hunting vs sporting gun.

[ruger22]

I am thinking to upgrade to a nice OU sporting gun with a fiber front site and no porting.
This would be my 1 all round gun.
95% of my shooting is clays.

Sure I would love more hunting, but...
Time, who to go with, weather, you know.

Well meaning guys keep pointing me to hunting guns, what they like.

What are the differences in a hunting vs sporting gun?
Anything wrong with hunting with a 28" OU sporting gun with a fiber front site and no porting?

 

[Claybuster]

There is nothing wrong with using your clay gun for hunting. In earlier years when money was a little tighter instead of buying an assortment of cheap guns I bought one decent quality pre-owned o/u that was used for everything.

The only possible drawback is gun weight on long walks in the fields as clay guns generally are a little heavier. But the benefits outweigh the drawbacks because you are using a gun that you are familiar with and is of higher quality than what you might have otherwise.

The other advantage of buying a good gun is that it retains value. My old o/u shot upland game, waterfowl, crows, coyotes and a box car load of clays at least. The gun looked a little rough but it was still solid and locked up tight. A little sprucing up of the barrels and wood and I sold the gun for just slightly less than I paid for it.

The only suggestion I'd make is 30" barrels instead of 28 inch. I like them a little better than 28" for clay guns, it doesn't make that much difference in the field and longer barrels tend to make a gun easier to sell.