American Trap is a game firmly rooted in our nation's history. The game can be traced back to the late 1800's when the first trapshooters shot at little glass balls filled with feathers. The feathers were added to the balls so that the shooter could tell when he hit the ball, and to make it look like he just shot a live bird. The throwers in those days were very primitive, to say the least! Trapshooting has evolved to become a very popular and highly skilled sport. It is easily the most popular shotgun shooting sport in the U.S., evidenced by the fact that the Boston Marathon is the only single person sporting event in the United States that is larger than ATA's Grand American Trapshooting Championships.

In this page I am going to answer four questions that I hear most often:
1. What is the sport all about?
2. What are the rules of the sport?
3. What kind of firearms are used?
4. What kind of ammunition is used?

What is the sport all about?

 The sport of trapshooting is all about FUN!! In this sport, the competitor uses a shotgun to shoot at clay targets (called "pigeons" or "birds") that are thrown out of a house 16 to 27 yards away from the shooter. In the house, usually referred to as the "traphouse," there is a machine (called a "trap") that throws targets away from the shooters at speeds of up to 45 mph. To throw in an curve, the trap also moves back and forth, within 22.5 degrees of the center point of the trap. This is done so that the shooter has no idea where the bird will come out of the trap house. There are five positions located in a arc, and a shooter stands at each position. A group of five shooters is called a "squad." Each shooter shoots five targets from each position, with the shooter on the first position shooting a target, then the second, and so on. Once each shooter has shot five targets, the squad moves to the next position to the right, and the far right shooter moves to the far left position. The whole squad shoots 25 targets at one "field" and then moves to the next one. The object, of course, to to break as many clay targets out of the round. A normal competition is usually made up of 100 or 200 targets.

What are the rules of the sport?

The rules are pretty straight forward. There are limits on what gauge of gun you can use, on how quick your ammunition can be, on what the makeup of the shells can be, and various other factors. Upon becoming a member of the ATA, each shooter receives a rule book which carefully outlines all aspects of the sport.

What kind of firearms are used?

All firearms used in competition trapshooting are 12-gauge shotguns. The types of shotguns used, however, range greatly. Some shooters shoot $300 shotguns from their hometown gun shop. Some shooters shoot hand made $15,000 shotguns, and some insist on shooting shotguns from Germany or Italy. To get more information on shotguns, check out my shotgun page.

What kind of ammunitioin is used?

  Ammunition is another factor of trapshooting that varies greatly from shooter to shooter, but there are certain restrictions on what the ammunition can and can't do:

1. The load of the shotgun shell must be lead shot only. Nickel, steel, or tracer shot is not allowed.
2. The load can be no heavier than 3 drams equivalent of powder.
3. The load cannot be greater than 1 1/8 oz. of shot
4. The shot cannot be bigger than number 7 1/2.
5. The shell cannot be loaded with black powder.

    Almost all of these rules are made to limit the speed of the shot traveling from the gun, which is generally accepted as 1200 - 1300 feet per second at the muzzle (end of the barrel) of the gun. The rule of the type of shot that can be used is to protect the shooter and anyone, around the shooter, from harm. For more information about shotgun shells, check out my ammunition page.