New to Sporting Clays

3489 Views 13 Replies 7 Participants Last post by 1911love, Feb 9, 2013

dblcrona

Discussion Starter · Feb 3, 2013

Hello,

I am new to this forum and would like to get into sporting clays. My club has a great course but I need a proper shotgun. Being new to the sport (I have shot a fair amount of trap in the past) I don't want to spend a small fortune on a Citori or similar only to find out that I don't want to do it very often. I would like to stay around $600 or less if possible. I would prefer an over under but would consider others as this will probably be my starter gun. I have looked at several over unders in this price range and the reviews have not been stellar. The Mossberg Silver Reserve had a lot of bad reveiws about firing pin problems, selector issues and apparently it breaks hard. The Stoeger Condor reviews made me cringe too. I did see some good reviews for the Stevens 512 which I really like. Can anyone speak to any of these? Does anyone have any other recommendations for an O/U or other action gun? Any input on choice of starter gun for a newbie would be appreciated. Thanks a lot.

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Blueguns

· #2 · Feb 3, 2013

dblcrona said:
Hello,

I am new to this forum and would like to get into sporting clays. My club has a great course but I need a proper shotgun. Being new to the sport (I have shot a fair amount of trap in the past) I don't want to spend a small fortune on a Citori or similar only to find out that I don't want to do it very often. I would like to stay around $600 or less if possible. I would prefer an over under but would consider others as this will probably be my starter gun. I have looked at several over unders in this price range and the reviews have not been stellar. The Mossberg Silver Reserve had a lot of bad reveiws about firing pin problems, selector issues and apparently it breaks hard. The Stoeger Condor reviews made me cringe too. I did see some good reviews for the Stevens 512 which I really like. Can anyone speak to any of these? Does anyone have any other recommendations for an O/U or other action gun? Any input on choice of starter gun for a newbie would be appreciated. Thanks a lot.

I have this one in 20 ga. I like it very much.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=327691524

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Virginian

· #3 · Feb 4, 2013

I will give you the same advice I usually do. Buy a used brand name gas semi auto from a reputable manufacturer, that feels good to you. Remington, Beretta, Browning, Winchester SX3, Mossberg, all pretty much work as advertised. You can argue over small differences for hours but accomplish nothing. There are tons of them available practically everywhere, too. If you take decent care of it you should be able to sell it for little or NO loss should you decide you do not want to continue, or if you find you like it a lot, by which time you will start to have your own opinions on what you want to change to.
Good luck.

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indy36

· #4 · Feb 4, 2013

I'm far from wise on sporting clays but won't he need a shotgun with a 26 inch barrel? That's standard skeet length. Also get one that is vented (the ribbed rail on top). Lastly, get one with a choke marked as "Skeet". The barrel has a little marking on the left side way back by the receiver. Look for "skeet" or "improved cylinder" (also marked as "IC"). Over-unders are trap guns. Get a semi-auto single barrel. Length of pull is important. Get what feels right. An adjustable comb is nice (the Stoeger Condor Competition has one) but the lesser expensive guns don't have it. Get a .12 GA gun. Beginners need the shot spread of a 12 gauge to bust targets. The tighter the pattern the better the shooter.

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1911love

· #5 · Feb 4, 2013

You will love clay breaking, everyone does! Save a little more and get that Citori. Nothing beats a 20ga Citori for trap shooting. If you don't want to save, an 870 will get the job done all day long. If you don't like trap, put a new barrel and mag extension on the 870 and you have a good HD gun.

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Virginian

· #6 · Feb 5, 2013 (Edited)

For Sporting Clays you need a gun with basically field dimensions, and a 28" or 30" barrel with choke tubes - they all have a vent rib that I have seen in the last 25 years. Since you shoot pre-mounted, the special target guns usually have a little longer length of pull, but I use a field LOP with no issues. You could probably get by with a Light Modified choke, but you don't want to be trying to score and berating yourself because you don't have the appropriate choke. Sporting Clays ranges are all different and present a variety of targets at varying ranges. I live about one (1) mile from Cajun Elite, and they have hosted a few big events - like the North American Nationals.
26" used to be standard for Skeet, and I still prefer it, but the "experts" are preaching 30", and even 32" now days. My opinion, you can use a pump gun, but you will wish you had a semi or double barrel by halfway thru the first round. You can get a good quality used semi auto within your budget, but not an O/U. A good semi is better than a cheap O/U. A lot of people think they are going to impress someone with an O/U. You might with a Krieghoff. You will not with a Stoeger or a Mossberg.
Good luck.

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· #7 · Feb 8, 2013

20 ga. for trap?

1911love said:
You will love clay breaking, everyone does! Save a little more and get that Citori. Nothing beats a 20ga Citori for trap shooting. If you don't want to save, an 870 will get the job done all day long. If you don't like trap, put a new barrel and mag extension on the 870 and you have a good HD gun.

Trap is a 12 gauge sport.
ct

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· #8 · Feb 8, 2013

You might take a look at the DeHaan O/U. I had one for a few years and it was a pretty good gun for the money. Otherwise, a Browning Citori.
ct.

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1911love

· #9 · Feb 8, 2013

Did not know Trap was 12 gauge only, I must have been meaning to say skeet. I had a chance to hold a Merkel once and was amazed with a capital a. Finest I've ever shot was a Citori. Not a Merkel, but really nice. How much do those run that you mentioned Cotton?

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· #10 · Feb 8, 2013 (Edited)

Like everything else, it looks like the DeHaans have gone up in price. Looks like the O/U starts out at $1495. Still less than a Citori. The one I bought new a few years ago was around $1000. Google DeHaan and check out their web site.
ct

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JD1969

· #11 · Feb 8, 2013

I just picked up a used Citori for $1000. It's a pretty plain Jane one, with grade 1 wood, but it's still a Citori and will probably be passed down to my son (if I don't sell it to move up). I've been there with the cheap U/O and you just don't get a decent gun with the Stoegers and Mossbergs. A used SKB/Ithaca would be a good buy as would maybe a Ruger Red Label. Virginain is right, nobody will be impressed with a budget U/O (not I care about inpressing the gun snobs), but they will know you wasted good money on a cheap gun.

The advice above about a good semi is spot on, you can get a very good semi for the price of a budget U/O and might be the best way to go.

1911love said:
Did not know Trap was 12 gauge only, I must have been meaning to say skeet. I had a chance to hold a Merkel once and was amazed with a capital a. Finest I've ever shot was a Citori. Not a Merkel, but really nice. How much do those run that you mentioned Cotton?

Trap can be shot with any gauge, you just won't do well with any of the sub gauges, in most cases.
Skeet is shot with 12,20,28,.410 and I'm sure there are guys who use 16 too but 12 and 20 are the most common. Competitors will shoot 12,20 and .410

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Virginian

· #12 · Feb 8, 2013

A word of caution. The Ruger O/Us are not highly thought of at all. That's why they are no longer made. Some of the 28 gauge guns seemed okay, but there were lots of issues with the 12s.

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orangello

· #13 · Feb 8, 2013

This isn't secretly Obama, is it?

I keed.

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1911love

· #14 · Feb 9, 2013

Orangello: LMFAO!!!!! Yes, this is Obama Bin Laden. Thanks to Orangello paying his taxes I'm now in the market for a Merkel. Btw, guess who taught me to shoot skeet??? Joe Biden, the double barrel shotgun grand master!

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