I refuse to shoot doubles with a pump

porterhouse

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NO MORE!

I've been shooting trap with my good 'ol Remington 870 for about 4 years, great gun, but I've been slowly moving towards games that require doubles, skeet, wobbles trap, and now sporting clays. After all that I'm fed up shooting doubles with a pump.

So the only logical thing to do is to get a new gun :D I'm looking for a reliable semi or stack barrel. Before I go to my local gun store and ask to see everything that's not a pump or single shot, I'm looking not narrow it down. Any helpful advice?

The browning silver sporting, Benelli M2 Field are looking nice from my desk chair. I only break clays, well try to, they all break when they hit the ground, so I only be shooting target loads....

Thanks in advance
 
We recently picked up a couple Savage Milano o/u shotguns from Dante's in Montreal. The price was good, $997 & they are actually made by FAIR in Italy, with the R meaning Rizzini. I had intended to have a serious look my first 20 ga, but my wife scooped the 20 ga when she saw it & I naturally grabbed the 12 ga.

Cheers
Jay
 
The Browning Silver Sporting is a good choice as is the Winchester SX3 which is pretty much the same gun as the Browning.

Although good guns I think they aren't quite as good as the Beretta 391 Sporting. The newer Beretta A400 is an impressive gun if you can stand the hideous blue receiver on the sporting model.

The Benelli M2 is a great gun but with an inertia system it will have more felt recoil than a gas-operated gun and will not handle the lighter target loads as well as the Beretta. It is more of a hunting than target gun.
 
I tried to shoot skeet with my Mossberg 500 when I first started. My old man's fast enough with a pump to get the doubles, but I'm not :(

Had a couple lemon guns in a row (a remington 1187 that wouldn't fire and an s&w that would fire when you shook the gun). I got a Beretta 391 Teknys Gold Sporting as a gift from my mother as part of an inheritance from my grandmother. Absolutely amazing wood, never fails to fire or eject, comes with a full set of stainless extended chokes. A little more expensive, but I probably won't ever buy another shotgun.
 
Be a man and buy whatever you think will break the most clays... don't worry about how the receiver clashes with your purse.... go to your local shop and shoulder a few and see what feels best... then you can spend a few extra dollars and buy the matching handbag ..... :)

P.S... if it suits you well you should keep using the 870... even if it does cause a few folks to choke on their pate and pinot grigiot......
 
Lebaron is having a sale on the A400 with the blue receiver with either kick off or the computer (whatever that's called) for under 1200 bucks.
 
anyone try a baikal O/U or semi??

I am a BIG fan of the Russian Baikal MP153. In fact, I just bought two of them from the Buffalo Gun Center in NY. I'm keeping one & I've sold the other. I bought them from the BGC because I could only find the 28 inch barrel in Canada... I wanted something a little shorter to use it for turkey & waterfowl, so I went with the 24. GREAT gun for the price!

Cheers
Jay
 
Lebaron is having a sale on the A400 with the blue receiver with either kick off or the computer (whatever that's called) for under 1200 bucks.
That's a damn good price. There'd be enough left over for the matching handbag. ;)

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If you decide to go the used gun route, a Beretta A303, A-390, A-3901 or A-391 will serve you well. They all cycle target loads reliably, and you can shoot a whole flat of shells without cleaning.

I personnally use a Browning Citori 625 as my target gun, but my hunting gun, a Beretta A-390, does just as well.
 
First let me congratulate you on your logic. FWIW I justified the O/U I use for sporting clays by not having to chase the empty hulls for reloading (that was longer ago than I care to admit :redface: ) Either action type will work well. Don't get too hung up on brand. Look for the following in a clays only gun

1) Weight to smooth our your swing and absorb recoil
2) Longer barrels for a smoother swing and a longer sighting plane
3) A gun that fits. It should shoot where you look and not beat up your shoulder or face
4) Built to withstand many thousands of rounds. A clays gun will see more shells in a month than some hunting guns see in a lifetime.

Item 4 has been the source of flame wars on the internet for years. I will not tell you you must get brand X to have a reliable gun, but the rule of thumb, especially with O/U's, is you get what you pay for
 
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The Weatherby SA08 has some seriously beautiful wood with a satin finish and matte black metal. And is well less than a grand. Its also ridiculously easy to clean and maintain and it includes two valves: one for light loads another for heavy loads. The swapping out of the valve takes seconds.

P
 
since you shot over 4 years and looking to buy specific clay breaker,
Im sure you know how prices of sporting, trap shotguns tend to go over price.
From my experience, I have had browning XT, Beretta SV10 Prevail custom, Beretta 303a, Remingtom 1100, Beretta Urika 391a.

With these in my safe.. the first one i grab for Trap is Beretta 391 Trap series with Higher vent ribs. Its cheap and can perform very well. never jammed on me. however my 391 does have mods with action pinned for shells dropping infront of u rather then flyin out to other dude beside me, custom hydrolic absorbent. but then it still only costed me $3000 with all the mods VS SV10 custom costin $8000.
Bottom line, Grab what fits you. it can be a $200 dollar junk semi that fits your shoulder and eyes that perfectly line up with barrel without Wiggle.

My question if what do you shoot the most? trap or sporting? get something that you shoot the most i guess. But most important is try before you shoot. Trap club members are nice enough to let you try their babies so ask and try them before you buy anything.
 
I mostly shoot trap, but the thing is I cannot shoot a proper trap gun for the life of me. I've tried at neumerous times during my "elustrious" career but just can't wrap my head around "aim under the bird" think. This is the big factor pushing me towards a "sporting" model.
 
Seems like you shoot like me. I can't use a high vent trap gun but I can run with the big guys using any of my pumps for trap. As mentioned try as many guns as you can. But maybe an ordinary field gun is best for you. Its nice to have a real nice pretty gun but a cheap 1100 or mossberg 930 can break more clays then any top makers gun if the shooter knows how to use it.
 
Bryenn brings up an interesting approach. From all the internet Remington bashing, most people who recommend an 1100 are flamed because the guns are "unreliable" and "need to be cleaned more often"
.H:S:
I love my 1100's, all 4 of them. With minimal maintenance they will be dependable and are VERY soft shooting. In addition, since you are familiar with the 870, the sight picture for an 1100 will be almost identical. See if you can find an 1100 sporting in 12 gauge. With the RemChokes you can shoot any game. The weight will balance out nice for clay games. If you shop around you should find wood that will be easy on the eyes. All in all you could make a worse choice
 
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