Best over/under shotgun

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  • Maher1510

    Member
    Mar 23, 2015
    80
    Frederick
    Been thinking about getting an over under shotgun for sometime. Would like a 12ga and capable of shooting 3" shells but doesn't have too. Under The $1000 mark. What would you recommend ?
     

    Selene

    Active Member
    Nov 18, 2012
    336
    Best and O/U and Under $1000 do NOT go together.

    :lol2:
    I wanted to say that but bit my tongue. Best O/U, probably Krieghoff, but that is debatable.

    Realistically you need to double your budget to hit the bottom of reasonable O/U.

    Look at semis or pumps. You will be fine with either.
     

    ohen cepel

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 2, 2011
    4,509
    Where they send me.
    I like the Ruger Red Label, but in 20. Their 12 is too heavy in my opinion.

    $1k for a quality o/u is tough. May be able to find an import from Turkey that will be good but it is rather tough at that price point.
     

    Mack C-85

    R.I.P.
    Jan 22, 2014
    6,522
    Littlestown, PA
    To put your budget into perspective. .....I paid $ 1195 for my Browning Citori Special Sporting Clays...........in 1990 !!!!!

    For a grand your better off looking at a nice semi-auto.

    Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
     

    BenL

    John Galt Speaking.
    Unfortunately, $1K won't get you much in the quality over and under market.

    Last year, I was shopping for a quality O/U and went to the Beretta showroom in NYC to put my hands on a few left-handed guns; it's unbelievable how pricey they can get. They literally have guns there with six figure price tags (they let us shoulder one that was marked $175,000. It was a work of art, all hand-engraved and enameled.) I handled and fell in love with a left-handed Beretta 692. After a month of hand-wringing, I just couldn't justify the $4,300 price tag. I'm *still* shooting my left-handed premiere 11-87.
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    I wanted to say that but bit my tongue. Best O/U, probably Krieghoff, but that is debatable.

    Realistically you need to double your budget to hit the bottom of reasonable O/U.

    Look at semis or pumps. You will be fine with either.

    Krieghoffs feel like a 2x4 in my hands. :)
     

    Maher1510

    Member
    Mar 23, 2015
    80
    Frederick
    Well Saturday night walking around Walmart I went to the sporting section and saw a Tristar 12 ga 3" 28" chrome lined over under shotgun there for $357. I said to myself it's only $357 so I bought it think if it was junk atleast it wasn't $1000 junk as from what I've seen u need to spent 3k+To get something "good". Sunday I took it to shoot trap. I shot two rounds of trap hitting 48/50. Mind you I never even patterned it basically took it out of the box the night before. So my question is why do u need to spent over 1k to get a "bottom end" over under as what I've been told. I guess if I spent a lot more for a gun I might have gotten those 2birds I missed. O and one more thing my brother was there with his Weatherby over under which I'm sure cost a boat load more than my tristar and he was having troubles getting the second barrel to shoot off. It's been returned for repair for that same reason before. Something to do with the inertia setting the hammer. So he shot my tristar there also. Haha. Just wanted to put that out there. I can't really see a $ 3k plus gun doing a lot better then my $357 gun and if I scratch it I won't cry.
     

    teratos

    My hair is amazing
    MDS Supporter
    Patriot Picket
    Jan 22, 2009
    59,775
    Bel Air
    Nothing wrong with a Belgium made Browning. Probably looking at closer to $2000 for those. They will never drop in value.
     

    Jarhead FLSTI

    Active Member
    Aug 31, 2008
    804
    Glen Burnie
    Well Saturday night walking around Walmart I went to the sporting section and saw a Tristar 12 ga 3" 28" chrome lined over under shotgun there for $357. I said to myself it's only $357 so I bought it think if it was junk atleast it wasn't $1000 junk as from what I've seen u need to spent 3k+To get something "good". Sunday I took it to shoot trap. I shot two rounds of trap hitting 48/50. Mind you I never even patterned it basically took it out of the box the night before. So my question is why do u need to spent over 1k to get a "bottom end" over under as what I've been told. I guess if I spent a lot more for a gun I might have gotten those 2birds I missed. O and one more thing my brother was there with his Weatherby over under which I'm sure cost a boat load more than my tristar and he was having troubles getting the second barrel to shoot off. It's been returned for repair for that same reason before. Something to do with the inertia setting the hammer. So he shot my tristar there also. Haha. Just wanted to put that out there. I can't really see a $ 3k plus gun doing a lot better then my $357 gun and if I scratch it I won't cry.

