Weatherby Orion

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EricM

New member
I stopped by the local Sportsman's Warehouse this afternoon to look at their O/U selection. They have tons of shotguns, and plenty of 12 ga O/Us. I shouldered a few in the $900 to $1300 range, and the Weatherby Orion seemed to fit the best. The Beretta did feel nice, too, which isn't surprising :). The Winchester Supreme was much heavier, and the Browning Citori didn't fit very well.

The wood is very sharp, but the receiver is blue with no engraving. It seemed like a reasonable deal at $989 as list is $1274. I think it would work pretty well for an overall use gun as it's pretty but not beautiful, chokes work with steel shot, and it's 3" cartridge capable.

It comes with a large choke selection, and the barrel is 28". Any comments on this gun and price?
 
I have the Weatherby Orion Sporting Clays O/U 12 ga. that I picked up for about $1000 with an extra set of chokes. It was used, 98%. I did not get any sort of great deal in terms of price, but I did get a fine gun. I use it to shoot skeet.

I believe mine was actually SKB made for Weatherby. It has a little bit of a funky bolt lock, but it is supposed to be a very good bolt lock.

I probably only have 500 rounds through it, but that is quickly changing. It shoots well. No surprises or problems. It seems to be a solid, nice gun.

At the time I purchased it last year, my choices were between it and the lowest end Citori. I took the Weatherby Orion Sporting Clays, in part because it was finished out more nicely, better decorated, and cost less. Everything else between the two guns seemed pretty comparable. Both felt good. The sights and ribs on both were fine for me.

Feel free to email me if you have any specific questions that maybe I can answer, but be warned, I only know about my gun and not variations in the line or anything else, just my gun. Skeet is a fun distraction for me, not a serious endeavor.
 
These are sound guns. The cross locking system is very strong and used in several high end German and Italian guns. All Weatherby o/us are made by SKB in Japan. While I've never owned an SKB, I've shot a few and wouldn't hestitate to buy one if in the market.
 
SKB is right up there with Browning and Beretta. The Weatherby guns are identical to the guns sold by SKB. The weatherby's are usually a bit fancier in the wood and engraving dept.

If it feels good to you, buy it, you won't be sorry

IIRC the SKB/Weatherby uses the greener crossbolt locking system. Very sturdy system, but annoying to some shooters.

Many high end European guns use a similar system called the Kersten crossbolt that uses two locking lugs on either side of the barrels instead of one in the center like the SKB. Beretta uses this system in their sidelock O/U guns, as well as Krieghoff in their German designed O/U. Both of these guns go for 5 figures so the sysem must be good.
 
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