purchasing new "budget"shotty soon

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Texaszach

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Hey guys I am in the search for a new shotty for the cabinet..
I already own a single shot 20 ga and a O/U 12 ga.

So basically I am looking for a sythetic gun that can take a beating and be quite versatile for me. I will be using the gun for mostly dove, turkey, and small game hunting, and would like to get into shooting clays as well. I would preffer a 3" chamber just for when I do want to shoot some of the heavier turkey loads.

The gun must be under 450.

Right now my main contenders are:

Guns I've already handled and felt well:
Benelli nova- black synthetic -12 ga 3" (under 400)
Weatherby sa-08- black synthetic - 12 ga 3" - ($439)

Guns im interested in:

Winchester sxp - 12 ga 3" - (under 400)
Weatherby pa-08 12 ga 3" - (under 400)

Also, I'm not a big fan of the remmy 870 express just to go ahead and eliminate that gun
 
I don't know about shotties, but Mossberg and Remington make fine pump shotguns for not that much money. I'm rather partial to Mossberg for the superior lefty ergos and ergos in general. You're probably lookin' at a pump for that price point unless you look used.
 
For a pump-Mossberg 500, as far as autos the Weatherby is nice, but I don't care for the light and heavy pistons you have to switch out. Take a look at the Westley Scott autos, VERY similar to the Weatherby (might even come from the same factory?) but no piston to change, and they sell for around $300.
 
I've read quite a bit about the light and heavy parts change in the weatherby and watched how to change it.

I primarily shoot lighter loads and will use the light piston 90% of the time im sure. The only time i really think I will need the heavy one is for the heavier turkey loads i mentioned earlier.

This is more common in some older guns than I knew about, and it is to increase the life of the action which is apparently a problem in some other semis.

And yes I know I am primarily in the pump market, that's why I think it really is worth that extra 50 bucks for me to go with the weatherby. I went and handled it as well as a remington 870 and mossberg 500.

The mossberg just doesnt feel right when I shoulder it and the remington is a good gun it just doesn't make me want to take it home right when I hold it like other guns.

Thanks for comments tho guys
zach
 
the piston can be swapped out quickly not much to it ive just been using the heavy load piston in mine and so far its working ok even on the cheap 100 rd value packs at walmart wich is about as light of a load I will ever shoot, but it may depend on the gun on wether you will have to switch out the pistons or not.
 
I dont own one but i'd say for the price they wouldn't be bad to check out. 300 bucks for a nice looking semi auto is pretty intriguing.
 
the academy around here has stoeger semi autos for 299 so if i went that cheap on a semi thats prob what I'd go with.. but I think for the difference I'd just rather pay that little more for a gun I can really only find good reviews on

They also have black laminate wood stocked 870s for 279
 
they also had the winchester sxp home defense shotty and i cannot find the field version if anyone has any input on it or the weatherby pa-08 id appreciate it..
 
look at the EAA line... they are now importing Baikals.... Baikals are a tough gun for the money!!
 
Several of these "knock-offs" are made in TURKEY......
some may criticize a TURKISH gun, but they have the 3rd largest ARMY in the world so they have had experience building guns for decades! :eek:

I've inspected the Legacy ESCORT, TRISTAR and WEATHERBY and they (IMHO) are better quality than the big two! :what:

Don't take my word for it, go check one out!
I mean, after all, you're "shopping", right?!?
 
Turkey can build a quality gun; however, when one is built to a low price-point, corners get cut everywhere to make it happen

Cheap is NOT the same as inexpensive
 
That's a good point, but those workers are not making Teamsters UNION wages, I'm sure.

I've been back and forth to PANAMA (for example) for a couple of years.....
as the most modern city in Central America, employees in Panama City average $1.00/hr! :what:

Labor is VERY cheap in the Middle East! :evil:

UPDATE: I just used GOOGLE.......
Product Designer in TURKEY makes $5.00/hr, so how much is a laborer worth?

My point is the "labor" costs are substantially different between a Mossberg employee and some poor soul in Turkey........
so "quality" may be better and cost less........of course, doesn't do as much for our economy except the importer, distributor, retail store and retail clerk do make money on
imports.
 
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The Turkish economy is actually pretty decent, and the workers get paid fair wages. their minimum wage is only slightly less than ours in the US.

Several years ago, they caught onto the fact that their Rugs and Shotguns had a larger market than they realized, and the days of dirt cheap high quality handmade rugs and guns disappeared in favor of machine made, mass produced acceptable quality rugs and guns.

You can still get the hand made stuff, but you'll be paying a premium for it. Occasionally you can still find a good deal, on rugs moreso than guns, but you really have to be in country to find them. During my two and a half years there, I got a few decent rugs, and a hand made kilim, but never did get around to getting ths hotgun, for which I still kick myself.
 
The Turkish guns are every bit as good as the big two are and better in some ways. Mossberg seemed to think enough of them to have Armsan build the Mossberg SA-20 for them.
 
well update on the shotgun...

And with all this about turkish guns I went with a Japanese made gun...

Browning BPS - 3"... It's a synthetic field model with brid engravings on both sides.
I found it at our local shop for 369 and it was in good shape and fit me well.

It didnt have the included chokes other than a modified choke I believe.

Any tips on which chokes I should go with? Im looking for a turkey choke most definitely and something for dove and other critters. And what if I started clay shooting?

Just remember this guns main use will be hunting and use in the field
 
well if you only had 1 choke the modified is the one to probably have but if you plan on buying some might want a full or extra full for turkey and an improved for dove or clays but the modified works better if the doves are flying high and you are taking longer shots.
just have to pattern your gun with different chokes to see how it does.
 
IC for closer, Full for farther, X Full for turkey and turkey shoots.

Congrats on your fine shotgun. Now go shoot it plenty....
 
all i feel compelled to add is, that mossberg makes fine shotguns all the way around. i always suggest giving there shotguns a look.
 
The BPS is awesome, but not exactly a BUDGET shotgun by MY definition. :D Good choice, though and YOURs was a deal. I was lookin' at BPS 10s a while back and decided I had to wait on that one, near 700 bucks.

The mossberg just doesnt feel right when I shoulder it and the remington is a good gun it just doesn't make me want to take it home right when I hold it like other guns.
Click to expand...

All it takes is shimming the stock. Mossberg even sells a shim kit for this to adjust both drop and camber. I shimmed mine with coke bottle plastic and it feels right awesome now. It severly lacked drop out of the box. The BPS and Winchesters feel right to ME right out of the box. I never shimmed my Winchester 1400, fits me like a glove. Fit is important, but with most pumps and autos, shimming will work.
 
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Heck i know the bps is definitely not a budget shotgun in most cases, but it was priced right in my range, fit well, was in great shape, and it doesn't help that I'm a little partial to brownings anyways.

Thanks for the conversation tho guys!!

Zach
 
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