    I have a Tristar Hunter EX and it is an excellent gun for the price range. I have put close to 2000 shells through it so far. Based on the wear I've seen though, it is a 6000 to 7000 shot gun. It will be too worn after that to be reliable.

    Earlier this year I broke down and bought an FNH SC1. It was considerably more expensive than the Tristar but I have confidence it will last for many years to come. I have been putting between 500 and 1000 shells through every month. Shooting that much is the only reason I went with the more expensive gun.
     

    Jollyllama

    Ultimate Member
    Apr 9, 2012
    1,457
    Carroll county
    Used beretta onyx. You can find decent deals on them and they are fine shotguns.

    Or a Winchester 101.

    May be able to find a used browning cynergy for a little more. If you are ok with how they look they are also fine shotguns.
     

    rseymorejr

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 28, 2011
    26,002
    Harford County
    Well Saturday night walking around Walmart I went to the sporting section and saw a Tristar 12 ga 3" 28" chrome lined over under shotgun there for $357. I said to myself it's only $357 so I bought it think if it was junk atleast it wasn't $1000 junk as from what I've seen u need to spent 3k+To get something "good". Sunday I took it to shoot trap. I shot two rounds of trap hitting 48/50. Mind you I never even patterned it basically took it out of the box the night before. So my question is why do u need to spent over 1k to get a "bottom end" over under as what I've been told. I guess if I spent a lot more for a gun I might have gotten those 2birds I missed. O and one more thing my brother was there with his Weatherby over under which I'm sure cost a boat load more than my tristar and he was having troubles getting the second barrel to shoot off. It's been returned for repair for that same reason before. Something to do with the inertia setting the hammer. So he shot my tristar there also. Haha. Just wanted to put that out there. I can't really see a $ 3k plus gun doing a lot better then my $357 gun and if I scratch it I won't cry.

    I have a Stoeger Condor that I shoot trap with. It was inexpensive and I love it! I think the problem with these lower end guns is that if you really get into trap ,and shoot a lot of it, they may not hold up over time.
     

    El_flasko

    Ultimate Member
    Industry Partner
    Nov 16, 2008
    7,298
    Abingdon, MD
    Don't overlook the CZ line. I think you could find a Redhead or Upland that is in your budget.


    I agree. I had a redhead deluxe I bought from a fellow MDS member and I enjoyed it. I ended up moving to a 725 when my clay shooting volume increased substantially. I still regret selling the CZ it was a damn fine SG for the money imho.
     

    Goldslammer

    Active Member
    MDS Supporter
    Nov 10, 2010
    710
    Brooklyn Park
    Bass Pro had a Franchi 12ga O/U in the rack for $1099.
    I know it's a little over your budget, but it's a really nice gun, if it was a 20ga, I'd have bought it.
     

    sxs

    Senior Member
    MDS Supporter
    Nov 20, 2009
    3,377
    Anne Arundel County, MD
    Well Saturday night walking around Walmart I went to the sporting section and saw a Tristar 12 ga 3" 28" chrome lined over under shotgun there for $357. I said to myself it's only $357 so I bought it think if it was junk atleast it wasn't $1000 junk as from what I've seen u need to spent 3k+To get something "good". Sunday I took it to shoot trap. I shot two rounds of trap hitting 48/50. Mind you I never even patterned it basically took it out of the box the night before. So my question is why do u need to spent over 1k to get a "bottom end" over under as what I've been told. I guess if I spent a lot more for a gun I might have gotten those 2birds I missed. O and one more thing my brother was there with his Weatherby over under which I'm sure cost a boat load more than my tristar and he was having troubles getting the second barrel to shoot off. It's been returned for repair for that same reason before. Something to do with the inertia setting the hammer. So he shot my tristar there also. Haha. Just wanted to put that out there. I can't really see a $ 3k plus gun doing a lot better then my $357 gun and if I scratch it I won't cry.

