..Guns Guns & More Guns

[Renee]

i would go with Mossburg out of the three.
i'm waiting a bit for the one I want, I read the Remington 1100 will be made again. Also I might see something else by then so I can wait.

I'm hearing that as well...an investment group out of Lancaster PA. that claims to be committed to the shooting sports, bought the rights to Remington..guns..the existing parts stock, manufacturing...and the Remington museum....Federal bought the rights to Remington ammunition...and Ruger bought the rights to Marlin...So it looks like Remington in not entirely dead. Let's hope the quality control comes back to it's former self because for the past decade Remington, IMHO has not been producing stuff worthy of their name.

The Mossberg has a certain kind of charm to it...It's a working class gun...and despite it's weight, it's pretty lively and has a very smooth swing (kinda like me) . It also fits me well right out of the box without messing with it, which is something that rarely happens when you are a woman built like me. Usually, as in the case of my trap guns, the buttstock has to be modified. Both my trap over and unders have been cut and wear pachmayr adjustable recoil pads.

[Renee]

Beretta name.

Any thoughts?

Beretta.

Narrowed it down for you. You want to shoot Skeet? Clay's?

I'm not saying this is the way things should be, but it's how they are: At my old range, Beretta O/U was the de facto minimum 'respected' shotgun for clays. Mossberg? No...

Some guys there had old SxS that where from either England or America, and they would fit in certainly, but the vast majority were packing a Beretta O/U.

Take that as you will, my robust poster!

The Beretta is at the bottom of my list...I know their o/u guns are generally very good IF you get one with properly regulated barrels and that's been an issue for some time now....For durability they are great. They hold up under stress but I'm not looking for an O/U...I already have 3. If I was looking for another o/u it would be a Browning or a Caesar Guerini or a Merkel.

I'm not looking to spend thousands upon thousands. The Beretta A300 outlander sporting is a semiautomatic and retails for around $930-$1000 and is a parts sourced, second rate, bottom of the line Beretta. I've handled them and they point and handle well but they are not the same fit and finish quality of the Italian made Berettas...The Mossberg and the SKB are actually nicer finished guns and they have a ton more features and options...As I look at it, those that would buy the A300 are the kind of shooter that needs a gun with a "B" on it...simply because it gives them the warm fuzzies.

[Blue Frost]

I like Mossburg, and don't care what others think about them, the one I owned, and my brothers was always good shooters, and we never had issues with them.
They might not be the gun for someone looking for looks, but they preform well, and I think is family owned unlike most the others.
They are working mans guns, that's the selling point of them.

I have several Beretta guns, but the USA brand I will not support, and for good reason.
I bought an American 92f, and it was garbage, and their service was rude, and useless.
The barrel was oval, it would stovepipe every shot, and Beretta said maybe I was limp wresting it. I had a gunsmith look at it, and he said the springs was bad also.
They should have said we will have it shipped back, and fix the issue.

[Renee]

I like Mossburg, and don't care what others think about them, the one I owned, and my brothers was always good shooters, and we never had issues with them.
They might not be the gun for someone looking for looks, but they preform well, and I think is family owned unlike most the others.
They are working mans guns, that's the selling point of them.

I have several Beretta guns, but the USA brand I will not support, and for good reason.
I bought an American 92f, and it was garbage, and their service was rude, and useless.
The barrel was oval, it would stovepipe every shot, and Beretta said maybe I was limp wresting it. I had a gunsmith look at it, and he said the springs was bad also.
They should have said we will have it shipped back, and fix the issue.

You are not the only one that I know of that has had issues with a Beretta product...Beretta is known for shitty customer service as is Browning...As I mention previously, I know of 2 people that have had issues with the regulation of the point of aim with Beretta O/Us....Each one had a badly regulated lower barrel...They would throw patterns that were at least 3" off from point of aim up and to the left. Instead of a 60/40 pattern at 30 yards they were getting a 70/30 or at 40 yards an almost 80/20....It's a known problem and to be fair, it's not limited to Beretta..

Now with a Skeet gun it's not that big of a deal but with a trap gun shitty regulation could mean the difference between a broken clay or a complete miss and that's just unacceptable...Worst of all both times the owners of these guns got the same standard canned answer out of Beretta...."Within Spec"...

That to me is unacceptable...When you spend thousands of dollars on a shotgun you expect it to be right and if it isn't, the manufacturer damn well better make it right.

