Advice for new o/u shooter

[flip17]

I just purchased a new citori XT today, and have shot a bt-99 for the past year.  Some simple, (but not  so obvious) questions :

1.  When shooting trap, which barrel is recommended?  I have read posts on other sites that the bottom barrel is recommended due to less recoil.  Opinions on this?

2.  The gun comes with invector plus chokes (IM on bottom, full on top).  The shop owner, where the gun was purchased, mentioned that I might want to consider extended chokes (Browning  Diamond @$55 each).  He did not push this and even recommended I wait, but did say it was a better choke.  Opinions on this?  Do the extended chokes make that much difference or are they that much better?

Thanks.

[Graybeard]

I'm not familiar with the diamond tubes from Browning. I prefer the Midas tubes made by Briley for Browning both for looks and the patterns. I have a pair of both skeet and cylinder Briley tubes for my .410 Citori White Lightning that I use for skeet shooting. I used only Midas tubes in my 28 and 20 gauge White Lightnings before I had to give them up. My shoulder needs surgery badly and I don't want to have it done so I now shoot only the .410 for skeet.

Yes most consider the bottom barrel best for first shot and I use it that way to shoot skeet. I don't think it's so much less recoil but that the recoil is more straight back thus making it in theory at least faster for the second shot on doubles. I've never used an O/U for trap prefering a pump for that but I too had a BT-99 back when I shot trap a lot.

I'd shoot the gun some using top and bottom for trap and see which you do best with. If you shoot trap doubles then use bottom barrel first shot and follow up with the top.

For 16 yard trap a modified choke is all you really need and you'll likely even break more targets with it. Ya might not smoke as many as with a tighter choke but will likely put more X's on the score card. I used full choke all the way back to 37 yards behind the trap house back when I owned a skeet/trap range. We played lots of games and one of them was five shots from 37 not 27 yards or in other words ten yards behind the longest handicap distance of station three. Using an ounce and an eighth of magnum shot in an ounce and a quarter wad and pushed to 1500 fps I broke five for five lots of times. Only one other shooter ever broke all five besides me and he was prolly the best all round shotgunner in our area. He used a factory target trap load not sure if #8 or #7-1/2 as he used both but kinda preferred the larger shot.

Extended tubes are nice IF you are changing them out and might be a little better anyway. I'd get them if it were my gun but from experience I'd want them made by Briley. I know the Browning Midas and Diana choke tubes are and perhaps the diamon tubes as well. I've not seen any choke tube that throws more uniform patterns than Briley tubes. On days I'm on my game I get a lot of smoke hanging in the air with my .410 Citori using Briley tubes and factory Winchester AA HS ammo.

[flip17]

GB,
Thanks for the reply and information.  I will check out the Brileys.

By the way, did you feel a bit of pain in your shoulder as you were typing para #4?  

Flip

[Graybeard]

In those long ago days I thought I was immune to recoil. Boy have I found out differently these days. We shot a game called cow pasture skeet that was purely a money game and anything goes as far as ammo is concerned. I'd some times shoot as many as 500 or more shells a day at that. I mostly used a 3-1/4 1-1/4 oz load. If the shots were on the close side I'd use #9 but if further out #8 or #7-1/2 shot. I used a Remington 870 with a Cutts Compensator and the Wide open tube with a flare on it for the game. It was more open than just a cylinder bore for wide patterns.

Yeah most days my shoulder was sore from it.