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Sporting Clays Gun.....???

I was invited to shoot Sporting Clays with a friend once. ONCE! And it cost me a Beretta 686 Onyx Sporting O/U. Haven't shot clays in years as the gun club took out the course but it sure is fun.
 
Shot all the clay disciplines with everything from a Winchester 1897 pump (and did quite well with it) to several other pumps, semi autos, and over unders. My favorite was a Krieghoff K32. The K32 was my favorite.
 
I have a SKB 85TSS O/U with parallel stock, all the chokes and a hard case. It was my backup trap gun and I used it for sporting clays. Those days are gone and the gun is a save queen. Price would be right!
 
I have a SKB 85TSS O/U with parallel stock, all the chokes and a hard case. It was my backup trap gun and I used it for sporting clays. Those days are gone and the gun is a save queen. Price would be right!
Sent you a PM...........

I want to thank you all for the great responses. A whole lot of good advice......I am looking forward to using the winter getting ready for this new avenue of fun on the trigger.

Best Regards
Rick
 
Sent you a PM...........

I want to thank you all for the great responses. A whole lot of good advice......I am looking forward to using the winter getting ready for this new avenue of fun on the trigger.

Best Regards
Rick

I did it three times and had a hard time walking myself back from that rabbit hole! Good luck buddy. Sure is fun.
 
Old saying, you can shoot a Browning or a Beretta OU, but not both, well. I have tried both OU guns and I shoot the Browning Citoris better. Try both in a 20 guage with 30-32" barrels. Clays uses a longer barrel well, I have a few, skeet uses the shorter barrel guns better.
Make sure your length of pull is correct with and without a jacket, and when mounted by just throwing the gun up, the gun comes up so your eye is looking down the center of the barrel, naturally. Do not try to adjust your hold, if the gun fits right you are looking down the barrel, if it does not fit right you are looking down the side, at the top of the muzzle, etc, etc. Your eye is the rear sight, so the gun must come up naturally. It is only which gun fits you best and only you, not the brand.

The auto guns, the 391 Beretta guns, I do have four, do have a hidden benefit, they come with an adjustment washer for the butt stock. You can raise or lower the comb and change the cast on or cast off with the washer setting. They are tough and are great guns, but they must be cleaned after every outing, especially the gas piston. If you take one to Argentina, clean it at lunch also. Angle port made a replacement for the bolt release button, a lever, that is well worth the replacement.

In Argentina they say, if you want to bring an 1100, bring six, five for extra parts, to keep one running. The 1100 simply can not stand up to 2,000 birds a day on a 10 day trip. Winchesters literally fall apart. The Benelli is tough enough, but recoil operated, so they are also tough, on you.

That flex stock on the Benelli can slap the dog out of you. Got rid of mine after just one trip to the range. I tried it, not for me, not into being beaten in the head at the range. The Franchi and Benelli both have a narrow loading port and will result in the famous taped up thumb in a bird field.
 
An older Beretta 390 ST or 391 will do everything a 400 will do, they are a nicer gun in my opinion.
A nice old can be had for around $1200
Totally agree! I've owned a couple O/U, Browning and Beretta, but my Beretta 391 Sporting is my favorite for clays and for hunting.
I've owned it, after the previous owner, for well over 20 years and it has never jammed with any grade (Wally World or high grade) shell.
 
Old saying, you can shoot a Browning or a Beretta OU, but not both, well. I have tried both OU guns and I shoot the Browning Citoris better. Try both in a 20 guage with 30-32" barrels. Clays uses a longer barrel well, I have a few, skeet uses the shorter barrel guns better.
Make sure your length of pull is correct with and without a jacket, and when mounted by just throwing the gun up, the gun comes up so your eye is looking down the center of the barrel, naturally. Do not try to adjust your hold, if the gun fits right you are looking down the barrel, if it does not fit right you are looking down the side, at the top of the muzzle, etc, etc. Your eye is the rear sight, so the gun must come up naturally. It is only which gun fits you best and only you, not the brand.

The auto guns, the 391 Beretta guns, I do have four, do have a hidden benefit, they come with an adjustment washer for the butt stock. You can raise or lower the comb and change the cast on or cast off with the washer setting. They are tough and are great guns, but they must be cleaned after every outing, especially the gas piston. If you take one to Argentina, clean it at lunch also. Angle port made a replacement for the bolt release button, a lever, that is well worth the replacement.

In Argentina they say, if you want to bring an 1100, bring six, five for extra parts, to keep one running. The 1100 simply can not stand up to 2,000 birds a day on a 10 day trip. Winchesters literally fall apart. The Benelli is tough enough, but recoil operated, so they are also tough, on you.

That flex stock on the Benelli can slap the dog out of you. Got rid of mine after just one trip to the range. I tried it, not for me, not into being beaten in the head at the range. The Franchi and Benelli both have a narrow loading port and will result in the famous taped up thumb in a bird field.
I bought a Citori CX several years ago, not a one purpose gun but if you just dabble at different clay games ever once in a while it’s pretty adaptable. I not sure they still offer it.
 
I shoot trap competitively and sporting clays for fun. Use a k-80 combo at trap but shoot Beretta semi autos at sporting. I shoot between 20 to 30,000 shells a year. It would be tough to find a better semi auto than them. The first one I got I wanted to see how they would stand up to use. I put 3000 rounds through that 303 and finally cleaned it out of guilt. It was still functioning! I have 4 303's, 2 390's a 391 and a 31/2 inch extrema i hunt with. They've all been extremely reliable. Guess you could say I'm a Beretta fan. For a reasonably priced o/u a browning would be tough to beat. I have a gti browning that I shoot occasionally at sporting and it's held up well.
 
Just to flaunt my lack of shotgun knowledge:
What choke do the majority of you shooters use for Sporting Clays?
Same as for Skeet?
Same as for 5 stand?
Same choke in both barrels on OU's, or different in each barrel?
Our local range offers all of these clay exercises.
Have 12 ga pumps and autos, and a 20ga Citori -will make use of all of them.
Thanks
 
Just to flaunt my lack of shotgun knowledge:
What choke do the majority of you shooters use for Sporting Clays?
Same as for Skeet?
Same as for 5 stand?
Same choke in both barrels on OU's, or different in each barrel?
Our local range offers all of these clay exercises.
Have 12 ga pumps and autos, and a 20ga Citori -will make use of all of them.
Thanks
I use Mod in my upper barrel and Light Mod in the lower on the 28 gauge. On the 12 I use U1 or U2 Muller's, depending my the distance to the targets.
 
If using a single-barrel, I use IC for skeet and SC, full for trap (but I hate trap).
If using a double-barrel, I use my field gun with IC on bottom and M on top, altho chokes on each side of IC would probably be about perfect. (This is for skeet and SC, I hate trap.)
If you want to teach yourself to really look down the barrel hard, use full choke on a skeet field or SC course.
 
Thanks to everyone for your valuable advice.
Syncro: I feel the same about trap, enjoying most other shotgun (And rifle, and pistol) pursuits,
plus have many friends who consider trap shooting to be the Olympics of the shooting world.
 

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