Shotguns

[epstud74 24]

Most of the shotguns listed here are for general hunting purposes and not trap. The poster who mentioned the SKB shotgun is on the right track, but not everyone is going to start out with a $1200+ shotgun. He'd be well-served with a trusty Mossberg 20 guage pump to start out with. They are smooth, extremely reliable and vastly underrated shotguns. I still have my fathers old Mossberg 500 20 gauge he got when he was 14, he's 56 today and it works perfectly. I also own a Benelli Nova gauge and a Browning BPS in a 12 gauge. Both are great guns, the Browning has a unique shell ejection system that I like, but almost too pretty of a gun to take out into the field with the nice blueing and gold trigger. I've done some trap/skeet shooting for fun and always seem to bring out the old Mossberg 500 20 gauge. It is light, easy to point and shoot. For upland hunting, I eschew my 12 gauge shotguns and go right to my Franchi AL 48 20 gauge. It is only 5.5lbs and easy to carry all day when I'm hunting pheasant. If you've got bad shoulders, a 12 gauge can get pretty heavy by the end of the afternoon.

In general, shotguns are not high tech weapons and a Stoeger will function just as well out in the field as a Benelli, although it may lack the refinements of the Benelli. That being said, both actions are built upon the same principles and they should function the same. Pump guns are the most ultra-reliable shotguns out there though, with the inertia loaders being the easiest to maintain of the automatics.

[Monty22 833]

I grew up with real old school hardware.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Model_1912

A semi just seems like cheating.

Nice- Was it your Father's?

Grandfather, he has two of them. Also learned to hunt deer with a model 55. Something like this in .32

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=94455010

That's great. My favorite gun is a Winchester model 1890 .22 short gallery gun. I inherited it when my father past. Interesting story how he obtained it- when my parents bought their first house in the early 70's he was tearing down some walls during renovation. Behind one of them, in between the studs was this rifle, a very old brass lamp and some other misc. items. I'm assuming the rifle was boosted from a carnival. It has the eye screw in the butt stock where the chain would go. I'm planning on giving it to my son when he's old enough. I'm torn between leaving it as is, or having it re-blued. The gunsmith that re-installed all the internals and got it running again does very good work, and said he could replicate the original finish. It's not worth more that $200-300, not that I would ever sell it, so I'm not really worried about decreasing the value. What do you guys think?

Rust- That's a great looking piece.

[epstud74 24]

I grew up with real old school hardware.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Model_1912

A semi just seems like cheating.

Nice- Was it your Father's?

Grandfather, he has two of them. Also learned to hunt deer with a model 55. Something like this in .32

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=94455010

That's great. My favorite gun is a Winchester model 1890 .22 short gallery gun. I inherited it when my father past. Interesting story how he obtained it- when my parents bought their first house in the early 70's he was tearing down some walls during renovation. Behind one of them, in between the studs was this rifle, a very old brass lamp and some other misc. items. I'm assuming the rifle was boosted from a carnival. It has the eye screw in the butt stock where the chain would go. I'm planning on giving it to my son when he's old enough. I'm torn between leaving it as is, or having it re-blued. The gunsmith that re-installed all the internals and got it running again does very good work, and said he could replicate the original finish. It's not worth more that $200-300, not that I would ever sell it, so I'm not really worried about decreasing the value. What do you guys think?

Rust- That's a great looking piece.

That is a pretty nice gun..I remember shooting my grandfather's old Remington 1897 with the hammer. It had a tricky safety set-up so he got rid of it towards the end of his life and I believe traded for a pistol.

[Rustpot 1]

Lord knows that when I'm too old to play, I'll retire my hockey gear for a few shotguns.

Nothing quite like a 15-station 75 bird clays course and a few cigars with pals on a nice sunny day.

[jmiro 55]

I know this thread is about buying a shotgun, but this comment is about shotguns. So rather than start a new thread. Has anyone been to a shotgun shoot lately. I was to one a couple years ago and if you didnt have a scope, custom barrel, and the fullest choke you could find you werent winning. I went to one tonite that was awesome. They checked the chokes to make sure that werent to full and no one had a scope. First shoot in three years and i walk out with a bag full of meat.

[Rustpot 1]

You might want to restate what you mean by "shotgun shoot."

I can think of about 7 different events that all use shotguns exclusively.

[jmiro 55]

Its not a trap shoot. I works like this you shoot one shot around at a target. They are usually 6 rounds. The person with a bb that hits closest to the bullseye on the target wins the round. Here the prizes are meat most of the time. The shoots usually have a money round. It is mostly luck. I have seen people not even hit the target.

[Rustpot 1]

Long distance, precision shooting at a stationary target with shot?

That sounds completely against what a shotgun is for. Get a rifle and show them all up.

[jmiro 55]

Nothing precise about it. It is more luck. The tighter the patern on a gun the better the chances hit. It is not a skill thing it is more about shooting stuff.

[Rustpot 1]

I realize it's not for precision, but that's what it boils down to if having a more accurate gun the situation will win it.

I sure hope that's not the main attraction, it sounds like a way to settle a bet but use shotguns instead of rock-paper-scissors.

[jmiro 55]

actually it is the main attraction. Good reason to get together with everyone from the sportsman club you belong to.

[Rustpot 1]

I'm all for games to break things up (the same trap/skeet/clays can get a tad boring week after week), but for that to be the main attraction sounds pretty lame. No wonder people tried to get race guns for it.

[Trooper 8]

Look for a used Remington 1100. That should get you quality at a nice price. Otherwise I'd recommend a Beretta 391 parallel target. About $1000 but can be used for all shotgun games.

[ean 0]

How much would a remington 870 or mossberg 500 be out the door?

I'm thinking of putting my tax rebate to work.

[Rustpot 1]

How much would a remington 870 or mossberg 500 be out the door?

I'm thinking of putting my tax rebate to work.

Lowball would be $200-250, but you'll likely pay high 200 to $325 for either gun. It all depends on what model and factory accessories you're getting. Bottom line guns should stay around or below $300.