if you really want an ou shotgun in any gauge, bottom line is it's gonna be pricey. even for a remington 332 ou 12 ga, they want 1500$. that's why i will prolly never own an ou shotgun. to expensive. i can go to wal-mart and buy a rem 870 for 300$ new, or pick one up for under 100$ used but still nice. i'm even concidering a used win model 12. but it's whatever you want, i guess.
First Time Shooter - need advice on purchase
- Thread starter Dom
- Start date
Oh boy!!1 If you are going to get involved with Skeet, or any of the clay target games, you will not be satisfied with a cheapie gun.
Do NOT buy a Mossberg or Rem 870. Not suited to Skeet no matter what others say. You will be disadvantaged and will end up spending more in short order.
What does the Beretta give you? In short it is a reliable gun that will go bang when you ask it to. It is an O/U and as such has fewer moving parts. Reliability IS important, and the 686 is reliable. Skeet shooters go through a LOT of ammo.
Skeet requires two shots in quick succession, a pump will slow you down, not to mention jam when you least expect it to.
If you get serious about Skeet you will quickly learn you need four guns to compete, thats right FOUR guns! 12,20,28 and 410. Competition skeet is shot in four gauges. An O/U allows you to buy sub gauge tubes to shoot all four gauges with one gun.
$1500 for the Beretta is a good price for the quality you get. Look around for a used gun, you might find one for less than new. Don't forget a new gun is no longer new after the first round of skeet.
My first clays gun cost $1100, it was an O/U and I dumped it after three years as it was not reliable. It was a Remington BTW. Not all O/U's are well made.
Stick with Beretta or Browning (O/U's) for your first gun. You will not be sorry.
Others will tell you to buy an Auto, they have their fans so I will leave the kudos to them. I prefer O/U's
Do NOT buy a Mossberg or Rem 870. Not suited to Skeet no matter what others say. You will be disadvantaged and will end up spending more in short order.
What does the Beretta give you? In short it is a reliable gun that will go bang when you ask it to. It is an O/U and as such has fewer moving parts. Reliability IS important, and the 686 is reliable. Skeet shooters go through a LOT of ammo.
Skeet requires two shots in quick succession, a pump will slow you down, not to mention jam when you least expect it to.
If you get serious about Skeet you will quickly learn you need four guns to compete, thats right FOUR guns! 12,20,28 and 410. Competition skeet is shot in four gauges. An O/U allows you to buy sub gauge tubes to shoot all four gauges with one gun.
$1500 for the Beretta is a good price for the quality you get. Look around for a used gun, you might find one for less than new. Don't forget a new gun is no longer new after the first round of skeet.
My first clays gun cost $1100, it was an O/U and I dumped it after three years as it was not reliable. It was a Remington BTW. Not all O/U's are well made.
Stick with Beretta or Browning (O/U's) for your first gun. You will not be sorry.
Others will tell you to buy an Auto, they have their fans so I will leave the kudos to them. I prefer O/U's
wrongo, geoff. i can get off 3 shots at a flying clay with my 870, though i seldom need more than 1. and as for competing, he is just getting started skeeting. i doubt he'll compete for a year or two at least. remington makes a fine gun. so does winchester. beretta is just a fancy name. you must have gotten the one bad gun out of the whole lot, or been shooting trashy shells. 1500$ is more than any gun is really worth. i wouldn't give more than 750 for almost any gun. as for browning, they make a good gun. so does beretta. but they're both over-priced and unrealistic unless it's a trade tool. if you make your living skeeting, then you prolly need some fancy ou shotgun. the average working man can't realistically waste that much money on something that only gets pulled out on the weekends at most.
K80:
I dont have any intentions of getting into competative shooting. My intentions (for now at least) is for this to be a sport for me....maybe a couple times a month to the range. I dont intend to get involved with hunting either.
I do agree with you - I dont want a pump gun. You opinion seems to be dead on with my friends opinion about using an semi o/u for skeet and other shooting.
He also suggested a Browning (as well as the Beretta) - but went on to say that a gun is a gun for the most part.
The biggest differences are weight, reliability, and appearance. Based on what I am hearing...maybe good used gun in the $500 - $800 dollar range is best...
