The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Mikaveli wrote:

CDM5 wrote:I just got my SGC through today, 2 weeks after applying! Well done Wiltshire

With a budget of up to £500, what is a good starter O/U for clays?

How tall are you?

5'10"

Ok, so you probably won't need a massively long or short LOP.

Step one, find a gun that fits you locally (even if you're not going to buy it). Find it's LOP.
Use GT (or similar) to search for shotguns with the same / very similar LOP, locally and within your budget.
Visit the trader to try the gun on for size - if it suits, pay up and you're done.

£500 will buy quite a lot second hand, don't be ultra fussy on the brand. As a guy I know says: "at the end of the day, it's a pipe, a bit of wood and a spring loaded nail...".

Mikaveli wrote:Ok, so you probably won't need a massively long or short LOP.

Step one, find a gun that fits you locally (even if you're not going to buy it). Find it's LOP.
Use GT (or similar) to search for shotguns with the same / very similar LOP, locally and within your budget.
Visit the trader to try the gun on for size - if it suits, pay up and you're done.

£500 will buy quite a lot second hand, don't be ultra fussy on the brand. As a guy I know says: "at the end of the day, it's a pipe, a bit of wood and a spring loaded nail...".

I'm only 5'9" but have gorilla like arms it seems, and have added over an inch to my Baikal to get a fit I'm happy with. I'm amazed how critical the length is, get it wrong and it's quite hard to hit anything.

I like my Baikal, it does attract some rude comments, but as I pointed out the other week, a gun costing seven times as much doesn't hit seven times as many clays.

On a related note - any suggestions for a good starting point for taller folks? I'm 6' 5".
I know there isn't a magic answer, just wondering if there are certain makes it might make sense to try out first...

I went to my local gun shop yesterday and had a look at a few, all were a bit out of budget though and he was reluctant to show me a load as I didn't have a SGC.
One that did feel right though was a 1970s skeet gun, had a light forend and generally felt good. Can't remember the model now but I'll go in there again this weekend with my SGC. What makes a skeet gun what it is? I've no idea about clay shooting.

So how have we drifted from the legality of swapping S2 to S1 parts to gun fitment of clay guns?!

markS wrote:On a related note - any suggestions for a good starting point for taller folks? I'm 6' 5".
I know there isn't a magic answer, just wondering if there are certain makes it might make sense to try out first...

I had the same problem - I'm also 6'5".

When I bought my first shotgun, the LOP was about 13 3/4" and I ended up having to have just over an inch added - costing quite a lot to have a good job done.

Trouble is, the number of guns with a LOP above 14 1/2" is pretty small by comparison, so if you're not happy with a slip on pad, you may find you end up going down that route anyway.

techguy wrote:So how have we drifted from the legality of swapping S2 to S1 parts to gun fitment of clay guns?!

It's people discussing shooting without bitching and name calling. I'm just rolling with it... :lol:

techguy wrote:So how have we drifted from the legality of swapping S2 to S1 parts to gun fitment of clay guns?!

Fair point. My bad.

techguy wrote:So how have we drifted from the legality of swapping S2 to S1 parts to gun fitment of clay guns?!

As if on cue, I spoke with Firearms Licensing today. S2 spare barrel does not need to be entered on SGC. Spare barrel for S1 needs to be entered on FAC. Cannot "legally" use a spare S2 barrel on a S1 gun, but actually swapping the barrels over onto different receivers so each shotgun still has a barrel on it, no problem.....

If that makes sense...