Sidearms & Scatterguns Sporting clay shotgun recomendations

[Safety_3rd]

I'd like to hear some opinions on a sporting clay 12 Guage. Ive got a mossberg 930 that I like a lot but wanted to step up a little. I really like the beretta a400 black with the kick off (I'd pretend to tell you my wife shoots it and she really likes the recoil reduction... But she doesn't shoot it... Not because she doesn't want to... But because I don't have a wife ). I'm also kicking around the idea of an over under so I can use two chokes for the near and far bird. I like a wood stock because it looks classy and prefer extended chokes that I can install and remove by hand. I'll hunt doves with it too but will probably keep the 930 for that primarily. I'd like to keep cost below 2500. Thanks in advance.

 

[Safety_3rd]

Also thinking 30 inch barrel

 

[6.5Hunter12]

Try looking for a browning citori they hover right around your budget.

 

[308pirate]

Also thinking 30 inch barrel

You're going to get a lot of advice from people who shot clays once or twice in their life and don't really know what is what competitors really use (like some fudd giving PRS advice) a little from people who've actually played the game seriously enough to be competitive.

My advice is in the latter category

1. The A400 is a solid choice. Go with the 30" barrel. I'm neutral on the Kickoff. Personally I don't like it but that's just me.
2. If you want an O/U you WANT 32" barrels. Trust me on this. From least expensive to most expensive new, here are my pics:
   1. Beretta 686 Sporting, $1900
   2. Browning Citori CXS or CX, $1900
   3. Browning 725 Sporting, $2800
   4. Ceasar Guerini Summit Sporting, $3000 - $5000 depending on exact model and options
   5. Obviously you can get more gun for the money on the used market

As for dove hunting, any sporting clays O/U makes an awesome dove and pigeon gun. Just invest in a shotgun slip to carry it afield, like the Brits do.

 

[XLR308]

I had a Winchester Super X2 sporting clays edition that was very good and have shot some nice sporting clay over under shotguns to compare it to.
I don't think they are made anymore and now have an X3 just haven't looked in a while.

 

[Pre-64]

Ive been shooting sporting clays for a long time now, the MOST important thing about a shotgun is that it fits you. Just a quarter inch too much drop in the stock or to straight in the comb and you won’t be able to hit anything. I shoot a Beretta DT10 sporting, a buddy of mine shoots Brownings, we will on occasions trade guns and we will both go from running the station to only breaking 2 or 3 birds, because of how different the stocks are made. If there is a place anywhere that gives lessons that will rent a shotgun it will be money well spent.

 

[hlee]

My son shoots a browning citori cx with 32” barrels for his hishcool sporting clays team. He has LM and IC chokes, but honestly, he almost never switches based on the target presentation- and shoots bottom barrel in trap (IC choke). If it is something like a super close rabbit and a springing teal, he may “game” the stage, but its pretty rare. The coach is a master class shooter, and sporting clays instruction is his day job (both adults and juniors). His general philosophy is that at the highschool team level (and some of the kids are A and AA NSCA shooters), if you are missing birds it is not because of your choke. “My choke was too tight/spread” is the “the wind switched on me” excuse of sporting clays.

Whatever you choose, spring for the adjustable comb. It is cheaper to pay for it up front than it is to add later...

 

[trdjohn]

fit is everything, I have Browning 725 that fit ok out of the box, but once I had adjustable comb, and adjustable butt pad installed to get proper drop at heel and cant my scores really took off. The gun shoulders the same every time, never have to think about it, all my concentration is focused on look point and break point...never really got comfortable with the beretta, but everyone is different

 

[redneckbmxer24]

For a dedicated clays shotgun and a $2500 budget Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon all day.

 

[Baron23]

I shot registered skeet competitions for a number of decades and shot sporting and water fowl in the off season.

Now I'm an old fuck with a very bad back and have more recently taken up a keen interest in precision rifles.

To me, this is a fact....if funds are limited, for a given price you will tend to get a better semi-auto than you will an OU. That is, more to the point, a cheap auto will tend to be, to my mind, better than a cheap OU.

