New shotgun for clays

eire-kp

I have recently been shooting clays more and I'm at the point now where its rare that I go out shooting vermin any more...My current shotgun is a Remington 870 and I'm wondering if some one could recommend an over under shotgun for clays.

My budget is 1000 I could possibly stretch to 1200 but it would want to be a special gun!

cavan shooter

I have been using a Bettinsoli supersport with adjustable stock since 2006 for all my clays and a bit of driven shooting and I cant fault it. Connollys Red mills have a few in stock after that there is this man

http://www.fingalsports.com/catalog.html

and if you do a search on boards you will find a chap in NI

http://www.mccloyguns.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_2&sort=20a&page=3


Hope this helps

homerhop

eire-kp wrote: »

I have recently been shooting clays more and I'm at the point now where its rare that I go out shooting vermin any more...My current shotgun is a Remington 870 and I'm wondering if some one could recommend an over under shotgun for clays.

My budget is 1000 I could possibly stretch to 1200 but it would want to be a special gun!

Just because a lad may say a gun is great for clays does not necessarily mean it is a good gun for you. You are lobbing out a fair wad of your hard earned cash so dont buy before you try, by that I mean ask a few lads you may know who shoot clays if you can get a shot out of theirs. See what you think feels right and take it from there. For the record though I love Miroku and have a MK38, my friend has both a Miroku and a Beretta and I just dont like how his Beretta feels.

FISMA

Baikal makes a no nonsense O/U - IZH27.

It has auto ejectors.

The only problem is that she is a field gun. Thus, the safety comes on every time you break the action and there is no way to set it to off and have it stay off.

I have a Browning Citori. Highly recommended if the funds are there.

Chopperdog 2

FISMA wrote: »

Baikal makes a no nonsense O/U - IZH27.

It has auto ejectors.

The only problem is that she is a field gun. Thus, the safety comes on every time you break the action and there is no way to set it to off and have it stay off.


THis is most definitely not a clay gun.
Why even mention it in this post?

This is a cheap and fairly rough field gun and is not what the OP is asking about.

For brand new prices for you budget you will get a Lanber or Silma Sporter QUOTE]
There is great value 2nd hand 'quality' brands also available for your price range.

Remember; clays shooting is done with a sporter or trap gun, field guns will not do the job as well, overheating, farto excessive recoil, too fast moving, shorter stocks, limited choking, shorter barrells, etc.

It is like competing in a F1 race in a rally car.

Both are good in their own fields but out of their depth once outside of it.

eire-kp

So I was around at a few dealers yesterday..one tried to sell me a bakiel

One said he didn't have any thing suitable and the last guy had a winchester I forget the model but it had fixed chokes so I guess it was fairly old..but it was in lovely condition.

I have no friends who shoot clays so I'm kind of going on internet reviews and your advice on here.

Ill look into the Bettinsoli supersport seen none yesterday..I guess ill just have to travel further another day for a look around.

Am I correct in saying the heavier the gun the less recoil...a afte 100 shots of the 870 my shoulder does be pretty sore the next day.

mrhd

hi eire-kp

speaking from my limited experience I would have to say that you need to try before you buy. Ideally if there is a shop attached to a clay grounds anywhere in yor area go there first of all.

When I first wanted to get into Clays I went to a city dealer and said that I wanted to shoot clays and maybe a little rough shooting, so he sold me a Browning Sporter.

But once I started going to the clay grounds alot more and got talking to the guys that shoot there I decided to get a trap gun as I shoot alot of DTL and am starting to do a bit of ABT.

When I went to buy the Trap gun I tried about half a dozen, and what suits me might not suit you and vice-versa. I tried a lovely Beretta but couldnt hit the proverbial Barn Door with it. I ended up with a Browning 525 trap with fixed chokes and my scores have improved, having said that there are guys at the clay ground that can outshoot me with sporters so talent helps . I still have the sproter which I do the odd bit of Sporting Clays with and a bit of game.

So a couple of factors will decide what you go for e.g. what Clay discipline are you thinking of, trap, sporting, skeet, also budget and very importantly gun-fit.

Even with second hand some will fit better than others and that is leaving aside all the fancy stuff like adjustable combs etc. Ideally have someone that knows about fit have a look at you when you mount the gun and offer advice on which fits best.

All of that is the science bit, the most important thing is what feels right, and that brings me back to my first piece of advice, if at all possible 'test drive'

regards

MRHD

charlie10

beretta or browning seems to be the most popular choice in the most of the grounds i have gone to. i have a 686e beretta which could be got for your budget second hand,i asked the same question before i bought a gun and was told to buy once,buy quality and im glad i did . i shoot rabbits pigeons phesant everything with mine very versatile gun in my opinion . only bad thing to say about it is that its a tad heavy carrying around the field:D