Best Value For Money Over Under Shotgun For 2023

[IvoB]

Mossberg Maverick 88 with the barrel combo
Budget friendly you will not be worried dropping it in the field or leaning it up against a tree or rock. Use, the money you saved to buy food/gas pay utility bills or ammo.

I think, personally prices have gone way out of hand - you can never go wrong with a inexpensive firearm

 

[Falconflyer]

I’ve only seen pictures of the Allsport and it’s a nice looking gun. It appears to have a padded comb on it and I wonder at the usefulness of that, if the gun fits properly no padding should be needed. So I understand that it comes with a 50/50 rib and a 65/35 rib that can be changed out when changing disciplines and short of being a marketing gimmick I also wonder about the usefulness of that. For years I went between a trap gun that shoots high for trap and a flat shooting gun for sporting clays or skeet and I found that if I was shooting trap quite a bit then when I switched to sporting I wasn’t coming up through the rising targets enough, muscle memory from a high shooting gun. I eventually switched to a flat shooting trap gun and forced myself to pull up though the rising targets more so I don’t get messed up when on the sporting clays range and frankly I think that’s a better solution to changing a rib. My thoughts for what they’re worth!

 

[Falconflyer]

Mossberg Maverick 88 with the barrel combo
Budget friendly you will not be worried dropping it in the field or leaning it up against a tree or rock. Use, the money you saved to buy food/gas pay utility bills or ammo.

I think, personally prices have gone way out of hand - you can never go wrong with a inexpensive firearm[/QUOTE]


Actually, and I’m not knocking the Maverick 88 per say but you can go wrong with an inexpensive firearm and that’s been discussed at length on this forum.
Furthermore, it depends what you want and what your budget is, where your priorities lie and other things. Some guys are happy driving an inexpensive compact car and some always drive a loaded luxury vehicle. Some people rent an apartment all they’re life and others buy a nice house, some are happy with a Mossberg and others are not…. each to they’re own.

 

[stubblejumper]

Mossberg Maverick 88 with the barrel combo
Budget friendly you will not be worried dropping it in the field or leaning it up against a tree or rock. Use, the money you saved to buy food/gas pay utility bills or ammo.

I think, personally prices have gone way out of hand - you can never go wrong with a inexpensive firearm

Actually, you can go wrong with an inexpensive firearm, if it isn't reliable or doesn't stand up long term, or has a crappy trigger. And some of us don't appreciate poorly balanced shotguns that swing like a plank. Some people spend thousands every year on tobacco, alcohol, or gambling, I choose to spend more on quality firearms.

 

[mudgunner49]

Actually, you can go wrong with an inexpensive firearm, if it isn't reliable or doesn't stand up long term, or has a crappy trigger. And some of us don't appreciate poorly balanced shotguns that swing like a plank. Some people spend thousands every year on tobacco, alcohol, or gambling, I choose to spend more on quality firearms.

As I get older I adhere more to the premise "buy once, cry once"...

 

[Mumbles Marble Mouth]

It appears to have a padded comb on it and I wonder at the usefulness of that, if the gun fits properly no padding should be needed.

The comb isn't padded. It's hard, what ever it is, and it's very smooth. Doesn't seem like it's plastic. Possibly coated wood? The rib changing would be good for the beginner while the new shooter figures out if they like a flat shooting gun more or if they like to hover the target above the barrel. They can buy the one gun that is capable of reconfiguring it instead of having to sell one gun then buy another.

 

[bdft]

Parts availability is another big deal with cheap shotguns. If you break your Browning or Beretta you can easily get parts. If you break your "Akkar Commando Pump Super Shotty", good luck.

 

[rembolt]

I had the opportunity to shoot 6 shell from a friends allsport .nice handling gun seem to balance well 30"barrels .the comb as more of a cover than a pad in my opinion . Triggers were very nice .over all a well built gun .he didn't keep it long as his faithful old 425 kept calling him back .

