Which gun for sporting clays

[spec4]

Would like advice. Son in law wants a 12 gauge O/U for sporting clays. He is new at this. Budget is up to $2K. I suggested either a Browning Citori or Beretta Silver Pigeon. I'm thinking a 28" barrel but not sure about the plusses and minuses of chamber length. Seems 3" is popular. I have a 20 gauge Remington 870 I bought 39 years ago and for the very limited shooting I do it is fine. He wants to go to the next level. I lean towards Beretta for the super quality they make, but would appreciate suggestions/comments. Thanks.

 

[Zoub]

Since it is the internet and the gun is not for you, get him to a club/shop that can help him get fit right. The next level, at any level, means the gun fits you well. If he is 5'10" many guns will fit him off the rack but there are still variations.

If you handed me your money with zero info on your son in law and asked me to buy the gun it would be a semi auto Beretta or Benneli. Reason is it would be easier to get the gun to fit him with the cheek riser inserts. Take a look at Benelli Super Sport. Also Beretta A400. A 28" barrel on a semi auto is a good choice. When my wife gets a new gun I think hers may be 30.

Chamber length is non issue. It will be 3" and he will be using 2 3/4" ammo in it. All new clays guns will have removable choke tubes and he will likely upgrade those later.

For O/U's I prefer Beretta. Browning are fine guns too.

 

[Bfish]

In for the suggestions, I love to shoot them, but I've never bought a gun just for clays!

 

[ScouT6a]

I agree with Zoub, a good fitting shotgun means more than a big budget. I've seen lots of guys dust birds with cheap shotguns that fit them well and they knew where they shot.
Have him fitted for a shotgun, handle as many as he can and then pattern the gun that he settles on.

 

[Double T]

Shooting trap or skeet? I use my mossberg 500 12, I shoot dead on. I picked up a 500 20 gauge and it seems it's shooting a bit low for me.

 

[Black Cloud]

As said before, success on clays all boils down to gun fit. It has to hit where you point. If he find himself needing to aim instead of point, then it's not the proper gun for him. That said, since he wants an O/U, I'd look at all you can in that price range. I shoot an SKB 585 O/U, because it fits me just right, has a selectable trigger, and I can choose which barrel/choke to fire first. It is also my waterfowl and upland bird gun, since that's what I use Sporting Clays to train for.

I have heard great things about the CZ line, and that's a pretty low-cost O/U compared to the B-brands (Browning, Beretta, Benelli...)

 

[gregkl]

As said before, success on clays all boils down to gun fit. It has to hit where you point. If he find himself needing to aim instead of point, then it's not the proper gun for him. That said, since he wants an O/U, I'd look at all you can in that price range. I shoot an SKB 585 O/U, because it fits me just right, has a selectable trigger, and I can choose which barrel/choke to fire first. It is also my waterfowl and upland bird gun, since that's what I use Sporting Clays to train for.

I have heard great things about the CZ line, and that's a pretty low-cost O/U compared to the B-brands (Browning, Beretta, Benelli...)

I have only shot Trap and Skeet but for me I would probably want a field gun for Sporting Clays. But then again, I use a field gun for Trap though I would love to own a dedicated O/U for Trap!

I had a CZ when I first started shooting shotgun sports but it was more of a Skeet gun and I ended up liking Trap better so I sold it. I was very happy with the CZ, but if I was going to shoot 100's of shells every week, I would probably opt for one of the B guns.

 

[BoilerMakerME]

Since it is the internet and the gun is not for you, get him to a club/shop that can help him get fit right. The next level, at any level, means the gun fits you well. If he is 5'10" many guns will fit him off the rack but there are still variations.

If you handed me your money with zero info on your son in law and asked me to buy the gun it would be a semi auto Beretta or Benneli. Reason is it would be easier to get the gun to fit him with the cheek riser inserts. Take a look at Benelli Super Sport. Also Beretta A400. A 28" barrel on a semi auto is a good choice. When my wife gets a new gun I think hers may be 30.

Chamber length is non issue. It will be 3" and he will be using 2 3/4" ammo in it. All new clays guns will have removable choke tubes and he will likely upgrade those later.

For O/U's I prefer Beretta. Browning are fine guns too.

Exactly what he said, been shooting sporting clay's for a few years, started out with an 870, now have a 391 and love it. Seen guys that can beat about anybody with pump guns, but besides over/unders. I see mostly Benelli's, then probably 1100's, the Beretta 391 i have just fits me good and handles awesome.
He's right though, it's all about the fit, you can out shoot a guy with a $5k caesar guerini if your $800 duck gun fits you good.

