Inexpensive Shotgun for Clays

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  • teratos

    My hair is amazing
    MDS Supporter
    Patriot Picket
    Jan 22, 2009
    59,775
    Bel Air

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    • oudefense.jpg
      oudefense.jpg
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    smokey

    2A TEACHER
    Jan 31, 2008
    31,412
    Pretty much spot on advice there. The pump gun is going to work for his needs right now. If he decides to really get into sporting clays, the pump gun can be relegated to home defense duty. Granted, I use a semi-auto for home defense (i.e., Benelli M4 that has a SBS tax stamp), along with a couple AR-15 rifles and several handguns.

    Over the past two decades, I have been using a Beretta 391 Teknys for sporting clays and skeet. Only time I have been using an o/u is for dove hunting once in awhile and trap.

    Cannot remember the last time I actually pulled the trigger on my Browning BPS. It was probably in the 90s.
    I missed the mention of defense in the OP... that pretty solidly nails it down for a 870 or 500. They're great general purpose guns that are good enough at just about everything. For instance, here's my wife shooting some sporting clays with my 870 and 28" vent-rib barrel....


    ...And here's me using the same 870 for 3-gun(I kept hitting low with the derned m&p9 compact...oh well).


    ...for 3-gun I just tossed a side-saddle shell holder on it, mag extension, and 18" fixed modified barrel with tritium iron sights on it that was on sale for $100. Buying the kits that come with both barrels from the factory is definitely the way to go for your situation.
     

    fabsroman

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 14, 2009
    35,852
    Winfield/Taylorsville in Carroll
    I missed the mention of defense in the OP... that pretty solidly nails it down for a 870 or 500. They're great general purpose guns that are good enough at just about everything. For instance, here's my wife shooting some sporting clays with my 870 and 28" vent-rib barrel....


    ...And here's me using the same 870 for 3-gun(I kept hitting low with the derned m&p9 compact...oh well).


    ...for 3-gun I just tossed a side-saddle shell holder on it, mag extension, and 18" fixed modified barrel with tritium iron sights on it that was on sale for $100. Buying the kits that come with both barrels from the factory is definitely the way to go for your situation.


    Video of your wife shooting does not work and it looks like you missed one target with the 870. You would still be smoother with a semi-auto shotgun. Kind of like how you ran the rifle at the beginning. Would love to see that kind of speed out of you shooting your 870.

    I bet I could load up my 391 and run through 5 shells before you could run through 5 shells in the 870. With that said, the two guns are at different price points. I would take a Rem 1100 over the 870. Granted, the gas guns need to be kept somewhat clean. The 870 can be thrown in the closet without much care and it will work. Enter the Benelli M4. Again, in a different price range than an 870 or 500.
     

    buellsfurn

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 1, 2015
    5,951
    southern end of Maryland
    A semi auto is all I would recommend. Think that might actually fall somewhat within his budget. I bought a Beretta A400 Xplor Action in 28 gauge a couple years ago. Like it just as much as my 391 guns. If I was looking for a "budget" shotgun, the Beretta 300 would be it.

    purchased a A400 excel just before lockdown blue receiver . I did get to shoot it one day and a 390 ? i saw no difference other then i could have saved a couple hundred .
     

    Aamdskeetshooter

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 19, 2013
    1,744
    Moco
    Yeah, I cannot bring myself to move from the 391 Teknys to a 400 Excel with the blue receiver. The A400 Action feels no different than my 391, other than it being a 28 gauge.

    I’ve never been a fan of the Smurf gun. Yes, that’s what people call the A400. And I’m a Beretta fan. Mechanically it’s good but I can’t get past the blue receiver.
     

    smokey

    2A TEACHER
    Jan 31, 2008
    31,412
    Video of your wife shooting does not work and it looks like you missed one target with the 870. You would still be smoother with a semi-auto shotgun. Kind of like how you ran the rifle at the beginning. Would love to see that kind of speed out of you shooting your 870.

    I bet I could load up my 391 and run through 5 shells before you could run through 5 shells in the 870. With that said, the two guns are at different price points. I would take a Rem 1100 over the 870. Granted, the gas guns need to be kept somewhat clean. The 870 can be thrown in the closet without much care and it will work. Enter the Benelli M4. Again, in a different price range than an 870 or 500.
    Woops, had that set to private. It's fixed now. Video of Jenni popping clays works now. Beware of the excited shriek from her twin sis at the beginning. Yup, a semi would offer some good advantages over a pump for speed. Mossberg has a solid offering in the 930 field/security package for the purposes of this thread. It comes with a 18" barrel for defense and a 28" for sporting uses.
    https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_info.php/products_id/76743
     

    frogman68

    товарищ плачевная
    Apr 7, 2013
    8,774
    Woops, had that set to private. It's fixed now. Video of Jenni popping clays works now. Beware of the excited shriek from her twin sis at the beginning. Yup, a semi would offer some good advantages over a pump for speed. Mossberg has a solid offering in the 930 field/security package for the purposes of this thread. It comes with a 18" barrel for defense and a 28" for sporting uses.
    https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_info.php/products_id/76743

    Is the 590 better than the 870 ?? Or is it just preferences ?
     

    frogman68

    товарищ плачевная
    Apr 7, 2013
    8,774
    It is better if you are a Mossberg guy. It is worse if you are a Remington guy. If you are a Benelli or Browning guy, they both suck.

