buying a used over under for trap mainly

ROBPECKFORD

ROBPECKFORD

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hey there. we shoot trap singles mainly at my club and I'd like to buy an over under. I currently have two beretta semi autos and I like them. my dad has a bt 99 and I enjoy that too. I have an option if getting an older Winchester 101 30" fixed full chokes from 1967... it's been used.. appears to be in decent shape 900$... another guy has a citori newer model 28" barrels with a bunch of removable chokes (2) extra diana chokes for 1700$... I'm thinking maybe I would be better off to save my money for the citori? the Winchester appears to be a trap specific gun tho and might perform better. thoughts?
 
For your stated purposes removable choke tubes offer no advantage. Modified, improved modified or full is all you will ever need for trap singles which is why most trap gun doubles are choked modified and full, modified is perfect at 16-20 yards and the full choke barrel offers some advantage at longer distances. This combo is also preferred by most trap shooters for doubles. You will probably notice that anyone (including yourself) using a choke tubed gun with one pipe eventually settles on one choke after a little experimentation and never changes it. Both the Winchester 101 and the Browning Citori are proven as sound reliable guns capable of digesting a truckload of ammo over years and years, however the older 101 may be difficult to get parts for someday. If the condition and apparent usage appear similar, the best advice is always to try both out if you can and buy the one that fits you best. Personally if condition was equal and the fit was similar I would probably pick the 101 because of the 30" barrels, the Citori sounds like a field gun because of the 28" barrels, usually longer barrels are preferred for trap. Given equal very good to excellent condition, the 101 is priced about right, the Citori too high in my opinion.
 
Well....your choices are all valid.To me,it would sure be nice to have a chance and shoot them.I don’t believe as much as a trap type gun as much as a gun that fits,balances and swings to your liking.
 
right on.. one thing I was worried about would be if they do get around to banning lead shot with the removable choke tubes they would shoot steel already or its a quick fix for steel shot...
 
for steel it depends on when the steel law came into effect. I forget the year but some shotguns will be OK, if made before that year as the manufactures started to make steel rated shotguns before that date as they knew that the law was coming. Some models were not.
It would be best to find out what year the guns were made and check with the manufacturer. to be safe. and it is not a quick fix to change over for steel shot. and chokes for steel and those for lead are not the same. also barrels for the two are not the same.
 
ROBPECKFORD said:
hey there. we shoot trap singles mainly at my club and I'd like to buy an over under. I currently have two beretta semi autos and I like them. my dad has a bt 99 and I enjoy that too. I have an option if getting an older Winchester 101 30" fixed full chokes from 1967... it's been used.. appears to be in decent shape 900$... another guy has a citori newer model 28" barrels with a bunch of removable chokes (2) extra diana chokes for 1700$... I'm thinking maybe I would be better off to save my money for the citori? the Winchester appears to be a trap specific gun tho and might perform better. thoughts?
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IMO. If you're willing to spend $1700 on the Citori (which I'm guessing is a field gun based on the barrel length) I'd look at the Citori CXT. You'd get a new trap gun for a little more and it would also work great for sporting clays.
 
ROBPECKFORD said:
hey there. we shoot trap singles mainly at my club and I'd like to buy an over under. I currently have two beretta semi autos and I like them. my dad has a bt 99 and I enjoy that too. I have an option if getting an older Winchester 101 30" fixed full chokes from 1967... it's been used.. appears to be in decent shape 900$... another guy has a citori newer model 28" barrels with a bunch of removable chokes (2) extra diana chokes for 1700$... I'm thinking maybe I would be better off to save my money for the citori? the Winchester appears to be a trap specific gun tho and might perform better. thoughts?
Click to expand...

You will be over paying... I was at the Orangeville Ontario gun show last month and I had a minty Winchester 101 and a Browning Citori on the table and I had no takers. The 101 has 30" barrels, full and IM and I had it on the table for $700 and no one looked at it twice. The Citori with the 28" barrels and 4 removable chokes drew a bunch of attention but no one wanted to pony up the $1000 for it.

You will find what you are looking for, at your price point but whether you will get your money back out of the gun is hard to say unless you hunt with it often. Neither are really designated trap guns but if it was my choice, I would grab the Citori. The lock up is so nice, even when compared to my Silver Pigeon II. So on my table, I also had a newer Citori trap gun with 30" barrels and a set of 6 Invector Plus Diamond Chokes and a Browning case for $1600. As I tried explaining to someone at the show, the Chokes themselves are over $600 and case alone is over $200... still no takers. People are either cheap or stupid or both. I am not hurting for money so back in the vault they go, maybe pass them down to my grandkids or something. I just brought them to the show because I traded 4 safes for an actual vault and I am still running out of room.

My point is if you are patient, you will save yourself a bunch of money and to be honest, at the prices I had my O/U at, I still would have made a bit of money. Good luck
 
Consider a new BT99. Less money than the used Citori and it's a proven dedicated singles trap gun. If you're into doubles then you need another gun....never a bad thing :)
 
great advice.... I laughed at your comment about cheap and stupid... may be some truth to it that's why I found it funny... anyways... I traded my beretta a300 outlander semi auto 12 gauge black synthetic 28 in barrel and cash for a nice browning ultra xtr.. 30" barrels.. only thing is it has fixed chokes.... that doesn't bother me but if I go to sell it the nit pickers will complain about it...
 
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