Buying first O/U

I have a rather new 12 ga Browning 725 Sporting gun. It's easy on the shoulder compared to most of the O/U guns I've shot. A lot of the 20 ga O/U guns are very light and kick as much as the 12 ga. The 725 Sporting is heavier than a field gun, this helps manage recoil. If you can try various guns it'll help you decide. Also, there are lite target loads available, My favorite is the AA 1145 fps, 1-1/8 oz. Also available in 1 oz if you can find them. Having the gun fitted is also a big plus.
 
Red Label

There is a reason you don't see Ruger's in the hands of clay shooters.

They simply don't hold up to the volume. Nice hunting gun.

A dedicated clays shooter will put more rounds through a gun in a season or two then a hunter will in a lifetime.
Much the same can be said of the Turkish O/U guns.

Shooting high volume clays will tell you what your gun is made of.
 
My recommendation for an over under is either the Remington 1100 or a Beretta 3XX series. Soft recoil, moderate, price, they have it all. Oh, wait, they don't have that extra barrel. Still worth looking at.

I don't understand the worry over ejectors. I soon developed a reflex to cover the breech when opening an ejector gun. And had a shell catcher on my auto.
These days, a lot of shooters don't consider reloading worth the trouble, shot is so expensive and bulk shells relatively cheap. Let em' fly. Or catch them, bag them, and trash them later.
 
A Remington Model 1100 o/u? I assume a typo? The Remington Model 3200 was a decent o/u that you can still pick up for a decent price.
 
I get it now. When he said "extra barrel", I thought he was referencing some of the package deals where a repeating shotgun came with two barrels as a bonus. Years ago, I bought a Winchester Model 1300 12 gauge shotgun that came with a conventional barrel and screw-in chokes and a rifled deer slug barrel.
 
My dad swears by the Winchester 101, and he collects them (If anyone has any for sale, please PM me, he's up to 4 and is always looking for more) but they are notoriously harsh with recoil. He still loves them, and I managed to track one down for him that came with all four gauge barrels for a reasonable price.

My wife shoots a 20 gauge Beretta Silver Pigeon. It is not only a beautiful gun, but it will last long enough for our daughter to pass it on to her offspring. We spent about $1500 on it. I had a Citori for a bit, but to me it was too heavy and I just absolutely hated the boxy looking forend. The Beretta, in my mind has the most attractive lines of any of the doubles that you can get for under 5k.
 
I have been looking for the same thing. I looked hard at the Franchi Instinct. It was very well made, felt great and was affordable. It isn't anything that will wow the old guys with their 20k guns but it is visually nice, well made and well under 2k.
 
Guys that own $20K guns do so because they like them, not because they don't like yours.

I know several folks who have shotguns that cost over $100K - and yes they will gladly let you look at, and shoot them. Price of the gun has nothing to do with the personality that owns it.
 
Though I still think buying a used quality shotgun over a new, cheaper shotgun is the best idea, I noticed today that Cabela's is selling Turkish-made (I presume), CZ-USA, "Teal" o/u shotguns, in either 12 or 20 gauge, with 28" vented barrels for $599.99. If you plan on using the gun for hunting and not running thousands of shells through it annually in trap/skeet endeavors, this CZ entry being offered at a pretty low price, might be something to seriously consider.
 
If you want a 20 guage, try a Sabatti. My buddy bought one from CDNN for $1000 and we shot it the other day. Wow, I was breaking clays very regularly on crossing shots. Very good swing and balance. Has single trigger, barrel selector, 5 screw in chokes and auto ejectors.
 
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