The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - What's the difference..skeet/ trap/ clay/ sporting clay

K80Geoff · November 21, 2000, 05:15 PM

I was about to tell you to search this forum as this has been discussed in detail previously, but the search function is disabled

Here very quickly are the differences:

Trap: The oldest of the games, originally used live birds. Clays launched from a Trap house in front of the shooter. Birds are going away. Field has five shooting positions arranged in a crescent equidistant from the Trap house. Normally single birds thrown. Doubles game throws two birds. One shot per bird. Also known as ATA Trap. One round of trap is 25 birds, doubles round is 50.

Skeet: has 8 shooting stands arranged in a half circle with seven stands on the circumference of the circle and the eighth where the center would be. Has two houses. High House on the left and low house on the right. Shooter moves from station one under the High House to station seven under the low house and then to station eight. Combinations of single birds and doubles thrown from various stations depending on the type of game. One round of Skeet is 25 birds. competition Skeet fired in four different gauges. 12, 20 , 28, 410.

Sporting Clays; shooter moves to different shooting stands over a course (much like a golf course except usually in the woods or bordering fields) No set number of stands, varies at each course. Shooter shoots a prescribed number of shots at each stand usually adding up to 50 or 100 targets. Birds thrown at all angles and uses five or six different sizes of birds. Supposed to mimic field shooting but has exolved into a game that no longer resembles field shooting.

These are the basic games, but others exist. Ex Bunker or Olympic trap, Modern Skeet. Five Stand, Compak Sporting, FITASC Sporting, to name a few.

I suggest getting a copy of Jerry Meyer's "Clay Target Handbook" which has all the rules and specs for the different games. Amazon has it and most well stocked bookstores gan get it for you:

Try this website www.shotgunsports.com. Lots of discussion on the various games, get past the politics and you will enjoy the games.

Geoff Ross

November 21, 2000, 05:15 PM	#3
K80Geoff Senior Member Join Date: December 20, 1998 Location: NE Pennsylvania Posts: 3,639	Differences I was about to tell you to search this forum as this has been discussed in detail previously, but the search function is disabled Here very quickly are the differences: Trap: The oldest of the games, originally used live birds. Clays launched from a Trap house in front of the shooter. Birds are going away. Field has five shooting positions arranged in a crescent equidistant from the Trap house. Normally single birds thrown. Doubles game throws two birds. One shot per bird. Also known as ATA Trap. One round of trap is 25 birds, doubles round is 50. Skeet: has 8 shooting stands arranged in a half circle with seven stands on the circumference of the circle and the eighth where the center would be. Has two houses. High House on the left and low house on the right. Shooter moves from station one under the High House to station seven under the low house and then to station eight. Combinations of single birds and doubles thrown from various stations depending on the type of game. One round of Skeet is 25 birds. competition Skeet fired in four different gauges. 12, 20 , 28, 410. Sporting Clays; shooter moves to different shooting stands over a course (much like a golf course except usually in the woods or bordering fields) No set number of stands, varies at each course. Shooter shoots a prescribed number of shots at each stand usually adding up to 50 or 100 targets. Birds thrown at all angles and uses five or six different sizes of birds. Supposed to mimic field shooting but has exolved into a game that no longer resembles field shooting. These are the basic games, but others exist. Ex Bunker or Olympic trap, Modern Skeet. Five Stand, Compak Sporting, FITASC Sporting, to name a few. I suggest getting a copy of Jerry Meyer's "Clay Target Handbook" which has all the rules and specs for the different games. Amazon has it and most well stocked bookstores gan get it for you: Try this website www.shotgunsports.com. Lots of discussion on the various games, get past the politics and you will enjoy the games. Geoff Ross