Thread: Shotgun for rough/ driven shoots & vermin

Pretty much as the title says really.
Have applied for membership of my local shoot (MOD land), will be looking to get my cert next month.
I am going to be slightly limited on funding so need to find a half decent OU that will do the lot, and not look too pikey in front of the brig!

Does it have to be OU?
You can get a cheap S/S that will look the part and will be suitable for what you need.
Most Cheap OU's look like cheap over unders.
I got a very nice AYA boxlock S/S for £75

Only said OU as thats all I have used (apart from pumps)

Get a S/S. Unless you sell pegs and heather for a living. Or are foreign.

If you can shoot take along your OU and wipe the eyte of the loosers with their side by side still trying to hang on to a thread of tradition!!

To be honest if the people you are shooting with will judge you on your gun then they are not worth shooting with. A good Browning or Berreta second hand OU will serve you well at a reasonable price ond you shouldn't get too many people looking down there noses at you

Dave

Originally Posted by Devilishdave

If you can shoot take along your OU and wipe the eyte of the loosers with their side by side still trying to hang on to a thread of tradition!!

To be honest if the people you are shooting with will judge you on your gun then they are not worth shooting with. A good Browning or Berreta second hand OU will serve you well at a reasonable price ond you shouldn't get too many people looking down there noses at you

Dave

A clay gun in the field? Oooh nasty.... ;)

Wish I had the readies for a browning or berreta, Will probably have around £400 max (expensive photography to fund)

AYA No 4 boxlock s/s. Will not look out of place at all, and it is all about where you point it rather than how the barrels are configured, contrary to what devilishdave believes his o/u allows him to do.

I shoot s/s and regularly wipe the eye of people shooting far more expensive o/u's.

Originally Posted by armr617

Wish I had the readies for a browning or berreta, Will probably have around £400 max (expensive photography to fund)

Seriously, the advantages of an O/U are more readily apparent when shooting clay competitions. Most O/U that you will come across in this country will be clay guns and will be heavily built for shooting hundreds of rounds all day. The weight in itself isn't necessarily a problem to lug about all day on a game shoot but something lighter and handier is a better bet.

Essentially you want a game gun rather than a clay gun and game guns tend to be s/s rather than o/u in the UK.

For £400 you ought to be able to get an English gun in good condition dating from the 1930's or earlier, boxlocks tend to be cheapest, then hammer guns then sidelocks. Sidelocks will generally be more than £400.

A game gun is something you carry a lot, shoot a little and admire over a glass of malt at the end of a good day's shooting. Get something with a bit of class about it.

I agree Duke it is about where you point it. I have found that most people tend to shoot better with a good over and under rather than a SBS. I had a nice 16 Bore SBS hammer gun, which were only a few clays behind my normal score on 50 birds of sporting. But on balance an over and under will serve the average shooter better. Rather than trying to be traditional with a side by side and embarrassing you’re self!!

I have also seen a good shot with 28 bore SBS wipe the eye of some reasonable clay shots but that is the exception.

The guys I see in the field that are good practice a lot on clays with their gun; either SBS or OU. Most people who practice on clays for long enough will decide one gun for both is best and the OU fits that bill well. As the old saying goes beware of the man with only one gun, the chances are he will be very good with it!!

Dave

Hmmmm, I though that there was more of a difference for a s/s in the field than tradition.

I always thought that one of the reasons that s/s remain in the field is that a s/s doesn't break as far as an o/u i.e. to get that bottom cart into an o/u you have to break the gun and the angle of dangle is quite a way.

This has advantages when walking when broken. 1, the barrels are further off the ground and 2, there is not so far to close the gun when you want it pronto.

Originally Posted by Infiltrator

Hmmmm, I though that there was more of a difference for a s/s in the field than tradition.

I always thought that one of the reasons that s/s remain in the field is that a s/s doesn't break as far as an o/u i.e. to get that bottom cart into an o/u you have to break the gun and the angle of dangle is quite a way.

This has advantages when walking when broken. 1, the barrels are further off the ground and 2, there is not so far to close the gun when you want it pronto.

s/s is much faster to load/reload.

Lanber sporter with 28" barrels. Good looking, reliable, multi-choke gun. You can pick them up second hand for around 250 quid and you won't look back.

You can put anything through it - I used to use 46g of BBs (choked 1/2 and 1/2) for foxes and 28g of 7s (choked 1/4 and 3/4 for pigeons.

Cheap guns are cheap for a reason! Old S/S have shorter chambers, ding easily and you'll regret not having a multi-choke when you are shooting piegeons one day and high pheasants the next.

My reason for suggesting a s/s was that for his budget you will get a far nicer s/s than ou.
If you want an OU, I would suggest saving for a browning,beretta or miroku.

had a look at the lanbers, seem to be only just over the 400 mark brand new.
hmmmm the possibilities