Fairly experienced handgun shooter here. Recently got hooked on sporting clays, but have no former long gun experience. Tried several different shotguns on the course, found that I really, really like 20g over/unders. Of the few times I've gone to the course, I've consistently hit about 20/50 clays -- granted, I've had no formal instruction (I'm going to get at least one lesson in the near future).
The pro shop at my local course offers free gun fitting if you buy through them, and they can order pretty much anything for you. The fitting will probably help my score, but not as much as proper instruction.
Anyways, to the topic of this post: is there anything I should look for or avoid when buying a O/U shotgun? I'm thinking features, materials, etc. I really like the ones that auto eject spent shells when you open them, but that may be a standard feature. Also, I'm not sure what barrel length I should be looking at. My research so far is telling me a 28" is a good all-around choice. I don't have the money to buy a bunch of different interchangeable parts, and I'm not looking to compete professionally or anything. Mostly just for fun and, in the future, NSCA shoots. All of the shotguns I fired at my local course came with modified chokes, and they all worked well with the exception of hitting two REALLY far away clays (which I think was due to me using #8, not the chokes).
Any advice is appreciated! I know better than to ask "what's the best gun blah blah blah" so, please, keep any advice to what to look for or avoid so this doesn't turn into a cluster Thanks!
The pro shop at my local course offers free gun fitting if you buy through them, and they can order pretty much anything for you. The fitting will probably help my score, but not as much as proper instruction.
Anyways, to the topic of this post: is there anything I should look for or avoid when buying a O/U shotgun? I'm thinking features, materials, etc. I really like the ones that auto eject spent shells when you open them, but that may be a standard feature. Also, I'm not sure what barrel length I should be looking at. My research so far is telling me a 28" is a good all-around choice. I don't have the money to buy a bunch of different interchangeable parts, and I'm not looking to compete professionally or anything. Mostly just for fun and, in the future, NSCA shoots. All of the shotguns I fired at my local course came with modified chokes, and they all worked well with the exception of hitting two REALLY far away clays (which I think was due to me using #8, not the chokes).
Any advice is appreciated! I know better than to ask "what's the best gun blah blah blah" so, please, keep any advice to what to look for or avoid so this doesn't turn into a cluster Thanks!