switching to the flint 20 bore after a while. He shoots better with his 46" cylinder bored 20 bore, than with the cylinder bored Manton. Exact opposite for me as I find no difference in shooting a caplock when standing beside the trap, compared to 16 yards with a modern shotgun - feels like cheating to me. 25 straight is no problem with caps, just like with as modern gun.

There are fellows out there who jug-choke smoothbores, so using a modern barrel is not necessary. Actually, it's not difficult to jug choke a barrel yourself.  Merely read Ned Robert's CapLock book and just do it.

[smokinbuck]

Habu,
Just for kicks, since the barrels are so easy to swap on the UH's, I also cut an octagon to round 24" .36 caliber rifle barrel to round out the set.

Mark