First Shotgun...

[Ghost-Recon]

To begin, I’m a rifle shooter for the past 8 years.
I’ve never had any interest in shotguns until recently.
My local club shoots fox covers with dogs and shotguns of a Sunday afternoon and after a few outings, I’m now hooked.
I’m seeking advice re. recommendations for the following, as per above:
- a beginners 12G shotgun (I’ve been told to avoid synthetic stocks)
- choke selection
- cartridge selection
Any advice appreciated!

 

[Brittany boy]

Get a gun that fits you don’t worry about make model wood/synthetic stock try lots if you can till you find one you hit the clays with, then buy it and practice. As for choke 1/2 -3/4 depending on the distance and 36 -40 grams of BB works well if it’s going where you point it. Shooting covers over dogs is great sport but the skill is getting into position quietly before the dogs are let loose, knowing where the foxes are lying up and what routes they will take to leave depending on the weather conditions. Field craft is everything and no movement as they will see you and prefer to take their chances with the dogs. Big shot and tight chokes have let more foxes off the hook than just poor shooting, and yes it is addictive .

 

[Gsd99]

I like the silver pigeons but depends on what your budget is, multi choke is the way to go as you can change them easily.

Id go with anything 36-42g i prefer 2/3 rather than BBs personally

 

[Pedro]

Really depends what you are going to end up using your shotgun for. If it is solely fox drives, then a semi-auto and perhaps one that takes 3.5" cartridges will cover all bases. What's more, there's nothing wrong with a synthetic stock there and you can get them with a mechanism to soak up some of the recoil of the big cartridges you might use. A Beretta Xtreme would do nicely although there are cheaper alternatives and a 3" chamber would certainly suffice.

However, if you want to cover all eventualities then go for an over and under sporter with multi chokes. You can then use it for your foxing, clays, rough shooting, vermin control, driven shooting, hell, even accept that day at Sandringham with it. You might well never envisage doing those things, but then again, you probably never envisaged buying a shotgun anyway. So it's future-proofing really. As for makes, you've probably heard of them anyway, but the usual suspects are Browning, Beretta, Lincoln, Webley & Scott, Lanber, Bettinsoli, amongst others. Obviously some of those come at more of a premium than others, but they will all throw an ounce or so of pellets along and out the barrels much the same.

Don't dismiss used guns either. You could get a better gun used for the price of a cheaper one new and it's easier to check how worn a gun is compared to a rifle. Just check the barrels are nice and shiny, it cocks and fires and ejects okay (if in a shop, obviously use snap caps and tell them first) and check the woodwork closely for any signs of cracks. If it looks too shiny, check even closer. A bit of wear, so long as it isn't much is no bad thing, probably just caused by handling by the previous owner over a year or three standing on a peg waiting for a bird to come his way. Take the fore end off and see whether you can wiggle the barrels and if they are a bit loose against the action, move on to the next one if they do. Shotguns, if not abused do tend to last pretty well usually. Hell, all those 19th century examples knocking about can't all be wrong.

 

[lochty]

Anything made by Baikal with sling stud's, so you can carry it easily. My o/u cost £100 and shoots 36g 3's out to 60 metres effectively.

 

[Littlejimmy]

Morning, like your rifle finding a shotgun that fits you is the most important thing. This will be possible what every your budget is. Go to a well stocked shop wearing your usual hunting jacket and start trying a few. You will soon notice the variety of different weights, shapes and sizes. You will know when you find the right gun.

 

[T.eddie]

I use a huglu 12g over & under, has multi chokes and they are supposed to be reliable. They used make parts for other guns then started making their own.

They are reasonable price brand new think i paid around 650 for a version up from basic

 

[andyk]

One thing I might add is consider how many shots you will fire and the material used to make the action.

I have a 28b Kofs shotgun (about £500 new). I am very impressed with the quality of it given the price, the wood is good for the pricepoint, it has multi-chokes and it all 'works as it should'. However, it has an alloy action (which I believe reduces cost over making it from steel).

Given that it is a 28b and I don't fire that many shots with it (28b ammo is pretty expensive) I have no concerns about the alloy action. However, I have read they can work loose quicker than steel if subjected to a lot of shots. My Dad has an older alloy action 12b and it is a little sloppy after not huge numbers of shots. I'd be surprised if you could wear an alloy gun out with the sort of field use you talk about but if you combined it with clays every weekend it may be worth keeping in mind.

Given what you intend to do, I'd also be looking for 3" chambers and steel proof, I'm not convinced you'd find an appropriate steel load for foxes which doesn't require a 3" chamber and these days I wouldn't buy a new shotgun which isn't steel proof.

 

[Crowstalker]

I would first and foremost find a gun that will fit you, you might think you have found the prefect gun on paper or the Web and then go to see it only to find it doesn't suit you and fits very badly. It happed to me i then tried a few and came out with a semi auto berreta I was going to the shop to buy my "perfect" gun a berrtta silver pigion!

Definitely get a 3 inch steel proof gun just to future proof it. I personally haven't had good experiences with bentasolli I find the trigger was very sloppy and was fussy with some loads. I love my berreta semi I bought it new for £820. Having said that I know someone bought a 2nd hand berrtta semi and she kept malfunctioning!

