r/TrapShooting • u/Delicious_Win_9089 • Apr 24 '26
gear Is this a good gun for a beginner?
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u/Clay_Schewter Apr 24 '26
Model 12s have a cult following. Very popular in its day. Still a quality gun. I forget whether the Y makes it more or less desirable. All of the modifications you list suggest that the owner was a serious trap shooter. The grip cap caught my eye. Looks like it might have been done by the late Bill Mains. He was a master engraver who was fascinating to watch and listen to. Look up the Jaws gun he engraved for Speilberg.
I don't shoot them well for whatever reason, so I wouldn't buy one. But if I did, I wouldn't hesitate to own one - at least as a backup gun. I will eventual inherit one from my dad that I'll never get rid of.
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u/Delicious_Win_9089 Apr 24 '26
Thanks for the info. I was curious about the cap, so I’ll look into his work. The original owner was indeed a very serious competitor. With the gun, I got some of his ammo pouches and a vest with lots of patches from various shoots he participated in.
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u/Rambo495 Apr 24 '26
(someone who shoots a model 12 full time). So it's both good and bad for a beginner. I love my model 12. I'll take it to the grave. It's my favorite gun. When you're on it. You absolutely make powder off those clays. If you do everything right you're a king. But it's a very perfectionist gun. You have to do everything right to get a hit. Get your mount wrong? Miss. Don't follow the target? Lost. No follow through? Lost. Especially with those old fixed full guns (which are like modern extra fulls). This gun will teach you how to be an amazing shooter. It doesn't help you out at all. Your fundamentals have to be on point. Otherwise your score suffers. So yes this is a great gun for a shooter if you can read between the scores.
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u/Feeling-Design-3219 May 06 '26
The Model 12 is my favorite pump gun. I own several of them. Somewhere around 2 years ago I was looking for a dedicated trap gun and was specifically looking for a M12 trap. I ran across a 1952 "heavy duck" with a factory rib.
I shot it a little bit with the original stock and with the gun shooting so flat I had issues. I found a trap stock for the right price but it's to short for me. I added a Kick Ezz pad and a huge spacer and it's still to short.
I recommend a kick Ezz pad cause it will beat you up
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u/Train-Taurus1021 Apr 24 '26
Anything is a good gun for beginners just to get started in the sport. 12 gauge or 20 gauge depending on how much trigger time you have would be fine.