Try going to a auto if that pump beats you up stick with lite loads for sure with that pump.

the difference between 20ga and 12ga on target isn't really that big

most 12ga trap loads are 1oz at 1250fps or 1 1/8 at 1200fps

most 20ga trap loads are 7/8oz at 1250fps or 1 ounce at 1165fps

an ounce of #7.5 is 350 pellets 1.25gr per pellet

an ounce or #8 is 408 pellets 1.07gr per pellet

1 1/8 oz of #8 is 459 pellets

7/8 ox of #8 is 328 pellets

if you are going to extremes these things matter more , but at the 16 yard line where most youth shooting happens everything is decently in the capability of either gauge and either size load.

yes a slight advantage goes to more pellets being more forgiving.

Second this! Didn't shoot much trap or skeet, but shot sporting clays (multiply gauges) and 5 stand; 600-1000 rounds a week when shooting tournament season. A inexpensive shotgun that fits you is far better than a $5000 gun that won't line up for you.

The slight advantage you get from switching to a 12 gauge from a 28 gauge will be lost if you develop a flinch because the 12 gauge is beating you up.

Spot on young man, stick with that. If it gets a bit much for the shoulder they make cloth shoulder pads, leather wrapped pads, gel pads… lots to to help if you need it. 7/8 loads will help.
I am amazed these days up in Alexandria MN in June for our state high school tournament. 9000 young shooters and 12 gauge rules the day. There are some terrific shooters doing there 100 bird rounds plus a lot of practice the same day and as god is my witness a lot of these up and comers won’t go 100lbs with two boxes of shells in their pockets. The scoring is incredible.
Stick with the BPS. It’s a fine gun.

Osky

I just sold a pair of these last weekend, one in a 28 gauge, the other 410.

I am going to third or forth or fifth , fit is huge

Fit is your sighting

Fit is your recoil management

if a gun doesn't fit so that your eye doesn't line up looking down the barrel or rib so that you see the bead the same way every time , then you can build the cheek up with foam sleeping pad and hoarse wrap or med tape , it comes off the stock later , doesn't matter if it looks like heck if it works.

length of pull should get adjusted also and this may need to grow is you get taller so a good recoil pad then add spacers back in under it as needed

If you cannot afford a different gun look into a Morgan butt plate it let’s you adjust what you already have to fit better.

You'll do fine with a 12. One thing that helps me is to have patience. There are ways to aim and shoot and different things you can buy that are supposed to help but in the end just be patient and don't get in a hurry. There is plenty of time to take your best shot.
If you miss a lot try your shot on paper to see how it patterns. If that load does not do well - switch to another load until you get the best pattern you can get for your gun. Then practice and you will know what your gun will do.
Some shotguns have shims between the stock and the receiver that can be taken out or added too. Like others say - when you mount the shotgun you want to be already looking right down the barrel. If your shotgun has shims it might be easy to adjust.

I’ve never missed a Clay Pigeon but I will let a few go to repopulate

Well, safe to say. I'm not too good at clays yet. First practice and I hit 25 out of 50 shots. The coach realized that every time I shoulder the gun, I shoulder it differently. We have a family friend who's going to bring over a semi auto 12 and an O/U 12 and see if they fit me any better. If they do, then I'll borrow it for the season, if not, then I'll just practice with this current gun until I get it right. Hoping for 35/50 or 40/50 next week, going to practice a couple of times this weekend with me and a buddy.

50% the first time is not bad really you just need to get the rhythms down straight aways and rights and lefts require practice lots of it. I've got a couple plastic trash cans full of empty hulls if you get into reloading just let me know I need some room in that shed.

I'll let you know, I know 50% isn't bad but it just seems really bad.

Clay Pigeon shooters aren’t born....that’s for sure. Like anything else...golf, bowling, archery, on and on...you get out,what you put in. Hard for a Perfectionist to be good at all of them...we just don’t live long enough...lol.

Scores will improve with triggah time

practice, practice and practice, you will get better

At home no fire drills can help you a lot with the consistency in shouldering. In my early stages of sporting clays I spent just as much if not more time with at home drills vs actual shooting. Fit could still be an issue, but stay with it and things will click.

I am also a proponent of the 3 bullet drill - it can be found on You Tube

Took my 13 year old son out just last week for his first trap session. First round shot a 13/25 but second was a 20/25. Just keep practicing and you will get better. Wing shooting is a skill I don't think being taught much these days anymore. Our gun club charges $7/box of shells and $5 a round of trap. I looked and looked the last 2 weeks and can not find a box of 12ga loads under $9.50 a box - so we will keep shooting the clubs.......cost now is $24 to shoot a round of 50 and I don't see it getting cheaper unfortunately. At our range - they dont allow reloads to be shot there.

That Morgan butt pad I mentioned earlier makes a curved type that helps with shoulder stock placement issues it can be slid up or down to help with sight alignment also.

I have shot more than 500,000 ATA targets. IMO, I would shoot 1 oz of 8's & the only choke to shoot is full. Full chokes teach you to shoot at the bird. More open chokes teach you to shoot near the bird. You need a stock that is the right height. In trapshooting you pre-mount the gun so the other stock dimensions are not as critical. Practice makes perfect. Back it the day it took me about 7000 shots to go from a 90% average to a 98+% average.

Just did a check and it was more than 14,000 targets over five years. First full year of shooting averaged 86%.

TheYouthTrapper
Has someone like coach measured you for fit? As mentioned a number of times it’s the most important feature. Just that will help with consistent mount and following the advice others gave regarding practice mounting diesnt hurt but with pre mounted gun yiu have some wiggle room to get that right

When you’re first starting out your mind is processing all of those flight images it’s encountering for its future reference bank. It’s alot to take in. For the vast majority that means thousands of rounds to get to a level of proficiency. Often I think a new shooter can get those fundamentals quicker with concentration on a few specific birds rather than shooting a round. Do you know if the machines on the range where you’re practicing can be set to fixed position? There’s some advantage to learning the sight picture of straight away birds then lefts and then rights. At its core trap becomes a game of quickly identifying subtle angles and reacting to thise. That only happens thru full practice rounds but if you eliminate that issue with fixed flight lines at first you can concentrate on what leads look like and developing the smooth consistent swing to address those targets each time