Favourite Waterfowl Shotgun

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BigBraz15

CGN Regular
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Location
N.W. Alberta
I’d like to hear what your favourite waterfowl shotgun is and why.

Currently have a Weatherby SA-08, I like it and it works great. Just looking to aquire another unit and keep the SA-08 as a spare or loner unit. Starting to get more into goose and duck hunting and would be nice to have a decent spare gun also, which I think the Weatherby would fill the bill quite nicely.

Any preference on Inertia or Gas gun.

Hoping to be in the under $1k range, however if the price increase is worth it it’s not out of reach.

Looking for 12 gauge 3” maybe 3.5”.
 
I've owned a few over the years...Benelli super vinci, new Browning A5, SXP, 870 and a few single shots but my favourite so far has to be the Winchester SX3 3" with 26" barrel and mossy oak shadow grass blades camo. Seems to fit me better than any other one I've owned, it points well, sight line is great and overall feels good. I don't have a preference between gas or inertia other than inertia guns are so easy to clean. I haven't noticed much of a difference in recoil to be honest. In fact I like the SX3 so much that I have two of them! ha.
 
My favourite is my 870Express because I have history with it. It is nothing special or fancy but to me it is a duck gun. I don’t care what happens to that thing in the marsh it’s in the mud, under water, rain, snow, dogs stepping on it who cares. I dry it and wipe it when I get home no worries. It patterns Win 3” 1&1/8oz of #3’s beautifully.

Having said all that I have acquired and begun shooting a Remington Versamax which I quite like. It fits me and swings/shoots like my 870 which I like. I have no intention to use the 3&1/2” hills but I bought it for recoil mitigation. It is a crazy soft shooter Which helps with my shoulder injury and issues. I’ve used it at the club with 2&3/4” 3/4oz handloads and it cycles them just fine which is nuts for a 3&1/2” gun. At least to me it is.

Obviously fit of the gun is most important and features are nice but for me when it comes to a waterfowling rig it’s gotta be a gun you’re comfortable with using, not necessarily abusing, but using without worrying about it.
 
My favorite was my Winchester model 12, I used it for years and never once did it ever let me down. I stopped using it a few years ago, because I didn't like shooting steel shot through it. The only downfall to it was that it didn't have screw in chokes, but that's okay for its purpose Now I use a Benelli Super Nova, its a beautiful shooting gun. And with the synthetic stock I don't feel bad about getting it wet.
 
In years past ,an old 3 inch Browning Auto 5.Of late years, a Winchester Super-X Model 3 field grade, 3 inch.
 
I have owned several, including the SBE2, the A400, and the SX-3, and for the past five years, I have used the SX-3 exclusively. All three are excellent shotguns, but I shoot the SX-3 better than the other two.
 
I am old-fashioned. I prefer a SxS double barrel. I've never been able to shoot a pump gun very well (prefer my left hand to be closer to the receiver) and I've had less than great luck with the couple of old semis I've been given (Winchester & Browning). Just can't seem to keep them clean & functioning when conditions get bad. No problems with cheap old doubles (currently Baikal). Always function and can use as a crutch, oar, pokey stick when needed. That said, I'm getting older and my shoulder is getting tired of the punishment. I may yet try one of the new generation auto-loaders.
 
My main waterfowl gun is a Mossberg 935 which I love. But if push came to shove and I had to pick a favorite, it would be my Browning Silver for ducks and my Browning Gold for geese.
 
While I do not hunt waterfowl any more, the shotgun I used the most was a M870 Special Purpose with 26" bbls. Synthetic stock was long ago swapped out for an early walnut police stock for a nice upgrade. Theses SPs were some of the very early 870s with a matte finish, but had much nicer finish than the Express. In the end, the Express took the sales and the SP was discontinued.

I bought it new when they were discontinued and still own it.
 
M2. After used and abused by the 3 1/2's for years, I smartened up and realized that a 3" gun will do it just as well without beating up myself or my wallet.
 
For waterfowl in my kayak or rough boats i use an older beretta a303 3" 26" mod barrel. For decoying ducks i also use a charles daly 20ga. For in the marshes or fields i use my beretta a400 xplors in 12 or 20ga.
I also mix in a variety of sxs guns
 
I've shot alot of different makes, models and action types and after all these years and all those guns I have really come to like shooting a semi and in particular I really like shooting the SX3 20ga I acquired the winter before last. So much so in fact that after the first season with it I sold all my 12 gauge field guns and even my 20ga Citori XS Skeet gun as I prefer the SX3 for skeet too!
 
the spank said:
I've shot alot of different makes, models and action types and after all these years and all those guns I have really come to like shooting a semi and in particular I really like shooting the SX3 20ga I acquired the winter before last. So much so in fact that after the first season with it I sold all my 12 gauge field guns and even my 20ga Citori XS Skeet gun as I prefer the SX3 for skeet too!
Click to expand...

That’s pretty good praise for the SX3, I haven’t shot one myself but have heard lots of good things.

Also to your point about the 20ga I think I’d really like to try a 20ga auto one day soon. The newer loads are really bringing it back into the waterfowl game. I’d love to use some 20ga BOSS bismuth loads, I think they would be more than enough for anything a person could want to do.
 
I had Rem 870 Express in 3.5 = horrible gun that even jammed in a weird way. Sold it. Bought Stoeger 2000 - 15 years and going strong. Lots of geese and ducks.
 
I got my 1st Remington 870 12ga when I was just 14 and I have probably owned a dozen or so over the years. I did try a Rem 1187 for a number of years but I kept trying to pump the darn thing after a shot....so went back to the 870....So yes it WAS my favorite waterfowl gun.....but my new favorite is my Beretta A-400 Extreme.....It is just a pleasure to shoot and defiantly the softest recoiling 12ga I have ever used....easy to clean as well. Took a few rounds to get used to the very slight flex you feel from the rubber stock dampener and I had to take out a spacer in the recoil pad to get it to fit me better, when I was wearing a heavy jacket....but there in lies the beauty of these new shotguns today....you can do that and then put it back in for shooting when no jackets are needed.

Jim
 
For the last 8 years my go to duck shotgun has been my 870 Express in 20 gauge, reliable, dependable and makes me look good with the shots I've made with it, my 12 ga's stay in the safe these days, as do the over unders, that little 870 just works so well, I'm definately stuck on it for now,
 
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