Top or Bottom Barrel First?

[Adam]

Top barrel, always have for no other reason than it's easier to reload when shooting singles

 

[S.Deaville]

Thanks for the replies, very helpful.

I am going to change to bottom barrel first then. I have at the moment 1/4 in the top and the tighter choke 1/2 in the bottom.

While learning etc I believe this will be just fine?

Cheers

 

[Chard]

Thanks for the replies, very helpful.

I am going to change to bottom barrel first then. I have at the moment 1/4 in the top and the tighter choke 1/2 in the bottom.

While learning etc I believe this will be just fine?

Cheers

If you shoot sporting and your first bird is a dustbin lid on the end of your barrels and the second is a 60 yard edge on crosser, that would be the wrong thing to do

Don't listen to all these trappists, in sporting you need to be flexible. Every stand has a different presentation, not like DTL and trap, where everything is edge on going away from you, every time :yell:

 

[Skeet UK]

Thanks for the replies, very helpful.

I am going to change to bottom barrel first then. I have at the moment 1/4 in the top and the tighter choke 1/2 in the bottom.

While learning etc I believe this will be just fine?

Cheers

Swap your chokes around.  1/4 in the bottom 1/2 in the top.

Then ideally, select the barrel for the first target as appropriate.

Close and/or showing lots of top or belly, use bottom (1/4) further away or edge on, use top (1/2)

Or get a pair of Muller U2's and forget about it until you are regularly getting 50 yard crossers to worry about...then get a U3.

 

[jake.keeling]

Swap your chokes around. 1/4 in the bottom 1/2 in the top.

Then ideally, select the barrel for the first target as appropriate.
Close and/or showing lots of top or belly, use bottom (1/4) further away or edge on, use top (1/2)


Agree with this in principle, but have you seen the difference on a pattern plate between 1/4 and 1/2, it really isn't going to make any difference on a stand. I say this knowing that if I could select 1/4 for the close one I still would!

 

[Chard]

I don't bother with pattern plates

It's what happens 50-60 yards out that matters, there's a bit of difference then

 

[Skeet UK]

Agree with this in principle, but have you seen the difference on a pattern plate between 1/4 and 1/2, it really isn't going to make any difference on a stand. I say this knowing that if I could select 1/4 for the close one I still would!

Well yeah, its about a 5 foot at 40 yards for 1/4 and 4 foot for 1/2 (width of pattern, not % in 30 inch circle) but we are playing the numbers here and as you say, if you had the option you would select the more open choke, just 'coz!

 

[Wonko the Sane]

In times past it was fairly common for trap and pigeon shooters to use two different dram eq loads.  The thought was that the lighter first load would be the top barrel and the heavier second load in the bottom for the previously stated recoil reason.  I have a couple top first guns, one w/fixed chokes (trap) and one w/ a factory screw-in in the bottom (second bbl pigeon gun).  I don't use different loads and I personally feel no difference in the recoil, but that could just be me, old and insensitive.

My feeling would be that if you have switchable barrels it would make no diff which was first as long as you know which bbl/choke is selected as first.

Charlie

 

[RichW1234]

Yes... Less recoil from bottom barrel due to barrel being lower in the shoulder therefore less muzzle flip for second barel target aquisition.

 Definately agree with this. I use 1/4 in bottom barrel & half in top with selector set for bottom barrel first and 99.9% of the time it stays that way. Might switch barrels if first target is much longer distance followed by close range one but most of the time don't even think about it! The more you think about it, the greater chance it will go wrong!

 

[Hamster]

There's a lot to be said for not getting too involved with technicalities and just getting on with it but in the case of barrel selection I would argue it is no effort whatsoever in selecting the more appropriate choke for a given stand. Next time you do a 100 birder count the number of stands where firing the tighter choke first would make more sense, believe me you'll be surprised     .

 

[clayclouter]

I always shoot top barrel first, this is dictated largely by the fact that Beretta failed to deliver a bottom barrel when my AL 391 arrived. I wrote to them explaining the ommission, strangely I have had no reply to date??

 

[ips]

Terrible customer service I would demand the other barrell

 

[clayclouter]

I would but I have nowhere to put it!!! apart from the obvious oriifice of course!!!

 

[ips]

 

[Clanchief]

I would rather change my chokes than shoot the top barrel first. Though these days there is no point doing so as I shoot 3/4 in both barrels.

Or do I have a strip of black tape round all my chokes, to make idiots that are weak think I am using 3/4 chokes.