Shotguns

[Rauly]

If you can only shoot one style. Single, Double, Over & Under, Pump, or Auto. Which one would you choose?

I will choose a pump because I have been shooting one consistantly since 1972.(Rem.870) I use an over and under for Skeet but still prefer my pump for hunting. Now for the wierd part. I want an Super X2 so bad I can taste it. I shot a friends a while back and liked the feel of it so much that now I think I may need one of those too. Can you have to many guns? Naw that was a stupid question. :grin: Thats like saying you can have to many rods. :tongue:

[BlueWater]

Rauly-
For the limited shotguning I do now Pump all the way! It is the best of all worlds.(Rem 870.) But.... when I shot trap I liked an old single shot I used to have. Very light and pointed well for me.
On another note. I noticed you lived in banks Rauly. Do they still shoot at the trap range in banks? Or have they closed? I used to shoot at North Plains gun club before it closed.

BlueWater.

[ 11-10-2001: Message edited by: BlueWater ]</p>

[jet]

Rauly

Did you know that the Winchester Super X 2 is the same bun basically as the Browning Gold Hunter. The gold hunter does have a few differences, like the magazine cut off. The mag. cut allows you to stop the mag. from shoving the next round in so you can manually shove something larger or smaller in the chamber if need be. The Winchester does have a slightly higher rib.

I am talking about the new "X" 2, basically made by Browning not the old classic not made for several years. Save some money and buy a browning, you can buy it in Synthetic and wood.

One another point I just found one of the coolest new guns the Francci-sp? this gun is now adopted by many agencies. What I really like is that it has the same bolt as the Benelli (considered the finest bolt and gas system),it will shoot 2"- 3 1/2" (yes I said 2").

This gun really sounds like the perfect shooter, and tested through harsher conditions that most of our guns will ever see. The gun has no rubber bushings involved to seal the gasses. It comes in only one stock config. Synthetic. The best part... $719. at GiJoes. Lots of money but still a better value that the Benelli and the Winchester.

Chew on that...

Jet~~~

[jet]

For your first "Q" I used to shoot pumps but I had a hard time cycling the second shot (only the few times I needed the second shot..lol). I am 5'5" so I have short arms. See the problem.

I then switched to a gass gun a few years ago... problem solved. I first bought a used Rem. 1100 (rubber bands yuck!) and at that time no choke tube options and then steel. Later an Auto 5 Heavy duck. This gun is loved by many but coming from a pump gun it felt like a Awkward 2X4. Then I began to explore several Stacked Doubble guns The winchester 101 silver pigeon,Ruger Red label,Weatherby classic field, Beretta.... I loved them, but taking a $1500 and up gun out into the field to use as a tool became unreal. The wood was just too beautiful to damage while hunting. As you can see I have had the same quest.

I then found Auto's, you only need two shots and then the birds are out of range.

Jet~~~

[Hookset]

Hey, I'm a bird hunter too. Right now I have a Weatherby over/under, Rem 1187, Win 1200 pump, Rem 870 and owned in the past Ithaca pump, Rem 1100, double side by side. If I could only use one gun, it would be an autoloader 12 gauge. I always thought a pump was the ideal gun, now I consider a well built autoloader to be an ideal all purpose gun.

I'm not saying my 1187 is the right autoloader, I like this gun but, have to admit I didn't look at enough guns before making the purchase. Lots of good shotguns out there.

Gregg

[Flathead]

Pump gun all the way. (Rem 870) I've had two of these since I was a kid. I also have a Browning Citori over/under, but I hardly ever take it out of the gun safe, except to take to the trap range. Also, I once had an 1100 I could never get used to how front heavy that gun was. Since most of my hunting is for waterfowl in the mud and rain that 870 fits the bill for reliability and handling the harsh conditions.

[Baldpate Basher]

Great topic Rauly!

Let me start by saying that I think the REM.870's are some of the best most durable weapons in the world. I bought two 870 express models for my boys.

However, after shooting my old Wingmaster for years, I still hadn’t learned how to shoot it very well. When the navy moved me to Memphis TN. I couldn’t take my old pump with me. I had to get a new gun and settled on a Winchester auto. Suddenly I found I was hitting on my first and subsequent shots. It seems I had been in such a hurry to pump the second and third shots off that I never bothered to aim properly. Now with the auto I could just aim and shoot.

Strangely enough, I wound up buying a Rem.1100 that someone had to sell, just before the Winchester was stolen. I fell in love with that 1100 and would still have it today if I hadn’t gotten married. My second loves jealousy of my first love made me get rid of it. That’s not true we just needed the money.

Now that my boys are big I got them their own guns. But did I go back to the gun I had fallen in love with? No I decided to go with the old tried and true. But I also decided to teach the boys better how to shoot.

So I guess my vote is still the 870’s.

[MikeT]

My favorite, and my upland gun, is a Winchester 20 ga. sxs. It's too pretty to take out duck hunting, so I have a Benelli SBE with plastic stock for that.

Over the years I've owned a couple sxs guns, a winchester pump, an o/u and the Benelli. Keep looking for the perfect "do everything" shotgun, but still have three in the cabinet. I love to shoot the doubles but if I had to limit myself to only one, it would have to be the Benelli.
MikeT

[Rauly]

Hey Blue Water Banks shoots Thursday nights from about 6:30 to 10:00 Hillsboro is still Wed. Night and Sunday. Maybe we should try to get together with everyone to shoot some time.

