I feel it necessary to inform you I am absolutely novice myself in trap shooting. With that out of the way, most here will likely suggest a shooting coach and more practice. Being on a tight budget I've had to be the coach for my kids so I can't agree or disagree with that, however I do practice on my own quite a bit with a Trius "one step" thrower and it's helped me improve for sure. So I can absolutely agree with practice.

I might suggest throwing the old barrel back on the 870 and see if he gets back into his original groove. I'd also suggest maybe for a couple rounds have him go out and shoot however he feels comfortable without overthinking everything like stances and "proper" follow-through. I notice when I start thinking more than enjoying my shooting suffers.

My very first round of trap when I didn't know what to expect and was only given the rundown of the basics I went 24/25, after that I've been "trying" to match that or get my first 25 at the trap club and can't seem to do better than a 20. Throwing for myself yesterday and running doubles on a field gun it was like I couldn't miss, went through the last 40 or so clays in my box and didn't miss any of them. But of course, I was shooting alone with no pressure of anyone else paying attention, and I was just shooting to pass some time, no real thinking required. The brain can do weird things to us. That's my very novice advise, may or may not help but I hope it does.

 

My 13yr old (soon to be 14) son 105lb and around 5'2" joined a HIgh School trap team. He has only shot trap a few times a year when we had time to because of wrestling in season and off season.
He would shoot with a youth model remington 870 express 20ga. He would break 18-21. We worked alot on form and follow thru first and when not actively shooting.
Since he joined the team we looked into other options for a gun for him to shoot. He tried his mom's 12ga 1100 with same LOP as his 20ga. He can't quite swing it very smooth. And my gun is out because the longer LOP. So we opted to purchase a 26" barrel over the stick youth barrel and install a full choke. He shot it for the first time and went 18/18/15(said he got cold) shooting #8 shot.
For practice sessions what would make a better shooter, should he go to the range and shoot out of a trap house, or mix in a shoot with clay thrown out of the red handle manual clay thrower? I am just a recreational shooter for aroma therapy so I don't know alot. I told him consistent form(elbow up, belt buckle square to the target, hips back a bit for a slight forward stance) and good stance and follow thru is the most important part and breaking them will come with practice. But what am I missing or what will help him get to the 21-23 with occasionally more? He is very competitive and I know 18-20 is really good for a kid that only shot probably 4 times a year 75-100 shot per outing. But he isn't ok with it.

Well, I have a feeling your son is shooting a hunter, not a good idea for trap. There is nothing wrong with shooting trap with a 20-gauge I have won many events and trophies with my 20, but it's set up for trap.
Trap is not like other pass shooting clay sports. It only deals with rising away targets. Before you resort to a trap coach, try charting every round of trap shot and especially the way the targets are broken. By that I mean, watch the targets carefully, did he take the bottom back off, the right wing, left wing, the top or front?
Trap guns are set up to shoot a minimum high of 60 percent, some 65%, others at 70 percent or higher. If your son is shooting a standard hunter, it will explain why he is struggling.
Remington has built some of the best TC or TB trap guns ever made next to the Winchester modle-12. So, first you need to find out what's wrong, get all your ducks in a row, put in the work and research before your son develops very bad, hard to break habits.
Also, it is important to know the pattern at what range you are shooting at, all guns do not pattern the same, start him off with a modified choke on the 16-yard line. Take the gun to the pattern board to see what he is throwing at those targets.
I will tell you what I tell everyone, shooting coaches are fine at what they do, but they can't stand in your shoes, can't hold your gun for you, and they can't see through your eyes. Clarity, comfort, and self-confidence are imperative to shoot any clay sport.
Mike

 

Yea, it's just a youth model 870 express with a 26" barrel installed on it. The factory barrel was a 21" barrel with modified choke installed. He is hitting the targets alot harder with the longer barrel and the full choke in it.
I don't have the funds to invest in a dedicated trap gun.
Next time we are at the range we will pattern the gun with both chokes.
Thank you

 

I am just a recreational shooter for aroma therapy so I don't know alot. I told him consistent form(elbow up, belt buckle square to the target, hips back a bit for a slight forward stance) and good stance and follow thru is the most important part and breaking them will come with practice. But what am I missing or what will help him get to the 21-23 with occasionally more? He is very competitive and I know 18-20 is really good for a kid that only shot probably 4 times a year 75-100 shot per outing. But he isn't ok with it.

Okay, you don't have the option of changing guns.
However, I might take issue with the "belt buckle square to the target" advice. (the rest of your advice is good). One, since he doesn't know where the target is going to be, squaring up to it won't always be possible. Two, squaring up to the trap house (if that's what you mean) works well for some shooters, not so well for others. You might let him try a 45-degree-to-the-house stance and everything in between 45 and 90 degrees. He needs to find what is comfortable for him.

Now, for practice, he should be shooting on a trap field that throws the same targets that he'll be shooting in competition. This means ATA-style targets.
We practice what we plan to shoot.

 

Thanks for the advice! He has tried to do a 45° ish stance and it seemed he didn't really swing the gun very well and would get behind the targets. Yes, I ment square belt buckle to the trap house. Seems to have helped him to track the target a little better. We have a couple ranges that are Ata local and they are only $5 a round for youth. So will do that then more over the manual thrower.

 

In my experience the winchester sxp trap model is an excellent budget option, that's the one I got my 24 with, they can be had around $400 and comes with 3 screw in chokes. If you find a way to get in on a new gun that may be a decent one for him. They do aim very different than a field gun.

