Trap shooters are sometimes known to be kind of well, finicky when it comes to new firearms. They are usually very methodical and do things decently and in order. Successful trap shooters want their shotgun to fit them perfectly and will tell you this is part of the equation that leads to high score cards. Trap shooters want no guesswork in a new product—they want everything on that shotgun to be right!
Unlike waterfowl or turkey shotguns, we don’t see many new trap guns come up every year. We may think there are only the old choices we have known about for years. CZ-USA did something about that. The All American Trap Combo is CZ’s latest offering in a competition style shotgun. The Czech based company has an extensive line of shotguns, but they may have pulled out all the stops for this one. Dave Miller is the shotgun product manager and exhibition shooter at CZ-USA and the All American Trap Combo is his brain child.
“This trap gun has been a long time in the making,” Miller said. “I talked to Alice Poluchova, President of CZ-USA on how important it was for us to tap into the American Trap market way back in 2010, but to do so would takes a special product” he said. By “special product” Miller meant he wanted specific features on this gun. Here they are.
Easily replaceable parts for guns that will see a lot of wear. First, drop in replaceable action components, three sizes of replaceable locking lugs, and easy to replace firing pins and bushings. The drop in replaceable parts feature is huge. A well-used trap gun is going to fire thousands of rounds a year and no matter how well made it is parts will start to wear. To quickly replace things like bushings, hinge pins and firing pins will be greatly appreciated by the avid shooter.
OK, Mr. Miller I am with you on the replaceable action parts, firing pins and bushings, avid trap shooters are going to burn truckloads of powder in a year and eventually the parts in any gun begin to wear. But what is the deal with the replaceable locking lugs? Neal Flynn, gunsmith at CZ-USA set me straight.
“The locking block engages the “bites” of the barrel underneath the bottom of the chamber,” Neal told me, “and the locking block wears over time. Slowly the top snap lever will go from the right, when the gun is shut, to center. Once at center the locking block needs to be replaced.” Neal explained that on other over under shotguns you have to weld and machine the locking block originally made in the shotgun. It’s more time consuming and more work for the gunsmith to ensure it’s correct. With drop in locking blocks of different sizes, it allows CZ-USA to send the next size of locking block to a customer for their local gunsmith to replace, no major special surgery required.” All of this means your gun will spend less time at the gunsmith when it comes time to replace a part.
An “Un-Single” singles trap barrel with full floating rib, with a matching set of mid-height rib over/under barrels. Next, Dave Miller wanted this gun to have an Un-Single singles trap barrel with full floating rib, and a matching set of mid-height rib over/under barrels. “Un-single” refers to a single barreled option on this gun to shoot singles, with the barrel being “under”, on the bottom. Opinions vary on this but many shooters prefer the barrel to be on the bottom in a single barrel configuration, compared to a “top single” model such as one made by Krieghoff.
Trap shooters generally want a certain percentage of the shot pattern to hit above the point of aim (as the target is on the rise). The rib on the un-single barrel of this shotgun is dial adjustable from 50/50 to 90/10. This means you have the range of 50 percent of the pattern striking above the point of aim and 50 percent below it, all the way to 90 percent of the pattern above the point of aim with 10 percent below. Again, this all part of making the gun fit you and how you want it to shoot.
How the rib is attached is important and gunsmith Neal Flynn advised me that the rib on the All American Trap Combo is silver soldered to the barrel. Silver soldering means that the majority of the solder used to attach the ribs is made up of silver, very strong for soldering purposes. The silver solder used is 45 percent silver, and is done in an oven at 800 degrees Fahrenheit. Compared to lead and tin based solders or tin and antimony solder, which is more common on less expensive guns, it is significantly stronger.
The matching set of over and under barrels allows the All American Trap Combo shooter to compete in all phases of American Trap shooting, singles, doubles and handicap. With these barrels in place the shooter could compete in sporting clays, or any other clay target game.
A fully adjustable butt pad plate which is also adjustable for length of pull, 4-way adjustable parallel comb, adjustable trigger shoe positing, and select wood grain. Dave Miller knew for this gun to be successful it had to fit the individual shooter—like a glove. The comb on the stock of this shotgun adjusts but it is also parallel, when your cheek is against the comb your head will not raise or lower if you move back and forth on the stock. The butt pad adjusts for length of pull, toe in and toe out (slant of the pad from top to bottom), and even for cast on and off. Basically everything on the shotgun is adjustable. If you think the gun is not fitting properly, you probably have not taken the time to adjust everything correctly.
The cherry on top of all of the above is this gun is drop dead gorgeous, like a supermodel. The walnut stock is select grade and the receiver is surfaced hardened which gives a white metal finish that really pops against the deep blued barrels. It turned heads at every gun club I trolled it through.
On the trap range I found the All American Trap Combo to be a lively natural pointer but with enough heft and weight that I did not see recoil as any problem. I put several boxes of Browning’s BPT ammo (and others) through this gun and watched others do the same. I witnessed a 4-H high school trap shooter pick this gun for the first time and walk onto the line and shoot a 23, not bad with a gun that had he had never seen before. The extent of the adjustable features on this gun are broad and the shooter would be well advised to take the time and get it all dialed in. (decently and in order, remember?)
