semi-auto or O/U for an all around shotgun.

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just go to any clay games and see what shotguns are being used and talk to any shooter about their shotgun. and you will get a idea about what lasts and what don,t make it. its not to find out whats a personal like or dislike, but what lasts. another thing that comes to mind is resale value, case in point my BT-100 that I have owned for 10 years and putting 45,000 rounds thru it so far and it can be sold today for more than I paid for it. all the major shotgun makers make field-defence-clays type shotguns, so no one should have any trouble getting what suits them and their shooting needs. no reason we all can,t get along and enjoy the sports.
 
Jeb Stuart said:
Entrophy, I would not buy a Stoeger for trap shooting either. That was never my point. Certainly not the right gun for that. I use to trap shoot years ago but now, just use a shotgun for hunting thick brush, etc. And of course the Outback is a 20" barrel. I have no argument there. I have not doubt the 1100 Competition will last 60.000. Truly a nice gun. And my Dad's favorite was a 1100 which we did many hunts. There are some great shotguns out there now. The OP was looking for a Budget gun and some nice budget guns. out there. The OP inquired about a ov and I will stand by the fact that the quality of the Condor is excellent for the price point. It is a solid performer, for it's use.Not many parts, easy to work on.
I do totally disagree with cdb. Handling a few at cablea's means nothing and I again there are many guys that use the condor ov and love the gun for the purpose they use them (hunting small game and deer/turkey) for and yes, again, not a gun I would buy for trap.
And that Beretta I pictured above is also a synthetic stock which served me well with many hunts over the decades and still running great. I also own a Beneilli Ultra light 24" barrel, which is a gun that I like,. But the cost was quite a bit difference. And I would not use it for skeet or trap.Trap shooters are a league of their own and at present would not be able to tell you what a good trap gun is.
I strictly go for hunting and carry in the woods. Or the inexpensive Mossberg 500. which is a ideal all around gun and did not brake the bank. Used for hunting, home protection and a rifled barrel.
Again, what point that keeps getting missed is the 20" barrel. I do not like anything over that in the hunting environment I hunt in. And to find one that accepts multiple chokes is not that easy. I was happy to find the Outback.
Thanks for posting. The 1100 is a legend. I hope the Op finds exactly what he is looking for and do not believe he has too spend a lot of money. A lot of nice guns out there.
As far as dollar to dollar the Midland Backpack is heck of a buy for a single shot.
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And my point was : Budget, quality, O/U; pick any two. The reason I mentioned a gun of the 1100's quality is Troy mentioned clays games in post #1, and I see this plenty of times on another forum I'm on which is dedicated to that:

Paraphrasing here
"I went trap shooting with a buddy and totally love it! I borrowed his spare Trap gun, a Browning O/U, and am looking to get an O/U. I have about $500 to spend, and I saw this Stoeger Condor at the LGS. Do you think I should get it?"

or this even sadder one:

" I have a Stoeger O/U, " (sometimes a Tri-Star) "and recently took up Trap. After about 1500 rounds, the firing pin broke." (Or another malady that such guns develop way sooner than say, a Browning or Beretta.) I shoot leagues, and want to get into ATA competition. I'm beginning to think a different gun might hold up better."

I 100% agree with you; for your uses, a Stoeger is not a bad choice. A couple boxes at the Trap or Sporting Clays field, and a few trips pheasant hunting a year. And yes, Carlson's chokes are a plus in one. I was just trying to save Troy, who basically grew up in a gun shop, and should know where they stand quality-wise, some frustration and gun trading down the line should he decide to become much more active in shotgunning, as I suspect he will.

It'd be like me who owns a Taurus PT1911, advising someone who shot a Steel Challenge, and wanted a 1911 for that and HD, to get one. I would recommend several other guns first, because PT1911's have MIM internals, and they need replacing sooner than the internals of a Wilson or Kimber. You might mention Jesse Duff here, but Taurus has staff that takes care of her guns for her.

