Need Hunting Shotgun Advice

[mike_pinto]

Strange responses as I hunt quail and Pheasant all season here in Oklahoma and do rather well. I used to be on the Air Force and US International Skeet teams and have been hunting for just over 30 years now, so I might know a thing or two about it. I wont say "my friends tell me" or anything. There are plenty of birds here and a light, comfortable shotgun is what will fill the bill for you.

Beretta's - I used to shoot a 682 Skeet in competitions until I bought my first Perazzi MX8b, then won two,,,, Beretta's are shooters but heavy and I have seen them let folks down in the duck blind. Not saying it wasn't operator error, just saying I have seen them jam up a bit when dirty.
Browning Gold Hunter - If you get one, make sure it has the two rings of gas check holes in the piston ring. The original Stalkers came with one ring and they had a hard time cycling. Great shooters and are easy to clean, but also a bit on the heavy side for an upland gun.
Remington has let their quality go a bit. They have started using a lot of plastic where metal once lived. I had never seen an 870 foul up until about 8 years ago, and now it seems to be somewhat common. I shot an 1100 for years and it was a great gun, but the newer ones seem to be a bit less reliable.
As far as cheap over and unders - This is where I disagree with a lot of people that post here. I think a lot of folks that steer "hunters" away from them cannot differentiate between a hunting gun and a target gun. When you are talking over and unders, the two are mutually exclusive. I still shoot skeet with the beloved MX-8 but hunt quail and dove with a Yildiz 20. ($399 at Academy) I shoot the 20 on the skeet field sometimes and it breaks as many birds as I let it! I probably have ~2000 shells through it and it hasn't skipped a beat. For ducks and wild Pheasant, the Baikal (now Spartan) semi-auto is what I use. More the 8000 rounds through it, most without cleaning it, ever and it still has never hiccuped. Probably killed 100 times more birds then most big dollar guns and I don't feel guilty using it as an oar if the trusty ol' outboard decides to sleep. If you plan on going to the sporting clays range once or twice and hunting the rest of the time, those Turkish o/u's are hard to beat at the price point. You can buy a 12 and a 20 for the price of one big name semi.

Try a few of them out. Nothing I have stated in here is really arguable as it is all first hand information. Good luck and feel free to shoot me a pm with questions if you want an honest to goodness opinion.

Mike

 

[POSITIVE DISCONTENT]

I love my win 1300. As far as shooting pheasant. . . . Pm me and I will teach you a trick. you don't have to foul a bird with shot or take the chance of biting into shot when you cook (lead is an accumulative poison and if you cook it into the meat it is released into the meat. Not a big deal unless you eat a bunch of game but again accumilative.

 

[BobBarker]

Remember, you'll look much cooler showing up with a used gun that you can shoot well than having a $1000 gun that you can't hit squat with.

Very true! I saw plenty of 1100s and Wingmasters, used, at the RK Tulsa Gun Show listed at very decent prices. People have black gun fever and it is driving down the cost of these great guns. I have a total of $300 in my 1100 (fixed mod barrel), and it is a great gun. First time I shot it, I hit 21/25 clays, first time I brought out my SX3 to the same range I shot less than 8/25. Talk about embarrassing. If you could get one with a screw in choke barrel with some chokes for $400, I say do that. I trolled gun broker and found mine. I did the advanced search, no reserve auctions, and found my gun about to end with no body bidding on it.

 

[Robertson07]

I highly suggest the SBE II, as of right now it is the best shot gun my husband, my brother-in-law, my father-in-law, and I have shot! We love our 'nelli's

 

[44minimum]

If you're going to actually clean your guns after you shoot them, you might consider a semi-auto if you can deal with the weight. Usually they are a little heavier. Remington 1100 has been used for 30 or 40 years and is still going strong. I have no firsthand experience with benelli or beretta but read mostly good things about them.

A pump will work longer with no or little maintenance.
The browning BPS, Remington 870, Winchester 1300, Mossberg 500--millions of them have been purchased and millions of them are still going strong. None of them are a terrible choice.

20 gauge or 12 gauge? Usually 12 gauge is a little heavier. How much walking are you going to do and how much weight are you willing to carry?

I have a franchi al48 20 gauge semi-auto it weighs barely over five pounds. If I was going out all day long think I'd take it

If at all possible try to handle each of them and pick the one that naturally lines up with your eye when you raise it up to your shoulder.

