2nd Hand Shot gun advice needed 800-100 Euro budget.

bullets

As a rifle shooter I have no experience in shotguns,
I know next to nothing about them.

Have been out to the local clay pigeon range a few times and
now have reached a stage where I want my own shot-gun to use
for Sporting Clays only. (it will never be used for anything else)
I find it difficult to learn unless I got my own that I can call mine and
thats suited for me and that I can practice mounting, holding and
tracking at home.

I had my eye on a o/u 26 inch browning 325 game gun that was in
good nick which was selling for 7-800 Euro's. I think the barrel had been cut
from a 28inch down to a 26 inch. I had intended to put a deposit
on it last week but as it was the bank holiday traffic was BAD and the lad
who I was traveling with decided to call it quits and turn back home.
When I inquired about it today I was told it was sold about 7 days ago
so that was real bad luck. If I had made it out there that day it would
be mine.

Today I spotted a more expensive browning 525 game gun in more or less good nick with regard to the metal parts of the gun. Dealer had a price of 975 Euros for it but would have given it to me for 900. Problem was that there was a severe crack in the stock where it had split and that was glued back together. That kinda spooked me so I did not buy (even though my cash
was burning in my wallet) Meanwhile my buddy bought a brand new 525 advance and traded in his browning gold for 1600.

Can anyone offer advise as to if to buy something
like shot gun with a repaired stock would be a good risk.
(if the stock goes I am told its about 400 Euro
to get a new one) Other than the stock the gun is almost perfect.

I would LOVE a 2nd hand browning and I like the craftsmanship that goes
into them. I especially like the hinge area and how the metal
sits so flush and glides together.

Some of the cheaper brands simply felt cheap and boreing and I did not
like the feel of them so did not want to buy a NEW el-cheapo when I could but a good brand 2nd hand.

As my passion is for rifle, I am not willing to pay the big bucks for a shotgun
as at the moment I don't take naturally to it but its nice to be able to shoot
20mins from home with a shotgun as apposed to a 2.5 hr journey to the rifle range. all in all I want something under a grand that is perfectly good for
clays.

~B

Double Barrel

bullets,
Water under the bridge.
From my perspective you did yourself a favor in each instance. A cut down gun field gun is not much good for sporting clays and a cracked stock is an indicator of abuse, a bad job of inletting of receiver to stock or just a bad piece of walnut - to much stress in the wood-.
There are plenty of good guns on the market. Take your time.

quackquackBOOM

if you want to start off buy a lanber not a bad gun for the money and you will get a good second hand one for that money
if you like the sport then you can always upgrade if you dont at least you havent spent an absolute fortune

always smell where you put the cartridges in if it smells of oil it was usually treated well if it smells of powder thats heavy use
also when you break the gun check to see if the barrel wobbles inside of the stock seems

revan23

you can get a respectable gun new for that money, the bottom end of the scale is around 450 euros new, im still using a mossberg 500 i got new for something around 400, ill be upgrading very soon, but it's served me well for over 6 years and never had any problems with it.

bullets

Thanks for the advice.

I'm in no rush tis just a horrible feeling traveling a good distance
drooling over some lovely guns and coming
away with nothing.

Just as well I missed the other two guns I had my eye on as I
think the stocks may not have suited me height wise.

When mounted and looking along the Rib it looked more like a runway/road where I could
see quite a lot of road! On some other shotguns I could get my head/cheek/eye right
down on the stock so I saw very little of the length of the rib and I instantly had better
luck shooting. I think this may have been due to the slightly lower stock.

The man that was giving me a bit of coaching and nearly everyone I talked to
all said try get a browning and I know my relations swear by them.
Same man told me buy none of the guns he had for sale as they were all shot to s**t!

~B

spideog7

I've been shooting a lot with shotgun's, all hunting, I don't think I've ever looked down along the barrel of the gun, the few times I did, at a sitting crow or something, I never shot what I was aiming at !!!
For me it just come naturally, I raise the gun and shoot.
It sounds like you've shot clays before so I'm sure you know what you're doing, but just a thought that came to mind when you mentioned getting right down on the stock.

That hurts your cheek like feck too !!!

