Others will be more qualified to suggest a gun but I make three other suggestions.

1) Buy a gun with a wood and not a synthetic stock.

2) To reduce the need to lean your neck forward to put your cheek on the comb, mount your gun higher, so the recoil pad is just far enough above your collarbone that it does not slide off during recoil and screw up a second shot.

3) Practice your gun mount so it will be the same each time you mount your gun. A consistent gun mount is more important than you probably realize. Ten minutes a day for a couple of weeks with an empty gun and wearing the clothing you wear when you shoot is the price you will need to pay to develop a consistent mount. It will be well worth the effort (and the boredom).

 

At 15 I really wouldn't worry too much about getting a dedicated trap gun. Good advice above as well. When I started shooting trap my gun was a a Remington 1100. It didn't fit well at all. Generally field guns don't fit me at all, I need a Monte Carlo stock at a minimum. I'm sure the people telling you that you need a trap gun mean well, but if you can't then you can't. Just keep practicing and I'm sure that 22 will improve and don't forget to have fun!

 

Welcome to the clay target sport. You are doing very well. I would agree the 26" barrel is not ideal for target shooting. Also, I have no idea as to the length of pull of your gun. I would refrain from considering a BT-99. The reason I say this is the BT-99 is made for 2 things; shooting 16 yard and handicap trap. If you would decide to try doubles or the sporting clays venue; this gun would be useless. You could add spacers to your existing stock to lengthen the pull and build up the comb using moleskin that is available at your local WalMart. It's worth a try if you can't afford to purchase a dedicated clay target gun. If you decide to purchase a gun; look around for a good used gun. Guns depreciate like anything else. Let the "other guy" take the depreciation hit. Anyway good luck to you. Ed

 

I'm with big Ed. Get the gun you have to better fit your present size and shape. Your still growing and nothing will be perfect for long. If your are a 88% shooter already, improving skills may be as much gun fit related compared to learned technique. There is much to know at both ends of that conversation.

A very low cost improvement would to be buy Rollin's gun fitting book and study it as if was a subject in school. After this course, you may know more about gun fitting than 95% of high school level safety first coaches and gain the information for a lifetime. Able to apply it to field or target guns for any size and shape you become.

Yup.....a longer barrel with a raised trap taper rib would be great, but not available for your Bgun. You have already learned how to cover targets and break them with a low POI, developed the move and follow skill. Adding 4 inches to your barrel length changes little from the 16 yard line. Changing guns would be major event and still leaves gun fit and POI setting an issue. You will still change in size and shape over the years and want several pickup loads of different guns without any good reason. In other words, your just like the rest of us here posting back at'cha. Then again....some of us know gun fit.

Maltz

 

BT-99's are limited to singles and handicap but they are a heck of a gun for those events. New they run $1200 vs $2600 for a Browning XT trap. They are rock solid and will not give you any problems. There are a bunch of them available used in the sub $1K used market even with things like adjustable combs and butt pads.

 

If your stock is too short, the first thing to try is a slip-on recoil pad. They are only a few dollars. Your nose should be 1-2" from your thumb, when mounting the gun. Then if your cheek is too high, add some moleskin to your comb, so that your eye looks down the rib, with a firm cheek mount. This will go a long ways to getting your gun to fit, for under $20. Mark

 

MN,

I'm not an expert but another option might be to see about getting a different bbl for your Benelli and looking into having Graco do their adjustable comb and butt plate mods. It might look "different" when you hunt with it, but until you stop growing it'll keep you from having the same issues every year or two.

http://www.graco-corp.com/

As an FYI, one of the boys at the clays range shoots an a400 with all the Graco stuff and he's a Master class shooter and just got back from the Worlds in England....he finished T-46 out of 841 and 2nd in Juniors. Not too shabby.

 

get a used k-80 now and in the long run you will save yourself money, lord knows i lost thousands going from an 870 to a 686 onyx to a beretta 682 to a browning 725 to a CG impact to a beretta 692 to a kx-5 back to a 692 before finally getting my k-80

 

I'm on a tight budget too. My son (13) and I both shoot trap with our Rem 870s. He has an express with a wood stock and I have a black synthetic Super Mag. I had to put an aftermarket recoil pad on his as well as a neoprene sleeve with soft inserts to get him a better mount and reduce the impact to his cheeks.

That set me back ~$55, but he said it shoots so much softer. He went from averaging 13, to 17. I think the recoil was affecting him!

Bottom line is that we need the guns to be dual purpose right now and this is an effective way to do it.

 

Others will be more qualified to suggest a gun but I make three other suggestions.

Don't let Rollin fool you with this statement. There are few in this world more qualified than him to give advice on the right gun for competition shooting.

Length of Pull (LOP) is a subjective measurement. It depends on body shape and stance. A shooter that stands more square to the target will need a shorter LOP than a shooter who stands more angled.

If your gun is bruising you, it doesn't fit right. Measure the distance from the trigger to the center of the pad and tell us what it is.

The length of the barrel is not a critical dimension.

 

I have shot my dads ruger red label and really like how it comes up and handles. It has a 24in barrel though. Do you guys like double barrels? Or do they not shoot as well because of the up curved bottom barrel? Also I like the cz line up browning citori and the red label.

 

Double barrel guns are built so that the barrels will converge at a certain point, but it is very subtle. The barrels aren't curved. Short barrels really don't work well for trap. Brownings are good guns.
Mark

 

Yea, I'll try to find a 28" semi or 30"32" double

 

One big point made was that you are going to continue to grow, so you need a gun you can grow into. Going to make the same suggestion I just recently made. Find yourself a used Remington 1100 and buy yourself a Jack West stock. You can adjust your POI to help not need to keep covering the target. You can also adjust the LOP, which I imagine will be very helpful over the next few years for you. Both can be purchased for a fairly reasonable price and you will have yourself a good all around gun.

 

Shoot what you have, but someday you will get an opportunity to use a gun with a 32" or 34" barrel and know exactly what oregunner is saying. That 6 to 8 inches of added barrel will seem to slow everything down while adding control to your shot placement.

Maltz