    Well since I dont own a shotgun I am none :) . If one is better quality (read the thread about the newer 870's) the plastic trigger guard has me concerned..
     

    Mack C-85

    R.I.P.
    Jan 22, 2014
    6,522
    Littlestown, PA
    It is better if you are a Mossberg guy. It is worse if you are a Remington guy. If you are a Benelli or Browning guy, they both suck.

    I'm a Browning guy, but I own both a 500 and 870......

    Like sorting out which B gun guy you are.....handle them both, hopefully shoot them both, then pick the one you love vs. the one you like.

    Sent from my LG-G710 using Tapatalk
     

    smokey

    2A TEACHER
    Jan 31, 2008
    31,412
    Is the 590 better than the 870 ?? Or is it just preferences ?

    ford v chevy for the most part, but mossbergs have generally had consistent quality whereas remington has been spotty since the freedom group buyout stuff. For example, my 870 had a sticky chamber because of a machining ring that I needed to polish out when I first got it. It was made a bit worse by the single extractor pushing the shell to the side when grabbing it out(vs 2 extractor designs).

    Mossbergs are generally easier to work on, as things screw in/out vs 870s. The safety on mossbergs is up on the back, so pistol-grip stocks are annoying, but ones with traditional combs are ambi-friendly. 870s have cross-bolt safeties that are easy to manipulate with pistol-grip stocks.

    For stuff like slug changeovers, 870s are cool because you can crack the action slightly, press the next round forward(in the mag tube through the loading gate) past the catch and then continue shucking out the shell in the chamber and then dump the new shell(like a slug) straight in from the side. For a mossberg, you're essentially losing the shell from the chamber and the next one from the tube if you need to change to a slug.
     

    frogman68

    товарищ плачевная
    Apr 7, 2013
    8,774
    Ok will ask a local IP if he has stock or can get either . That will be the deciding factor :)
     

    alucard0822

    For great Justice
    Oct 29, 2007
    17,643
    PA
    You can bust clays or defend your home with most any shotgun, but they are basically opposite specialties IMO. As you improve capability in one role, the worse it will be in the other intended use. Clays benefit from a smooth swing and balanced gun, variety of chokes(a choke per shot is a huge advantage for O/U or SxS), long barrels, a compact action(advantage for break-action), and a few other attributes. You primarily will shoot pairs of clays presented at differing ranges, angles, and direction. It is a fun sport with a lot of disciplines you can try, IMO a 30" O/U or SxS > Auto > pump for an "all around" gun that a new clays shooter can use for sporting clays, trap, and skeet. You can start out with a rental, it's hard to choose a shotgun for someone else being the fit and feel are very personal and will help or hurt your score quite a bit.

    For defense, a shotgun has huge disavantages, mainly size, recoil, reload speed, capacity and malfunctions, pick a carbine. It's advantage is basically power at close range with a proper defensive buckshot or slug load, again, pick a carbine to defend your home with. To overcome the disadvantages, you want a compact shotgun with light recoil that can be reloaded fast, has a good capacity(longest tube extension that will fit), and is reliable both mechanically, AND from user induced malfunctions. A short auto is best IMO, something around 18-22" is still fairly long and the Max I would suggest, usually they can hold up to 8 shells in the tube, short SBS and "braced non-nfa firearms" are far more handy, but give up a few rounds of capacity. Pumps are a good choice, till you see people try to run them in a class, EVERYONE short strokes them, they can still jam up with some shells, and have more recoil than an auto. Training and practice can help overcome a lot of issues, especially with loading, clearing jams, and preventing user induced malfunctions, shotguns take a LOT more work to run well compared to a carbine, so again, for HD SKIP THE SHOTGUN AND CHOOSE A CARBINE.

    Of course in a perfect world you would have a solid carbine to defend your home, a short tactical autoloader for action shooting or shotgun defensive classes, and a nice long O/U for clays, but part of a shotgun's draw is it's versatility, and 1 gun could potentially fit all 3 roles, although IMO poorly. You can also have fun shooting with a "less than ideal" gun, I love to shoot sporting clays, generally prefer an auto as I'm not all that serious about it, and there are some courses around here that have events with more than 2 clays, so my Trusty Beretta AL391 serves me well. I do however frequently bring my JM930 Pro 3 gun shotgun to the clays range, or my tiny 20" SXS coach gun intended for SAS competition. I miss a few more birds than I do with my good stuff, but they are fun, so I don't care. I would take a trip to a clays range, rent a gun, and try it, if you like it, then get a shotgun for that. If you just want to shoot a few off the porch, and home defense is the primary role, then take a tac shotgun class, buy or build a shotgun well suited for that role, and have fun with busting clays in between defensive practice with it. If you want to do both well, you will need 2 different guns.
     

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