The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Hide > The Dave McCracken Memorial Shotgun Forum

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old January 20, 2010, 09:25 PM   #1
eddy615
Member
 
Join Date: January 17, 2009
Location: Stevens Point, WI
Posts: 84
Over Under

I am looking to buy an over under for bird hunting behind my new bird dog. I only want to spend at a maximum of $800. I want something that will last and had an elagent look to it. Anyone have any ideas???
eddy615 is offline  
Old January 20, 2010, 09:53 PM   #2
ENC
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 31, 2001
Location: Grand Lake, OK
Posts: 658
I think you would want a Browning or Beretta. But for that you are probably gonna need to raise your budget a bit.

Evan
ENC is offline  
Old January 20, 2010, 09:54 PM   #3
eddy615
Member
 
Join Date: January 17, 2009
Location: Stevens Point, WI
Posts: 84
Does anyone know anything about the CZ shotguns
eddy615 is offline  
Old January 20, 2010, 10:09 PM   #4
Doyle
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 20, 2007
Location: Rainbow City, Alabama
Posts: 7,167
Quote:
Does anyone know anything about the CZ shotguns
Turkish made, just like most of the other low-grade O/Us although the CZs seem to be the best of the Turkish lot. The other country producing lower cost doubles in number is Russia (Baikal). Not bad guns if you only shoot occasionally but not nearly up to par with the better guns. Over/Unders require much more precise hand tuning to put together. That drives the cost up in a quality gun.

Save your money and get a Beretta, Browning, etc. or even a Ruger Red Label and you'll have one you can pass along to your grandchildren.

If you are willing to buy used, the most affordable good quality gun available are the old Marlin 90s. They were also sold by Sears under the Ranger label. You can get a good 12ga for little more than $300 if you are patient. 20ga models sell for at least a hundred more. They were made back in the '30s to the '50s and are still fine shooting guns if you get one that has been well cared for.
Doyle is offline  
Old January 20, 2010, 10:09 PM   #5
RoscoeC
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 21, 2006
Location: DFW Metromess
Posts: 562
Lanber from CDNN. Range from $499.00 to $649.00. Google it up and read the reviews. You will find very little negative. The ones from CDNN are "Blemished". My buddy bought one, and as best we could tell, the blemish was that the recoil pad wasn't a perfect fit. It wasn't far from perfect, but a little.

I have shot the gun a bit, and it is very solid.

http://www.cdnninvestments.com/dowournewcat.html
__________________
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." --Helen Keller
"Do not cry havoc when you should but hunt with modest warrant." --William Shakespeare
Glock Certified Armorer
NRA Life Member
RoscoeC is offline  
Old January 21, 2010, 05:59 AM   #6
bswiv
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 4, 2006
Location: NE FL.......
Posts: 1,081
Look for a USED Ithaca 600 series. They were made by SKB. Have a very strong action and are lite.

Only issue you will generally find is that interchangable chokes were not the rage back then.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=153650477

This one is sold but you can get the idea.......
bswiv is offline  
Old January 21, 2010, 08:20 AM   #7
PetahW
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 19, 2008
Posts: 4,678
IF you can find a used Beretta BL-3, the precursor of the famed 686 (especially a 20ga specimen, which has a "scaled-down" frame), they usually sell for about $750 these days.

They are "world class", and one of the best-handling bird guns available, IMHO.

You WILL be a happy camper !

.
PetahW is offline  
Old January 21, 2010, 11:40 AM   #8
oneounceload
Junior member
 
Join Date: April 18, 2008
Location: N. Central Florida
Posts: 8,518
In your budget range, there are a lot of used, quality-made guns that will work very nicely. There are a few closeouts around that will also work. Browning, Beretta, SKB, Lanber are among those that can be found.

You might want to go to a gun club and see if you can borrow/rent some of them to see which ones fit you fairly close and have that "feel" that seems right to you. Try some trap or skeet to see how they work for you.

A good O/U that is reliable has more hand work than a typical pump or semi - the end result is that one with properly regulated barrels etc., will cost more than your typical pump or semi.

IF semis aren't totally out of the question, there are a few out there that will also make great field guns.

Good luck in your quest!
oneounceload is offline  
Old January 21, 2010, 12:53 PM   #9
BigJimP
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 23, 2005
Posts: 13,195
In that budget range - for new guns - I would look at Ruger.

In used guns, I bought a used Browning Lightning, 12ga, 28" barrels - a couple of weeks ago for $ 725. It was a great buy / very clean. It had the older Invector screw in chokes in it / came with 6 or 7 chokes. There wear a couple of handling marks on the stock / but I can fix those later if I want to. Its a gun I'll use for new shooters / or pass onto one of the grandkids down the road. There are a lot of guys looking for these used Brownings - so you have to be in the right place at the right time. The same gun new today is around $ 1,750

http://www.browning.com/products/cat...13&type_id=461

Beretta has similar field gun models / but the name escapes me at the moment.
BigJimP is offline  
Old January 21, 2010, 02:59 PM   #10
RoscoeC
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 21, 2006
Location: DFW Metromess
Posts: 562
My previous recommendation on the Lanber is still valid, however, I just bought a Beretta 686 Onyx with 26" barrels and Mobil chokes for $875.00. It has a couple of very minor stock dings and the bluing is worn a bit on the lever, but it locks up as tight as any new O/U, and is totally reliable. It was made in 1996.
__________________
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." --Helen Keller
"Do not cry havoc when you should but hunt with modest warrant." --William Shakespeare
Glock Certified Armorer
NRA Life Member
RoscoeC is offline  
Old January 21, 2010, 05:56 PM   #11
lambertsteeth
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 18, 2010
Location: steel city
Posts: 272
I agree with the other guys. Look for a good used Beretta, Browning, SKB, or Ruger. I have never been afraid to buy a quality gun used. The most important thing with any gun is it has to go BANG. I've seen many guys that buy a $400 o/u only to have reliability issues and trade up to a higher quality gun. Don't worry about fancy wood. You want a hunting gun. Take good wood through a little brush, or trip and fall, it's ruined anyway. Good luck.
__________________
One of God's greastest gifts to man is Dog.
lambertsteeth is offline  
Old January 24, 2010, 10:21 PM   #12
Tabsr
Member
 
Join Date: September 6, 2007
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 44
SKB

I have a SS and O/U SKB, both are great.
__________________
"Politicians and Bureaucrats, depend very much on the complicity of their victims, and like criminals, are flummoxed when we don't play the victim role."
Tabsr is offline  
Old January 27, 2010, 03:45 PM   #13
GrandmasterB
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 4, 2000
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Posts: 205
Try used and you might get lucky. Browning, Beretta, SKB or even Miroku (which is the Japanese company who makes many of the Browning guns).

The only other ones I have read good things about are the Lanbers from www.cdnninvestments.com as they can be had at lower than normal prices, and also the Charles Daly Diamond NRA models from CDNN. These guns are on closeout at way discounted prices and there are some good discussions about them on some of the gun forums.
__________________
Romans 5:8
GrandmasterB is offline  
Old January 27, 2010, 07:07 PM   #14
Shorthair
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 11, 2005
Location: Michigan
Posts: 348
A good friend of mine bought a Fausti O/U 20 gauge for about $500, and has been happy as pie for the five years he's shot it. A well made and nicely finished shotgun for the money, IMO.
__________________
Earth First! We can hunt the other planets later.
Shorthair is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:37 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.06082 seconds with 10 queries