I've shot clays games and hunted since 14. I've worked in gun shops, both as sales, and a gunsmith. I know Stoeger's reputation amongst serious shooters, and those who work on guns. (Or in Stoeger's case, they usually send them in.) For a gun for hunting occasionally and the odd round of SC or Trap, not bad. But you can buy a lot better gun by getting a semi for the same money.

The best customer for a Stoeger Condor is that guy who goes with pheasant hunting once a year just to be with the guys, and has the mistaken belief that he must have an O/U to 'be one of the guys'.(Even though he can't see the guys with the Browning, Beretta, Rizzini, etc., rolling their eyes.) It will last his lifetime. For the serious shotgunner, there are better choices.

In this case it'd be like telling a guy who grew up in a guitar shop "Hey, buy a Harmony!"

Enjoy your Stoeger.
 
Jeb Stuart said:
Benelli owns: Franchi, Stoeger, Uberti.I would get the Stoeger 2000 before the Franchi and the only Stoeger I would be interested in the the Outback. Benelli's are great shotguns, at least the one I own the Ultra light. I That said, again, I am not a avid trap shooter. Those guys can give you better info on them than I can.
Click to expand...
Correction:
BERETTA owns all of them; Beretta lets them act independently; they share many commonalities, especially in the business aspect - accounting, purchasing, etc.
 
The best customer for a Stoeger Condor is that guy who goes with pheasant hunting once a year just to be with the guys, and has the mistaken belief that he must have an O/U to 'be one of the guys'.(Even though he can't see the guys with the Browning, Beretta, Rizzini, etc., rolling their eyes.) It will last his lifetime. For the serious shotgunner, there are better choices.
Click to expand...

And that is a main point in a nutshell

I shoot a LOT of targets; the best beginner O/Us for volume target shooting begin with "B" - Browning and Beretta. $2K+ may seem like a lot to many, but if you shoot a lot, the cost of the gun is the cheapest aspect of the sport, even if the gun is a $12K Kreighoff, Perazzi or Kolar
 
FL-NC said:
A decent semi or pump 12 gauge like a Mossberg or Remington in 3" magnum would work for ANY task that calls for a shotgun.
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But a jack-of-all-trades is a Master of none; while it can do the job, there are better application for any task a pump can do that are more specific to the task at hand, whether that is targets, wing shooting, hunting, HD/SD

If one's budget is such that only one inexpensive gun can be purchased, then the pump does do a decent job; but that person isn't likely to shoot it a lot
 
George P said:
Semis - Beretta - used 303, 390, 391 or A400
O/U - not for less than $1500, Browning or Beretta
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I agree.

You have to remember, serious target shooters shoot shells by the pallet load as if someone else bought the shells. The high end over/unders may seem glitzy but the price also comes with excellent reliability to handle the volume of ammunition shot through them.

Not everyone needs a high end over/under.

When I was shooting competitive skeet in the early 1990's, many of the top shooters would use a semi-auto for the twelve gauge events, many were Beretta 300 series guns. Then they would use a tubed over/under in the sub-gauge events.

A Browning Citori or similar Beretta 686 series were considered the minimum over/under for a second tier competitor. Relatively low cost with excellent reliability.

So, I'd steer clear of the budget priced over/under shotguns, in the long run, their potential poor reliability may make them a frustration.

A good semi-auto should give excellent performance with the appropriate care and service at a reasonable cost.

If shooting an over/under is a must, a Browning or Beretta are a minimum. Used ones can be found for prices less than new and if it good condition and cared for, will provide excellent service.

As a side note, my competition skeet gun is a Browning Citori skeet grade with sub-gauge insert tubes. When I was shooting competitively, I shot more than 5000 rounds a year through the gun for four or five years in a row, which is a relatively light amount. Knock on wood, the gun as never needed service but it is getting to the point that it might. I do not shoot skeet as much these days.
 