That's one of the things that impresses me about SKB...Recently a lot of trap clubs are using SKB autos as rentals for their scholastic shooting programs and they take a lot of abuse and regular maintenance on them is not always the best...But whenever something does go wrong, SKB of Omaha takes care of it no questions asked....I read were one guy had an issue with a sticky mag follower and a bad mag tube and after several tries to fix it, SKB sent it back to the factory then they basically gave the owner of the weapon a new gun at no charge. They replaced the mag tube, the recoil spring, gas piston and barrel AND the entire action with all new parts. That says to me that SKB is a stand up company.

[Mel Gibson]

You're looking for a semi-auto shotgun then... For some reason I assumed O/U when I heard sporting clays.

[Mel Gibson]

Doing some Googling, it seems that quite a few people like the Fabarm semi-auto for sporting. A little pricier than the SKB, but it is made in Italy as opposed to Turkey if that matters to you.

[Blue Frost]

I would trust the Italian made one more than the Turkish one, a lot of the Turkish makers are good don't get me wrong, but there is a lot of bad ones also.

[Mel Gibson]

I would trust the Italian made one more than the Turkish one, a lot of the Turkish makers are good don't get me wrong, but there is a lot of bad ones also.

I agree. The Italian Fabarm may cost $1,000 more than the Turk SKB, but it may be worth it.

Of course Renee didn't actually give us a budget that she has to work with for a new gun, so I don't know!

[Renee]

Doing some Googling, it seems that quite a few people like the Fabarm semi-auto for sporting. A little pricier than the SKB, but it is made in Italy as opposed to Turkey if that matters to you.

Fabarm is making a decent semi-auto now but it's pricey...The L4S is a lot better and nicer than the previous line of Fabarm autos, the red lion/gold lion series were shit.

Last I checked the Fabarm L4S sporting was going for 18-19 hundred retail...I could get a Browning silver or the new A5 for that...I'm looking to keep this little adventure between 900 and 1200 dollars US....$1800 is a little steep for a gun I'm going to use between 6 and 8 times a year.

[Mel Gibson]

How about a Breda? Might be on the upper end of your budget range, but they're Italian made from what I can tell... There's a dealer in Mullica Hill, so you can go and check 'em out!

Or maybe the Franchi Affinity 3? It's defo in your budget range, and apparently made in Italy as well (barrels made by Beretta, the rest made by Benelli)...

[Renee]

How about a Breda? Might be on the upper end of your budget range, but they're Italian made from what I can tell... There's a dealer in Mullica Hill, so you can go and check 'em out!

Or maybe the Franchi Affinity 3? It's defo in your budget range, and apparently made in Italy as well (barrels made by Beretta, the rest made by Benelli)...

Breda autos are nice guns but they have a rep for not being reliable. They tend to be finicky when it comes to feeding and ejection.

Both the Breda and the Franchi are inertia autos and rough copies of the benelli...They recoil too hard for a dedicated clay target gun. Gas operated autos are more fun to shoot when you are shooting 50 or 100 rounds on a sporting clays course....Like a lot of inertia guns they are difficult to load which is a pain on the clays field. They are noted for having very stiff mag springs and somewhat heavy triggers which is not ideal for a clays gun.

Thanks for the suggestions but I think this is still the front runner.

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[Blue Frost]

All that nice work, and wood, then a chicken finger finish on it
What a shame.

[Renee]

All that nice work, and wood, then a chicken finger finish on it
What a shame.

I don't think it's that bad..It's a little light in color but I've seen a lot worse.

I saw a very expensive J. P Sauer auto with fake wood grain actually etched onto the surface of the wood . Or as in the Case of the Beretta A300 outlander, wood so lacking in figure or character that it looked like it was made from old shipping crates.... Both were quite a bit more costly than that mossy.

Runner up...

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[Mel Gibson]

I guess you can't go wrong with the Mossy for the price! Might not have Italian grade fit & finish, but you won't get that for $1,000. Plus it's American made, which is probably preferable over Turk made, but these days that's no guarantee either it seems...

[Mel Gibson]

On a somewhat related note, I see Colt is making the Python again. Wonder how it stacks up to the original? Just like S&W, they even thought about us poor chumps north of the border and designed the shorter barreled version as a 4.25" instead of the standard 4"

[Blue Frost]

How about a Breda? Might be on the upper end of your budget range, but they're Italian made from what I can tell... There's a dealer in Mullica Hill, so you can go and check 'em out!

Or maybe the Franchi Affinity 3? It's defo in your budget range, and apparently made in Italy as well (barrels made by Beretta, the rest made by Benelli)...

Breda autos are nice guns but they have a rep for not being reliable. They tend to be finicky when it comes to feeding and ejection.

