[rocinante]

in 12 gauge?

what can I get for around 500?

[DaleCooper51]

You might get lucky and find a used SKB 500 in that price range. I bought one last year for $525 and it's been a good gun. It fits me well and throws nice patterns. When I was looking at low dollar over unders, I didnt see a lot that impressed me.

Unless you get a good deal on an older Miroku, SKB or something of the like, I would take a look at a Beretta semi.

[Bill B.]

what can I get for around 500?

I would say you could get something you will not be happy with but not much else! You might look for a used SKB and see how close they are to $500 but unless you stumble on a deal that most likely not going to happen. A used Remington 1100 will be a better skeet gun than anything you can get in a budget O/U IMO.

[rocinante]

thanks for the feedback.

To me with all their rules I prefer an O/U to a semi for skeet. You are only allowed two shots max, it doesn't throw shells everywhere, easy to break open to show it is unloaded, easy to load.

I guess I will just keep renting although I love owning guns. I would have to go a lot to beat 7$ to rent a benelli. I think that is the right brand name.

[ArmedBear]

My old Ithaca SKB 500 was $500. Took a little stock work (home workshop, not pro) to fix some cracks in the wood. Some old Mirokus (without the Browning Citori name stamped on them) are in that range.

But as others have said, these are good deals, not something you'll find every day.

Benelli doesn't make O/Us. Not sure if they ever did. Is it a Beretta?

[orphanedcowboy]

You can buy a new Yildiz for $400 and add a Limbsaver pre-fit pad for less than $30. Check your local Academy Stores, they are light and have some very good wood on them if you look.

[juk]

CZ O&U are well priced. Not exactly a skeet/trap gun though. My friend bought a new Mossberg silver reserve with 12 and 20 ga barrels for 525 last year. Pretty solid gun.

[ArmedBear]

Pretty solid gun.

Wait 'til it has a few more rounds through it...

[NoAlibi]

I bought a NIB Mossberg Silver Reserve last year for $450 (Sure would have liked to have the extra set of 20 gauge barrels fo $75 more!). The gun came with two IC chokes, a modified and a full.

The gun mounts well for me and throws nice patters for skeet. My complaints so far: the wood looks so cheap that it resembles molded plastic, it really requires a good bit of force to open and close the action and the metal to wood fit is just passable. You really can't expect much for as little money as it costs, but if these are the only complaints then the gun is a good buy.

I've only shot 8 rounds of skeet with it, so I can't comment on ArmedBear's remarks. He's been around a while so don't discount his input.

Don't wait around for me either, because O/Us all recoil too hard to my cheek - even with a CheekEez pad and I won't be shooting it very much. I mainly bought it to have on hand when friends who shoot O/Us come to visit.

My personal preference for skeet (Been shooting skeet since 1971 and was a flash-in-the-pan winning one state police-fire olympics), but I know a number of shooters who are sold on the Beretta semi-auto and have nothing but good things to say about them. You'll appreciate the softer felt recoil of the semi-auto after a full day of skeet shooting - that's if you make the shoot-off.

I would stay away from light shotguns not only for the harder recoiling, but the heavier guns will almost force you to follow through which is sooo important at shooting most moving targets.

Just one shooter's opinion -- NoAlibi

[Bill B.]

because O/Us all recoil too hard to my cheek - even with a CheekEez pad and I won't be shooting it very much.

That one issue that new shooters need to be aware of with O/U's. O/U's that weigh less than 8 lbs. have much more recoil than the gas autoloaders. That's the reason that many shooters start adding lead to the stock, recoil reducers in the stock, and thicker recoil pads on the stock. When I started shooting skeet the average O/U barrel length was 26" with fixed skeet choke. The average barrel length now at our local club is 30 in. barrels with interchangeable chokes and small ga. inserts. A lot of these O/U's is going to weigh in at around 9 1/2 lbs. with the inserts installed and have a smooth swing with the long barrel and less recoil given their weight. They will average in length about the same as a Remington 1100 or Beretta auto with a 26" barrel which makes them handle just as well. There is a big difference between buying a cheap gun and maybe shooting 500 targets a year and needing something that you will be using for 500 targets a week. I stick with this:


Quote:
what can I get for around 500?
I would say you could get something you will not be happy with but not much else!