The Beretta semi-autos are very good and I see no reason to shy away from a recoil reduction device and it will help you stay on the comb (its NOT a cheek piece) particularly on doubles presentations. Recoil doesn't help anything in shotguns. That's why in skeet, where a perfect 100 is just table stakes for the sudden death doubles shoot-offs, its not at all unusual to see 10 lbs plus guns. They swing smooth and they recoil less.

If looking at an OU, I will say that almost any trigger in a decent OU is WAY better than the stamped aluminum parts of a semi-auto trigger (old Win Super X Model 1 being an exception as Win built it ALL out of machined steel just like the Model 12....and the financial loss broke US Repeating Arms back).

In OU, I'm personally not a Browning fan (although many others are and shoot them very well) because IMO they sit too high in the fore hand.

Beretta's are like Timex Watches....they really do take a beating and keep on ticking. I shot a Beretta 682 E (the older ones with a titanium nitrate indestructable finish...well, I couldn't wear it at all) and treated it with contempt and it just kept on running. At one shoot, between events, I took it to a gunsmith who was onsite with his trailer for an annual service and one of the main leaf springs in the action was broken...and I had just run a very nice 99 in the morning event with it that way. Just keep on running.

Caesar Guerini are very nice for sporting clays...not so much a skeet gun, but its pretty versatile.

Avoid "decorated" models as you will pay a lot for what is most likely laser engraving which will do nothing for function.

Another advantage of an OU is if you want to do upland bird hunting. One, you don't want to be hunting for dropped hulls at your favorite quail plantation and IMO they are safer as we walk with the actions open (fuck safeties...if the action is open, then the gun is as safe as it can possibly be). Semi-autos, its way more difficult for others to see if the gun is safe and again, when we are walking thru the brush, I want to see an open action with nothing in the chamber and not shells in a gun with a closed bolt..."oh, but the safety is on". With an OU, its easy to just break it open.

If you think I'm too hard over on this safety stuff....there was recently a thread where some allowed that 7 1/2's won't kill an intruder. Well, #8's sure as hell killed a friend of mine guiding a quail hunt when a 15 y.o. swung on a bird and shot him in the head. Its not a joke, accidents do happen, and IMO a break action gun can be made more obviously safe than a semi.

As mentioned above, in shotguns the fit is everything as your on eye is the rear site. Absolutely definitely make sure your gun either comes with an adjustable comb or have an adjustable comb installed by a stock smith. You may be the one in a thousand for whom a factory comb height (drop at comb...measured vertical distance from the rib to the top of the comb) works, but chances are you are not. And chances are most people you seeing at a range shooting a gun with the standard stock dimensions as manufactured really don't know what is proper gun fit. ....they just think it fits.

And make sure your adjustable comb also adjusts laterally so you don't have to roll your head to your on side in order to get your beads to line up (beads on the rib). Its one reason that I really like the KMW Loggerhead on my .308 is that I was able to push the comb to the side a bit. I'm not sure how important this is really in scoped rifles, but when swinging a shotgun it is VERY beneficial to have your eyes in the orientation they were meant to be in....that being level.

As for barrel length.....how big are you? I'm going quail hunting in GA at the end of Oct with my very good friend who is a multi-time skeet world champion and a professional skeet coach (we are not friends cause I'm any kind of top shooter...we just happen to be buddies). Todd is a big boy and shoots 32" OU barrels. But, he is a BIG boy. His 32" guns are far too heavy for me, had too much rotational inertia for me. And while site picture may narrow down a bit with longer barrels, there are def trade-offs and IMO almost everybody would do better with 30" on an OU. Lot of people moved to 32" because there are fads and trends in shotguns just like there are in precision rifles and then found out that they were just too damn long.

With a semi I suggest 28" barrels as you will have at least 4" (prob more like 5") additional sight plane along the top of the long receiver. So yes, it will be longer than the OU I'm suggesting but you also don't have two thick heavy barrels hanging out there. The weight and inertia will be less for a given length with a semi than with an OU.

I'm not an expert, this is the best advise I can give you, but please feel totally free to take it with a grain of salt and seek out other opinions.

