opinions on affordable over under

catnthehatt said:
I don't recall a Cooey shotgun other than single shots, and unless I'm going to cut one down for a camp gun I would not consider even looking twice at one any sooner than I would a high end Italian single shot for hunting and would never consider a Cooey for the amount of trap I shoot.
Cat
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It was a comparison in quality...as far as I know they only made single shots...and I wouldn't consider owning one either...but I'd still bet the Cooey will outlived most Turkish O/Us in any durability/longevity test.
 
VLT79 said:
It was a comparison in quality...as far as I know they only made single shots...and I wouldn't consider owning one either...but I'd still bet the Cooey will outlived most Turkish O/Us in any durability/longevity test.
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I beg top differ- I have shot a pile of ammo through some Huglus with no issues, and if you talk to the members over on the Huglu forum at Shotgunworld you will see some very high volume guns being shot.

Cat
 
catnthehatt said:
I beg top differ- I have shot a pile of ammo through some Huglus with no issues, and if you talk to the members over on the Huglu forum at Shotgunworld you will see some very high volume guns being shot.

Cat
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That's why I stated "95% of Turkish..." in my original comment and "most" in my reply. The Huglus are in a different class and aren't exactly at an entry level price like the Mossberg, Mavericks, etc. anyway...when I get to my laptop later I'm going to PM you about an old British SxS. A Thomas Bland & Sons "The Keeper's Gun"...hoping you might be to point me in the right direction!
 
VLT79 said:
That's why I stated "95% of Turkish..." in my original comment and "most" in my reply. The Huglus are in a different class and aren't exactly at an entry level price like the Mossberg, Mavericks, etc. anyway...when I get to my laptop later I'm going to PM you about an old British SxS. A Thomas Bland & Sons "The Keeper's Gun"...hoping you might be to point me in the right direction!
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Thomas Bland? I sure can, the brand is still going BTW!
PM me and i will give you the contact the Stateside owners, so you can get a letter of Providence!:)
Cat
 
My buddy has the Condor O/U and the side-by, both by Stoeger. They're both 20 ga. and he uses them for his fall partridge hunting. Both have performed very well and put lots of birds on the table. Are they inexpensive shotguns? Absolutely! Have they performed well? Absolutely! Understand me here, I'm not talking about theory or opinion, but fact. Sure you can buy a much better shotgun and pay accordingly. You can get more features and higher quality for your dollar. I'm not debating that at all. The shotguns don't have ejectors, just extractors, but the fit and finish are nice and very serviceable. If he was banging off hundreds of rounds shooting trap and skeet as well as hunting, maybe they'd fail under the stress. I don't know. I can only say what I've seen and experienced. We did replace the front beads with the fire sights, and that made them even better for target acquisition, and he loves them. With the 26" barrels, they are excellent for upland game. I plan to get him a turkey choke when I'm out looking around for bits and pieces. It's your call my friend, but inexpensive doesn't always equate to shoddy or poor quality. I've nailed a lot of deer with my $150. Lee Enfield sporter.
 
I haven't read any bad reviews of the Savage 555, Mossberg Silver Reserve II, or Stoeger Condor. In fact most of the reviews on the 555 and Silver Reserve II as a hunting gun I've read have been very good.

I guess it depends how much you are planning to shoot them. A hundred or so rounds a year hunting upland game birds or ducks is a completely different requirement than a couple of hundred rounds a day at the range. :)
 
I bought the Condor Competition O/U. The recoil pad is rock hard. Nobody makes a better one that fits. So its a custom grind to fit. The stock cracked at about 100 shots (4 rounds of trap) I glues it twice and finally at about 500 shots its cracked so much I got a sliver while shooting. So last week I took it in for warranty. I'll let ya know how that goes. A 5 year warranty is great except you get to foot the bill to get it there (they cover the return shipping) and you get to be without your gun. So right now I'm back to using my pump. I will probably sell it and ma up for a B gun.
 