    Maybe you won't shoot it that much, but when you get 10k rounds through it, if you can reach that many, let us know. Even Ruger Red Label , which many consider a decent field O/U aren't really intended for the number of rounds many clays shooters put through them. Many years ago when I had no money and got the idea to buy an O/U, I bought a Boito. Now it went bang and all that. Never shot more than a few hundred rounds through it and I shot it fairly well. However, it was like swinging a piece of 2x4 compared to guns I have now. That doesn't mean I didn't have fun with it while I had it. Also, I didn't know what I was missing until I got into better shotguns. If your brother's Weatherby is one of the older ones, they were made by SKB and should be decent guns. I have a Weatherby Orion in 20 ga that was made by SKB. Great little gun. Newer Weatherbys I believe are made by Fausti...an Italian company that make shotguns from production grade, fairly low-budget to very, very expensive. Should be good also. Doesn't mean you can't get a lemon...and if you shoot them enough, they will all fail eventually.
    I shot a Mossberg Silver Reserve a few years back and shot it well. Those guns were only $500-$600 and I liked it. Now I wouldn't choose one if I thought I was going to shoot a ton of clays. But I shot that one well and it looked decent. The gunsmith I work part-time for thinks they're junk. Well, they're not junk while they are still shooting for you...but I get his point and respect his opinion and wouldn't have traded my Citori in for one of those anyway. FYI, I only paid a little over $700 for my Citori....almost 30 years ago, lol. Quality guns do tend to go up in value more so than lesser quality guns.

    Better quality usually fails after far many rounds than cheaper guns. Also, more expensive can sometimes just mean more 'gingerbread'...engraving, bells and whistles etc, Bottom line is, you're happy. That's all that matters. You're gun is probably much better that the Boito I started with. Funny how guns can proliferate with us gun lovers! Good Luck.
     

    PJDiesel

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Dec 18, 2011
    17,603
    I'm gonna semi-stay out of this one. But, as already mentioned, durability has a lot to do with it. I shoot (at minimum) 250 rounds a WEEK through mine, round down with rain outs to around 10K rounds per year.

    If it's not a quality built gun it won't last or will have issues not too long into it's service.

    When I say "quality", $1K isn't even close, 2.5 times that is about a starting point.
     

    Redcobra

    Senior Shooter
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 10, 2010
    6,422
    Near the Chesapeake Bay
    Well Saturday night walking around Walmart I went to the sporting section and saw a Tristar 12 ga 3" 28" chrome lined over under shotgun there for $357. I said to myself it's only $357 so I bought it think if it was junk atleast it wasn't $1000 junk as from what I've seen u need to spent 3k+To get something "good". Sunday I took it to shoot trap. I shot two rounds of trap hitting 48/50. Mind you I never even patterned it basically took it out of the box the night before. So my question is why do u need to spent over 1k to get a "bottom end" over under as what I've been told. I guess if I spent a lot more for a gun I might have gotten those 2birds I missed. O and one more thing my brother was there with his Weatherby over under which I'm sure cost a boat load more than my tristar and he was having troubles getting the second barrel to shoot off. It's been returned for repair for that same reason before. Something to do with the inertia setting the hammer. So he shot my tristar there also. Haha. Just wanted to put that out there. I can't really see a $ 3k plus gun doing a lot better then my $357 gun and if I scratch it I won't cry.

    I can run 25 with my old single barrel American gun company 12g that was made in 1898. That doesn't make it a good gun. In fact it may come apart when I open it sometimes. When you get 10k rounds through your TriStar, talk to me. A better gun doesn't necessarily get you more birds.
    You may drive a Yugo and get to the same place in rush hour traffic as I do driving an Audi, but I will enjoy myself more. The only way you may be able to pass that TriStar to your kids is if you don't shoot it much.
     

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