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For $600, I would be looking for a used Beretta followed by an 1100. A Beretta AL 391 Sporting or similar would be my first choice. As far as O/U go, I'll take a Browning
It might be hard to find a used Browning for 600 bucks, but it does happen. You can probably shoot one around 100k rounds before it needs rebuilding.
 
cfullgraf said:
I agree.

You have to remember, serious target shooters shoot shells by the pallet load as if someone else bought the shells. The high end over/unders may seem glitzy but the price also comes with excellent reliability to handle the volume of ammunition shot through them.

Not everyone needs a high end over/under.

When I was shooting competitive skeet in the early 1990's, many of the top shooters would use a semi-auto for the twelve gauge events, many were Beretta 300 series guns. Then they would use a tubed over/under in the sub-gauge events.

A Browning Citori or similar Beretta 686 series were considered the minimum over/under for a second tier competitor. Relatively low cost with excellent reliability.

So, I'd steer clear of the budget priced over/under shotguns, in the long run, their potential poor reliability may make them a frustration.

A good semi-auto should give excellent performance with the appropriate care and service at a reasonable cost.

If shooting an over/under is a must, a Browning or Beretta are a minimum. Used ones can be found for prices less than new and if it good condition and cared for, will provide excellent service.

As a side not, my competition skeet is a Browning Citori skeet grade with sub-gauge insert tubes. When I was shooting competitively, I shot more than 5000 rounds a year through the gun for four or five years in a row, which is a relatively light amount. Knock on wood, the gun as never needed service but it is getting to the point that it might. I do not shoot skeet as much these days.
Click to expand...

5K a year IS a small amount for competitor, even for registered, let alone practice targets. Since 1994, I have averaged right at 15K per year and from 1984 to 94 about 10K per year - and I am not as active as most.
 
When I was heavily into registered skeet in the early through mid 90's I was averaging about 30,000 a year for about five to six years. 90% of them were reloads. The gun is the cheapest thing that a high volume shooter has, even if it is a $5000 shotgun. I know from experience that a good Remington 1100 or 870 will run 60-80 thousand rounds without much effort or maintenance other than a few O-rings for the 1100.
 
My Browning Gti (daddy to the 325 series) has almost 350K +/-. At 90K it needed new firing pins and springs. That gun cost me $1,000. Those 350K targets closer to $200K; buy once, cry once. Even if later decide it isn't for you, you'll get more of your money back from a quality gun than a POS cheapie. After all these years and rounds, I KNOW I can sell it for at least what I paid for it.
 
LRDGCO said:
For $1k, the Beretta A300 Outlander is a great call.
Click to expand...

bannockburn said:
A Beretta A300 Outlander Synthetic is a very well made semi-auto but with a retail price of $800, ... it might be awhile til you get your money's worth out of them if your not using a shotgun all that much.
Click to expand...

Looking around, I'm seeing synthetic A300s for around $600 and wood for around $800. I would say a synthetic A300 is an excellent choice for a good, tough, all-around shotgun.
 
Jeb Stuart said:
I could care less about what customer complaints you heard about at cableas. I actually have experience with the Outback. Like I said, over 600 rds through it, and like I said, know guys that use them on.and know them well, and this guys are avid hunters not Cabela customer for gosh sake.. You are full of BS. The gun is very well built, simple and few parts etc. Simple to work on. No I did not know the 2000 was discontinued, and could care less.I never paid much attention to them other than the people I have known over the years that had one. The newer models most likely are better. Not interested. Not interested int he Franchi.

I would never go to Cableas and ask their advice in the first place. I will stand by the fact that the Benilli is a much better gun. And this crap that you handled quite a few means squat. Get out and shoot them. I do know owners of the Franchi, complaints about recoil, break in difficulties and on and on. But I am not going to go bashing a gun I did not shoot like you do. Maybe that is why I do not shop Cableas.