 

[Tangero]

It's all about fit. I have a used Baikal that I picked up for $430 that I am pretty decent with considering how little experience I have killing clays. The weapon shoulders incredibly naturally for me

 

[Zoub]

Field gun: carried a lot, shot a little. Lighter
Clays gun: carried a little, shot a lot. Heavier

If you stick with O/U and it is for clays first, I would avoid field guns. You eat a lot more recoil with an O/U. That's why I tend to suggest semi auto. It is more versatile and easier to dump if the shooter loses interest. I think the shooter needs to take a more active part in selecting his or her own O/U.

I am having this battle right now with my wife. She has it in her head that the best gun for her is a field grade Beretta O/U I shoot a lot. I shoot that gun to practice with it for hunting. At 5'9" a lot of my guns fit her well and this O/U fits her great. It is also well balanced for her. Due to an injury in her weak hand forearm she prefers lighter weight out front. She eats a ton of recoil with it and 200-300 rounds kill her. She really can't effectively shoot more than 200 through it. So now she is stuck, cant improve and wont get back on any of the semi autos. I have a plan for this year and if the first two fail, plan C will be to get a similar gun and add a Graco stock to it, then some weight without telling her.

 

[Glocker1986]

2k is a good budget to work with. I own 3 Citori shotguns, and a Beretta 686 onyx. I prefer the Brownings over the Berettas for
trap, skeet and sporting clays. The indiana gun club in fortvile near fishers seems to have a decent selection of new and used o/u shotguns.

 

[bigretic]

Take the drive to indy gun club and get fitted on some used guns and try them out. Worth the time. My son shoots ATA (junior) and he shoots a Beretta A400 parallel target for singles and an SV10 Prevail for doubles. Both are 32's and have the factory kick off monte carlo recoil stock and it was all about the fit without spending another 600-1000 on add on stocks and systems. He shoots well with some of the other guys Brownings and Perazzis also. I use a 391 (12) with an after market rib for a 90/10 pattern. Wife has a beautiful 391 (20) that collects dust... Anyway, right gun is the key.

 

[zinx]

For $2k, the gun to buy is a Browning Crossover Target in 32" barrels. For a bit more you can pick up a Fabarm Axis RS Sporting (pre 2014). Indiana gun club has them on sale right now. For under $3k, I'd probably go with a new Axis RS, if you can find one, or a Browning 725 Sporting. For under $4K, I'd go with a Caesar Guerini Summit Sporting.

32" barrels are what you want. Anything shorter is just a disadvantage in sporting clays. I would also skip the semi-autos. They jam (even the best of the best jam), and you only get one barrel, which means one choke choice at a time. Not ideal on a pair with one close and one far. They also throw their shells all over the place and if you're doing the right thing, that means bending over and picking up 6-10 shells after each station. Yuck. I've seen plenty of Master class shooters shooting a semiauto, but they are definitely the exception and not the rule.

 

[17 squirrel]

2k is a good budget to work with. I own 3 Citori shotguns, and a Beretta 686 onyx. I prefer the Brownings over the Berettas for
trap, skeet and sporting clays. The indiana gun club in fortvile near fishers seems to have a decent selection of new and used o/u shotguns.

Yep, well said. I am a Browning Citori man myself. First because I am left handed and second so I don't have to pickup emptys off the ground.

 

[Leo]

I worked the World Sporting Clays championship in San Antonio for a couple years. O/U are the most common. A very large amount of competitors use semi automatics. There were at least as many shooting the 391 Beretta guns as all the rest of the other brands of semi autos together. The only limitation with a semi auto is that you only have one choke at a time. There are target presentations that you might be best served using an improved cylinder for your first shot and a Full for your second. You just have to pick a compromise choke and do the best you can, and many do quite well.

I have a Beretta O/U that is a factory Trap competition model and I have a Beretta O/U that is a Skeet model. Because of the variety of target presentations in sporting clays (as well as 5 stand), I like a flatter shooting, lower comb skeet model better for that use. I have my stocks fit by a professional stock maker (Ken Rucker in Texas, but I have used Country Gentleman and Wening in MO. with good results also). The right handed Beretta stocks are pretty close to my fit and do not require as much work to fit me properly. The Beretta parallel target design stock seems to work pretty well for either discipline.

Beretta's are not the wrong answer, Browning O/U guns are not the wrong answer either, if that is what fits you. The Brownings have taller receivers. Lots of competitors have had years of great service out of both brands. Of course in the target shotgun world those guns are entry to mid level. Silver Sietz, Kolar, Kriegoff, Perazzi, Ljutic, and Blaser guns are often seen. I am thinking Caesar Guerini might be my next right answer, but my piggy bank is about $9600 short.