I would advice shooting heavy loads through too tight of a choke I would say half choke for heavy stuff like 50grms. Personally I would stick with 42-50 grms of shot size bb-0 but I wouldn't get too caught up in that just wouldn't go any smaller than 4s.

 

[cjs66]

I'd go semi auto, Benelli M2. 3 inch camber, multi choke and you can put a sling on it. I've got two, a M2 8 shot and a Superblack Eagle 2 with a three and a half inch chamber, for the geese. I love them. Easy to strip and clean, if that's your thing. 36g of number 3 or 4 or, if you feel under gunned with them, RC50s in 1s or 3s You can also add or remove stock shims to get it fitting you perfectly.

cjs

 

[Heym SR20]

Best value for a first gun will be an AyA no3 or Yeoman. Can be had for £200.

Fit is vital. Watch some videos on fit, but easiest way is using a mirror. With an empty gun, close your eyes then open and mount gun using the image of your shooting eye as the target. Your aiming eye should be in line with the rib with the bottom of your eye on the rib.

With a shotgun, gun fit is vital. If gun doesn’t fit you will struggle to hit much.

Fox cartridges - use a 36gram load of 4s and keep ranges to 25 yards. Plenty of foxes are shot with 28gram 6 shot though. On bigger game such as a fox a shotgun kills by overall energy transmission than just the pellets going through the vitals. A bit like hitting it hard with a sock filled with lead shot.

 

[Heym SR20]

If you want a semi auto Benelli M2s are nice but well over £1,000.

The Franchi Affinity is basically the same gun with same inertia action, but much more affordable. Benelli and Franchi are part of the Berretta stable.

But semi-autos are fine for Wildfowling, pigeon shooting or other solo shotgunning. Not sure if ideal for shotgunning with a group of others. An over and under or side by side is immediately safe just by opening and can be seen to be safe.

Also acceptable on any type of shoot, whereas turn up for a days rough or driven phaesant shooting and may be another story.

 

[GWP]

Lanber o/u the sporters have multi chokes and are just a bit heavier 11/2 oz i dont do grams no.1 or bb.check patterns you might be surprised at what you get should be good to 40yrds object is to shoot its nose keep still even after the first shot there may be two or more dont move till the dogs and beaters come out into view

 

[Sierra]

Fit is more important than make & model. Who cares if it's a 3.5" all singing browning if you can't connect with it?

Try before you buy if possible.

I wouldn't be too fussed on a 3.5", cartridges are considerably more expensive than 3" and normal.
An auto will give you an extra shot if you have a 3 shot and nothing wrong with synthetic, less admin, soaks up recoil better and lighter. Autos can be a bit of a funny one on shoots though.

 

[norma 308]

My first big gun was a Baikel o/u if you couldn’t kill with two barrels you could at least club it to death !

 

[Ghost-Recon]

Anyone using a Remington Versa Max (Sportsman) 12G??
Thoughts?
Worth the price tag?

 

[Tf223]

My best tip is to find a good gun shop with a good selection, and to get them to assist you in checking fit. A good gun shop will happily sort you out

Don’t necessarily go for what they want on the basis that’s all there is.

As above silver pigeons are a great all round shotgun. And was my second purchase after buying an ill fitting first gun. Don’t need to spend a fortune to get something decent but buy once cry once.

 

[Stumpy2]

It might seem expensive at first, but a brand new beretta silver pigeon sporter or browning 525 sporter will do everything you will ever need. Steel proofed, wide choice of stocks and a warranty in the very unlikely event somethings wrong.

From someone who has pi55ed around spending thousands for years changing shotguns and now has a standard beretta silver pigeon that’s shot everything from driven grouse to foxes to clays

 

[Fowler1990]

To begin, I’m a rifle shooter for the past 8 years.
I’ve never had any interest in shotguns until recently.
My local club shoots fox covers with dogs and shotguns of a Sunday afternoon and after a few outings, I’m now hooked.
I’m seeking advice re. recommendations for the following, as per above:
- a beginners 12G shotgun (I’ve been told to avoid synthetic stocks)
- choke selection
- cartridge selection
Any advice appreciated!

Benelli nova / supernova or winchester sx3 whichever fits you better.

No idea why to avoid synthetic.
Agricultural, wont fail, easy to clean and future proof.

Wouldnt bother with more than 1/2 choke with lead or 1/4 with steel.

(Cylinder will dead stuff out to 40 yards) 40% of pellets on target ish...with lead.

Quater and half would probbaly be sensible.

28g no2 (100 pellets) 40 in kill zone... 1 pellet in the brain = desired result.

If you want to shoot game/clays and are going to be shooting in 10 years time etc, i would go with any steel proof AYA, Fabarm , Beretta, Browning. O/U S/S

Cartridges No 3, 2, 1, BB

 

[Tazz]

For the shooting you describe a semi auto could be the way to go, however if you subsequently get in to shooting shotguns then getting an over and under is a more flexible option in terms of clays, game and rough shooting. Like rifles lots of price points. If you can afford it second hand Brownings or Berettas they are both pretty bomb proof, get a multi choke they cost little more and give you major flexibility