Over and under?

[Claybuster]

yep if you like your cheap o/u. enjoy it, and never shoot around with a high end gun. It wiil ruin you for lfe

It will. Evil are the Perazzi and Kreighoff owners who upon seeing a newbie offer their gun with a handful of shells and say, "Try this one."

It's the same with the BMW owner who suggests, "Take it for a spin." Or the Rolex owner who says, "Try it on."

You are never quite the same afterwards shooting your Baikal, driving your Hyundai or wearing your Timex even though you'll break as many targets, get where you want to go and know what time it is.

 

[beretta boy]

I can understand a new shooter wanting an O/U. I did back when I first started. A good used semi-auto is less expensive and softer recoiling. It should still retain its resale value if the desire to upgrade is there at a later point in time. It's a good platform to learn the sport. If looks are important some of the target grade ones have beautiful wood

Great point ... why an O/U anyway if you don't know whether you will continue with the sport ????

I got bitten by the Trap bug as an 18 year old ... and yeah, money was tight. Best deal for me at the time was an 870 Remington pump ( Wingmaster ... the Express had not arrived on the scene back then ) I really wanted a Model 12 Winchester Trap .. but alas, they had been out of production for about 5 years then ... and a good used one cost more than a new Remington !!!

I shot the pump for several years before I could afford my first new O/U ... and by then had decided I like Skeet more than Trap. Really glad I hadn't shelled out big bucks for an O/U Trap gun !
Since then ... and about 50 shotguns later, I have an O/U, SxS, pump & auto-loaders in the cabinet. Just take a look around at a big shoot to see what the majority of shooters are using, you'll get a good idea of what's what. Back in the day I watched Kaye Ohye & Susan Nattrass tearing them up with (the then rather new) Perazzi MX-8's, but had also watched Lee Braun shoot his Remington 1100 to great success and Brad Dysinger just smokin' them with an out of the box Model 12 Trap ! Not so much the gun as the gunner ... but to enjoy any sport, decent equipment is a must. If you're going to buy it, buy something both suited to the purpose and of a quality that won't let you down.

 

[mrgoat]

Why an Over and Under..?? Because a good one with a little care will be the most reliable shooting tool you own and without it's consistent reliability you will be a frustrated struggling shooter. A clay target shooter has several things on his mind when he steps onto the pad to shoot, one thing that should never be on his mind is if his gun to going to go "bang" or not. Buy yourself the very best OU that you can afford that fits "you", and then go learn to do your part by grinding up targets with it. Keep in mind you do get what you pay for and many shooters will put thousands upon thousands of rounds through an OU without a malfunction, and do nothing to it but clean it. Personally I used Winchester 101's because it fit me, had mechanical triggers, and it was very reliable. Shot it for over ten years putting tens of thousand's of rounds through it without a single issue. There are many other quality OU's that will do the same thing, like the Browning's, Berettas, and Ruger's. The Ruger's were not fancy but they were very solidly built and I doubt if you could ever shoot one enough to wear it out. Pay heed to post #22 his advice is solid for an old guy from Orillia.

 

[jacpor]

Keep in mind that not everybody is a competitive shooter or a high volume shooter. Some people like to get together with friends and shoot a few clays. In that case guns don't matter as much.

 

[ninepointer]

If I was the OP, I would get myself something like the Ithaca/SKB that is in the EE right now. A gun for life, head and shoulders above the Baikal/Mossberg/Stevens class of gun.

 

[BTC101]

I was in the same position not to long ago I was looking only to spend around a thousand but I held off and found a great deal at my club a member was selling a lightly used browning citori special trap for 1300 it was a great buy and I'm not going to look back I would hold off and try to find a deal for a better quality gun that's bin used over a cheaper brand new gun you can visit gun shows and local ranges usually have a bulliten bored I hope it helps a bit

 

[freestyle]

When I started with clay sports I used my Remington 1100. it was good enough for me at the time.

Later, after getting more into it I went with a Browning XT trap with 32" barrel.

The Browning fits me and I doubt that I will ever wear it out.

If you are just starting buy a lower cost gun. If you decide to pursue it as a hobby or series competitive shooter, then you will probably find yourself in need of a more pricey O/U and you can sell the first one or give it to your kids or someone else just starting in the shooting sports.

 

[thehook92a1]

Beretta 686 sporting