Best of luck....shot some sportings today with a buddy...beautiful day and we just wanted to get out, shoot some, smoke a cigar, have lunch. Life in America is still good even though we are seemingly infested with leftist cock suckers. Its still a good deal.

 

[hlee]

I'm going to deviate from @308pirate on one point. My opinion is that hunting shotgun v comp shotgun is akin to hunting rifle v comp rifle. A lighter, shorter, more compact shotgun is much more pleasant to carry, especially when the birds are not flying. But, longer guns point better and heavier guns recoil less. I really like a youth/compact 20 gauge O/U for upland game especially close flushing birds. A sporting clays gun would be sweet for those long passing shots on doves...

My son is 5'6" and 123 lbs and swings his 32" browning Citori CX "like a boss."

 

[Pre-64]

Is your friend “Todd “ happen to be Todd Bender?

 

[phxfa]

IMHO,,A Beretta A400 Xcel, AKA ‘Smurf gun’ in 12g is your best starter gun for sporting clays. Cast and drop are adjustable with the supplied shims, an adjustable recoil pad is available from a decent Smith, LOP would be measured and done at that time. Gun will function with light 1200 FPS, 1 oz loads up to 1300 1.125 thumpers and will do it all day without knocking your teeth out,,,you don’t want to develop a flinch like I did starting with a OU. Briley or Coles can supply a trigger if needed. $1600.00 plus pad and your done. Good luck, SC is a gas!

 

[Baron23]

Is your friend “Todd “ happen to be Todd Bender?

Yeah, but I try not to drop his name much. Like I said, I was never a top shooter...just he and I have been friends for a long time And we do this quail hunt a couple of times a year.

we get LOTS of quail....cause he’s shooting! Haha

 

[Baron23]

IMHO,,A Beretta A400 Xcel, AKA ‘Smurf gun’ in 12g is your best starter gun for sporting clays. Cast and drop are adjustable with the supplied shims, an adjustable recoil pad is available from a decent Smith, LOP would be measured and done at that time. Gun will function with light 1200 FPS, 1 oz loads up to 1300 1.125 thumpers and will do it all day without knocking your teeth out,,,you don’t want to develop a flinch like I did starting with a OU. Briley or Coles can supply a trigger if needed. $1600.00 plus pad and your done. Good luck, SC is a gas!

Ah, forgot about the shims. Great point tho I need a pretty high comb and never could get there with shims.
That and I prefer to move the comb over a bit rather than crank in cast off as I feel a lot of cast results in driving the stock into your face.
same reason I like parallel comb stocks rather than ones with drop. Just me.
YMMV however.

 

[phxfa]

Ah, forgot about the shims. Great point tho I need a pretty high comb and never could get there with shims.
That and I prefer to move the comb over a bit rather than crank in cast off as I feel a lot of cast results in driving the stock into your face.
same reason I like parallel comb stocks rather than ones with drop. Just me.
YMMV however.

Beretta offers a parallel stock with a higher rib in the 400 also,,,,doesnt matter though, once the OP gets rolling in SC
he won’t stop with this gun. The 400 is an awesome loaner gun too

 

[Baron23]

Beretta offers a parallel stock with a higher rib in the 400 also,,,,doesnt matter though, once the OP gets rolling in SC
he won’t stop with this gun. The 400 is an awesome loaner gun too

I actually really agree w your post ( not that this really should be important to you haha).

a good auto is a great way to start and you don’t generally need a second mortgage to get one.

Took an SX-1 w 28” barrel and Briley thin walls out today and had a blast.

 

[308pirate]

I'm going to deviate from @308pirate on one point. My opinion is that hunting shotgun v comp shotgun is akin to hunting rifle v comp rifle. A lighter, shorter, more compact shotgun is much more pleasant to carry, especially when the birds are not flying. But, longer guns point better and heavier guns recoil less. I really like a youth/compact 20 gauge O/U for upland game especially close flushing birds. A sporting clays gun would be sweet for those long passing shots on doves...

My son is 5'6" and 123 lbs and swings his 32" browning Citori CX "like a boss."

Not all hunting is the same.

The ideal upland bird shotgun is significantly different than the ideal guns for dove, waterfowl, driven pheasants and similar types of bird shooting where you're mostly standing or sitting in one place.

