Batttue - Thank you for the reply. I'm well aware of the long term effects from shooting like this. That's why I started this thread. We shot a few rounds this morning and the slip on recoil pad did wonders. It may have even improved my shooting a bit. If I can find a slip on cheek pad I think I would be golden. My gun has a laminated stock so it weighs a bit more (I think) than a composite or walnut stocked gun. But I'm not sure how balanced it is. How do you know if a gun is balanced? I'll check into buying an additional stock but, would rather not if I can get away with it.
WyoCoyoteHunter - Thank you for the reply. Will definitely be buying 1oz. trap loads the next time out.
Passport - I apologize for being taller than 4'-6" and not being made of money. This what I have to work with now, I'm fully aware that this is less than ideal. But if you had an extra $500 laying around I'd be more than happy to take it off your hands.
You should be able to set up your 1300 to adequately shoot trap with. battue and the others have given great advice. Here's how I'd roll:
1. Lengthen LOP. Probably 14"+ depending on the person.
2. Get a better recoil pad. Limbsaver, decelerator, kick eeze, etc.
3. Weights as battue suggested. This chit can be cheap. Use shot where you can. Make your own if you need to. Drill some holes in the stock and add weight there too. Trap guns are generally heavy with long barrels to slow and steady the swing.
4. Run lighter loads.
5. Think about reloading your own. With this, you can load some really light loads and make it more enjoyable to shoot. 7/8 oz. loads work great for singles and doubles.
6. If you step back further than 16 yards, go to a fast 1oz. load or slow 1 1/8 oz. It doesn't take more than a 1200 fps load of 1 1/8 oz. to shoot handicap. I'm not talking about "shooting from the porch" or "long bombs", that's a different load altogether...
7. Glue on cheek piece like someone else mentioned. Kick eeze makes these. You can also use adhesive moleskin, felt, or vetwrap/coban and foam pad, etc....
Keep shooting your 1300 until you can upgrade, just don't let it force you to make bad habits. An improperly fitting/hard recoiling shotgun will induce flinching and make you do dumb things like raise your head off the stock and stop your swing. It also induces fatigue........Good luck with your trap shooting...