 

Thanks. I'll look into it. Only problem really is that this could potentially be os only year on a trap team. He is home schooled this year and a school out of district brought him on. Next year he will be attending a private school in iowa and us illinois residents. And the school dosent have a trap team. They have everything else..

 

If you find you want to raise the point of impact on the 870, this is an economical option:

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With kids varying in weight from a wild guess of 80 to 180 pounds and from 5.0 to 6.0 plus feet in height, it's almost an impossibility to outfit them all with a proper gun for trapshooting. Our club has a few youth model 870 Remington Express 20 ga. guns for the kids of parents who can't afford to outfit their kids in style. Some parents are financially able to put their kids into a quality competition trap gun. I saw one kid using a NEF single shot, and another with a Browning 725 trap gun, with a mix of everything in between. The people in charge of the program were able to procure a pallet of Federal sporting clay shells (12 ga 1 oz. 1330 fps), hardly a light kicking load, but a good price of $6/box. I'm acquainted with one dad who bought his son a bantam Mossberg 500 (7.25#). His son probably weighs 90 lbs. soaking wet. That Mossberg is beating him up at approx. 22.1 ft. lbs. of recoil. His son started out well, but is now struggling to hit anything in trap shooting. I suspect the recoil might have caught up with him. I personally wouldn't shoot any gun with that much recoil. For comparison, my BT-99, 8#13 0z. (7/8 oz., 1237 fps reloads) puts out approximately 13.0 ft. lbs. It's a dilemma that I don't have a good answer for. It would be nice if the clubs could afford a battery of BT-99's for use but few clubs would be fiscally able to do so.

 

The 870 will work just fine.
I'd open up the choke to IM for 16y shooting
Make sure the gun fits him properly as well.

 

A browning BT-99 or BT-100 is probably the best gun for what you are wanting to spend. It is single shot only though. If he gets into shooting doubles then you will need a O/U or an auto.
If you can find an older Remington 1100 Trap model he could shoot everything with that and parts are easy to get if something ever breaks.

If your budget was higher then I would suggest a Beretta Multi-Target semi auto. The nice thing about these is they have and adjustable rib and adjustable comb. That adjustability allows you to set the gun up to shoot where he is looking.

If he does get really hooked on trap shooting he will end up really wanting a top of the line trap gun so make sure he goes to college and gets a good degree in something that pays very well. LOL

 

Where are you finding affordable bt-100's? I haven't seen one under $2k in quite a while, if and when they come up for sale.

 

My 13yr old (soon to be 14) son 105lb and around 5'2" joined a HIgh School trap team. He has only shot trap a few times a year when we had time to because of wrestling in season and off season.
He would shoot with a youth model remington 870 express 20ga. He would break 18-21. We worked alot on form and follow thru first and when not actively shooting.
Since he joined the team we looked into other options for a gun for him to shoot. He tried his mom's 12ga 1100 with same LOP as his 20ga. He can't quite swing it very smooth. And my gun is out because the longer LOP. So we opted to purchase a 26" barrel over the stick youth barrel and install a full choke. He shot it for the first time and went 18/18/15(said he got cold) shooting #8 shot.
For practice sessions what would make a better shooter, should he go to the range and shoot out of a trap house, or mix in a shoot with clay thrown out of the red handle manual clay thrower? I am just a recreational shooter for aroma therapy so I don't know alot. I told him consistent form(elbow up, belt buckle square to the target, hips back a bit for a slight forward stance) and good stance and follow thru is the most important part and breaking them will come with practice. But what am I missing or what will help him get to the 21-23 with occasionally more? He is very competitive and I know 18-20 is really good for a kid that only shot probably 4 times a year 75-100 shot per outing. But he isn't ok with it.

Those youth guns often have very short barrels. Friends of mine had a son shooting trap with a 20 ga youth Mossberg 500 and doing very well with it. The coaches wanted him to shoot a 12 ga but he was very small build. He grew some height so his dad bought him a full size Mossberg 500 20 ga. It was too big for him at that time so they put the longer barrel from the full sized 20 ga on the youth model receiver. It worked really good for him for another year or 2 before he stepped up to a 12 ga 500.

 

Find a nice used BT-99. An 1100 trap is also nice but parts such as the link could be an issue. SKB is good too but may be heavy. If you look you can find a Perazzi TM1 for about the same money as a clean BT-99, maybe a little more pricey but a classic single barrel trap with that will always we worth what you paid for it.

 

For practice sessions what would make a better shooter, should he go to the range and shoot out of a trap house, or mix in a shoot with clay thrown out of the red handle manual clay thrower?

If a person wants to improve at ATA trap, then he needs to practice ATA trap, not something else.
Find a good shooting coach and have your son take a couple of lessons. It will help his shooting far more than just sending shot down the barrel.

 

There are also Monte Carlo stocks available for the 870 20ga. The higher, parallel comb is ideal for the pre-mounted shooting of trap. I put one on that action for my wife to learn trap last season. 20ga and a short barrel will definitely break plenty of clays, but the longer barrel is a great move since you've got it on there already. If he's joining the HS team, sounds like the coaching should be taken care of. He will quickly pick up the physical do's and dont's from the coach, I imagine, and hopefully he likes the fact that beyond the initial learning curve, it becomes much more a visual/mental sport than anything else.