I will also take a look at some of the lower priced new o/u guns for comparison purposes.
But as of now - based on what I have learned so far, I am leaning more towards a used o/u Beretta or Browning in good condition.
Thanks for all the input!
Dom
I dont have any intentions of getting into competative shooting. My intentions (for now at least) is for this to be a sport for me....maybe a couple times a month to the range. I dont intend to get involved with hunting either.
I do agree with you - I dont want a pump gun. You opinion seems to be dead on with my friends opinion about using an semi o/u for skeet and other shooting.
He also suggested a Browning (as well as the Beretta) - but went on to say that a gun is a gun for the most part.
The biggest differences are weight, reliability, and appearance. Based on what I am hearing...maybe good used gun in the $500 - $800 dollar range is best...
I will also take a look at some of the lower priced new o/u guns for comparison purposes.
But as of now - based on what I have learned so far, I am leaning more towards a used o/u Beretta or Browning in good condition.
Thanks for all the input!
Dom
"1500$ is more than any gun is really worth"
I disagree. They higher level of fit, finish and function is worth the money to me. Heck, I wish I could afford some $15,000 guns with nice wood and a little tasteful engraving - hand engraving, not machine stamped or laser cut.
Dom - Here's my take on it. Yes, for $200-$500 an 870 or 1100 (or something similar) will do and will hold up for a very long time.
The difference in a new $400 O/U and a used $800 or $900 Browning or Beretta O/U is more than the better reliability of the B guns. You can shoot one of the B guns for a few years and get your money back or make a little if you take care of it. Worst case senario is that you'll lose $200 or so. Now, if you buy a new Russian/Turkish/whatever O/U for $400 you'll either have a hard time selling it later or you'll end up losing the same $200 you would have lost on one the B guns. Consider the $200 you might lose the rental fee for shooting the gun for a few years. If you keep it 2 years it works out to less than $10 a month.
"But wait a minute" you say, "I'm not planning to sell it." If you're sure you are going to buy a gun and keep it forever - then get a nice one.
It's only money and the gun is not the expensive part. The ammo and range fees are going to cost you more if you shoot regularly.
John
I disagree. They higher level of fit, finish and function is worth the money to me. Heck, I wish I could afford some $15,000 guns with nice wood and a little tasteful engraving - hand engraving, not machine stamped or laser cut.
Dom - Here's my take on it. Yes, for $200-$500 an 870 or 1100 (or something similar) will do and will hold up for a very long time.
The difference in a new $400 O/U and a used $800 or $900 Browning or Beretta O/U is more than the better reliability of the B guns. You can shoot one of the B guns for a few years and get your money back or make a little if you take care of it. Worst case senario is that you'll lose $200 or so. Now, if you buy a new Russian/Turkish/whatever O/U for $400 you'll either have a hard time selling it later or you'll end up losing the same $200 you would have lost on one the B guns. Consider the $200 you might lose the rental fee for shooting the gun for a few years. If you keep it 2 years it works out to less than $10 a month.
"But wait a minute" you say, "I'm not planning to sell it." If you're sure you are going to buy a gun and keep it forever - then get a nice one.
It's only money and the gun is not the expensive part. The ammo and range fees are going to cost you more if you shoot regularly.
John
you're not going to be able to get a browning, benelli or beretta O/U in decent shape for $500 or thereabouts, tell me if you find it! but i have been looking into it, because an O/U is on my list... i've heard mixed reviews about the mossberg silver and onyx reserve. they're pretty new, most people that use them say they're good guns but it's difficult to tell if there will be problems down the line due to their short life so far. there are handfuls of low-end O/U's, but right now i personally am probably leaning toward a CZ, unless i hear something bad about them. you might want to check into them, cz-usa.com, they seem to be pretty nice and are readily available for under 500 on the auction sites.
charlie in md
New member
If you are not totally decided on an O/U, you can find used Remington 1100s for less than 400 dollars (they will last for at least 50K rounds, but will need piece part replacement from time to time) or used Berettas (391's) for less than 900 dollars. They may be advantageous to you if you are recoil sensitive.