Just suppose a friend was wanting to buy a shotgun for clays...

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rpenmanparker

rpenmanparker

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Today a friend of a friend :confused::confused::confused: shot a shotgun for the first time. 12 gauge. Clay targets. The guy he was shooting with has some fancy, schmancy O/U guns he let this person use. A very good time was had by all and many clays were killed or disabled.

Now just supposing this person might want to buy a shotgun. Crazy, right? But just suppose. Not fancy, schmancy. The guy who hosted him said a reasonably good semi-auto gun that is completely appropriate for clays can be had pretty reasonably, especially if used.

What do you guys think? Recommend? Say a budget of $500 or less. I'm sure this person will appreciate all responses. Just so you know, he is asking the question this way in case his wife might see the forum. I'm sure you understand. :)

Oh, and let me stipulate that this person tends to like firearms that are lighter rather than heavier and smaller rather than larger. For what it is worth.
 
rpenmanparker said:
Today a friend of a friend :confused::confused::confused: shot a shotgun for the first time. 12 gauge. Clay targets. The guy he was shooting with has some fancy, schmancy O/U guns he let this person use. A very good time was had by all and many clays were killed or disabled.

Now just supposing this person might want to buy a shotgun. Crazy, right? But just suppose. Not fancy, schmancy. The guy who hosted him said a reasonably good semi-auto gun that is completely appropriate for clays can be had pretty reasonably, especially if used.

What do you guys think? Recommend? Say a budget of $500 or less. I'm sure this person will appreciate all responses. Just so you know, he is asking the question this way in case his wife might see the forum. I'm sure you understand. :)

Oh, and let me stipulate that this person tends to like firearms that are lighter rather than heavier and smaller rather than larger. For what it is worth.
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I don't have a recommendation on a shotgun. BUT thats what PASSWORDS are for.;)
 
I started a thread on a decent O/U for clays. Do most "serious" guys use an o/u for clays? Sure. Necessary? Absolutely not. Get what fits YOU. Apparently the 1100, 870, A-5, Mossberg 500 all fit me prime. I hit 48/50 with my 500 field (hand thrown) And a 50/50 today with my dads champion automatic with the old A-5.

Maybe read my thread and handle a few. Good luck!
 
A nice Remington 1100 can be had used for the $500 mark if you keep your eyes open. Clay shooters want a heavy gun to tame recoil, yes you can break them probably just as well with a light upland bird gun, but a full round of sporting clays is 100 birds, recoil wears on your body even if you deny it. I am a big guy, and I still prefer ultra-light reloads and a gun weighing in around 8#'s or more when I am shooting clays. After a few hundred thousand shotgun shells I wish I had learned this lesson when I was younger, because my right shoulder is starting to feel a bit gritty the older I get.
 
What kinda clays?

Used Browning Citori...But, it will probably be more than 500 bucks

Used older Miroku made Charles Daly. Probably a little more than 500 bucks.
 
First question: clays what? Trap, skeet, sporting clays. Then we can answer. Hand thrown in the back forty, anything works.
 
You can buy a brand new Beretta A300 Outlander for $650. A comparable quality double barrel will cost $1500. All the $500-600 double barrel shotguns are poor quality.
 
rpenmanparker said:
Say a budget of $500 or less.
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Not in an O/U. There is a current thread on this, https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/o-u-shotguns-i-dont-get-it.838101/#post-10860082, actually two; https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-you-get-for-under-1000.838342/#post-10865275
A lot of good advice in both of them; Most will agree with has already been said here. A used Citori is your best bet, but most likely over $500. It could be worse; you could be like me, jonesing for a decent Trap single or O/U.
 
Cutting through the BS about fictitious friends, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. I see a brand-new Remington V3 with black synthetic stock online for $599. What do you think? Is there any reason to go backwards to the 1100 or 11-87? We will get to what is available in Italian guns bye and bye.

And as a lefty, in any gun I would consider, should I look for a LH model or just blow it off and go with RH as I have done when shooting other people’s rifles all my life.

Allow me to say I appreciate beautiful, artful workmanship like on the O/U I was shooting yesterday, but that is not for me...when I am buying. I just want excellent performance, durability, and as good a price as those characteristics can be had for.
 
I like the V3 a lot and would probably own one if I didn’t have so many shotguns. I know the V3 fits me. I also don’t believe it is any better quality than a SA-08 or 930.
 
How serious and how much usage? A good, target-level semi will run ~ $1K, and that is used. Beretta, Fabarm, and a few others make the better ones. A decent used O/U from the Browning/Beretta lines can typically be found for ~$1000 or a little more...Personally, I would save up a little more, buy a good used Browning or Beretta (whichever fits best) and know I have a gun that will work for the next several generations of shooters.............and if I decided after a while, this game wasn't for me, I'd be able to get most of my money back on a resale.