My 686 Sporting weighs in at between 8 and 8.25 lbs. It's a heavy gun if you're going to walk miles of sagebrush looking for chukars or walking huge cornfield after pheasants but tossing it in a shotgun slip (soft case with shoulder strap) and walking to a duck blind, to a corner in a dove field, or around a sporting clay course is not an issue.

 

[308pirate]

As for barrel length.....how big are you? I'm going quail hunting in GA at the end of Oct with my very good friend who is a multi-time skeet world champion and a professional skeet coach (we are not friends cause I'm any kind of top shooter...we just happen to be buddies). Todd is a big boy and shoots 32" OU barrels. But, he is a BIG boy. His 32" guns are far too heavy for me, had too much rotational inertia for me. And while site picture may narrow down a bit with longer barrels, there are def trade-offs and IMO almost everybody would do better with 30" on an OU. Lot of people moved to 32" because there are fads and trends in shotguns just like there are in precision rifles and then found out that they were just too damn long.

With a semi I suggest 28" barrels as you will have at least 4" (prob more like 5") additional sight plane along the top of the long receiver. So yes, it will be longer than the OU I'm suggesting but you also don't have two thick heavy barrels hanging out there. The weight and inertia will be less for a given length with a semi than with an OU.

With all due respect, the dynamics of skeet guns today are completely different than the dynamics of modern sporting clay shotguns.

A dedicated SC O/U with 32" barrels will swing far more dynamically than a dedicated skeet gun of the same length. The balance is not the same and the weight is definitely not the same.

Same goes for semi autos.

There is a reason why you don't see ANY serious sporting clays shooter with a 30" O/U or 28" semi any more.

No man of normal stature and average fitness is going to have a problem swinging a modern, well balanced, 32" sporting clays O/U even on the fastest crossers.

 

[tomcatmv]

As someone stated above, fit is EVERYTHING. I used to shoot a lot of trap and some sporting clays and had a beautiful Weatherby Athena tha I couldn't hit ahit with so I finally went to an old gent named Stan Baker (long since passed) who fir me with a proper stock on an old Mossberg that I had and , wow what a difference. Find someone who can fit you with proper drop and length of pull, maybe even cant.

 

[MPrimo]

I am a dedicated sporting clays shooter (9000+ registered targets in Master Class last year). I shoot Perazzis but started with a Beretta 391 (since replaced by the A400). There are many days I wish I was still shooting it. They are reliable, adjustable and shoot very soft. They are also a very natural gun for most people to mount and point. Regarding the two chokes ... forget about it. Chokes make far less difference than you might think. I have Mod and Mod in my Perazzi and never change. The A400 will give you everything you need and save you a few bucks over most competitive O/Us. In fact, the best young shooter in the country (Joe Fanizzi) shoots one and beats everybody. That would be my recommendation for sure.

 

[Baron23]

I am a dedicated sporting clays shooter (9000+ registered targets in Master Class last year). I shoot Perazzis but started with a Beretta 391 (since replaced by the A400). There are many days I wish I was still shooting it. They are reliable, adjustable and shoot very soft. They are also a very natural gun for most people to mount and point. Regarding the two chokes ... forget about it. Chokes make far less difference than you might think. I have Mod and Mod in my Perazzi and never change. The A400 will give you everything you need and save you a few bucks over most competitive O/Us. In fact, the best young shooter in the country (Joe Fanizzi) shoots one and beats everybody. That would be my recommendation for sure.

What length barrels do you shoot?

 

[Pre-64]

Yeah, but I try not to drop his name much. Like I said, I was never a top shooter...just he and I have been friends for a long time And we do this quail hunt a couple of times a year.

we get LOTS of quail....cause he’s shooting! Haha

I’ve seen him shoot a couple times, awesome to watch. I’ve taken a couple lessons with John Krueger and Wendell Cherry, it’s awesome to see someone at those levels shoot.