Double Barrel

bullets,

This may be heresy to some, it was to me for a long time. I think you should take a look at the Beretta 300 series of guns, the 391 is gas operated, as are the Remington 1100 , Browning Gold , and Winchester's Super X2 , the Franchi's 612 & 620 and Benelli are inertia operated. In the Benelli system, the barrel remains stationary while the inertia of the recoil unlocks the bolt and moves it rearward. In a gas operated gun like the Beretta 391, gas pressure bled out of the barrel behind the shell operates the system.
The gas and inertia operated guns are relatively soft shooting and you will be shooting quite a lot, think flats not boxes of cartridges.

I think all are within your price point give or take a few hundred.

Something else to consider is getting a gun to fit properly. Moving an O/Us stock up, down or sideways involves having it bent. A job for a professional stocker or gunsmith.
The auto's (most) stock can be shimmed around at will with just a screw driver and a couple of pieces of plastic. It can be made to fit very well with little if any compromise.

Double Barrel

Bullets,
Used gun exam.
Ask the owner to disassemble it. Hold the barrels by the lumps, the projections below the barrel at the breech end and then flick both barrels with a finger. They should ring like a bell. If they sound like a dull thump, something is loose, and you are asking for trouble. Thank the owner and MOVE on.
If they ring nicely, attach the barrels to the action, then holding the barrels lightly bump the stock with your fist, do they feel loose, do they vibrate in your hand?

Wiggle the action while holding the barrels, is there any side-to-side or up and down play? Reverse your hold and do the same while holding the stock.

If everything seems tight, then run your hands carefully along both barrels, you are feeling for any dents or bulges. Sometimes feeling a pair of barrels is even more revealing than looking through and at them.

Finally, remove that barrels from the action and look carefully at the proof marks, usually on the barrel flats or watertable, and somewhere there should be reflected the length of the chambers. Older British-made guns will be marked in inches, but more recently proofed shotguns and continental guns will be in millimeters. Do not assume a gun is automatically chambered for 2 3/4- or 3 inch shells. There are numerous older 12s around chambered for 2 5/8-inch ammo. Most who deal in double guns will have chamber-length gauges, a barrel thickness gauge and a bore micrometer, and should willingly use them to verify the gun's chokes, barrels thickness and chamber lengths.

Barrel length is important. While doubles with 26-inch and shorter barrels might seem good in a gun shop, they are very difficult to shoot well. Twenty-eight- 30 barrels are just about perfect for any double with 32- 34 inch in the specialist category. Twenty eight and 30-in barrels remain excellent general-purpose length's: long enough to be controllable, short enough to swing well. Short barrels are easy to start swinging, but equally easy to stop.
Good luck.

quackquackBOOM

1 last thing a mate got stung with years ago with a second hand gun you had to switch the safety to fire the second barrel
bring a set of snappy caps
place both in the barrels
pull the trigger,one barrel should fire
hit the end of the stock with a closed fist
then pull the trigger again
the second barrel will/should fire

macnab

Why are you looking at game guns if your intention is to do clay shooting? A game gun will be too light for clay shooting, therefor it will kick like hell and it will be prone to overheating because of the constant and prolonged use. IMO you want a good heavy solid 30" sporter. As my user name says I have a macnab sporter, I paid €800 for it second hand. I use it mostly for rough shooting but it has the build required for when I do indulge in the clays.

bunny shooter

macnab wrote: »

Why are you looking at game guns if your intention is to do clay shooting? A game gun will be too light for clay shooting, therefor it will kick like hell and it will be prone to overheating because of the constant and prolonged use. IMO you want a good heavy solid 30" sporter. As my user name says I have a macnab sporter, I paid €800 for it second hand. I use it mostly for rough shooting but it has the build required for when I do indulge in the clays.

Good sound advice, a game gun is for game, a clay gun will do both

mosulli4

Hello there,

check out http://www.shootinguk.co.uk they have lots of reviews of new and second hand shotguns, mostly lifted from Sporting Gun and Shooting times magazines.

Of interest are...

Lanber Sporter - http://www.shootinguk.co.uk/guns/shotguns/142213/Lanber_Sporter_shotgun_review.html

By the way stay stay away from yildiz and the browning medallist. rubbish.

mosulli4