Buy once, cry once; with any modicum of shooting, the targets and ammo costs will soon outdo the cost of the gun. My old Browning target O/U is now ~25 years old, has several hundred thousand rounds through it during that time; has had one repair a while ago - new springs and firing pins; and that is it. I can sell it for what I paid for it.

Go TOO cheap and you typically wind up with a gun having issues and/or breakage, and spending a lot of time sending it in for repair. Resale on cheap guns is also much lower, percentage-wise.
 
George P said:
How serious and how much usage? A good, target-level semi will run ~ $1K, and that is used. Beretta, Fabarm, and a few others make the better ones. A decent used O/U from the Browning/Beretta lines can typically be found for ~$1000 or a little more...Personally, I would save up a little more, buy a good used Browning or Beretta (whichever fits best) and know I have a gun that will work for the next several generations of shooters.............and if I decided after a while, this game wasn't for me, I'd be able to get most of my money back on a resale.

Buy once, cry once; with any modicum of shooting, the targets and ammo costs will soon outdo the cost of the gun. My old Browning target O/U is now ~25 years old, has several hundred thousand rounds through it during that time; has had one repair a while ago - new springs and firing pins; and that is it. I can sell it for what I paid for it.

Go TOO cheap and you typically wind up with a gun having issues and/or breakage, and spending a lot of time sending it in for repair. Resale on cheap guns is also much lower, percentage-wise.
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Fair enough, but are we talking apples-to-apples? Is $599 “too cheap” for a synthetic stock gun especially considering it is discounted more than 30% off list. There is no way that paying for walnut will make the gun shoot better, last longer, or be more reliable.
 
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I realize that starting out you only want something that is fairly cheap, fairly reliable and maybe durable. Many people start shooting clay games and are really into it and then after a couple years it fizzles out for them. If you get into one of the imports that is fairly cheap, your resale value is in the dumps unless its one of the big makers.

I have handled enough guns over the years that I can feel what works for me. I can shoot an auto pretty much as well as an O/U, and a good pump gun almost as well as either of them, maybe sacrifice one bird out of a hundred by going to a pump gun. But most people do not have tens of thousands of rounds through a pump gun to get the feel for them. If possible, try as many guns types as you can before you commit to one, I am not too opposed to synthetic stocks, but I don't like the cheap feel of them. If I could put wood stocks on my AR's reasonably, I probably would. I have never even seen a Rem V3 on the range or in person at any local gun stores.

What is going to be your main focus, skeet, trap, sporting clays? Trap is the only one that a special trap gun is really recommended, not that anyone can't shoot it with a standard gun, but it handicaps them. Sporting can be addictive and expensive, I shoot it a few times a year, but mostly shoot skeet with a few rounds of trap mixed in. I know you have a budget in mind, but it is hard to get steak on a hamburger budget. Maybe you need to get the cheapest thing that you think you can get away with and shoot for a while to see if you really want to get immersed into shotgun games. The amount of shells you go through is what limits how well you end up shooting in the long run.
 
^^^ Thanks. I appreciate your detailed response. But actually those game names mean nothing to me. Skeet, trap, sporting clays right now is all gibberish. I will never compete. I will never hunt. Absolutely positive. I will be going out with a friend, yelling pull and shooting at the bird. Nobody even keeping score. I just need a gun, but I don’t want trash. And I would rather put the money into the steel, not the stock. As for resale, that is meaningless too. If I only spend $500 to start, what difference would losing 50% on resale make? Nada. Just the price to play.
 
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entropy said:
Then if your're not shooting doubles, a Hatfield single, $99 at Walmart will be fine for you.
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Well, no reason not to shoot doubles. Just not as part of an organized game. And there is always the HD aspect. The autoloader would be much more suitable for the additional purpose of protecting the home.
 
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Synthetic Weatherby SA-08 for $500 dollars , the Deluxe model for about $630 . The Deluxe model has a longer LOP than the synthetic model .
 
So, you really aren't gonna do much other than toss a few targets every now and then for fun and might prop it up in the corner for HD the rest of the time?.....Sounds like a two barrel Maverick 88 combo is right up your alley....You would be set up for both jobs for under 250 bucks.
 
red rick said:
Synthetic Weatherby SA-08 for $500 dollars , the Deluxe model for about $630 . The Deluxe model has a longer LOP than the synthetic model .
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Having only a 33 inch sleeve length, I suspect that I wouldn’t benefit from longer LOP. Is that right?
 
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