any thoughts on a 20g O/U field gun...

A

Anthony66

Moderator
I'm thinking seriously about a new Beretta Silver Pigeon. A few years back I used to borrow my cousin's SP 28g. That was a great little gun for bird hunting and some clay target shooting. Threw great patterns. :)
 
20 gauge for upland, IMO, is the best bore when the gun is on a properly sized frame making the weight around 6#, even with 28, 29, or 30" barrels
 
Give you two...

located a Marlin M90 in either 16ga or 20ga, and open the chokes to IC & MOD,
second in a Ruger Red Lable 20ga in Skt & Skt.

A third, which is a pump is the Ithaca M37 is 16ga or 20ga.
 
Besides the SP and White Onyx in 20 gauge, Beretta make a nice alloy framed variant that weighs less than 6 lbs.

My old SKB is a great candidate here, but at 6 lbs,12 oz it's on the heavy side for an uplander. Still, one with 26" barrels and choked IC/Mod would be a keeper.

In the last year or so I've got to try a few shots with Franchi and Cesar Guerneri 20 gauge O/Us. Check those out also.
 
Browning Citori is a solid gun ...in their typical Field gun configuration ...like the Lightning ..in a 20ga and 28" barrels its 6.5 lbs ...

There are lots of choices ...depends on what "fits you" ...

Personally my "field gun" ...( in 12ga, 20ga or 28ga ) is a Browning Citori, XS Skeet model, with 30" barrels... in a 20ga its about 7.5 lbs ...but I don't find that too heavy.../ but I tend to like heavier guns - especially in the O/U's ...if I get too light - the guns tend to be "whippy" vs smooth / where I slap at too many birds...vs staying smooth / with a good follow thru.
 
Covet,covet....

I do not shoot ultra light shotguns well for the most part, a few with weight well forward are the exceptions.

Still, there's a lot to be said about that one.

Rich Cole will install DTs in a Beretta O/U. He will also make a stock to your measure. You pick the wood and install it on the Beretta of your choice with engraving you pick out also.

Soon as I hit the Lotto.....
 
I think I'm down to two. A Browning Citori White Lightning or the Beretta Silver Pigeon. On the plus side, the Browning could be used for occasional clay target shooting. It's a little heavier than the SP, will see...

Thanks for the help!
 
a new Browning White Lightning found its way home today!! Got the 20 gauge with 28" barrels and two flats of Federal Target Loads to break her in with. Both guns felt good, the Citori felt better. The difference in wood quality was like night and day. The WL came with grade 2 lumber, the SP wood looked like stained plywood. Just sayin'... :D
 
current inventory of Beretta Silver Pigeon stock material... ;)

tt-se-bad-plywood.jpg
 
Before the sxs bug hit at various times I owned and hunted with a Browning Citori Featherlight, Winchester 101 and Beretta 687 SP. While all of them provided good service my favorite of the three was the Beretta. It fit me better and had 30" barrels while the others were shorter.
 
BJP, remember, I'm the new kid on the block! But, if you want better wood on a SP, here's their grade 4... ;) as in 2X4... LOL

2x4nn.jpg
 
Ok, I'm still laughing ....but over the years Browning hasn't used the best wood either on their grade I guns...

Here is my Citori 12ga ( Field Grade 1 O/U ) that I bought new in 1988 for about $ 750 ....its the older version of the standard Lightning model today.

Shotguns 11-10-08 012.jpg

its not fancy, but its a very serviceable gun - that I still keep around...as a training gun mostly.
 
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