doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Sporting Clays with a skeet gun?

I have this nice (and very rare) Husqvarna 350 dt skeet gun, 26", 2.75", ejectors, choked ic/sk. I like it very much and shoot it very well. Made in the 50's, it's the only modern gun I own. I thought about selling it to raise some dough for an upcoming move, but came to my senses and thought better of it.

What I'd really like to do is make it an all purpose dedicated clays gun, with Briley extended chokes. Barrels are excellent and bores are mint. Would the short barrels be much of a hindrance on a sporting clays course? I'm mostly a skeet shooter, but would like to get into sporting clays more, and don't have much experience at it The gun weighs about 7.5 lbs, and is not whippy.

It's a nice gun, don't do that.

Try it at SC for a while. Might be just the ticket!

If you shoot that gun reasonably well for skeet it will work for casual sporting clays & sporting clays SxS shoots as is. Adding extended choke tubes won't make it into a hardcore competition sporting clays gun.

It is a nice gun & I would recommend leaving it as is or selling it & buying a dedicated sporting clays gun if that is what you really want.

Just my $.02 worth.

I won a S x S shoot with a 26" gun once, though I have to a admit I shoot longer barrels better. It's all according to how serious you are going to be about the game, Mark.

Shoot it for awhile like it is, before you decide to do anything. If it were me, before I spent the money on threading and choke tubes, i would just look for another gun that had chokes a bit tighter and with 30" tubes. I'm a serious competitor, but I can tell you that changing chokes on a course is over-rated for sporting clays.

Nice looking gun, SRH

You would be surprised what an iC choke will do for you in sporting clays or 5 stand shooting. Now, the skeet choke on the left barrel may pose a little of a problem at times. Maybe consider briley putting in a Mod fixed choke insert in that barrel.

The 26� barrel is less of a concern in my opinion. If you get used to the feel of the gun, it is no issue.

Hi Mark,
I doubt you will like the look of extended choke tubes on a side by side. Second, you can do pretty well with skeet chokes on most targets at public ranges. There are not many really long targets on most ranges unless you are at a competition. Third, longer barrels are an advantage especially since you know where the targets are going. We have had many discussions about choke and the one thing that sticks with me is the center of the pattern will break a target out to 35 yards or more if you center it whether it is full or cylinder choke. As suggested above, save the gun for skeet and find one that is appropriate for sporting clays with 30 inch barrels.
Best,
Milt

I shot at the DU shoot at Evergreen and broke out an old O/U that I won a five stand shoot down in CA about 20 years ago and hadn't shoot it in many years. I didn't do anything spectacular other than missing most of the birds on the first two station but ended fairly decent score. I broke out an ugly skeet gun I'd never shot before as I still had a number of birds left on my card. Broke 13 of the sixteen I had a problem with on the first two stands and wish I'd shot the skeet gun for the whole match.

Double ugly BRNO o/u combo gun with Skeet barrel set

Thanks everyone, that's fantastic advice. Just what I was hoping for. I'll leave as is and try it for a while. I have 30" hammer guns I can use too if necessary.

Mark, some observations. Guys, some of what I'm going to say sounds contrary; no offense intended, just a different point of view.

Mark, not knowing anything about your physical size, strength, or muscle speed, I can only suggest that you will have to work it out for your self. I will point out the following:

1. Most serious skeet shooters use longer barrels these days --- as opposed to the 26"ers of not so many years ago.

2. If you shoot a given gun well at skeet, there is good chance you will shoot it well at SC.

3. Buying a SC model gun doesn't assure you will shoot it well a SC. It is, at best, an average of shooters believed needs, stock fit and handling demands from the market. How close are you to the average?

4. All else equal, longer barrels will move balance forward and increase swing efforts; more weight in the front hand and slower swing or higher effort. Do you believe you have any issues with the weight, balance (teeter-totter), or swing efforts? How is stock fit? Probably good if you like it at skeet. Shoot some skeet with low gun. That will tell you if there is a major fit issue.

5. You owe it to the gun to give it a fair "shot" at SC before any modifications.

6. If you are unhappy with this gun after several rounds of SC, borrow a friend's gun that is more SCish and fits you. If, after several rounds, you see a marked difference in score consider moving to a more purpose built gun.

7. My experience is about 50-50 on "Guns for purposes" and "Beware the man who shoots but one gun." The "Beware ---" thing comes first as it costs you no money.

Just my thinking. NICE gun.

DDA