Educate me on chokes and skeet shooting

[turkeyrun]

Skeet is fun, shots are made up of singles and doubles. One shot per "bird" (target). 25 shots per round.

Open chokes, open patterns are the norm.

Easy to learn, you will catch on quick.

 

[SPDguns]

Lemme borrow your identity and go in your place. I suck at it but it's a ton of fun!!!

 

[alnpar]

Okie4570 and others have nailed it. Here’s a link to a summary on chokes.

http://info.okcgunclub.org/shotgun/choke_article.pdf

I shoot a lot of Skeet (not well, but I do OK) I shoot Cylinder in the lower barrel first and Skeet in the top barrel for the 2nd shot on doubles. On the single clays, I strictly shoot Cyl. I use a Browning CXT which is more of a trap, but does well on Skeet. I had a Browning 725 and that is more for Sporting clays. I also use #9 Shot 1 1/8 Ounce 1145 FPS. when I first started out. Now Since I reload, I drop to 1 OZ and I use CB-4118 (8 pedal Windjammer wads.) Also for me, on the high house on station 3,4,& 5 I have to give almost a 3 foot lead it seems.
For real good help, go to YOUTUBE and watch some videos. They will talk a lot about foot stance, They may be right but I shoot what is comfortable for me. Have fun, and good luck. It is addictive after you shoot it a few times. And one more thing. DON"T AIM. Keep both eyes open and follow the bird, your gun will follow it!

 

[okcBob]

Silver leaf in Guthrie is a great facility

 

[retrieverman]

I brought a Browning Citori 725. It came with chokes marked 1-5. Currently, the 2 is in the top and 3 is in the bottom. These are the Improved Modified and Modified. So I should be switching these to the 4 & 5? Those would be the Improved Cylinder and Skeet.

Dang it boy! For someone that hates shotguns and has never shot skeet, you sure stepped up and bought a nice gun.

 

[kingfish]

So far everyone has addressed only half of what you need to know, about chokes. The other and probably most important part is about actually hitting and breaking the clays. There are two methods of shooting skeet. The first is the sustained lead and the second is the swing through. Since this will be your first time, I am going to suggest the swing through method to get you started. The speed of the clays will probably surprise you at first. Basically what you do is start the barrel out behind the bird and as you swing the barrel past it you squeeze the trigger. This gets your aim point past the target giving you the lead time you need for the shot charge and clay to arrive at the same place at the same time. The important thing to remember is even after you pull the trigger you must make yourself continue to swing the barrel. The most fundamental error a newbie makes is stopping the swing as they pull the trigger. You will always be behind the bird if you stop your swing.

One more thing and this may be the most important of all. The ultimate embarrassment is calling "PULL" and then nothing goes boom. You then have that duh moment when you realize you forgot to take the safety off.

 

[Okie4570]

So far everyone has addressed only half of what you need to know, about chokes. The other and probably most important part is about actually hitting and breaking the clays. There are two methods of shooting skeet. The first is the sustained lead and the second is the swing through. Since this will be your first time, I am going to suggest the swing through method to get you started. The speed of the clays will probably surprise you at first. Basically what you do is start the barrel out behind the bird and as you swing the barrel past it you squeeze the trigger. This gets your aim point past the target giving you the lead time you need for the shot charge and clay to arrive at the same place at the same time. The important thing to remember is even after you pull the trigger you must make yourself continue to swing the barrel. The most fundamental error a newbie makes is stopping the swing as they pull the trigger. You will always be behind the bird if you stop your swing.

One more thing and this may be the most important of all. The ultimate embarrassment is calling "PULL" and then nothing goes boom. You then have that duh moment when you realize you forgot to take the safety off.

No....chokes were covered. Don't take fun out if it.

 

[OKCHunter]

I shoot a lot of Skeet (not well, but I do OK) I shoot Cylinder in the lower barrel first and Skeet in the top barrel for the 2nd shot on doubles. On the single clays, I strictly shoot Cyl. I use a Browning CXT which is more of a trap, but does well on Skeet. I had a Browning 725 and that is more for Sporting clays. I also use #9 Shot 1 1/8 Ounce 1145 FPS. when I first started out. Now Since I reload, I drop to 1 OZ and I use CB-4118 (8 pedal Windjammer wads.) Also for me, on the high house on station 3,4,& 5 I have to give almost a 3 foot lead it seems.
For real good help, go to YOUTUBE and watch some videos. They will talk a lot about foot stance, They may be right but I shoot what is comfortable for me. Have fun, and good luck. It is addictive after you shoot it a few times. And one more thing. DON"T AIM. Keep both eyes open and follow the bird, your gun will follow it!

I shoot Registered Skeet - 3 or 4 thousand targets a year, more than that a few years ago to make NSSA and OSSA minimums for State and National teams (I never made a National Team). I couldn’t tell you how many targets I shoot each year when including practice rounds. I shoot a Krieghoff K-80 with skeet chokes in both barrels for all gauges (12, 20, 28, and .410b). For skeet, 20g is more than enough and that’s what I use in doubles, 12g, and 20g events. I have not tried a cylinder size choke but could see a potential benefit since all breakpoints (except when possibly shooting the 2nd bird in doubles at station 4) are 21 yards or less. I do know guys that swap out the skeet choke in the second barrel with an IC or LM when shooting doubles at station 4. Regarding learning / training - Get the DVDs from Todd Bender and / or Paul Giambrone. I have taken private lessons from both and I also have their DVDs. You won’t find better instructors.

 

[alnpar]

So far everyone has addressed only half of what you need to know, about chokes. The other and probably most important part is about actually hitting and breaking the clays. There are two methods of shooting skeet. The first is the sustained lead and the second is the swing through. Since this will be your first time, I am going to suggest the swing through method to get you started. The speed of the clays will probably surprise you at first. Basically what you do is start the barrel out behind the bird and as you swing the barrel past it you squeeze the trigger. This gets your aim point past the target giving you the lead time you need for the shot charge and clay to arrive at the same place at the same time. The important thing to remember is even after you pull the trigger you must make yourself continue to swing the barrel. The most fundamental error a newbie makes is stopping the swing as they pull the trigger. You will always be behind the bird if you stop your swing.

One more thing and this may be the most important of all. The ultimate embarrassment is calling "PULL" and then nothing goes boom. You then have that duh moment when you realize you forgot to take the safety off.

That is why I suggested Youtube videos on skeet. The 725 Citori does not go to safety every time. Some like TriStar I think does. 725 only goes to safety if you put it on. No one that I have shot with does that. You only load once you or on the pad. The big thing that happens is with No Bang, you put the shell in the top barrel when the bottom is set to go bang first.

 

[dennishoddy]

Silver leaf in Guthrie is a great facility

If that place were closer to me, I'd be a destitute homeless person outside their gate in a tent waiting on the gates to open so I could go shoot.