 

[LBnM]

Wow! I don't know how you can absorb all this info.

Ike (Shooting Starr's Commander) and I find lots of birds here in Oklahoma. And that is Quail and Pheasant. Several of my hunting partners and I go on an annual Dove shoot out west for a warm up. We require 2.5" 410 bore loads - nothing bigger. Sometimes finding Oklahoma land to hunt Pheasant on is a little tough but it's doable. The Quail are cyclic with some years better than others but they are there - it's just a matter of finding them. And there are birds on public land, better in the west but still there in the east. Kansas has about a million acres of public land available and much of it has abundant Pheasant and Quail. The WIHA program is something the Oklahoma Wildlife Department could learn from. It's also available in South Dakota, Colorado and other states. With your connections in Kansas you have it made. I've never hunted on a preserve in my life.

Shotguns: I have fancy over unders, Remington 870 Express and many in between, including side by sides. I've shot about every semi-auto made but don't own one. I have to admit tho' the Benelli Montefeltro is an exceptional upland gun. A little out of your price range. I don't care much for any of the other semi's, including the Berettas which a hunting partner occasionally uses. The Browning BPS is a very good shotgun but a little heavy in 12 ga. which you probably should choose for late season, long range pheasant. I own a Citori which is a pretty good gun. My personal favorite upland gun is a Franchi Veloce 20 ga. O/U but I use my 870 Express 20 or 12 most of the time. I have not found a problem with them and I pattern all my shotguns. They are clunky looking and the 12 is a little heavy but still fine guns for the money. I just like to "dance with the one that brung me" The Yildiz, previously mentioned is a very good gun for the money. One of my hunting partners is quite successful with one of these in a 20 ga.

Pumps were at one time considered the American Shotgun. The problem with a pump nowadays is that most people don't shoot enough to become proficient with one. When I first began shooting registered Skeet targets (back in the 60's, BTW) some of the best champions shot 870s. The Rem 1100 was a mainstay also. My wife won several European womens meets with one. I just preferred the 870. And I didn't think it handicaped me when I won several meets, including a European .410 championship with one in 1970.

Quite simply, you need to find a gun that fits you well and feels comfortable. For your first shotgun spend the least amount of money you can and still get a comfortable gun. Spend the rest on shotgun shells and shoot, shoot, shoot. Even tho' a 12 would be better on late season Pheasant I would recommend a 20ga for the first gun. You can always use high brass, copper plated shells and limit the range of your shots on late season birds. You will buy another shotgun soon anyway and it could be the 12. You can develop better shooting skills with a 20.

My recommendation - if it feels good the Browning BPS in 20ga with a 26" bbl. If you go with a double I would go with the 28" bbl as it is the same overall length as a 26" pump or semi auto.

My preferences - and I've been doing this for over 50 years.

 

[Shriner]

I had good luck with a barrowed 391e on SD phesants-very little felt recoil

 

[MBB]

I agree with Walker's assessment. A 26" 12ga semi-auto is about the best all-around shotgun to own.

For shotgunning, the gun absolutely needs to fit you. You will not be happy if it doesn't. I've shot remingtons, winchesters, mossbergs, benelli, beretta, and others. Shooting a semi-auto benelli that doesn't fit isn't nearly as much fun as shooting a mossberg pump that does, so find one that fits.

My favorite shotgun right now is an 870. I have an 11-87 that I really like too. I haven't found an 1100 that I don't like to shoot. I would highly recommend any of those to anyone, as long as the guns fit that particular individual well.

 

[leon strickland]

i have two 20 ga beretta both al 391 urikas one is new the other one had 4 boxes of shells i am asking $800 for one $950 for the other. very nice guns

 

[MR.T.]

I have to agree with what most people here are saying. Find a gun that fits you. Anyone can go spend $1000 or more on the best shotgun on the market, but what is that worth when he can't hit anything with it.

Like I said before, you know you can hit with a BPS, now you need to come up here and we can shoot the Franchi, and the Ithica, my SxS, and the Browning A-5. I have a friend with a Mosberg, so maybe we can get that one too.

But like others have said, you don't need to spend big bucks to get a gun that works for you, I have an old 20 guage pump that is worth $110 at the most, but I can hit with it and it goes boom every time.