my overall best shooter in the bunch. Browning Lightning Sporting Clays, 30", 2-3/4 or 3 inch, high-rib. Weighs in at over 8 pounds and soaks up all the recoil. One of the only few guns I've kept over the years. I love the high rib...
I shoot a 34" MX-10 for all the disciplines, 90/10 POI. The key I think is to pick a gun that suits you best and shoot it, forget about the so called pedigrees and just shoot, targets don't know the difference.
I shot my best round of sporting clays with a 32" Citori Plus trap gun. 93 out of 100, at the 5 Dogs Shooting Range, North of Bakersfield a few years ago. My best round with my 28" Citori Lightning Sporting Clays is an 87, on the same course. And, I can't hit crap with my 30" Browning 525. Mid 70's. I think Iam going to try the Citori Plus, again. BIG JIM
Finally,a thread that makes me feel like I didn't make a mistake when I bought my Browning Citori Sporting Clay Special Edition.Was new to sport last year(Oct. 09) and went to a Cabelas and tried several guns.This one almost fit when I noticed it had an adjustable butt plate on it.Soooo,without thinking too much I bought it because I knew it had plenty of adjustment for me to get it to fit even better.Later I seen the sporting clay notation and figured I screwed up.However,since I was able to break my first 25 last August,I realize it's not the gun,it's who and how you use it that makes the difference.Look on this thread and drool a lot at all the fancy trap guns,but being an Ol' retired auto worker,I have to penny pinch more that most.Once in a while I get a thrill when my little $1200 wonder beats out one of those $10,000 beautys.
Only complaint I get is some think I use Hot loads,but it must be the 28" ported barrels that makes it bark so loud.Nitros really make it bark,so I was told by a puller in our winter league.
Glad we could make you feel better about your gun, you wouldn't believe how many different types of guns my students shoot. I myself prefer a more heads up style with a high rib because that works best for me, but like I said shoot the gun you like and have fun.
Like Big Jim in Bakersfield I have learned that all clay target games are better shot with a balanced, well disciplined gun. I shoot my XT for sporting much better than my Ultra Sporter. The XT just seems to move by itself to where the target is going to be.
The lightning sportings are good guns but I like the special sportings a bit better because of the palm swell on the pistol grip.
I have done well shooting trap,skeet,sporting and hunting with mine.
I recently came across a top single Citori trap barrel and it went on the special sporting like it was made for it.
I bought a 682 Beretta 32" X Trap about 1986 because it had pretty outrageous wood and was only $1200. Registered sporting clays was in its infancy and it was the only thing I had with choke tubes, so I gave it a shot. No one was shooting 32" guns, but I didn't know any better. Since I never got any smarter, I'm still using it as my go to competition gun 25 years later. I sawed off another set of barrels and sent it to Briley for skeet tubes. After years with Krieghoffs, the 682 is now also my 4 gauge skeet gun. I think one gun for all games is possible.
JMO---I used my Browning Citori Trap Special 12 guage for both Trap and Clays. 30 inch barrels with all kinds of choke tubes makes this gun hard to beat. Won trophies in both. Steve
I have an XT and was already to buy a Browning XS to shoot skeet with, then I really sat down and read the dimensions of the stocks, and specs of the guns. The Action and Barrels are the same on both guns,(Low rib) and the drop at the comb on the XS is within 1/8" of my XT's Monte Carlo comb. The poi on an XS is 50/50, mY XT is about 55/45 Which is about 3" high at 40yds so that wasn't worth fooling with.
With two Skeet chokes, I broke 57/100 on my first, never been there before, and had no idea of what I was doing, day at the range.
Used to be Skeet guns were short things with 26 or 28" barrels, now all the big guys use long barrels for a smoother swing. There is so little difference between the XS and the XT it is not noticable to most people. The stocks look different but they are not that much different dimensionally. The Sporting guns have a little more drop at the comb but I don't see that much difference. I guess you'd want a different recoil pad so you could mount the trap gun faster. Or maybe you could just buy a different stock when you wanted to shoot SC. The rest of the gun is the same.
In my limited experience I have seen, people shooting a wide variety of guns at clay pigeons. I think you should shoot whatever you have and place more emphysis on showing up at the range and shooting, instead of worrying about the nuances of gun fit and poi. There is plenty of time for that if you get good enough to justify spending money on a dedicated gun for every sport.
Or you can collect guns which is not all bad either.
Randy
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