You are talking at of two sides to your mouth. Get out and actually shoot one on a instead of hearsay nonsense. No it is not top of the line, I never said the Outback was. But at this point seems like a darn fine gun for the money. You do not know Jack about the Outback. Nothing nada.I am even wondering you can understand there is a difference in a 20" barrel ov and a trap shooting or water fowl shotgun.

At this point, we need to agree to disagree. My apologies to the OP. This kind of things always happen on the internet when someone that does not own a gun starts bashing. I will stand by the Outback and stand by the friends I know that own them. Sorry that you do not like this.
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i was not saying i would buy a gun form there high price store, or get advice from them. but the only good thing about the place is there a chance to see many different guns in one place. i can judge a gun pretty good all the ones were are talking about i never had my hands on them to see for my self. i used a cheap 12ga verona auto for almost 20 years i know it was cheap but pretty good for there price back then.

no need to apologise
 
entropy said:
And my point was : Budget, quality, O/U; pick any two. The reason I mentioned a gun of the 1100's quality is Troy mentioned clays games in post #1, and I see this plenty of times on another forum I'm on which is dedicated to that:

Paraphrasing here
"I went trap shooting with a buddy and totally love it! I borrowed his spare Trap gun, a Browning O/U, and am looking to get an O/U. I have about $500 to spend, and I saw this Stoeger Condor at the LGS. Do you think I should get it?"

or this even sadder one:

" I have a Stoeger O/U, " (sometimes a Tri-Star) "and recently took up Trap. After about 1500 rounds, the firing pin broke." (Or another malady that such guns develop way sooner than say, a Browning or Beretta.) I shoot leagues, and want to get into ATA competition. I'm beginning to think a different gun might hold up better."

I 100% agree with you; for your uses, a Stoeger is not a bad choice. A couple boxes at the Trap or Sporting Clays field, and a few trips pheasant hunting a year. And yes, Carlson's chokes are a plus in one. I was just trying to save Troy, who basically grew up in a gun shop, and should know where they stand quality-wise, some frustration and gun trading down the line should he decide to become much more active in shotgunning, as I suspect he will.

It'd be like me who owns a Taurus PT1911, advising someone who shot a Steel Challenge, and wanted a 1911 for that and HD, to get one. I would recommend several other guns first, because PT1911's have MIM internals, and they need replacing sooner than the internals of a Wilson or Kimber. You might mention Jesse Duff here, but Taurus has staff that takes care of her guns for her.

I've shot clays games and hunted since 14. I've worked in gun shops, both as sales, and a gunsmith. I know Stoeger's reputation amongst serious shooters, and those who work on guns. (Or in Stoeger's case, they usually send them in.) For a gun for hunting occasionally and the odd round of SC or Trap, not bad. But you can buy a lot better gun by getting a semi for the same money.

The best customer for a Stoeger Condor is that guy who goes with pheasant hunting once a year just to be with the guys, and has the mistaken belief that he must have an O/U to 'be one of the guys'.(Even though he can't see the guys with the Browning, Beretta, Rizzini, etc., rolling their eyes.) It will last his lifetime. For the serious shotgunner, there are better choices.

In this case it'd be like telling a guy who grew up in a guitar shop "Hey, buy a Harmony!"

Enjoy your Stoeger.
Click to expand...
i don't think i will do to many clay shooting, don't have the money lol. but going out with 1 or 2 boxes of ammo and some birds is fun and not to much money. i do know a well made gun wen i see them but have not keeped up on shotguns much. the franchi or a300 look like a good all around gun. i can load 12ga, i am positive if i had a better gun id shoot more often. i really need the exercise that goes with small game hunting so more the better.
 
stopped by fur fin and feather on the way up to my dads, they had a citori 20ga with the 24 inch barrels, some bluing ware wood was nice looked like it was carried more then shoot, and they were asking $800. if it was a 26'' or longer and i had the money i would have picked that up.
 
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