Over/Under Shotgun Recommendations

coopdog373 · Mar 1, 2015

Friends-
I grew up on Remington 870's and Winchester Model 1300's hunting Pheasants/Rabbits in Michigan. I did a great Pheasant hunt this year (5 days) and after lugging/swapping them both around for 5 days and numerous miles across South Dakota, I was a little tired. Therefore I am in the market for a 20 gauge Over/Under. This will be used for Upland Bird Hunting and Skeet Practicing a few times a year.

If you have field use experience I would greatly appreciate your recommendations. Most likely me and my buds will purchase 3 of them so we can set up a price point of $1300-$1500 each and then haggle for the group purchase price later...

IP's...I will welcome your recommendations and your thoughts on the purchase...the closer to Herndon VA you are the better..but all comments are considered...

Thoughts?

Vile Shadow · Mar 1, 2015

Browing Citori.

Might be just a tad out of your price range though.

Have you looked at the Ruger Red Label?

JBinDC · Mar 1, 2015

Check out the local trap range's. Can't speak for NoVA, but at PG Trap, there are nice offerings such as the Silver Pigeon's in their own showcase, to varying used guns on the bulletin board - many nice used guns, such as a sweet and rare Beretta 685 Field like my own (usually only available in Italy), all the way up to a a $5,500 Perazzi, all on the friggin bulletin board! I think your best deals are there, but if you must buy new, any of the "B Guns" should serve you well, be it Beretta, or Browning. Whatever you buy, your investment is heavily based upon how well the gun fits the shooter. I went through 4 shotguns before getting one that happened to fit me well - that being the said Beretta 685 - and if I had it all to do over again, I probably should have just spent all my money in 1 good shotgun and a fitting...

Cochise · Mar 1, 2015

Beretta or Browning. Most people will like one more that the other, but it will vary from person to person.
The Browning has a taller action. I prefer the Brownings but its kind of Chevy/Ford.
You will do better $$$ wise buying used, especially if you can live with an older gun with fixed chokes.
As a general rule, chokes give you inches of pattern and we usually miss by feet. Choke tubes are way over rated. When I shoot full choked guns at skeet my score might change by 1 or 2 birds at most.

Overboost44 · Mar 1, 2015

OP, Some often not considered options would be to check out the CZ Canvasback Gold in 20 ga. It lists for just over $800. Also the Franchi Instinct line of O/U shotguns that are more in the price range you are looking into.

Gryphon · Mar 1, 2015

Sling Blade said:
Browing Citori.

Might be just a tad out of your price range though.

Have you looked at the Ruger Red Label?

Browning Citori

max111 · Mar 1, 2015

I picked up a Franchi Instinct SL from Atlantic a few months ago and have shot 2,000 rounds thru it with no issues. Comes with a 7 year warranty which is nice as needed. If I could do it over I would of bought the Instinct L instead which is slightly heavier and priced at $300 less. OP Id take a look at the Instinct L for a $1000. I believe Greentop had them down to $950, not bad for an Italian made gun. Just busting clays with ours and 1 1/8 loads start to be a handful after a couple of boxes. So Ive been loading 1 ounce loads and all is good for hi volume. Really liked the Ruger Red Label but Ruger dropped it again from their lineup and was worried about factory support if ever needed. It was nice to see an American made o/u priced affordable..

platoonDaddy · Mar 1, 2015

For the last four years, I have been using a Franchi Instinct L 12ga with 28" barrel and love it. Purchased from Bud's for $800 and change. Great for trap, waterfowl and upland hunting in ND. The choke is Mobil, therefore loads of aftermarket chokes.

Added a Dead Mule Reducer for the heavy 3" loads.

Close to 4K rounds, without any issues.

The 20 ga is a whopping 5 pounds 10 oz.

http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2012/2/21/franchis-instinct/

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/gun-nuts/2012/06/franchi-instinct

http://www.gunsandammo.com/reviews/shotgun-safari-franchi-affinity-franchi-instinct-reviews/

j_h_smith · Mar 1, 2015

I love my Remington 3200 Trap, but they've been discontinued for many years. Instead of offering a particular shotgun, I would suggest you try as many as you can. If that's not a real option, go into a gun store, shoulder the shotgun with your eyes closed. When you think your ready to pull the trigger, open your eyes and see where your body lines up to the sights (beads). This will tell you if the shotgun fits your body. You will be surprised how often people shoot poorly and it's because the gun naturally doesn't shoot where you think you are pointing it.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith

coopdog373 · Mar 2, 2015

Folks-Thanks for the advice..I was looking at the same areas but was surprised about the CZ's..(Overboost44 thx).they look damn nice...I will take all your guidance/wisdom and perform some hands on investigations...

