Over Under

E

eddy615

New member
I am looking to buy an over under for bird hunting behind my new bird dog. I only want to spend at a maximum of $800. I want something that will last and had an elagent look to it. Anyone have any ideas???
 
I think you would want a Browning or Beretta. But for that you are probably gonna need to raise your budget a bit.

Evan
 
Does anyone know anything about the CZ shotguns
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Turkish made, just like most of the other low-grade O/Us although the CZs seem to be the best of the Turkish lot. The other country producing lower cost doubles in number is Russia (Baikal). Not bad guns if you only shoot occasionally but not nearly up to par with the better guns. Over/Unders require much more precise hand tuning to put together. That drives the cost up in a quality gun.

Save your money and get a Beretta, Browning, etc. or even a Ruger Red Label and you'll have one you can pass along to your grandchildren.

If you are willing to buy used, the most affordable good quality gun available are the old Marlin 90s. They were also sold by Sears under the Ranger label. You can get a good 12ga for little more than $300 if you are patient. 20ga models sell for at least a hundred more. They were made back in the '30s to the '50s and are still fine shooting guns if you get one that has been well cared for.
 
Lanber from CDNN. Range from $499.00 to $649.00. Google it up and read the reviews. You will find very little negative. The ones from CDNN are "Blemished". My buddy bought one, and as best we could tell, the blemish was that the recoil pad wasn't a perfect fit. It wasn't far from perfect, but a little.

I have shot the gun a bit, and it is very solid.

http://www.cdnninvestments.com/dowournewcat.html
 
IF you can find a used Beretta BL-3, the precursor of the famed 686 (especially a 20ga specimen, which has a "scaled-down" frame), they usually sell for about $750 these days.

They are "world class", and one of the best-handling bird guns available, IMHO.

You WILL be a happy camper !

.
 
In your budget range, there are a lot of used, quality-made guns that will work very nicely. There are a few closeouts around that will also work. Browning, Beretta, SKB, Lanber are among those that can be found.

You might want to go to a gun club and see if you can borrow/rent some of them to see which ones fit you fairly close and have that "feel" that seems right to you. Try some trap or skeet to see how they work for you.

A good O/U that is reliable has more hand work than a typical pump or semi - the end result is that one with properly regulated barrels etc., will cost more than your typical pump or semi.

IF semis aren't totally out of the question, there are a few out there that will also make great field guns.

Good luck in your quest!
 
In that budget range - for new guns - I would look at Ruger.

In used guns, I bought a used Browning Lightning, 12ga, 28" barrels - a couple of weeks ago for $ 725. It was a great buy / very clean. It had the older Invector screw in chokes in it / came with 6 or 7 chokes. There wear a couple of handling marks on the stock / but I can fix those later if I want to. Its a gun I'll use for new shooters / or pass onto one of the grandkids down the road. There are a lot of guys looking for these used Brownings - so you have to be in the right place at the right time. The same gun new today is around $ 1,750

http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?value=008B&cat_id=013&type_id=461

Beretta has similar field gun models / but the name escapes me at the moment.
 
My previous recommendation on the Lanber is still valid, however, I just bought a Beretta 686 Onyx with 26" barrels and Mobil chokes for $875.00. It has a couple of very minor stock dings and the bluing is worn a bit on the lever, but it locks up as tight as any new O/U, and is totally reliable. It was made in 1996.
 
I agree with the other guys. Look for a good used Beretta, Browning, SKB, or Ruger. I have never been afraid to buy a quality gun used. The most important thing with any gun is it has to go BANG. I've seen many guys that buy a $400 o/u only to have reliability issues and trade up to a higher quality gun. Don't worry about fancy wood. You want a hunting gun. Take good wood through a little brush, or trip and fall, it's ruined anyway. Good luck.
 
Try used and you might get lucky. Browning, Beretta, SKB or even Miroku (which is the Japanese company who makes many of the Browning guns).

The only other ones I have read good things about are the Lanbers from www.cdnninvestments.com as they can be had at lower than normal prices, and also the Charles Daly Diamond NRA models from CDNN. These guns are on closeout at way discounted prices and there are some good discussions about them on some of the gun forums.
 
A good friend of mine bought a Fausti O/U 20 gauge for about $500, and has been happy as pie for the five years he's shot it. A well made and nicely finished shotgun for the money, IMO.
 
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