TRAP

TRAP SHOOTING

There are five shooters at five different stations, 16 yards from the trap house. Each shooter shoots one shot at each of five targets at each station. There are a total of 25 targets in a round of trap. Shooters are required to wear eye and ear protection. Shooters load only one shell at a time, when it is their turn to shoot. When not shooting, shooters keep their actions open and the gun pointed in a safe direction.

The Squad Leader is the person at the first station, the Squad Leader will ask the other shooters, "Squad Ready?". When the squad is ready the Squad Leader then asks if the Puller is ready, "Puller ready?" After the Puller has replied, the Squad Leader says, "Eyes forward, let’s see a target". The puller releases a clay target from the trap house for the squad to see.

The Squad Leader begins the round by calling, "Pull", shoots the first target and the round is started. Shooters at positions 2 through 5 shoot begin their rounds in sequential order. After the squad leader has shot his fifth shot, before rotation, the Scorer says, "Ready", this lets the squad know that it's there last shot before a rotation will happen. When the squad has shot at five targets they advance to the next station. With their chambers empty, actions open, and guns pointed in a safe direction, the squad rotates from 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, and 5-1. The Scorer will call out scores as the squad is rotating to the new positions. When the Squad Leader determines that all shooters are in place, the second round begins. The Squad Leader calls for another target and the next round is started. After the last shooter has shot his or her last shot the puller will say, "Out", and the round is over. The squad should not move until the last target is shot in any round.

The clay targets are typically thrown by a voice-activated machine. Some clubs still use a button pushed by the puller. In either case, the shooter traditionally gives the command, "Pull", to launch a target. The target machine oscillates left to right continuously so that targets are launched at random angles from the house. This is a reactive sport. The shooter must see the target and react to its direction of travel, in order for the target to be broken.

Trap guns tend to have longer barrels than field guns. This is to create a tighter pattern at longer distances. Trap guns will have a higher comb than field guns so that the sight picture is better. The most common guns used for this is a 12 gauge shotgun. Single and double barrel guns are both used. Pump, Automatic and Breech loaders are all used in this sport. Some people use trap as a way to improve their field skills. As such they may use a 20, 28 or even 410 shotguns. The gun must fit properly ask more experienced shooters about this subject on how your gun should fit you.

Clothing:

Some trap shooters find a vest or jacket helpful for shooting. Typically they these have some padding on the front of the shoulder to help with the recoil. The vest is to help the shooter mount the gun in the same place consistently. Also there are pouches that hold full shells and empty hulls.