Is a semi worth it

A gas operated semi auto, will greatly reduce felt recoil of heavy waterfowl loads, that is a good enough reason for me. For upland birds, I will stick with a SxS.
 
Last edited:
Yes. I'm not a big spender, but I will shoot a semi for birds as long as I'm legally allowed to. I loved my fast-shooting Winchester pump; I could probably pull the trigger as fast as I could shoot any semi, but I noticed I started killing more birds I shot at, as soon as I switched. So did the people I hunted with.

FWIW, I know people with Stoegers who've done exceptionally well with them and no problems. Baikal gas guns also have a very good rep for reliability--my MP153 has been flawless, except two fte malfunctions in extremely cold weather when I had slacked off on cleaning. You should be able to pick up a reliable auto for $500 with careful shopping. Don't fall into the silly $1500 shotgun trap. Those mid-to-high end autos are lovely to shoot, certainly much better-balanced than my Russian gun, but they are no more reliable, and if you're REALLY hunting in marshes, woods, etc., they're just one more thing to fuss over. This is coming from a guy who almost exclusively hunts salt marshes, or from canoes. Working guns are going to get banged up, so don't buy something you'll cry about if it gets nicked.

EDIT: I haven't watched them in the EE lately, but Rem 1100s used to be very well-priced in there, with the only problem being that you tended to be restricted to only 2 3/4 shells or only 3-inch shells. I think a 3-inch 1100 would be a good budget gun, and if I wanted to spend more, I'd buy a newer autoloader with inertia-driven system (Stoeger or Benelli). Used Baikals are getting harder to find, and I wouldn't buy the MP155 unless I knew it was a solid gun. I have no experience with new Brownings, and the older A5s are classics, but not always conducive to steel shot, etc.

You can always buy a used gun and if you like shooting a semi, move up to a better one. That's what I did, sort of.
 
I am a semi fan as well. Some will argue a pump is more reliable, but I do not see a good reason to have to manually cycle a shotgun in this day and age.
 
While i use and love my semis i grew up with a pump ithaca 37. Ill always be a pump guy but as nice as my berettas are id take sxs guns over them with the exception of hunting the big water lakes in my kayak. For that i prefer the ease of a semi auto
 
I will be the first to say stick to the pump shotgun (wingmaster) good old school reliability and you do not have to worry about dings and scratches. You will have no issues using it as a canoe paddle and know it will work each time you pull the trigger
 
I shot a super nova for years. All my buddies shot autos so I bucked up and bought a SBE 2 LH at the time. I have not shot the super nova since. Autos take a little more TLC to run reliably, but once you shoot one, you'll never go back to a pump!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom