Best Shotgun For Trap Shooting 2022 – Five For Under £1,000

Shotguns come in various dimensions, weights and setups. Your most common sporting shotgun is, well, the Sporter. Generally these are multi-choked shotguns, heavier than a game version. Here I’m going to go over what I think the best shotgun for trap shooting is, and a bunch of great alternatives too.

For the uninitiated, trap shooting shotguns are designed specifically for that discipline.

Trap gun characteristics

• Longer barrels (32in) for a smooth swing and consistent momentum.
• A higher comb height (or these days adjustable combs are proving popular) which helps with keeping a good visual picture, but also tends to shoot the gun slightly higher, which puts the pattern slightly ahead of the rising target.
• Some have a higher rib (not a necessity, especially as a beginner) for higher shot placement, again putting the shot pattern ahead of the rising target.
• A larger fore-end for good grip stability and smooth movement.
• They have a tighter choke, normally full and three-quarters (or 2x full). This is to deal with the distance and keep a closer pattern of shot.
• Many trap guns weight over 8lb (3.6kg), so they’re hefty but it helps with stability and smooth movements (lighter guns tend to be too “flippy”).

Now, I’ve put my top 5 trap shotguns that are not going to break the bank, particularly if you’re new to the sport. I’ve put a maximum price limit of around £1,000 and most will be for used guns, but you should be able to find deals in the online gun classifieds.

TL;DR

TBS rankings as follows:

TBS Rating: The Score (out of 25) is the overall rating for the gun, whereas the TBS Ranking (out of 5) is our weighted ranking, based on the following factors (in order): Price, Availability, Reliability, Brand, Aesthetics.

Yildiz Trap (£1,000 new)

The Yildiz brand has been around since 1955, and they make some of the best, affordably priced guns on the market. Spoiler alert, I own a Yildiz Pro Black Sporter, so I am definitely a fan, but you can’t deny the quality they deliver at the price point, especially for a new gun.

The image above is the first generation. The latest version is a plain black action (much better looking IMO). However, Yildiz have yet to publish any official images of the new version. Here’s one I managed to find on Guntrader:

Latest action design

One thing to note is the slightly more swept back grip; I prefer a pistol grip, however it’s by no means a deal breaker and most won’t even notice.

I’ve scored availability quite low as at the time of writing this, I could find only ONE on Guntrader, so it may prove a challenge to pick these up currently. That said, find your local Yildiz dealer (Raytrade are the official Yildiz partners in the UK, they have dealers countrywide listed).

Yildiz also come with an amazing 5 year warranty, so you can be confident that you have a gun that’s not only reliable, but won’t put you out of pocket if anything goes wrong.

Beretta 682 Trap (£700+)

One of the “B” guns, as they’re commonly referred to (the other being Browning) and, like its closest competitor, one of the most recognised brands in the shotgun world. Superb brand and heritage, the 68-series of shotguns are regarded by many as the best that Beretta has made (not to knock the current offering, they’re still superb, but you’ll be paying significantly more).

The 682 was the first proper competition gun offering from Beretta and did a good job of establishing them in the competition world of shotgun sports and clay shooting sports. It first came on the scene in the early 80s, on the traditional action, and the rest is history.

Browning Ultra XT (£800+)

The other of the “B” guns. Both Browning and Beretta have strong loyalties and between them account for the lion’s share of gun sales in the UK.

Miroku MK38 Trap (£700+)

Miroku has a rich heritage in the trap world. They are made in Japan, so the quality and craftsmanship is fantastic (Browning actually outsource their manufacturing of a substantial portion of their range of guns to Miroku).

The MK38 is their dedicated trap gun, with the MK38 being the more recent evolution of the 3800 (also a fantastic gun, just the earlier version). The MK38 represents amazing value and are very highly regarded in the shooting community. They can be picked up used for around £700+ in good condition.

ATA SuperSport – the outlier (£900 new)

ATA Arms is another very popular and reliable Turkish brand of gun. In fact, they’re the leading producer of tactical grade arms in Turkey. On their website, they do list a trap version of their extremely successful SP over-under shotgun. However, good luck finding somebody who stocks it in the UK!

That being the case, I’ve included another ATA SP gun, a dedicated sporter, that comes very close, and should be very adept at filling the shoes of a trap gun; the ATA SP SuperSport.

Adjustable stock, solid and sturdy. Extended chokes which add decent weight to the barrels, plus the ability to change for internal. Nice big trap-style forend too which creates a solid platform for your leading hand. ATA also have mechanical triggers, so you can use even 21g loads without worrying about second barrel misfires.

A final word of advice

If you’re looking for a trap gun, but also want to indulge in some skeet, sporting and the like, you’re best off going for a sporting gun with an adjustable stock and multi-choke. This will future proof your gun for almost any discipline in the shotgun shooting arena. However, if you fancy another gun, but aren’t looking to break the bank, consider the list above.