 

[WAnd23]

If you are going to shoot actual tournaments and work your way up to regional or national level I would recommend some sort of over-under. There are a few good options it just depends on how you like your shotguns to feel. Berettas tend to be a little lighter up front and Brownings tend to be a bit more front heavy. If you can up your budget even another 500 you could probably get a used Blaser F16. I would recommend an F16 or Beretta with a 32" barrel. A 32" barrel is a big plus on long or fast targets because it has less perceived lead than 30" barrels. Then again it is a personal preference and if you are looking at the gap that is your first mistake.

 

[MPrimo]

What length barrels do you shoot?

I shoot 34" on the Perazzis ... shot 30" with the Beretta semi autos.

 

[RedDogN8]

I dont personally own an A400, and have thought a lot about picking one up. I think its a lot of value for the money. I do know 2 people that owned (yes past tense) for shooting sporting clays. They liked shooting them for their light recoil, etc. Both are now shooting O/U 20's now.

The club i belong to uses the A400's as their "loaner" guns, and they often seem to be in for repair. Not sure why, but they said that the 391 was a better gun if you can still find one of those out there. (Speaking of... if anyone has an AL391 Urika Teknys Gold - the one with the silver receiver and blue accents... I'd be interested in buying that!)

 

[Baron23]

I shoot 34" on the Perazzis ... shot 30" with the Beretta semi autos.

Dang, that’s very long to me. Not going to bother you to reply again, but I wonder how much that Perazzi weighs w 34” barrels.

 

[308pirate]

Dang, that’s very long to me. Not going to bother you to reply again, but I wonder how much that Perazzi weighs w 34” barrels. I bet it's under 9 lbs.

I don't know how much his gun weighs but I just about guarantee you it's not as much as a hardcore skeet gun with 30" barrels.

My 32" 686 Sporting is just over the 8 lb mark with the only addition being a adjustable comb which adds barely an ounce since wood has to go away to make room for it.

Even a 32" Kolar Max Lite Sporting is less than 9 lbs.

 

[MPrimo]

less than 9 pounds ... balances perfectly and is a joy to shoot. I shoot a lot of FITASC ... longer barrels are an advantage in that game IMO. In a perfect world my hands are moving slow and my movements are minimal. Longer barrels help with that s well.

 

[MPrimo]

I don't know how much his gun weighs but I just about guarantee you it's not as much as a hardcore skeet gun with 30" barrels.

True ... my old skeet gun (Remmy 3200 with tubes) was well over 10 pounds.

 

[Baron23]

So, I've been mostly out of registered skeet for 4 years or so and only shoot sporting recreationally and not particularly seriously.

BUT, I'm sort of wondering how these guns maintain this weight with such long barrels.

One thought, and with all due respect on my part also @308pirate, the only difference I'm aware of in a 68x skeet versus sporting model is one has a modified beaver tail fore end and one a Schnabel's which will take a small bit of wood out and hence weight but not significantly. Leaving out subgauge tubes, the guns are identical in my past experience. This may have changed...dunno, too busy learning about rifles! haha

Now, with skeet guns, most have an adjustable butt pad and add subgauge tubes and there is a good bit of weight.

I have a 682 E 30" two barrel set that I play with shooting low gun. Its a "sporting model" which means it has the Schanbel fore end. I really like the 20 ga barrel on the 12 ga frame for upland hunting though others may find it to be a bit heavy. Great guns, those 68x.

Now, I also have a circa 2000 or so Kolar (but I did have the triggers upgraded by Kolar which was badly needed) and its comes in with the 12 ga barrels at 10 lbs, 4 oz. I looked at the specs of the Kolar Max Skeet and see that its a back bored barrel to .740 so that will take a good bit of weight and moments of inertia out of the gun. My Kolar was before they made carrier barrels and so my 12 ga is a .740 bore with weight added between the ribs to match the subgauge barrel which is at .750 with Kolar AAA tubes. While this is, to me, a very pointable skeet gun...compared for example to my K-80....it would be too much gun for me in sporting clays but I'm not even in the same universe of skill as @MPrimo.

Another thing skeet shooters have been doing more of in recent years is having very high adjustable ribs and custom stocks made with comb roll over and toe out built in which tends to make many of them the size of boat oars. Very like the Dennis Devault trap stocks (and I recently found out that sadly Mr. Devault passed away a few years ago...and he was still pretty young). Lots of weight there and no bueno for low gun, IMO.