“Now that CZ-USA is stepping into the realm of Trap shooting we will be automatically compared to the shotguns that are already proven to work in such games,” Dave Miller said. “There are some great trap out there but I don’t believe you will find any which give you as much for your money as the All American Trap Combo.”
CZ-USA lists the suggested retail price for the All American Trap Combo at $3,339. If you find another shotgun which will give you as many features as this for less money you may want to go buy it—like today.
CZ-USA All American Trap Combo Features
4-H shooter Austyn Byers scored a 23 on his first round with the new gun.
“This trap gun has been a long time in the making,” Miller said. “I talked to Alice Poluchova, President of CZ-USA on how important it was for us to tap into the American Trap market way back in 2010, but to do so would takes a special product” he said. By “special product” Miller meant he wanted specific features on this gun. Here they are.
Easily replaceable parts for guns that will see a lot of wear. First, drop in replaceable action components, three sizes of replaceable locking lugs, and easy to replace firing pins and bushings. The drop in replaceable parts feature is huge. A well-used trap gun is going to fire thousands of rounds a year and no matter how well made it is parts will start to wear. To quickly replace things like bushings, hinge pins and firing pins will be greatly appreciated by the avid shooter.
OK, Mr. Miller I am with you on the replaceable action parts, firing pins and bushings, avid trap shooters are going to burn truckloads of powder in a year and eventually the parts in any gun begin to wear. But what is the deal with the replaceable locking lugs? Neal Flynn, gunsmith at CZ-USA set me straight.
West Virginia high school students and 4-H shooters liked what they saw of CZ-USA’s new All-American Trap Combo shotgun.
An “Un-Single” singles trap barrel with full floating rib, with a matching set of mid-height rib over/under barrels. Next, Dave Miller wanted this gun to have an Un-Single singles trap barrel with full floating rib, and a matching set of mid-height rib over/under barrels. “Un-single” refers to a single barreled option on this gun to shoot singles, with the barrel being “under”, on the bottom. Opinions vary on this but many shooters prefer the barrel to be on the bottom in a single barrel configuration, compared to a “top single” model such as one made by Krieghoff.
Trap shooters generally want a certain percentage of the shot pattern to hit above the point of aim (as the target is on the rise). The rib on the un-single barrel of this shotgun is dial adjustable from 50/50 to 90/10. This means you have the range of 50 percent of the pattern striking above the point of aim and 50 percent below it, all the way to 90 percent of the pattern above the point of aim with 10 percent below. Again, this all part of making the gun fit you and how you want it to shoot.
How the rib is attached is important and gunsmith Neal Flynn advised me that the rib on the All American Trap Combo is silver soldered to the barrel. Silver soldering means that the majority of the solder used to attach the ribs is made up of silver, very strong for soldering purposes. The silver solder used is 45 percent silver, and is done in an oven at 800 degrees Fahrenheit. Compared to lead and tin based solders or tin and antimony solder, which is more common on less expensive guns, it is significantly stronger.
The matching set of over and under barrels allows the All American Trap Combo shooter to compete in all phases of American Trap shooting, singles, doubles and handicap. With these barrels in place the shooter could compete in sporting clays, or any other clay target game.
The Trap Combo consistently turned heads when the author brought to different clubs for testing.
The cherry on top of all of the above is this gun is drop dead gorgeous, like a supermodel. The walnut stock is select grade and the receiver is surfaced hardened which gives a white metal finish that really pops against the deep blued barrels. It turned heads at every gun club I trolled it through.
On the trap range I found the All American Trap Combo to be a lively natural pointer but with enough heft and weight that I did not see recoil as any problem. I put several boxes of Browning’s BPT ammo (and others) through this gun and watched others do the same. I witnessed a 4-H high school trap shooter pick this gun for the first time and walk onto the line and shoot a 23, not bad with a gun that had he had never seen before. The extent of the adjustable features on this gun are broad and the shooter would be well advised to take the time and get it all dialed in. (decently and in order, remember?)
“Now that CZ-USA is stepping into the realm of Trap shooting we will be automatically compared to the shotguns that are already proven to work in such games,” Dave Miller said. “There are some great trap out there but I don’t believe you will find any which give you as much for your money as the All American Trap Combo.”
The Trap Combo comes with a rugged, airline-safe gun case and a variety of chokes among other things.
CZ-USA lists the suggested retail price for the All American Trap Combo at $3,339. If you find another shotgun which will give you as many features as this for less money you may want to go buy it—like today.
CZ-USA All American Trap Combo Features
- Manual trigger and safety
- 32” un-single barrel with dial adjustable rib, (90/10 to 50/50)
- 32” un-single barrel with dial adjustable rib, (90/10 to 50/50)
- Fully adjustable stock, parallel comb, toe in and out, cast on and off, length of pull. Trigger shoe reach adjustable
- 11 extended knurled chokes, 2 cylinder, 2 imp. Cylinder, 3 modified, 3 full, 1 xtra full. Rem Choke configuration
- Ported barrels with lengthened forcing cones
- Manual trigger and safety
- Healthy right hand palm swell
- Durable silver soldered ribs
- Rugged airline-safe case