 

[doctor_meltdown]

I recently picked up a 20ga 26" barrel ATA SP (i.e. rebranded Weatherby Orion) from Rampart for $670. As much as I want to hate it, it is surprisingly well built, shoulders well and hits where I aim. It might not be the best O/U to get into trap, but for informal clays and a knockaround o/u for bad weather I would be hard pressed to find better bang for my buck.

For comparison, I have purchased new browning citoris and Berettas in the last 3 years and although undoubtedly nicer overall, I stand by my comment that they do not represent as good value for the money.

 

[Italian Sporting Goods]

I’ve only seen pictures of the Allsport and it’s a nice looking gun. It appears to have a padded comb on it and I wonder at the usefulness of that, if the gun fits properly no padding should be needed. So I understand that it comes with a 50/50 rib and a 65/35 rib that can be changed out when changing disciplines and short of being a marketing gimmick I also wonder about the usefulness of that. For years I went between a trap gun that shoots high for trap and a flat shooting gun for sporting clays or skeet and I found that if I was shooting trap quite a bit then when I switched to sporting I wasn’t coming up through the rising targets enough, muscle memory from a high shooting gun. I eventually switched to a flat shooting trap gun and forced myself to pull up though the rising targets more so I don’t get messed up when on the sporting clays range and frankly I think that’s a better solution to changing a rib. My thoughts for what they’re worth!

The comb is walnut coated black. The intent was to be able to swap the combs from the RS Sporting to the Allsport so you could have a high comb and a low comb without having mismatched wood. The black actually looks pretty good as it goes well with the black action and recoil pad.

The changeable rib would be great for a few different things. Teaching new shooters would be great as you can configure the gun to the student. That makes it an excellent first gun for someone who isn't quite sure how they like their gun to be configured. Then there are plenty of people who will start off shooting trap as its the easiest discipline to learn the basics from but then they move on to something else like sporting or skeet. They can just swap the ribs and now the gun is configured for sporting.

 

[Falconflyer]

Thanks for explaining the comb color, having it interchangeable with another gun makes sense somewhat however, I would venture that if you had another gun then maybe you don’t need to swap the combs. I guess you could buy an extra one though.
As for a new shooter starting out, I would advocate that they should start learning trap with a flat shooting gun and learn to pull up through the target, that way they don’t need to change anything when starting another discipline with the same gun. Many successful trap shooters don’t use a high patterning gun and in my experience I think that having more movable or interchangeable parts on any gun just increases the chances of things going wrong.

 

[Italian Sporting Goods]

I was at VGC today and had a look at a Fabarms demo gun the guy from Italian had out there. It's called the Allsport. Neat concept to be able to swap ribs. I can't remember what he said the MSRP is but for sure it was under the price of a Beretta 686.

First off, thanks for coming out and giving the gun a go. Second, the price for the Elos N2 Allsport is $3279.99. If you want to try it out again, we have two demo guns at the shop we can loan out.

 

[Falconflyer]

I see 686 SP I’s for $3300 and SP I Sporting models for $3650 so the price difference is negligible.

 

[Italian Sporting Goods]

I see 686 SP I’s for $3300 and SP I Sporting models for $3650 so the price difference is negligible.

While the 686 is an excellent shotgun just based on track record alone, you should really be comparing the price of a Beretta that comes with similar features as the Elos N2. Forget about the quick release rib and the changeable comb, the Beretta that comes with an adjustable comb and extended chokes is the 690. A 690 with B-Fast adjustable comb is $4,259.99. Almost $1000 more before taxes.

 

[Falconflyer]

Fair enough but the gun in question was the 686 SPI not the 690, that’s why I used it for a comparison.
If it were me and regardless of model, I’d get the Beretta with a non adjustable stock and have an aftermarket adjustable comb installed, if I needed it. In fact I’d probably do that with a Fabarm too.

 

[hogiron]

Value means nothing if the shotgun doesn't fit you, and Browning and Beretta, are pretty much opposites fit wise. But if you go with an adjustable comb, you can pretty much take comb out of the equation. Personally, I see way more Brownings than Berettas these days, and the Citori CX is a good shotgun for the price.

agreed, good post