I do see a lot of Caesars in SC with 32" barrels but to me these are somewhat lighter guns and while you see some on skeet fields, they seem to be far more popular in SC and FITASC.

For me, sight plane length will shorten a picture some and as @MPrimo said it seems to reduce muzzle movement a bit and let him be a bit slower and smoother. But to me, barrel length isn't the key factor in pointability as much as balance and the gun being low in the fore hand. My K-80 weighs 10oz less than my Kolar but the Kolar is to my mind far quicker pointing gun for some reasons of balance and moments of inertia. K-80s are feel like barrel heavy guns to me but that makes them great to shoot skeet IMO.

Ok, done with the hijack and clearly my knowledge of SC gun preferences is clearly dated and I need to shut up now! LOL

Have a great day, guys.....going out to the range now to shoot rifle as its a beautiful day.

Cheers

 

[308pirate]

@Baron23 the answer lies in barrel wall thickness profiles.

SC guns have thinner barrels that let them have very nice swings (moment of inertia) and reasonable weight with barrel lengths that were considered ridiculous 10 - 20 years ago.

I bet you that the 32" barrels in my 3 year old 686 Sporting are lighter than the 30" barrels of your 682E.

And you're absolutely right, weight distribution matters as much (maybe even more) than total weight.

 

[phxfa]

308Pirate,,,are you saying sporting clays barrels are thinner than skeet barrels? (wall thickness)

 

[AggieJack]

For a dedicated clays shotgun and a $2500 budget Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon all day.

I've had a 686 white onyx sporting for over half my life now. Mine only has 30" barrels but I'd prefer 32". I would strongly recommend this route. As some other posters have said, make sure it fits you well. I have an adjustable buttpad plate and a custom aluminum shim that is tapered to change the angle between the buttpad and the comb. It went from beating me black and blue to shooting great.

 

[Safety_3rd]

Damn turns out I know nothing about shotguns! I'm going to reach out to my local club to see if they will do rentals/fitting. In a perfect world I'd like to shoot a few different models. I a little worried that with covid they may be reluctant to spending time with me. I think I'm leaning towards an over under but we'll see after I shoot.

 

[AggieJack]

I'm sure its different at every club but Sunday afternoons is when I use to go practice and it was the same group of old guys every week. I was 16-18 then so everyone was old! I don't think you'll have a problem with the regulars letting you shoot their guns. An old man where I used to shoot was so adamant that I try out his newest Perazzi or Kreighoff (costing anywhere from $6k to 20k+) he would give me shells and paid for the extra birds for me.

 

[308pirate]

308Pirate,,,are you saying sporting clays barrels are thinner than skeet barrels? (wall thickness)

I'm pretty sure yes, at least for the premium brands.

Definitely thinner now than they were some years ago when longer barrels weren't as popular as today.

 

[Baron23]

Damn turns out I know nothing about shotguns! I'm going to reach out to my local club to see if they will do rentals/fitting. In a perfect world I'd like to shoot a few different models. I a little worried that with covid they may be reluctant to spending time with me. I think I'm leaning towards an over under but we'll see after I shoot.

If you are ever at a large skeet or SC shoot where the Country Gentlemen are with their trailer, you may well want to check them out for stock fitting and any stock modifications (adj comb/butt pad). Todd Nelson will teach you more about stance/mount/fit in a half hour than most of us learn in decades. Todd Nelson is very good.

Country Gentleman Gunfitting Shop is a 'full-service' shop, dedicated to the needs of shotgunners. Gunfitter.com

trap, trapshooting, skeet, skeet shooting, shotguns, gunfitting, gunfitter, sporting clays, gunstocks, sport shooting, NSSA, NSCA, Nelson Pad-A-Juster, country gentleman, Todd Nelson, Jerry Nelson, Alabama, Country Gentleman Gun Fitter, Gun Fitting, gunfitter.com, Professional, Shotgun Fitters...

www.gunfitter.com

He is homed out of Cherokee, AL if you happen to be anywhere nearby. I imagine that COVID and shoot cancellations may well have hollowed out his schedule a bit this year.

