First shotgun purchase. Trap and Skeet - O/U recommendations unto $1500

I like my Silver Pigeon, my Citori and my 101 in that order but if you shoot them long enough, you kinda want to try something new and the fact that everyone and their uncle has one at the range, psychologically makes things feel very vanilla. Mind you, these are the words of someone who poses as much as I shoot because to be honest, I am not that great of a shot but when I do bring something interesting to the range, my status automatically gets elevated from all the attention I get. Certain guns are great conversation starters such as my Holland and Holland and even though it is horrible for skeet, it might as well have smashed all the birds the way people fond over it.lol

So for this season, I want something as reliable as the "Bs" but still comfortable and interesting. Unlike the OP, I don't have a price range, mostly because I am irresponsible with money but if my budget was around $1500, I might get a Franchi!?! They are not bad guns and the company is now owned by (you guessed it) Beretta. For a bit more money (about twice as much) I am leaning more towards a Guerini for the range and if I could find a bare bones Fausti, that will be my new upland gun.
 
I love my ruger red label with 26" barrels. According to the net they barely even fire and if they do you wont hit anything with the shorter barrels... but I somehow manage. As some guys already said, how the gun fits you individually is the most important.
 
Are you absolutely stuck on an o/u? At $1,500 what you are going to end up with is a heavily used Beretta or Browning or a Turkish gun that may or may not last. That same money however would acquire a very good semi-auto.
 
Arietta said:
Are you absolutely stuck on an o/u? At $1,500 what you are going to end up with is a heavily used Beretta or Browning or a Turkish gun that may or may not last. That same money however would acquire a very good semi-auto.
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I would give the same advice if trap was not in the picture.
 
Westward1 said:
I would give the same advice if trap was not in the picture.
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For the new shooter looking for a decent all-around clay-busting gun, there may come a point that nuance between skeet and trap and sporting clays means needing to invest in an assortment of shotguns. I'm wondering if a decent semi is good starter advice or if a new shooter would be better-advised to go straight for an O/U? Or to focus on skeet first and leave trap as an advanced thing for a different day and another gun?
 
For me the main consideration is fit.

if I am shooting only trap I would consider a Remington 1100 Classic Trap model, new i think they are around $1500.00

when I add into my gun choice trap, sporting clays and skeet i use a Remington 1100 competition synthetic. I was looking at Reliable the other day and they had 2 synthetics in stock 1 new @ $1425 and 1 used @ $1045 right in your range.

I have shot a synthetic since 2016 never had a failure
 
My wife and I have been shooting trap for seven months.

We didn't really have a budget and started with cheap guns. She was getting bruised by her Mossberg 500 and upgraded to a Beretta a400, about $1500 used, adjustable left-right and four comb heights, and a very soft shooting gun with kick-off.

I was looking at adding centre bead, and adjustable butt to my upland o/u hunting gun then case across the Canuck Trap Combo. $1500, adjustable butt, comb, and rail so it fits. 32" ported double and unsingle barrels with mid beads. Barrel select switch on safety. Five chokes. Hard case. Palm swell (right handed). Some sharp edges you will want to clean up but an awesome deal.

When someone dismisses all Turkish made guns ask yourself why would all twenty or so factories be the same? and why wouldn't they use CNC tools like factories all around the world? Remember what old timers used to say about Japanese cars.

Two options off the top of my head.
 
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Low Velocity said:
My wife and I have been shooting trap for seven months.

We didn't really have a budget and started with cheap guns. She was getting bruised by her Mossberg 500 and upgraded to a Beretta a400, about $1500 used, adjustable left-right and four comb heights, and a very soft shooting gun with kick-off.

I was looking at adding centre bead, and adjustable butt to my upland o/u hunting gun then case across the Canuck Trap Combo. $1500, adjustable butt, comb, and rail so it fits. 32" ported double and unsingle barrels with mid beads. Barrel select switch on safety. Five chokes. Hard case. Palm swell (right handed). Some sharp edges you will want to clean up but an awesome deal.

When someone dismisses all Turkish made guns ask yourself why would all twenty or so factories be the same? and why wouldn't they use CNC tools like factories all around the world? Remember what old timers used to say about Japanese cars.

Two options off the top of my head.
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When you are getting two barrel sets, adjustable comb, adjustable butt, and rail, as well as porting, for $1500, they have to cut corners somewhere. Put 25,000 rounds through the gun, then post a review.
 
A few Canuck Trap guns have started showing up at our club, neither has enough ammo through to base an opinion on them yet. I have noticed a few things though, the wood on both is very nice, and finish is decent. Until we see some high mileage it will be har to base an opinion on them, as Stubblejumper said, at that price compromises have to be made. I've looked at them, for the same money a BT-99 can be had, that gun has a proven track record. The Remington 870 and 1100 Classic Trap are in the same price range for a new trap gun as well.
 
Maritime Storm said:
A few Canuck Trap guns have started showing up at our club, neither has enough ammo through to base an opinion on them yet. I have noticed a few things though, the wood on both is very nice, and finish is decent. Until we see some high mileage it will be har to base an opinion on them, as Stubblejumper said, at that price compromises have to be made. I've looked at them, for the same money a BT-99 can be had, that gun has a proven track record. The Remington 870 and 1100 Classic Trap are in the same price range for a new trap gun as well.
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It may be several years before we see the long term durability, as most people that purchase these guns are not high volume shooters. It will take most of those shooters 5-10 years to shoot 25,000 rounds.
 
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Turkish guns also have very little resale value. In my limited experience with these guns I have seen one cracked stock on a fairly new gun, all the way around the wrist and many light primer strikes. None of these guns have shot more than a few thousand rounds. With the present situation in the middle east and Turkey's reputation as a local sh!t disturber, parts might be hard to find soon too.
 
Citori all the way, can be had between about 950 for an older fixed choke and a bit marked up, to around 1500 for a great condition removable choke model.
If your looking to really go cheap, but still want solid, avoid the turkish crap, and look at the russians. A Baikal is clunky, ugly, kick real bad if they dont fit and crudely finished, but they are really long lived guns. I've got one my uncle gave me that he shot about 5000rds a year for the past 30 years, still solid and still tight.
Those Commies know how to build reliable work horse guns, and that's what it is. You could always pretty it up yourself, not that much can be done to those horrid things
 
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