Wanting a Semi-auto

TransAm1991

TransAm1991

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Windsor, Ontario
Went skeet shooting today, great time, used my 870, hit maybe half of what was sent out to me, mostly because I either forgot to chamber a round, or forgot the safety was on...

Anyway, I tried a few Semi-autos while I was out there, one that really struck me was a Beretta, older model 12 gauge, beautiful gun. But for some reason it wouldn't cycle the trap loads, you would have to manually rack the bolt, it seemed to be that the gun didn't have a chance to warm up, but I'm not too familiar with this firing system.

What I'm looking for is something reliable, that I can go out on a cold day, and not have to run a dozen 3" shells to get the bugger to warm up.
I was considering a Mossberg 930, I've heard a lot of good things, but the main concern is the weight, the Beretta I fired was lighter than my 870!

Lemme know guys, it's appreciated!
 
Lots of great semis out there. Nearly anything from Beretta or Benelli would be awesome but none of them are cheap. Can you narrow it down by price range for us?

Did you try out Beretta 303 at the range by any chance? Most won't cycle light loads and are not well suited to shooting clays.
 
Beretta A303's will shoot light loads if you have a 2 3/4" chambered barrel , the 3" barrels will rarely shoot light loads. A 3" barrel can be modified easily to shoot light loads but will no longer be suitable for heavy loads as the recoil will damage the gun. I have an A303 that I use for hunting with a 3" barrel which shoots hunting loads only and a 2 3/4" slug barrel that will fire any light load. If you want it just for trap its an easy fix.
 
My main concern, is most semi shotguns I look at don't show 2 3/4, only 3", I was just peruzing the Cabelas website real quick, would these normally fire light loads without issues?

I'm really considering saving a bit more, and going with the Browning Silver, I've heard some good stuff about those.
 
My 391 Urika cycled everything, light or heavy 2 3/4 or 3 inch. Used will be on the top end of your price range, but IMO one of the best trap options out there... Great in the fields too!
 
I looked at a lot of guns in this size and price and came up with the Baikel mp-153. Not a bad word said other than parts have to be ordered on line. It will shoot 2 3/4 but you need to adjust the gas system. It also has inter-changeable chokes (included). I do not know of anyone using them for skeet so no one really knows if they will stand up. You'll find plenty of detractors but no proof of anything other than the same old horror story about some guy who had a bad experience with one gun that he bought. You'll find stories like that about every gun ever sold. I personnaly had an 870 and I have a friend who also has an 870, junk. The most uncyclabe POS he or I have ever used. I sold mine and his sits in a closet so there you have it, a bad story about the 870. The Mossberg 930 falls into the same catagory as the Baikel but the Baikel seems to have the edge. The Mossberg excells in customer service. Price is a dead heat. Buy these guns in plastic, not wood.
 
The 391's cycle anything, no adjustment needed. If you look at whats used by most of the dove shooting resorts in Argentina, they are mostly 391's, shooting thousands of rounds of 20 gauge shell's a week. Pretty good indication on the reliability of the 391.
 
Change barrel

Superkeen95 said:
Lots of great semis out there. Nearly anything from Beretta or Benelli would be awesome but none of them are cheap. Can you narrow it down by price range for us?

Did you try out Beretta 303 at the range by any chance? Most won't cycle light loads and are not well suited to shooting clays.
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The only way to get a 3" A303 to cycle light loads is to get another barrel for it.I have the 3" factory barrel with mobil chokes for waterfowl and picked up a NIB Browning 2 3/4 chambered /invector choked B-80 barrel [Made by Beretta for Browning it's really a Beretta 302 ] The barrels are all interchangeable 300,301,302,303,304 European + B-80.......Another way with a 3" barrell is to have a smith open up the gas ports to shoot light loads but you can never shoot 3 " in it again without bashing the snot out of the frame......Harold
 
Argentina is mostly older Beretta semi's, Benelis and the old A5 Browning....cause they stand up to hundreds of thousands of rounds and keep on ticking............Harold
 
