What kind of 12 or 20 gauge over/under should I buy?

[pheasentpro]

I am a new hunter and new to this site. I am looking to buy an over/under to use primarily for pheasant hunting. With a $1000 budget in mind, what brand would you experienced hunters recommend? I am looking for a new gun. I have looked at Ruger Red Label and Franchi Alcione Titanium. Also, would you recommend a 12 or 20 gauge? Thanks for your help.

 

[BUCKMARK]

I'm a Browning man myself, but not too many NEW Brownings in the $1000 range. I will tell you to look into the Verona line of O/U's before buying.

12 or 20 dosent make a big difference. Both will kill everything from turkeys to mini's on the clay range, and both are easy to find and about the same price.

 

[LHB1]

While I don't hunt pheasants, I do highly recommend the Browning Citori over-under shotguns. Owned a pair of 12/20 Citori's with fixed chokes for 10+ years. Replaced them about 15 years ago with a pair of high grade Citori's (Grade III 12 and Grade VI 20), both with interchangeable chokes. Never had problems with any of these guns. I load gun, release safety, pull trigger, gun goes boom. All four guns were well fitted and did not shoot loose. My preference is the 20 gauge for all purposes but will leave the 20 vs 12 question for those with pheasant shooting experience.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB

 

[pheasentpro]

Thanks for the advice!

Thanks for helping me make a smart gun purchase. I would like to hear some other opinions. I am leaning towards purchasing a used Browning or maybe biting the bullet and buying a new one.

 

[ron73644]

Some good cheaper guns are Lanber, Yildiz, and Verona .

 

[David Berkowitz]

If you are willing to go over your budget and buy new, I would suggest the Winchester Select Energy.
They are about $1,300 for the field grade, marketed and serviced by Browning, and made in Belgium by FN.
The quality is excellent and this is an extremely good value.
If you want new and stay in your budget, the other suggestions are very good. You can add to the list the shotguns sold by CZ. I'm sorry, I can't remember the brand name, but they are made by Huglu in Turkey and are also an excellent value.
I have a Huglu Trap gun that I shoot the heck out of and it is not showing much wear for the amount of shooting I do. This one would be over your budget, but I have no reason to beleive that the less fancy ones are of less quality.

 

[pheasentpro]

Thanks for the ideas!

These brands give me some other options. I appreciate the help. I never thought I would spend $1000 on a gun...now I find out that is just middle of the road!

 

[BPShunter]

A great o/u option is the new Stoeger condor combo. It comes in both the 12 and the 20 gauge in a walnut finish. My buddy recently bought one and is really pleased with it. The price for one is around $600. But if you need more info on them go to the benelli web page, there will be a link to the Stoeger home page there. Good luck

 

[Ruger4570]

If I had $1,000 to spend on a shotgun, I would gravitate towards higher rather than lower prices. Even a used Browning will bring in more money in the future than the low priced models, no matter how well they perform. I think the Jury is still out on Huglu and CZ and similar shotguns. I know I don't see them at the Trap or Skeet ranges much, most shooters I know stick to "proven" brands and let others spend their money for the cheap ones. Berreta also has fine guns along with Rizzini for somewhere near your budget. Personally if I had to limit myself to one guage it would be a 12.

 

[malachi]

I'm not sure what a Red Label sells for these days. But I bought one about 14 years ago, and it has easily come to be one of my smarter purchases.
Great balance, even better patterns, and it just keeps on running. Giving some serious thought to that new side by side.

 

[hIPSHOT33]

Have a close look at the Brownning Citori . A nice little gun and close to the price limit you have set . Unless you are getting into waterfoul ,I think the 20 is a good little gun for upland . But thats IMHO.
I have not seen one yet but Remington is importing a gun from the Czech republic ( Spartan ) I have only heard good things about them and as of now they are under priced . But I look for them to be going up as more of them get into the field .

 

[OneInTheChamber]

The new CZ's seem nice and under a 1000. Check out czusa.com


Chase

 

[Shorthair]

Try them all....

I had my mind set on a Ruger 20 Red Label for chasing around my birddogs in grouse country...until I picked one up in a pre-purchase inspection. It felt like a dead stick, so I decided to find something that fit.
I went to a good gun shop (the kind that smells like Hoppe's #9, not health and beauty aids) and had the owner put the Weatherby, the Browning Citori, and others on the counter for me to look at.
After taking my time opening, closing, shouldering, etc, I came away convinced that - for me - the Citori was the gun. It was about $1300, but it has been money well spent.
In other words, go look at as many as you can, take your time, narrow them down one-by-one, handle them, shoulder them, and get the gun that fits. You'll be happy in the long run.
And I think 20 is a fine gauge for Pheasants.