Starter 12 gauge Shotgun

[davidpingu]

I hope I've put this in the right place. Apologies if not.

It goes without saying there are plenty of people on here that use a shotgun.

I'm fairly new to it and have no permissions. Currently my only experience is at clays which I'm getting better and better at.

Currently using a friends Revo O/U when we go and I'd originally planned to buy it off him when my ticket comes through as he now also owns a Winchester. My problem is I can't spend a lot on one because financial commitments are tighter than ever. £350 - £400 would be what he'd be asking for for the Revo and ideally I'd like to spend about half that.

It would be mostly for some clay target practice but ideally good for game too should the opportunity arise.

So am I asking too much to only pay say £150 - £200 for one or can it be done? I see plenty on gun trader for that money but have no idea if they are any good or not. Whatever I get needs to be reliable.

If I'm wasting my time I'd rather know and I just won't buy one at all for the foreseeable future but if my budget is reasonable and people can give me some to look out for then it would be most appreciated.

Not really bothered what type, U/O, side by side or pump action but would rather not a single break barrel. Needs to be able to shoot two shots ideally.

Thanks in advance,

Dave

 

[santaman2000]

No idea what the prices are like on your side of the Atlantic; but if you're buying it from a friend, might he be willing to let you make payments rather than lump sum?

 

[British Red]

If you want it for clay breaking, over and under would be best. I would stay away from pump unless you practice a lot - they only have very specific game uses (easier to use a moderator on than a double barrel - although that has been done too.). You probably aren't going to see a multi choked over and under second hand for sub £200 but you may find a fixed choke single or double trigger. We have two O/U- a Winchester and a Rizzini and also an Aya side by side that all cost around your budget.

Winchester model 99 O/U by British Red, on Flickr

Rizzini Over & Under by British Red, on Flickr

AYA No.3 12 bore SBS by British Red, on Flickr

All of these are fixed choke, the AYA and Winchester are double trigger, the Rizzini single trigger. They were all around £200.

 

[davidpingu]

Thanks Red, very helpful. I've never shot a two trigger, only a single trigger semi auto if that's the right terminology?

What's your opinion on the difference? Any pro's to two triggers?

I like the look of that Rizzini

Santaman, installments was the original plan but wifey is now pregnant with second child. We've managed up to now on two incomes and getting help with childcare but that is no longer an option for us with two so she'll be finishing employment.

That leaves me as sole wage earner and I should be putting the majority of earnings between now and when she finishes in to clearing down debts/commitments. For me that £200 difference is more sensibly used to pay something off.

Of course you could argue buying one at all in my situation but I'm worried I could regret it if I don't at least get something. Once we go to single income I doubt I'll have a choice.

 

[rg598]

I currently shoot a CZ Upland Ultralight O/U both for trap and for hunting. I love the gun. It is on the cheap side for O/Us, but it is still pricey at about $750 (do the conversion). O/U and side by sides tend to be expensive.

That being said, there are plenty of very good guns in your price range. The ones that immediately come to mind are the Remington 870 and the Mossberg 500 pumps. Both are work horses, and while they are not elegant works of art, they will take any game you can imagine and do just fine at the range. I've seen guys with $150 Remingtons knock out 23 out of 25 pigeons at the range. They both come with an assortment of interchangeable choke tubes.

Make sure you get a shotgun that can handle a 3 inch shell. A gun with 3 inch chamber will shoot both 3 inch and 2 3/4 shells. You'll appreciate the 3 inch ones for duck and turkey. You can get ones that chamber shells up to 3 1/2 inch, but they tend cost quite a bit more and I'm not man enough to shoot them.

 

[British Red]

The only advantage of double trigger is that it gives a certain redundancy - if one trigger mechanism breaks, the other still works. I have known single trigger guns with a mechanism fail so that either neither or occasionally both barrels would fire on a single trigger pull. The advantage of a double trigger on guns with widely differing chokes is that by using a different trigger, one can select a tighter or looser pattern according to range and quarry. Of course on a single trigger gun there is (usually) a selector switch to decide the order the barrels fire (normally used through pushing the safety side to side) - this can be cumbersome to use at speed though. I shoot both types but most posh clay guys use single trigger. Double is older and more game oriented (but if trigger type was the only thing I could do to hit more clays I would be very happy )

A single trigger is just that - its not a semi auto - a semi auto is a single barrel shotgun fed from a tubular magazine (like a pump, but ou don't need to pump, it reloads itself)

Hope that helps, happy to answer questions.

 

[British Red]

O/U and side by sides tend to be expensive.

.

Totally different here - side by side is the cheapest gun, pumps are unusual and frowned upon on many clay ranges (they like to see a gun broken when not being shot). They are also unusual hunting and for most quarry have to be permanently restricted to a two shot magazine for hunting purposes.