A good number of years ago i had a Stoeger condor......the best shotgun for me for actually hitting clays and birds. The achilles heel of these was a really weak blue, so they were prone to rusting.

Never owned the Savage....but like the stoeger....i am sure they are a Turkish gun. Actually you should do some google searches on these as i believe they have a poor reputation. Just dont remember what the supposed problems were??
 
Problems I experienced with a condor was it failing to reliably reset for a second shot, I bought it used and unfortunately after the warranty period had expired. I could have invested more time and money into it but it had already burned me enough times that I had no faith in it so I used it for trade fodder. The failure to reset for the second barrel is a common complaint and some claim is caused by failing to fully open the action. This was not my experience, unless it requires a herculean effort to open it the final amount to set both hammers. Also Brazilian made not Turkish last time I looked at one.
I actually traded it plus a couple hundred dollars for a Stevens 512 which had the dubious honor of occasionally firing as soon as you switched the safety off, so this is the root of my aversion to "budget O/U's". I know I ended up sinking 700 dollars into "budget doubles" and am still currently without one, having decided to save up and look for a used B gun, franchi or similar.
Perhaps the new 555 was brought about in part due to the 512's record but I was burned too often, and while the 555 looks pretty and the one I handled felt really good I just couldn't bring myself to commit to it. Maybe in time the reviews will satisfy me and I will add on to my gun safe, but for now it isn't likely.
 
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Thanks for all the feedback guys. I really appreciate it. I just came across a Winchester model 101. Not sure of the year, but it is pre-'89. It's in excellent condition, has full and modified chokes, non-interchangeable. But it's 30" barrels. Opinions? And what should I offer if I think it's the right gun for me.
 
Nothing wrong with the 101. Just make sure the top rib is tight. There were a few years (can't remember which) where the rib had a tendency to come loose. Is it a 12 gauge? If so price would be roughly $700.00 give or take.
 
30" barrels on a double aren't necessarily a bad thing especially for a pheasant gun. Typically a double with 30" barrels will have approximately the same overall length as a pump or semi with a 28" barrel and that is generally considered an acceptable all around gun, so provided you like the weight and balance it would be a solid performer. The chokes being fixed isn't a particularly bad thing either it would be worth patterning as is for lead. Depending on what accessories may be included, its actual condition(hard to say unseen) and chamber length I would say gunsaholic is in the right ball park, assuming the gun is in good or better shape with some honest hunting wear but nothing significant or impacting function.
If you wanted to shoot steel for waterfowl consider having the chokes opened up by a gunsmith wouldn't be too costly, I think its 50 dollars a barrel locally if its up to the task.
 
You indicated you want this as a pheasnt gun. I would take 30" barrels over 26" barrels any day for pheasants. Pheasant shooting isn't always "in your face" shooting and the longer sighting plane combined with a bit of extra forward weight will contribute to a smoother flowing swing and increased follow through after the trigger is pulled. A couple quick checks on this 101 you are looking at: make sure cocking lever is centred to right of centre after closing action, left of centre means some repairs. Put a couple snap caps in the chambers and pull the trigger then open the gun to ensure the ejectors are working and that the hammers are resetting. Plus you can check if the model you are buying has inertia set hammers or mechanical. Some 101's did have inertia, all mine have had mechanical though which means you can pull the trigger twice on a set of snap caps and both hammers should fire. If after the first trigger pull you try for a second and the second hammer fails to fire give the butt a good spank from behind with an open palm and try firing the second hammer. If it works you have an inertia system trigger.
 
I really like the 101's they are very nice guns. Also Franchi makes some nice guns as well, but the prices have gone up somewhat the past year.
 
catnthehatt said:
I beg top differ- I have shot a pile of ammo through some Huglus with no issues, and if you talk to the members over on the Huglu forum at Shotgunworld you will see some very high volume guns being shot.

Cat
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A member had started a reliability test thread on a CZ Canvasback ...... last I checked was 30K shells todate since 2008. The ones that work seem to continue to work well.
 
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