Help. Looking to buy my first shot gun.

[Alpha1]

I went and had a look in my local Gun shop. The Guy who owns it runs Clay shoots I asked his advice.
I am Gob smacked how expensive shot guns can be. I am not sure this Shot gun certificate is going to get used. I could buy a F class rifle for the price of some of this kit.

[Polchraine]

I went and had a look in my local Gun shop. The Guy who owns it runs Clay shoots I asked his advice.
I am Gob smacked how expensive shot guns can be. I am not sure this Shot gun certificate is going to get used. I could buy a F class rifle for the price of some of this kit.

You can get a fully usable clay gun for £150 second hand ... the advantage of an SGC is you can buy and sell as and when you want.

If you think what your gun shop had was expensive, I was handling an English made shotgun last weekeknd - price was just over £120k ...


So, even if you are only going to use it occasionally, get one and keep it in the safe. It also means one more certificate in the overall total showing how popular shooting sports are.

[meles meles]

Don't be scared of being different, 'ooman. You don't need to spend £5k on a shiny Bezetta to have fun at clay clobberin' . A second paw over and under, if it 'feels' right, will do just as well as an expensive gun and allow you to but more cartridges and clays to practice on. We did quite well initially with a Baikal of all things.

We now have gone a different route and use a an olde side by side, Damascus barrelled, hammer gun for clays ! It was made in 1887 and cost the princely sum of 87 guineas back then. It is a work of art, balances and swings superbly. It's the equal of a modern £20k o/u in terms of fit and performance and despite being olde, it still hits whatever we point it at. It was built up to a quality, not down to a price. It has style too. The only concession we need to make is to not blaze away madly with it or the barrels get a tad warm and scorch our paws...

[JS569]

I think what has been said here is good advice. I do a lot of SG shooting and have some 'smarter' guns, nowhere near the 120k referenced but I also have a £450 20g and a 1920's S/S off-the-shelf 'English' gun (whitelabelled gun made in Birmingham and had the retailer's name stamped on it). This non-ejector 12g is used and loved but is essentially worthless, if I got £100 I'd be surprised. As with anything it's as much as you want to spend on it. My friend bought a brand new turkish O/U for around £650 mark, having handled it, it's fine. Not as nice as a Beretta Silver Pigeon but he shoots well with it. Set a budget, go hunting for something that fits and have fun. With S/G been easy to buy, people tend to buy them and hold onto them so you'll find most a lot of people will have things sat in their cabinet they're quite happy to sell.

[MrD]

Set a budget, go hunting for something that fits and have fun.

Several years ago I convinced myself that I wanted a second-hand 'named' SG for clays and looked at a local shop's list. They had a fair number in stock so I set a budget of around £1000. He was kind enough to dig a selection out and let me handle them. He also put out a new Bettinsoli which I mentally sneered at. Now maybe my anatomy is weird, but I couldn't find any which mounted as well as the Bettinsoli, so paid £700 and walked away with a brand-new gun with a full set of chokes.

I'd advise you to go to your clay club and try mounting/swinging as many different makes/models of gun as you can. You'll soon get an idea of what suits you best, then go looking for a second-hand one that won't break the bank.

Donald

[Polchraine]

He also put out a new Bettinsoli which I mentally sneered at. Now maybe my anatomy is weird, but I couldn't find any which mounted as well as the Bettinsoli, so paid £700 and walked away with a brand-new gun with a full set of chokes.

Why did you sneer? Probably becasue it did not have that well known name and lacked the ""well-known name" premium. Am I right?

And I've got a more expensive Bettinsoli that you ... still just £950 though!

[MrD]

He also put out a new Bettinsoli which I mentally sneered at. Now maybe my anatomy is weird, but I couldn't find any which mounted as well as the Bettinsoli, so paid £700 and walked away with a brand-new gun with a full set of chokes.

Why did you sneer? Probably becasue it did not have that well known name and lacked the ""well-known name" premium. Am I right?

And I've got a more expensive Bettinsoli that you ... still just £950 though!

Exactly that - despite owning two Hatsan semi-autos it was a name I'd never heard of and I fell into the trap of brand envy So glad I let my head rule my heart on the day! No regrets!

[Alpha1]

I quite like this its in my local gun shop. Probably not very practical though.

[bradaz11]

depends how good you can get at reloads. I shoot a winchester 97and it only takes 2-3 seconds to throw another cartridge in.

I do have one of the greener type shotguns, and that would be quite fast if it wasn't for the safety engaging each time you run the action

[Sim G]

We use all sorts when shooting clays. When there’s a couple of us, flinging singles is not an issue at all. If that floats your boat, grab it!