over under for clays?

i just joined a fish and game club, i got put on the sporting clays committee. it looks so fun. we also have a big trap and skeet field.
so i am looking into an inexpensive over under to get me started. i def want to keep it under $800.
so far i have found
the stoeger condor competition
the CZ redhead
and the remington spr310.
all in the price range i want. are any of these better than the rest. im not looking for something to shoot every weekend, maybe once or twice a month. and im not looking for super high quality and perfect trigger pulls, just something that will work consistantly.

 

The CZ is a nice one ,,But for that $ I would look around for a nice used Weatherby 20 ga.
Just a plane one buy dam are they good hitters

 

Avoid the Remington. They aren't known for their over and unders. The CZ or Stoeger would be a great choice. I do agree though, look for a 20 guage.

 

Forget any of the three.
You will get much more gun for your $800 in the used market.
Look for something from Miroku like a used Citori, Win 101, or the Miroku line themselves.
Excellent quality and you will get more respect than showing up with a new Turkish gun.

 

I have a couple of shotguns that I take for sporting clays and skeet. The one that I enjoy every time, and I am not worried about getting dings on is the Yldiz I bought at Academy for $435. It works every time, came with adjustable choke inserts and is one of the best values in a firearm that I have purchased. I have shot many other shotguns, and don't get me wrong, I'd love to shoot a Browning Citori more regularly; but for an entry level over under, the Yildiz is hard to beat IMO.

 

pm m3bassman, he lives for shooting clays.

 

The SPR is actually a Russian import made by Baikal, with Remington's name on it. Parts are pretty much interchangable with the other Baikal's of the same type.

I don't know, the conventional wisdom from the experienced clay shooters is that all over/unders less than $1000-2000 are total piles of junk that will not hold up over time. Good deals on used items that were top drawer items new, would be the exceptions to the price rules.

But I sense from a lot of reviews that the Baikals are gaining a reputation as being reasonably tough, although a lot of O/U shooters won't touch them just based on their looks.

The typical double barrel customer is looking for something very high quality and very nice looking.

 

thanks for all the info guys, im not looking for something pretty or top quality, it just has to bust some clays when i pull the trigger, it wont be used all the time so it doesnt have to be flawless just something to get me started.
i set the price where i did for 2 reasons, first my wife is looking to shoot with me so i will probably be purchasing 2 guns, a 12 ga for me and a 20 ga for her.
and second i only own 1 gun over $1000 that is my custom AR i am not ready to spend more on something i dont know if i will stick with than i did on my pride and joy that i built myself 1 piece at a time.

 

get a mossberg 500 then, mine does pretty awesome when i clay shoot!

 

That's actually a fine idea. You can do everything the OP mentioned with any semi-auto, like a nice used Remington 1100, or with any pump as mentioned by TeamAmerica. A pump makes skeet kind of extra challenging though, but still doable if you aren't competing for money.

 

i already own a nice remmy 870 wingmaster, and the wife has a mossberg pump. i was just thinking learning will already be challenging enough, doing it with a pump gun will be really hard.....

 

it's not too bad, i think learning to skeet shoot is more about shooting at clay's high and slow to get the timing, then the actual gun. i learned with a mossberg pump and think it was easier then my semi-auto. my biggest advice would be to make sure you have two beads on the barrel rib for aiming. that will help you more then getting a new gun.

 

Try looking for a used Charles Daly marked Miroku.
Miroku is the same company that made the Browning Citori.
Had one in 20 ga. made in the late 70's and I regret selling it.

 

ok, after reading everything on here, and talking with a few guys at the club last night i think ill start with my remington 870 wingmaster. however i have to get a barrel, i have a turkey barrel with fixed choke and a short deer barrel.
so the next question is what barrel should i get that i can interchange chokes in for different events? again doesnt have to be top of the line just something to get me going.

 

26" Remington barrel with Rem-Chokes.

 

i think the barrel of the normal 870's have screw in chokes, so pick up one of those and you should be fine. do you have the camo shotgun? if so the regular barrel might look alittle ghetto on it, but then again you can always hydrodip it if you're that concerned about it. i'd give it a try with the turkey barrel first just to see what you can do, i always shot full choke.

 

When I was shooting, I found a use field grade Citori. I had the gunsmith bore it out from mod/full to skeet/skeet. Pretty sure that was under 800. Got to think outside the box sometimes.

 

This, if you're going with the 870.

 

That is a good tip if looking for a used over/under. Look for the better deals on the ones with fixed choke barrels, because everyone is wanting removable chokes these days.

Also look for good deals on 26 inch barrels because all the target shooters want 28, 30 and 32 barrels, at least in 12 guage. The guns shoot fine as is or later you can have screw chokes installed. Wing shooting technique is far, far more of a factor in success than any choke or barrel length measure.

 

An 870 will be fine for American Trap or just playing around with hand throwers. It is a good versitile firearm (i.e. dove hunting, turkey hunting, deer hunting with slugs).

However if you are serious about clays then a used Citori is your best bet within your price range. I've shot many shotguns; starting with hunting and then later competitive shotgun. The first O/U I used was a 20+ year old Citori that I borrowed from my Dad. A Citori will hold its value and they balance/swing well. Also an O/U gives you the benefit of two different chokes.

Someone mentioned a Yieldz (sp?). I know guys that had those. They are light so the kick gets a bit tiring after a long day of shooting, but they are not made for heavy use (i.e. repetitive shooting) due to the steel used. However they are very cost effective and worth their price.