Over/Under Shotgun….basic

[Nathan]

@GE-Minigun…

I totally agree with you if I were driving an hour or particularly interested in sporting clays, skeet, trap or 5 stand…..but I live 5 min away and it will take me several hours of study to determine even where to stand when trying this out. I’m that much of a greenhorn.

That said, I’ve been involved in a fair amount of throw and shoot by hand, decent thrower, up to professional trap house. I usually do ok. So, I expect I can learn.

That said, this is driven by a buddy who bought his dream Beretta and it sits unfired by him. It is too short for me. My hope is to invite him over for a round of something monthly after work.

 

[GE-Minigun]

Understand.
Knowing where to stand is not that important, how to stand is (later conversation), in a nutshell you want to face where you are breaking the target. Sporting, skeet and 5-stand have stations for where you stand, don’t think about it too much now, it will come. Best thing to do is it let people you’re shooting with know it’s your first time and would rather not shoot first…word of advice, you WILL get everyone and their brother giving you advice, some good, but a lot bad. 5-stand and sporting are pretty much stand against the rail or at it. With 5-stand, look at the shooting menu card and look in the field for the traps you will be shooting, hopefully someone else will be shooting those, if not you at least know where the bird will be coming from. Sporting is the same…watch the guy(s) in front of you. Do not take this wrong…it sounds like you’re thinking way to much about it…the gun I can understand, but the actually shooting is the easy part. If you happen to be in the northern part of VA, let me know…I’m more than happy to help you out.

 

[MarkCO]

Do not take this wrong…it sounds like you’re thinking way to much about it…the gun I can understand, but the actually shooting is the easy part.

Yep. I have kids on my team that I constantly tell them to stop thinking and just throw your hands towards the bird. For some, that works and they start breaking birds. Lots of layers, but to get started on the actual game @Nathan, don't overthink it.

 

[Nathan]

There has been a slight change in conditions….I’m shooting for $1300 max…..came into some monies.

That said, I’m torn between ATA SP Supersport (Lifetime Warranty), CZ Redhead Premier Target, Weatherby Orion Sporting, TT-15 Sporting…hmm

Is there something else to consider?

Obviously, I’m looking for used Beretta and Browning guns, but usually they are just way out of my price range.

 

[MarkCO]

CZ Redhead Premier Target, Weatherby Orion Sporting

Those two are still what I'd suggest.

 

[GE-Minigun]

Weatherby...

 

[FITASC]

To the latter question re: Extended chokes. Easier to change without a tool; immediately lets you see what is in the barrel without looking down the muzzle to count notches or have to remove to determine; Adds a little extra weight right at the end - many like that as it can tend to add smoothness to the swing (MOI thing) ALL of my shotguns that have choke tube have extended ones. Some came that way from the factory, some were bought afterwards from Briley or Trulock.

For casual shooting, and by that I mean less than 1K per year of target loads, any of the higher end Turkish guns from a reputable company (such as the CZ) should be finished decently, have decent barrel regulation and function well enough. Just do not expect top tier target gun longevity in the hundreds of thousands of rounds.
Good luck in your search.

 

[darkgael]

I bought a Weatherby Orion 20 gauge (SKB) about 15 years ago. It was a used gun and in good shape. Got my first ruffed grouse with that gun. I have it still. I have shot quite a few rounds of ATA trap and some sporting clays. The gun works just fine even when I do not.
Recommended.

 

[jmr40]

My opinion is that the best budget over and under costing less than $1,000 is a semi-auto.

I'll go as far as saying that you won't find a decent semi under $1000. Expect to spend somewhere around $1000-$1300 for a decent semi.

Not O/U, but SXS's for me. I used to really want a decent SXS. Nothing fancy, just something dependable that balanced well. I tried several and eventually gave up. Everything I tried was a disappointment and finally just started using semi's. I came to the conclusion that performance trumped aesthetics.

I have handled my share of semiauto hunting shotguns. They swing odd.

I have handled a few over/unders. They all swung basically ok to me

Keep trying.

There is nothing magical about having 2 barrels and how they swing. There are an awful lot of cheap doubles, (SXS and O/U) that handle like a fence post. Lots of semis that work great.

While 28" barrels are the most common length, the longer receiver of a semi or pump doesn't need that much barrel to handle well. I like no more than 26" on a semi and find that goes a long way towards leveling the field in how they handle. It's not barrel length, but overall length.

Most serious clays shooters use O/U shotguns approaching 5 figures. Most casual clays shooters, and a lot of serious clays shooters choose semi's. There is a reason for that.

 

[Nathan]

Well, I found an excellent Browning 525 with some room in the price. It has everything I was looking for except perfect condition and extended choke tubes.

I made what I thought was an unreasonably low offer….all I could afford….and they countered for a few $$ more. So I bought it.

I had this whole strategy of tough negotiation on 3 different guns. Well, my first(and most heavily discounted) offer was basically accepted.

The only bad thing is I never got to prove to myself if a high end Turkish gun is good enough!

 

[MarkCO]

Well done Nathan.

Now we need photos of you shooting it at some clays.

 

[GE-Minigun]

Carlson’s has any choke you could want

 

[bobn]

congrats. another carlson choke guy. light modified does me.
btw i gathered up all the ithica pumps and rem semis i had and my citori was paid for. lol.

 

[eastbank]

don,t worry your browning will out last a boat load of turkish shotguns.

 

[FITASC]

Briley, Trulock, Carlson's, Pure Gold and a litany of others make chokes for your Browning

 

[Nathan]

A few pics of the new fun gun. I’m not worthy! I detail stripped the ignition system, cleaned and lubricated. I don’t believe it was shot too much.

Put it back with weaker springs in the ejectors so it extracts only now. I prefer that for target shooting.

Can someone tell me why ejectors are all the rage?

 

[GE-Minigun]

I hate with a passion "picking" the hulls out of the action. I tuck the stock under my right arm, hit the lever with the fat part of my thumb, while holding the forearm with left hand...gun breaks open and I catch the empty hulls about 6-8" out of the gun, drop them in the hull bag, grab two loaded shells and in they go. In the hundreds of thousands of times I've done it, I'm pretty sure I can count on both hands the number of hulls I've dropped. Everybody does it different.

 

[Nathan]

I think my prosthetic on my left arm leaves me sure I’ll drop many on the ground, but I can see how 2 handed folks could gather them.

I’m just wondering why there isn’t a ready made spring that pops them out about 1/2 to 1”!

 

[Blindstitch]

I did the same as you with the weaker springs on my citori. It had a lot of spring to it and everyone seemed to be like can't you catch them. There's no reason to modify that gun.

I mean it was springs and totally reversable. I like the mod and it works great for me. If you like the look of hulls shooting back out of your gun then go for it but I like them right there waiting for me.

My modification I found a page and I believe the suggestion was 1911 springs.
https://www.retrievertraining.net/t...i-cynergy-ejector-to-extractor-mod-gdg.70746/

 

[FITASC]

Can someone tell me why ejectors are all the rage?

Shoot flurries, driven birds/targets, etc. besides, ejectors are no issue to catch the empties in your hand as you open the gun. I have shot over 500K rounds through my guns and catch me empties - even the ones I do not reload - so they can either be reloaded or thrown in the trash