El_flasko · Mar 2, 2015

I sold a CZ redhead deluxe and regret it. Great fun for the money imho.

fabsroman · Mar 2, 2015

Cochise said:
Beretta or Browning. Most people will like one more that the other, but it will vary from person to person.
The Browning has a taller action. I prefer the Brownings but its kind of Chevy/Ford.
You will do better $$$ wise buying used, especially if you can live with an older gun with fixed chokes.
As a general rule, chokes give you inches of pattern and we usually miss by feet. Choke tubes are way over rated. When I shoot full choked guns at skeet my score might change by 1 or 2 birds at most.

Regarding chokes, it really does depend. Try shooting a goose at 50 yards with IC? If it comes down, it is most likely coming down wounded. Meanwhile, I shoot them out to 50 yards with a pattern master choke and tight patterning Hevi-Shot and there is a cloud of feathers still falling after the bird has hit the ground.

Now, with that same pattern master choke, I had my kids shoot a soda can with #8 shot at 20 yards. My son cut the soda can in half. My daughter cut a 2 liter soda bottle in half.

I have shot doves at 15 yards with a modified choke where nothing was left of the bird. At a "game preserve" I shot a flushing pheasant at 10 yards with an IC choke and #8 shot and there was a hole through the bird. Only thing it was good for was soup.

Simply put, choke does matter, but what mostly matters is what is between the ears. Most new hunters cannot shoot out to 50 yards consistently, so they do not need a tight choke. With hunting, you have the option of letting the bird get further out before you take the shot, and that is what I generally do.

There is also a huge difference between shooting trap at the 16 yard line and shooting it at the 27 yard line. At 16, I'll use modified. At 27, I use Xtra-Full.

Think I've hijcked this thread pretty good now and turned it into a discussion about chokes. lol

Overboost44 · Mar 3, 2015

coopdog373 said:
Folks-Thanks for the advice..I was looking at the same areas but was surprised about the CZ's..(Overboost44 thx).they look damn nice...I will take all your guidance/wisdom and perform some hands on investigations...

You're welcome. You may be able to find them at Greentop or Atlantic Guns in Silver Spring. They had quite a few CZ's there. Good luck.

fabsroman · Mar 3, 2015

OP, as already mentioned, I would recommend that you try out the shotgun to see what fits you. My vote would be for a new Beretta Silver Pigeon or a used Beretta 686 Onyx, but I am a Beretta fan boy.

If weight was an issue while out hunting this past time, you might want to consider a 20 gauge semi. I have two Beretta 391s in 20 gauge and I really like the Teknys one. The other is a bantam/youth model and I have hardly ever shot it.

Actually, if you are going to mostly be hunting with it and you want to consider a semi, my recommendation would be a Benelli. The Benelli Ultralight is 5.2 pounds in 20 gauge. A Benelli M2 compact field gun is 5.6 pounds in 20 gauge. Benelli Legacy is 5.6 pounds in 20 gauge with a 26" barrel. I doubt a 20 gauge o/u will be under 6 pounds. Actually, the Citori Feather Lightning comes in at 5 pouonds 14 oz with 26" barrels. Then there is the choice of the Citori Feather Lightning combo in 20/28 gauge. Probably a little high on the price range though.

What a dilemma this would be. lol

euchre98 · Mar 3, 2015

+3 on the CZ recommendation. Comes with a 5yr warranty and from what I've read on another forum if you do have and issue it gets repaired and returned rather quickly.

traveller · Mar 3, 2015

euchre98 said:
+3 on the CZ recommendation. Comes with a 5yr warranty and from what I've read on another forum if you do have and issue it gets repaired and returned rather quickly.

I read somewhere that they are not czech made. Brasil? Turkey?

ChannelCat · Mar 3, 2015

I personally like the Beretta Onyx, but go somewhere like PG Skeet and Trap and see what feels and mounts up best.

elbert · Mar 3, 2015

traveller said:
I read somewhere that they are not czech made. Brasil? Turkey?

Their O/U's are made in Turkey by Huglu

sxs · Mar 3, 2015

Find a used, but excellent condition SKB.

Didn't finish my thought properly....

Find a used excellent condition SKB if you want a good O/U at a reasonable price.

max111 · Mar 3, 2015

edit: bad link

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