I have a 870 TC with the high comb on the stock. I have a 30" field barrel along withe the trap barrel. If I put the field barrel on, will it work for shooting sporting clays, or will the high comb raise my point of aim high like it does for trap shooting?
Thanks for the help.

Generally speaking, the POA will be the same. Your head position determines your pattern's location. That is why, skeet shooters and others, are always telling each other to "keep you head down" because raising your head causes one to shoot over the target.

If you want to use your 870 (a fine gun) get a new lower combed butt stock or you can bend the barrel (not recommended but works, will usually "crinkle" vent rib).

buttstock comb height generally dictates point of impact on shotguns. Sometimes height of vent ribs can come into play but not on factory barrels.

I've had buttstocks lowered (by professional stock guys) to affect POI on shotguns. An 1/8th of an inch is huge. Trap guns tend to shoot the majority of the pattern above the bead. This is because the target is rising and you should shoot a trap target before it tops out. Sporting clay targets are going in alot of directions (falling, crossing, rising, etc) and tend to shoot flatter so they pattern ~50 above the bead.

Try several rounds of sporting clays with your your exsisting 870. Just remember it shoots above the bead!. Otherwise the cheapest way to go is to buy a flatter 'field' buttstock.

Locally the best shooter (at a VERY high level!) of sporting clays uses an 870. Throwing dollar bills at guns isn't always the answer.

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:
Generally speaking, the POA will be the same. Your head position determines your pattern's location. That is why, skeet shooters and others, are always telling each other to "keep you head down" because raising your head causes one to shoot over the target.

If you want to use your 870 (a fine gun) get a new lower combed butt stock or you can bend the barrel (not recommended but works, will usually "crinkle" vent rib).

I've bent many a barrel on a trap gun. Go ahead and see if it works 'as is' before you do anything. Most 870's don't shoot that high (for a trap gun)

Why not just pattern the gun with the barrel you are concerned about? Two shells are a lot cheaper than any of the other options mentioned.
Peter

It seems to me that Sporting Clays guns have evolved from being hunting-stocked guns to being pretty close to Trap dimensions. You may be just fine as it is.

Because the shooter is the rear sight on a shotgun, the only way to tell if a certain stock configuration works for a particular type of shotgun shooting is to shoot the course.
If you are used to a shotgun that allows for the target to be shot while being above the bead, switching to a shotgun with a lower comb that requires covering the target is going to cause issues on your score.
I know quite a few shooters using their "trap" o/u for sporting clays with just a change in chokes to allow for the different targets.

Some fellow Trap/Skeet Club shooters who are also avid SC shooters showed me a listing of some top SC shooters and the guns they use and of some dozen or so their shotguns would have done very well at Trap. More than half of them use barrels of 32" in length and said that their shotguns do double duty as Trap Guns.