Good shotgun to shoot clays on family owned land?

ravenzoom

ravenzoom

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I'm looking for a nice shotgun to shoot clays on a land my family owns. I purchased a clay thrower and I would like to shoot clays just for fun. I'm not joining a club or anything. My budget is about $1500. I'm a left-handed shooter if that matters, but I'd probably shoot with my father sometimes who has no shotguns and is a righty. I prefer firearms made of wood for the look (but not an absolute necessity) and I want a shotgun that is easy to clean and maintain. I was looking at a Browning BT-99, but I would like opinions from other people with more experience since I have never shot a shotgun before. I'm not in a hurry to buy so it could be this year or the next (if someone heard of some new exciting shotgun coming to the market next year). Thanks for your help.
 
Aside from that little tidbit of information, who knew? You can't go wrong with a BT99. Buy it used and you can resell it and get your money out of it. It won't break either. For 1500.00 you can buy a lot of different used and new shotguns. What else will you be doing with it? Hunting? If you are just shooting clays on the farm than 1500.00 is far more than you need to spend. There are 1100s and 870s in the EE right now for under 500.00.
 
Holy! A few of us used to get together a couple times a year and shoot at clays on a Sunday afternoon. I shot with my Dad's old Tobin double, both barrels full choke. The other guys used their standard new and old pump guns, all with full choke. We had a ball, used any and every kind of shotshell, and even managed to hit the odd clay. By the end of the day, we would all shoot at the same time at one poor clay.
 
I have some nice shotguns but my go to is a Mossberg 3 barrel combo in camo that I picked up a few years ago (I paid $500 but they were recently as low as $399 somehow, Avg 600)....it works great and I have no fear or it getting knocked around. The most economical classy shotgun that I really like as well is the Churchill Orcap 2, this shotgun looks like the goods and costs all in about $1000. Both will do you well. Also if you watch the EE a Browning Auto 5 can be had for between $300-700 depending on condition. They are fantastic shotguns and I tend to shoot my best rounds when I bring that one out for trap. Plus loading an Auto 5 is a thing in itself. The only issue with the Auto 5's are that the older Belgian barrels were not suitable for Steel shot.
 
Suggest you get a pump action 12 gauge with removable chokes. You have a variety of manufacturers - Remington, Mossberg, Browning, Winchester, Weatherby. All these guns have a neutral cast, thus suitable for left or right handed shooters. The Browning is bottom eject, which makes it even more suitable.
Otherwise, if you get into more expensive over and unders, they often have a left or a right hand cast. Beware of the cheaper over and unders, they are generally a poor investment.
 
cosmic said:
Suggest you get a pump action 12 gauge with removable chokes. You have a variety of manufacturers - Remington, Mossberg, Browning, Winchester, Weatherby. All these guns have a neutral cast, thus suitable for left or right handed shooters. The Browning is bottom eject, which makes it even more suitable.
Otherwise, if you get into more expensive over and unders, they often have a left or a right hand cast. Beware of the cheaper over and unders, they are generally a poor investment.
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^this. I prefer my Citori now, but that's a recent development. I shot clays with old Remington 870s and 11-48s for over 30 years, and an 870 is still with me nearly every time I go to do that. I think if you're that new to shotguns, cosmic is 100% right. Get a pump, learn it well, spend lots of $ on ammo and clays, etc. I think you'll appreciate an over/under ALLOT more once you have a pile of experience with field guns. 870s are very easy guns to work on too, not that mine really ever needed it.

If you still want to use a good part of your budget, make the 870 a newer Wingmaster, vent rib barrel, RemChoke (interchangeable choke tubes) Should be very possible to pick-up a like-new one in the $700-$800 range. Maybe a little more/less, haven't looked in a while.

Oh yeah, and have fun! Most of my clay shooting is done exactly the same. Decent-ish spring thrower on a friend's farm. :)
 
You can pick up a decent used over under for $1500 or less on the EE. They don't discriminate against you lefties as much :)

I know a lot of guys shoot doubles with a pump, but it's a hell of a lot easier with a semi or a double. And for casual clay shooting, it's nice to have another shell immediately available in case you miss with the first one.
 
It seems it's between pump or over and under according to your feedback. I'll look at your suggestions, thanks a lot guys!
 
woodlotowner said:
Think this through now. Clays make one hell of a mess you will be bard pressed to clean up. Family may not be over appreciative of that. Ask me how I know this...
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I've never shot clays, so obviously I don't know how messy it is. However, there's a forest on the land. Perhaps I could shoot the clays towards the forrest if it makes too much of a mess. Thanks for pointing that out.
 
BPS is a good choice for your circumstances as are over unders. After shooting a little more, I’ve gravitated to a Beretta 687 sporting I picked up used for ~$1200. My plain old 870 express does fit me great though and I do shoot very well with it and tend to use it when I can beat something up in the Bush. But if it’s just safe to truck to trap range/farm and back, it’s the OU.

With shotguns you can’t go wrong with the 3 B’s: Beretta, Browning, Benelli
 
i agree with the get a browning BPS if you are shooting with a righty and a lefty, bottom dump. shot my buddies 20g version; what a great gun to shoot
 
ravenzoom said:
I've never shot clays, so obviously I don't know how messy it is. However, there's a forest on the land. Perhaps I could shoot the clays towards the forrest if it makes too much of a mess. Thanks for pointing that out.
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we've done exactly this for 40 yrs.

we stand on small ridge in old farm field. We face the same section of bush, shoot over a patch of ground that already has a lot of rocks.

As a kid my job was to after the shoot to collect the big pieces. I got to set those up and shoot with my BB gun :) Recycling at its best.

The rest the mower either crushes or chops. you don't walk there in bare feet though...

As well, any wood that is behind where we shoot never becomes firewood. Don't wan to ruin a blade on Lead.
 
I would go to your nearest gun store and find one that FITS you first off. Everyone is different from stock to the rib (if equipped), length of pull etc. etc. Since you will be sharing it with a right hand shooter, look at doubles of over/under this will eliminated that issue, if you want a pump look for something that has a bottom eject instead of a side eject, like an Ithica. Since it sounds likes you just want to do this for fun like me keep it simple and cheap. As for the clays making a mess, unless you are shooting boxes and boxes a weekend every weekend I wouldnt be concerned but you may want to run it by the family in case. They do mulch up with a lawn mower but wear some eye protection, and you could always just shoot black clays so you dont see the orange on the ground and move the thrower around from time to time this will help stop the clays from making a concentrated mess.
 
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