Both the Breda and the Franchi are inertia autos and rough copies of the benelli...They recoil too hard for a dedicated clay target gun. Gas operated autos are more fun to shoot when you are shooting 50 or 100 rounds on a sporting clays course....Like a lot of inertia guns they are difficult to load which is a pain on the clays field. They are noted for having very stiff mag springs and somewhat heavy triggers which is not ideal for a clays gun.

Thanks for the suggestions but I think this is still the front runner.

SG-0217-2.jpg

I just hate how hard it is to get a nice finish anymore, and everyone seems to be sold on that unfinished crap they said they will like.
I sure miss the nice guns I used to see in the 70s, you got nice nickle, and stainless then.
A lot of what it is is the gun makers are telling people that is what they want, and another reason is the Al Gore idiots made it hard for anyone to do real plating because of environmental restrictions.
Sorry excuse though from the gun makers, a stainless gun isn't dipped, they are just cutting cost, and corners.

[Blue Frost]

On a somewhat related note, I see Colt is making the Python again. Wonder how it stacks up to the original? Just like S&W, they even thought about us poor chumps north of the border and designed the shorter barreled version as a 4.25" instead of the standard 4"

The first run was all messed up, and a lot wrong with them, but supposedly they fixed the issues.
People wasn't very happy.

[Mel Gibson]

The first run was all messed up, and a lot wrong with them, but supposedly they fixed the issues.
People wasn't very happy.

That's too bad. 40 year old used Python's in decent shape can sell up here for $4,000+ Canadian Pesos, which is a testament to their desirability...

[Mel Gibson]

I just hate how hard it is to get a nice finish anymore, and everyone seems to be sold on that unfinished crap they said they will like.
I sure miss the nice guns I used to see in the 70s, you got nice nickle, and stainless then.
A lot of what it is is the gun makers are telling people that is what they want, and another reason is the Al Gore idiots made it hard for anyone to do real plating because of environmental restrictions.
Sorry excuse though from the gun makers, a stainless gun isn't dipped, they are just cutting cost, and corners.

It's also what people are willing to pay also I think... Excellent fit & finish comes at a price, with extra man hours required. For instance Renee had a budget, and didn't want to venture much out of that range. You'll simply not find much "fine hand tuning" or Fancy Grade stocks on an $1,100 semi-auto shotgun.

[Renee]

How about a Breda? Might be on the upper end of your budget range, but they're Italian made from what I can tell... There's a dealer in Mullica Hill, so you can go and check 'em out!

Or maybe the Franchi Affinity 3? It's defo in your budget range, and apparently made in Italy as well (barrels made by Beretta, the rest made by Benelli)...

Breda autos are nice guns but they have a rep for not being reliable. They tend to be finicky when it comes to feeding and ejection.

Both the Breda and the Franchi are inertia autos and rough copies of the benelli...They recoil too hard for a dedicated clay target gun. Gas operated autos are more fun to shoot when you are shooting 50 or 100 rounds on a sporting clays course....Like a lot of inertia guns they are difficult to load which is a pain on the clays field. They are noted for having very stiff mag springs and somewhat heavy triggers which is not ideal for a clays gun.

Thanks for the suggestions but I think this is still the front runner.

SG-0217-2.jpg

I just hate how hard it is to get a nice finish anymore, and everyone seems to be sold on that unfinished crap they said they will like.
I sure miss the nice guns I used to see in the 70s, you got nice nickle, and stainless then.
A lot of what it is is the gun makers are telling people that is what they want, and another reason is the Al Gore idiots made it hard for anyone to do real plating because of environmental restrictions.
Sorry excuse though from the gun makers, a stainless gun isn't dipped, they are just cutting cost, and corners.

Guns today are finished like crap unless you want to spend huge dollars...CNC machinery has replaced hand fitting and American walnut has gotten extremely expensive and is reserved for high priced guns....Dipped coatings such as Ceracote have replaced bluing because they are more durable...and they come in colors... ...Horseshit.

What I cannot stand are all the plastic stocks. And let's call it what it is shall we? It's not "synthetic", it's
not "technopolymer" or some shit like that...IT'S FUCKING PLASTIC and it looks like SHIT. It's used in replace of wood because it saves tons on money to manufacture while the gun companies can still charge you almost top dollar for their product.

The other ridiculous shit I hate are all the camo patterns on rifles and shotguns today, it's revolting and disappointing...Are you telling me that game could see a regular wood and metal gun all the years before the camo craze...I wonder how a hunters were successful before "Realtree" came along....More horseshit....The camo pattern that I truely cannot stand to see is what they call "Muddy Girl", that bright pink and black crap. It's disgusting looking and it's sexist as fuck. If a pink stock or a colored finish on a gun is what gets a woman into the shooting sports, then I don't what her handling a gun because she is probably too air headed to be trusted with one.