Boulevard said:
I looked at a lot of guns in this size and price and came up with the Baikel mp-153. Not a bad word said other than parts have to be ordered on line. It will shoot 2 3/4 but you need to adjust the gas system. It also has inter-changeable chokes (included). I do not know of anyone using them for skeet so no one really knows if they will stand up. You'll find plenty of detractors but no proof of anything other than the same old horror story about some guy who had a bad experience with one gun that he bought. You'll find stories like that about every gun ever sold. I personnaly had an 870 and I have a friend who also has an 870, junk. The most uncyclabe POS he or I have ever used. I sold mine and his sits in a closet so there you have it, a bad story about the 870. The Mossberg 930 falls into the same catagory as the Baikel but the Baikel seems to have the edge. The Mossberg excells in customer service. Price is a dead heat. Buy these guns in plastic, not wood.
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Whoa, this thing is intense.
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Buy what you think will work for you and heed all that you hear, listen to every opinion but in my mind buying used is buying used. It may have been worth 2000 dollars 10 years ago but that was 10 years ago and god know how many shells ago. Its not like someone paid 2000 dollars for a gun and put it in a closette just so he could sell it to you for 500 bucks. That gun got used, it got really used and its not like a gun has a shell counter. Any used gun needs to be inspected, it needs to be declared safe, that costs money. Throw in a few un-forseen repairs and now your 500 dollar used gun starts looking kind of expensive and looking kind of old. New means new technology, new means warranty, new means 2 crazy french Canadians showing you just what to expect from a brand new 500 dollar Baikel. The Baikel has its weak points but it is not with the gun, its parts. Somewhere in here there is a thread where a guy asks about parts for a Baikel and a gentlemen from out west quickly jumps in and offers whatever parts he needs. Not perfect, but workable. Buy from a good dealer and ask about parts before you buy. Maybe buying a Mossberg is the better choice.
 
Its a little different, but i have a redneck friend that's put 5-10k trap level rounds through his 5-10 year old Rem 11-87, usually in 5 round bursts and it's stood up very very well with minimal maintenance and no breakage. I've been pretty impressed by what that things been through.
 
Boulevard said:
Buy what you think will work for you and heed all that you hear, listen to every opinion but in my mind buying used is buying used. It may have been worth 2000 dollars 10 years ago but that was 10 years ago and god know how many shells ago. Its not like someone paid 2000 dollars for a gun and put it in a closette just so he could sell it to you for 500 bucks. That gun got used, it got really used and its not like a gun has a shell counter. Any used gun needs to be inspected, it needs to be declared safe, that costs money. Throw in a few un-forseen repairs and now your 500 dollar used gun starts looking kind of expensive and looking kind of old. New means new technology, new means warranty, new means 2 crazy french Canadians showing you just what to expect from a brand new 500 dollar Baikel. The Baikel has its weak points but it is not with the gun, its parts. Somewhere in here there is a thread where a guy asks about parts for a Baikel and a gentlemen from out west quickly jumps in and offers whatever parts he needs. Not perfect, but workable. Buy from a good dealer and ask about parts before you buy. Maybe buying a Mossberg is the better choice.
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And that's what I'm looking at, dealing with an American company like Mossberg, I can expect that if I do have a problem, they will probably have me send it to them to be repaired, or send me the part.
Where-as the Russian MP 153 is going to come packed in 6 inches of grease, and any repairs will take a month to under-take.

For the $50 difference in guns, the Mossberg looks like the way to go.
 
Buy what you think will work for you and heed all that you hear, listen to every opinion but in my mind buying used is buying used. It may have been worth 2000 dollars 10 years ago but that was 10 years ago and god know how many shells ago. Its not like someone paid 2000 dollars for a gun and put it in a closette just so he could sell it to you for 500 bucks. That gun got used, it got really used and its not like a gun has a shell counter.
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And when you inspect a gun closely, it isn't hard to determine if the gun is like new, or if it is "really used". Guns that were purchased new for $1000, can usually be purchased in very good condition for $600 to $700. I have seen more than my share of guns that were purchased, used a few times, then they sat for a few years unused, before the owner decided to sell them for a very good price.

Any used gun needs to be inspected, it needs to be declared safe, that costs money.
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I have purchased a fair number of used firearms, and I never found it necessary to pay a gunsmith to check out a single one. I am choosy about what I purchase, and I find good deals, on firearms that are in very good condition.
 
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