 

[davidpingu]

Thanks Red. Helpful as always. So it sounds as if I have a chance with a budget. Good to know!

Regards,

Dave

 

[bullterrier]

There are quite a few nice Turkish o/u guns on the market. Some nice guns. And I wouldn't dismiss Baikals either. Good solid Russian engineering!

 

[Countryman]

Baikal is what immediately came to mind for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rg598]

Totally different here - side by side is the cheapest gun, pumps are unusual and frowned upon on many clay ranges (they like to see a gun broken when not being shot). They are also unusual hunting and for most quarry have to be permanently restricted to a two shot magazine for hunting purposes.

That's very interesting. I guess things are very different across the pond. In that case, a Baikal or Huglu O/U or side by side is probably the best bet.

 

[British Red]

Or an AYA in side by side or Winchester in O/U both about as basic and agricultural as it gets in their entry level forms - but solid. I certainly agree with Baikal. You can get a basic Baikal single barrel around here for about £30. They are made of tanks and iron girders I think. Our club runs a team speed shoot competition using Baikal single barrels

We use some black powder cartridges too to make it harder to see

You can imagine what is like after a few hundred of them

Its our best attended competition - always upwards of fifty shooters and often many more. No gun used cost more than a fiver I am told. Just goes to show that good fun shooting does not need to be expensive.

The shotgun I have used every day this week is a single barrel folder in 410 - just the thing for pest control - but I doubt I would hit many clays with it!

 

[santaman2000]

Totally different here - side by side is the cheapest gun, pumps are unusual and frowned upon on many clay ranges (they like to see a gun broken when not being shot). They are also unusual hunting and for most quarry have to be permanently restricted to a two shot magazine for hunting purposes.

Ironically, the magazine restriction is similar here. For most upland game there's a restriction of two in the magazine (plus one in the chamber for a total of three) But I suspect you mean a total of two?

 

[resnikov]

Or an AYA in side by side or Winchester in O/U both about as basic and agricultural as it gets in their entry level forms - but solid. I certainly agree with Baikal. You can get a basic Baikal single barrel around here for about £30. They are made of tanks and iron girders I think. Our club runs a team speed shoot competition using Baikal single barrels

We use some black powder cartridges too to make it harder to see

You can imagine what is like after a few hundred of them

Its our best attended competition - always upwards of fifty shooters and often many more. No gun used cost more than a fiver I am told. Just goes to show that good fun shooting does not need to be expensive.

The shotgun I have used every day this week is a single barrel folder in 410 - just the thing for pest control - but I doubt I would hit many clays with it!

That looks fun!

 

[British Red]

Ironically, the magazine restriction is similar here. For most upland game there's a restriction of two in the magazine (plus one in the chamber for a total of three) But I suspect you mean a total of two?

No same thing, 2+1 as we call it. For game shooting guns though they have to be permanently restricted (crimped magazine) not temporarily so with a rod etc.

 

[swotty]

+1 for the AYA Red, I've got a Yeoman SBS dating to the early 70's I bought it in immaculate condition for £150 use it for when the Winchester SX3 semi isnt socially acceptable

 

[Dougster]

I spend very little time out with a shotgun, almost always with a larger calibre rifle.

That said the ejector bar came out with my use cartridges on a peg at the clays the other day, much to my surprise. Not too upsetting as the gun cost me £120.

Time to spend another ton then I suppose. I'll have a look at Baikals.

 

[Damascus]

Baikal, every time, have a S/S 430ne for 30 years and its never let me down and I shoot better with this, than my beretta 687.

Tuff, they make Russian tanks with the off cuts!!!

 

[davidpingu]

How many of you guys have had much luck with finding something cheap for general purpose?

I went to my local gun shop today and it just baffled me a bit with how different in design they are depending on their designed use. There are trap guns, hunting guns, sporting guns and it was quite difficult to really understand if there is such thing as an all rounder or are they just being purist?

Is it really that difficult to hit clays with a hunting gun for example? How much of a difference does it really make?

Ideally I'd like to hunt small game but I'm not going to do that without showing I'm competent with one and to do that my interpretation was to attend a club fairly regularly.

I don't want to have to spent on a gun specifically for clays only to find out its useless for hunting game.

What do you guys think? I'm really confused at the moment. Gun shop are telling me I'm better saving that bit more and getting something Italian made for around the £500 mark but I have no idea what to do really! Should I buy something cheap and shoot at clays just to try understand that added difficulty myself do you think?

They were telling me all sorts to do with stock shape, ventilated rails etc

 

[British Red]

My attitude is get something with 28" barrels, ejector, over and under and open chokes (nothing bigger than 1/2). Shoot skeet, trap and sporting at an informal club and get some coaching from an experienced shot.