From his site:

Our home is located in Northwest Alabama near Cherokee. 2 hours from Memphis, 2 hours from Huntsville, 2.5 hours from Nashville, 35 minutes from Muscle Shoals.​

Please test/call (256) 762-6559 to verify shoot schedules, to book fitting appointments, or when shipping gunstocks.​

​

As an aside, there was an outstanding documentary movie made in 2013 about Muscle Shoals Recording Studio and the incredible number of major musicians/major hits to come out of there. I always thought Muscle Shoals was on the water.....but that would be mussels, not muscles! haha

documentary on Muscle Shoals studio - Google Search

 

[phxfa]

OP, if your near San Antonio TX, the NSCA Nationals are being held end of Oct. Wenig and some other dealers can get your measurements plus there’s a shit ton of demo guns to try. Yours truly will there with over 2k shooters

 

[Sgt47]

Not what the op is looking for, but this 1920's G. E. Lewis won a lot of money in the pigeon ring for the old boy that owned it. Fits me like a glove and can handle modern target loads. I love SxS's.

 

[308pirate]

View attachment 7437726

View attachment 7437727
Not what the op is looking for, but this 1920's G. E. Lewis won a lot of money in the pigeon ring for the old boy that owned it. Fits me like a glove and can handle modern target loads. I love SxS's.

STOP IT

 

[phxfa]

New K80 Super Scroll

 

[Baron23]

OP, if your near San Antonio TX, the NSCA Nationals are being held end of Oct. Wenig and some other dealers can get your measurements plus there’s a shit ton of demo guns to try. Yours truly will there with over 2k shooters

Great suggestion!

Have a great trip and shoot well.

Gun manf and their dealers are sure to be there on vendors row, right.

Bet you could shoot a bunch of demo guns there

 

[Quarter Horse]

Take a look around for the early Antonio Zoli Kronos and Z Guns. Some were made for Verona and are designated LX980. these are Kronos models in the Zoli line. About forty guns were made for Dakota Arms. These are early Z-Guns and were called the Dakota Sport. I have a Grade I Sport with a single digit serial #. Here are some comments on the Zolis https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threadloom/search
Here is the new Zoli forum on Shotgunworld https://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewforum.php?f=256

I am selling my Dakota Sport. If you are interested PM me. It is in your price range.

 

[308pirate]

New K80 Super ScrollView attachment 7437800View attachment 7437801View attachment 7437802

You are officially a member of the Go Be Poor Somewhere Else club

I LOL when people think that dropping $5 - $10K on a custom rifle is a big flex; that amount doesn't even get you in the door at Kolar, Krieghoff, or Perazzi.

 

[TheBoctor]

New K80 Super Scroll

Oh mama, I've been drooling over a super or vienna scroll for years now... I have a std grade 34" K-80 and when i sent it in for the last service, I had the black latch and pins swapped over to nickel and it kind of scratched the itch. But man are they gorgeous guns.

 

[phxfa]

Guess what, I shoot my A400 better,,,go figure

 

[308pirate]

Guess what, I shoot my A400 better,,,go figure

Give you $500 for the K gun

 

[acudaowner]

https://www.beretta.com/en-us/dt11/
if I had the money to spend on it or the d10

 

[dzander]

Beretta A400 , they're easier to shoot than the o/u's. I have both, Like said before gun fit is most important. There adjustable . I had my stock cut for a adjustable comb. I need a lot of cast off, more than i could get with the shims so I move the comb over as well. You have to shoot it and see if it shoots where you look, looking at target ,not sight, In fact I have removed sight with better results. Chokes are over rated , putting a Modified choke in it and forget about it except to pull it for cleaning and lube so it doesn't rust in. I personally shoot the 32" barrel, I'm 6'''-2" . Most will shoot 30" . I have a Caesar Guerini o/u with 34" barrels. Have Coles tune the trigger on the 400. You can just send the the trigger to them.
The 400 is lighter and easier to move. The only drawback is if you reload as you have to pick up the hulls. My 400 is reliable as all get out. They are a bit of a pain to clean vs a over under but not that big a deal. Shoot 1 oz loads, forget the kick-off.