Browning BPS for trap?

[Questor]

I'd like to try some trap shooting. Will my Browning BPS 12 gauge 28" barrelled pump gun with IC/MOD/FULL factory screw-in chokes work OK with that?

What choke should I use? Is 7.5 shot or 8 shot better?

Thanks.

[Graybeard]

Well Rudy as a non competitor who only shoots it occasionally I'd say it would do OK but if you get serious you'll want a real trap gun. You'll most likely be shooting only from the 16 yard line. From there a MOD choke and either #7-1/2 or #8s will be fine. For the longer distances most use 7-1/2 but closer in many use #8 or even 8-1/2 shot.

[Madmark]

We have a kid who shoots with us who uses a BPS. He does well with it. I started trap with another brand of bottom feeder/ejector, the Ithaca 37.  I wound up buying an 870 TB, much more user friendly on the line. (hey, a new game makes a great excuse to buy another gun!)

[nabob]

I started out with a BPS, moved on to an XT.

I found it helped to have a mid-barrel bead put on. That helped with ensuring my mount was correct.

The leagues I was in were just fun leagues, nothing serious, so they didn't mind if I put a shell in the mag and then racked it in. In other leagues, they get persnickety about only putting the shell into an open action, so you might have to figure out how that's done with a bottom loader.

When I got more serious about trap, I got a gun made for trap. I did pretty well with the BPS but it is at heart a field gun and a gun made specifically for trap makes life easier.

I use 8's and 7.5's interchangeably at the 16 yard line. I don't notice any difference between the two when shooting singles. At handicap yardage, I use 7.5's. I tend to be a slow shooter and even with singles, they are out there a ways before I get around to shooting, so I look for 7.5's first if buying new, but I don't worry about having 8's as long as I'm using them for singles. Up where I am, winter leagues for trap sometimes mean 10 or 20 below zero when shooting and the clays seem to break better with 7.5's, maybe due to retained energy and a frozen target that is harder to break, I don't know.

I started using modified choke but eventually went to extra full as I got better. Nothing like just evaporating the target...