Jet yes the actions are the same but the stocks are not and I felt more comfortable with the SX2 in my hands than the Browning. It just seemed to have a better fit when I put it to my shoulder and tracked birds. Good Luck hunting.

[Zen Leecher aka Bill W]

If'n I had a choice my "shotgun of choice" would be a Citori 12 gauge... probably the 3 incher unless the 3 1/2 incher is the same weight.

If Winchester still made the 101 I'd stick with that as that's the benchmark I grade shotguns against. Don't take this as me saying the 101 is the best shotgun ever made, it's just because I always wanted one when young... and I still remember that first day my trap gun came home.

What do I use now.. different and varied story.

11-87 for ducks
101 O/U for trap
a 20 gauge Citori for when I eventually make it out for birds

I've also got a very pretty Super X Model 1 trapgun sitting in my closet along with my first shotgun that had "radar".

Got an old Win 1400 semi that was my first real duck gun. Shoot, could that thing hit ducks. Got about 10 triples with that thing even when it was jamming. Just reach up, slam the bolt home, pull the trigger, repeat until empty.

The 1400 is for sale if anybody's interested.

[birdhunter]

It's what I always shoot, so I can't give you much for comparison, but another vote for the 12 ga. Remmington .870 express. What a workhorse of a gun! Excellent for geese and ducks - decoy or jump shooting. Very fast pump and smooth shooting. A little heavy while hiking around for upland, but mine has taken more than it's share of grouse, quail, phesant and chukar. Excellent tukey gun. Nice for predator calling or varmit hunting. I've also killed deer w/ it. All in all a very very versatile gun. No doubt about it, my favorite shotgun. It seems to shoot well with any load. 2 3/4" or 3" no prob. Mine is only 4 years old but it is already pretty beat up and battle-scarred. You can take it through anything, drop it in water or mud, kick it, and it'll still shoot great for ya. Incredibly durable. Did I mention it's really cheap to pick one up? All in all a great working gun and my favorite shotgun. Maybe when I'm older and richer I'll buy something fancy that'll be all polished and sit on the mantle, but for now, this poor college student is very happy w/ his .870.

[BlueWater]

Rauly-
It is nice to hear banks still shoots. The problen is all the fun stuff happens it seems when I work. But I would be open for a sunday after the first of the year. Mabey all of us ifish amateurs could show those Hillsboro guys how it's done. It use to be sundays was a fun shoot day hopefully it still is. PULL!

BlueWater :smile:

[MoJet Driver]

Let see, I have an SP 10 for geese and SP 11-87 for dux and little geese and and an Ithaca SKB 20 autoloader for upland. You've got to keep them cleaner but when they came out with 3 1/2 12 guage loads, my arms were too short to keep stroking the shells through fast and comfortably enough. Switched exclusively to auto loaders and I think it is easier for that straight over your head, 12 o'clock high shot on geese, at least on the follow-up or the double, as the case may be.

[crabbait]

Unfair question, like, "if you could only shoot one bird what would it be?"

I love my Citori Gran Lightning 20ga for dove, quail, grouse and release pheasants. Carrys like a dream, shoots where I look without even thinking and is a joy to look at.

I like my SBE alot for lugging around in the mud.

The SP10 was an excellent goose choice before hevi-shot. Now I believe I will sell it and get another SBE to keep loaded for geese in the boat.

My Ruger Red Label 12ga is the ticket for wild pheasant and chukar. I bought it used for about what most auto loaders go for so I am not afraid to take a fall with it while chasing those red legged b*****ds. I also use it almost exclusivly for shooting 5-stand and sporting clays.

My 870 Special Field is on loan to my dad so he can shoot starlings out of the oak trees out the bathroom window. Its short enough to handle real well in a bathroom (Pops is getting on and he takes his hunting where he can find it).

I bought a Winchester Model 12 that sat in a closet for 30 years. It still has over 90% of the bluing. It tickles me to shoot trap with it and remember when it was the ONLY gun to hunt ducks with. One of these days I am going to get some bismuth or tung-poly and remind the ducks!

Bought a Winchester 1897 exposed hammer pump gun built in '03, in the condition you would be in if you were built in '03, just cuz.

I want an Arrieta SXS 12ga or an Aya SXS, maybe in 28ga. Don't know exactly what I would hunt with 'em but they are classics and I want one.

Like I said, unfair question.

[willametteriveroutlaw]

Working at GI joes I get the once a year opportunity to go shoot all of the new shotguns at the trap range.. This year I shot all of the autoloaders.. My choice for the money would be the Baretta Al391.. For me at least. A 3.5 in auto would be nice but I get more range with my BPS 10 GA. It is the cats meow for geese. And for ducks, if you need an 80 yd gun you shouldn't be hunting. Skyblasters ruin it for us all. Last year we had some guys sitting next to a friend of mines lease out by Basket slough refuge. Sitting on the refuge line shooting at anything flying under 125 yards. We still got a few birds, But we never saw them drop a one. With a little paitence they could have limited but instead all they accomplished was to reroute the whole flight path of the geese and ducks, (and proably wound a couple).

[rcl187]

Single, Double, Over & Under, Pump, or Auto? What happened to the good ol' bolt action. I'm the only person I've actually seen hunting birds with one (waterfowl anyways) but as long as I'm not throwing it around (or goose hunting) my bolt action 16 is my favorite gun to shoot and kills them dead the best. It's a little slower than a pump but not much. I've bagged a number of doubles and even a few tripples with it. Another nice feature is that you don't shoot the third shell unless neccessary so you go through less ammo.