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Hi all, I am starting to look for a 12G for clay pigeon shooting (I will have about £400 available), what do people recommend?

I have been looking on various sites, not many O/U for the money but plenty of semi-Autos, why is there so much difference in price? and which is better?

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Over-unders are, generally speaking, more expensive to manufacture. Getting both barrels to shoot to the same point is very difficult, as is making a hinge mechanism that is smooth and robust.

I like semi-autos because they shoot softer and you get a third (or even fourth if you ghost load) round. Obviously this is of no use in formal clay shoots but if you are just practicing on your lonesome or you move into game shooting it comes in handy. I also simply dislike the opening and closing of break-opens, I find it adds up to more hassle than a semi-auto.

The downside is they can seem a bit awkward to load at first, but practice makes perfect. Some people find locking the bolt back is more hassle than hitting the lever to open the action on a break-open but for me it's the opposite.

Another downside is that semi-autos can face reliability issues that do not affect break open designs. I don't think this is much of an issue these days as semi-autos are so good, but the other thing is ammo. Many semi-autos will not cycle with very low powered loads and cannot take 3" or 3.5" magnums. Benelli and Stoeger are two notable exceptions and most brands offer magnum versions of their guns, but these usually command a premium and won't fall into your price range. Unless you are thinking of taking the gun wildfowling the magnums probably aren't a big issue for you, but you'll have to do some experimenting at the low end and find how light a load you can run.

In your price range I'd suggest a Winchester Super X2 (or X3 if you see one you can afford), Remington 1100 (or 11-87), or Mossberg 900 series. You might also consider stretching to a Stoeger which will run most anything you feed it.

Harrier1980 wrote:Hi all, I am starting to look for a 12G for clay pigeon shooting (I will have about £400 available), what do people recommend?

I have been looking on various sites, not many O/U for the money but plenty of semi-Autos, why is there so much difference in price? and which is better?

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I shoot a Miroku. A bit like this one http://www.guntrader.co.uk/GunsForSale/120123152836684

The 34" barrels wouldn't be to my taste.

Like anything else, the attention to detail and build quality just feel right with the old models.

I also shoot a Moroku 6000, 30" barrels choked 1/4 and 3/4 and cannot fault it. I had the length of pull changed and the heel dropped, the work cost me GBP90 and made a good difference. I would estimate it has shot around 50k cartridges by now and I cannot fault it.

LOTS of decent O/U's on GunTrader for the sub £400 mark

Do a search on there - found a nice Valmet for under £250 - LOT of gun for the money!

Not a O/U bloke myself - always prefered pumps - but will back up what others have said about the Miroku. Made in the same factory in Japan that makes the Browning O/U series...very good guns

Look for a second hand Lanber sporter, you will easily get one for your budget.

Mike

Lamber 12g in the for sale section on the forum for £425

Cheers everyone, now I know what to look for, I just need to find the time to sort it out.

The one thing I have found on the gun selling, and other gun related sites, is that Suffolk seems to be some sort of shooting free zone! :cool2: