Ruger Red Label O/U

B

blades67

New member
I am thinking about buying one. I am also looking at the Beretta O/U. I have shot a Ruger Red Label, but not the Beretta. How do they compare? Does the Beretta fire the second chamber without recoil? The Ruger fires the second with just a second press of the trigger. The Browning Citori Lighting won't, so it's out of the running. I have untill the end of August to make my choice (hunting season starts in September in Arizona doncha know).

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Guns cause crime like spoons cause Rosie O'Donnell to be fat!

I hunt, therefore I am.
 
Mine does not fire the second chamber with just a pull of the triger, you have to disengage the saftey that goes on after the first shot. Make sure whoever you buy it from will send it back if this happens to yours, some of them have this problem. Like mine, I also had a crack in the forestock and had to send it back, now if I send it in again to get the saftey fixed it will be twice. Look it over carfully if you buy one. When I took it duck hunting it shot fine while the saftey was off. I might just have a local smith disable it completly. That way if I get hurt in the future I can sue Ruger for making a disfunctional saftey. ;)
 
Beretta over/unders have recoil operated triggers like the Browning. I've use recoil triggers for years and the only problems have occurred when I was using too light a load. The Winchester Featherlights would not reset the trigger in my Beretta 682. I have another gun with mechanical triggers and don't see an great advantage over recoil operated.

The Ruger Red Label isn't a gun that I particularly care for. I don't think they are as well made as other guns and every one I've tried seems very muzzle heavy. You should shoot a Beretta to compare handling and fit.

Oberkommando: Never heard of an auto safety that went on before the second shot. Must have driven you crazy. Was it a defect or another new and bold anti-litigation feature :(
 
The Rugers are fine shotguns and will give years of good service. Bill Ruger has continually refined and improved his O/U's. If you are buying new you should have few problems. I have heard that the 12 ga has more recoil than a comparable Browning or Beretta.

The Berettas are great guns, and probably are better in quality over the Ruger. I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone.

I owned one of each and was satisfied with both guns. (Ruger 20 and Beretta 28). I sold them to help finance my K80.

I suggest shooting a Beretta before you decide. Personally if I were in your situation I would probably buy Beretta.

I have noticed that ruger shooters tend to move on to another brand after shooting awhile, but Beretta owners seem to stay loyal to Beretta. (This is among sporting clays shooters).

My$.02 as usual

Geoff Ross

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One reason to vote in the next Presidential election.

It's the Supreme Court, Stupid!
 
I own 2 redlabels 12 and 20 both of them have been awsome to me. I shoot bunker witch is olympic trap and do great about 23-24 out of 25. Also i own a berreta 686 combo and a MX8 witch is probley out of the question. TOOK me years to pay that thing off. Depends on your budget also ruger make great guns and great prices and i am shure you know rugers guns are BEEFY built like a tank to take the ware and tear of the person.
I give two thumbs up to ruger. if you can afford the berreta by all means go for it. your picks of gun will be all good no matter what one you buy.

House
 
On another BBS that I read the shooters there have had the same question. The answers were heavily in favor of the Beretta. Some of those gentlemen have the bucks to spend more on a shotgun than I spent on my new truck. They know their guns. I was convinced from reading the posts to put a Beretta 686 Onyx on layaway. But don;t forget, the fit and your personal feelings count too. Try to shoot both before deciding. Have fun, BB.
 
A couple months ago I had the good luck to use an 'all weather' 12gauge Red Label for a day of trap shooting in Nashville. The gun was accurate, operated flawlessly and with precision, and was a breeze to carry for several hours.

It also beat the living crap out of my shoulder. Recoil wasn't just rough, it was vicious. I was wearing a vest with a quilted pad sewn into the shoulder and within two or three stations was wincing with every trigger pull. BUT! I was shooting a great round.

At the end of the day, I went home with a black and blue shoulder and a great score.

I can thicken the padding for that kind of performance. I'm saving up for one without even a second's hesitation.



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Take the long way home...
 
PJR it is defective and has happened to other redlabels in the past according to my now out of business gun store owner. I bought new and as I said I sent it back once to fix a cracked forend and have not sent it back a second time as it is a hassle and think I will just disconect the safty as I dont like them to begin with.

Ya it was kind of hard duck hunting in between two ponds with a lot of close in action and the damn safety going on. Should have taken my benelli super 90 as it works great. Shoot a lot of 3" steel and recoil did wear on the shoulder a little by the end of the day but then again thats shootin. The ruger did get me a lot of bird by the end of the day I just got a bad taste with this one, from what I hear most are not faulty from the get go like my was, Best of luck.

PJR speaking of litigation, another thing that pisses me off about rugers is that all the Single action pistols I own have the damn owners manual ingraved on the barrel. Sent one out to Gary Reeder to have done and will remove the monstrosity from the barrel, sorry about pistol talk on this forum but that lawyer crap got me irritated.

[This message has been edited by oberkommando (edited August 03, 2000).]
 
My ruger is from the factory with the safty that is manual. It does not put it self on when you close the gun.
 
I've been skeet shooting with a Red Label for a few years now and made the mistake of thinking I had to move up to a Beretta as a measure of status in the shotgun world. Well, I got the Beretta at twice the cost of the Red Label and guess what. I shoot no better and have had a few problems with the Beretta while I've never had any with the Ruger. Good thing I kept the Ruger for backup while the Beretta went back for warranty work. You can't beat Ruger for reliability and strength. I think in most cases when you buy a high dollar gun you are paying for name, fancy engraving, exotic wood and gold inlays. But you get a gun that doesn't necessarily shoot any better assuming they both fit you the same.
 
bullseye, Which Beretta did you buy and what problems did you encounter with it? I'm currently drooling over a Beretta AL391 as a first shotgun and I'd like to pick your brain if you don't mind. :)
--Daniel

[This message has been edited by Circlesqr (edited August 09, 2000).]
 
Daniel, it was a silver pidgeon O/U. Had trouble with the barrel latch sticking and the front bead coming off. I think the Beretta you are looking at is an auto, so you should'nt experience similar problems, at least with the latch mechanism anyway. Berettas are good guns and every manufacturer is going to have occasional problems. The point I was trying to make is that you don't always have to spend a lot of money to get a good shotgun. Ruger doesn't make an auto so they wouldn't be in the running for what you want anyway.
 
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