Mo-Skeet-O - Anyone remember it? Time to bring it back!

Chestle

Well-known member
I saw Britman's post about the Henry single shot shotgun. They also make a lever action smoothbore .22lr, they call a Garden Gun.

I have been researching the old Mo-Skeet-O clay target game. I never got to shoot it but my older brother had a friend with the set up. He shot it. At the time, he loved it and was very enthusiastic.

Basically it's a clay bird game with small clays about the size of today's minis but easier to break (more fragile). There was a specific clay thrower for them and you shot the targets with a smoothbore .22 and .22lr shot cartridges. The key is that this is a backyard game.

The "trap field" only needs to be about 60 ft x 12 ft wide; for two people side by side shooting "at the same time" they need 75ft x 25ft"). A back stop would be 25ft x 15ft high. For indoors, the back stop can be "a piece of canvas hung from a wooden frame". (Field and Trap Shooting by Charles Edward Chapel published in 1949 and 1962 by Barnes and Company Inc. N.Y. )

I'm thinking it would be a great way to get the youngsters into shooting sports. Not much room required, not real, real loud either. I have the room and the grandchildren. :)

So the smoothbore .22 and the .22lr shot cartridges are still available. It's the targets and thrower I need to work on.

I suspect about any foot trap would work. Might have to dial down the spring to figure out the speed/distance you want.

The problem is going to be the smaller clays that a .22lr shot cartridge can break. I'm going to try it on minis first just to see but from what I've read, they are too hard/thick for the .22lr shot cartridges.

Something to play with later this summer anyway. Any ideas welcome.
 
I am way interested in this as well. I'm an owner of a trap club, this would be a fun little side shoot, just to mix it up a little.
 
Yes, I have shot the Ritz crackers but not with a .22 :) If you have, you've probably noticed they don't fly true like a clay bird. They tend to hook or slice off. From my reading this is apparently because they are flat on both sides. I guess the dome part of a clay bird is there for a reason, to get them to fly straight. I think flying straight would be important for new shooters and also because a .22LR isn't going to throw much of a pattern.

Cowan, I think it would be a fun diversion too. Like the Ritz cracker flinger shoots. I'm going to dig into this later, probably next summer. Got a lot on my plate right now.
 
The guns are easy to find. Gunbroker or Gunsamerica both have them at varying prices. There's even a case of original Mo-Skeet-0; 450 clays/$135. I am not seeing any traps though. I suspect a foot trap would throw them though.

From what I have read, the Mo-Skeet-O clays were 2 11/16". For reference, today's minis are about 2 5/16". I've thrown minis off a foot trap.

<edit> The more I wander around the 'net reading about this, the more comments I see saying the traps are very hard to find and expensive. Like $650 15 years ago.
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Are you looking specifically for a Rem 121?

Gunsamerica.com has two rifles that show up when you search "routledge"

Gunbroker.com has four rifles that show up on the same search.

You can also search "Targo" which was Mossberg's .22lr bolt action smoothbore. They even had a little trap on the rifle so you could sling the targets yourself while shooting. Gunbroker has a bunch of Mossberg Targo rifles.

Lastly, Henry is making a lever action Garden Gun that is .22lr smoothbore. There's lots of them on Gunbroker for less than $400 too.
 
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