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Now that my SGC has come through I have been on the look out for a gun. I have mainly been looking for a fairly new (but still second hand) lanber or equivalent. I have seen the odd Miroku which are nice but other than being right at the top of my budget, they always feel too small for me which is a shame.

The one make that I can't decide on however is bettinsoli. I have read really mixed reviews as to their reliability but everywhere I turn there seems to be a rackfull of new and second hand ones and they all seem to fit me better, but the possible reliability issues puts me off.

Anyone got any options or experience with the newer bettinsolis? A lot of what I have read has been things like "my mates mum's hairdressers uncle had nowt but bother from his...so I'm told" but I want to hear some opinions from the horses mouth as it were.

Any opinions appreciated.

Cheers

Chris.

I have a Supersport - about four years old and just one minor problem with it. All in all it has been reliable - I still miss just as many! It was stiff when knew but I soon broke it in. I often shot 50 bird flurries with very short dleays between birds and it ejects every time and I have never had a failure to fire.

The minor problem is that when it is very cold weather (-5 deg c) I get a double discharge occasionally - about 1 in 20. But I have heard of other guns doing it too in the cold.

Mike Yardley reviewed them said that it looks and feels like a £2500 gun. It is rated as one of the best value "budget" guns.


http://www.positiveshooting.com/BettinsoliDiamond.html

MikeYardley never gives a bad review these days so don't take much notice of his or any other. You didnt say what your budget was. Up to £1000 you should Ideally look for a second hand quality brand gun (beretta, browning, mirokou) to maximise the resale value when you change it later. There no such thing as a bad new gun these days, just degrees of quality in fit, finish and materials. There is nothing inherently wrong with the bettinsoli product so add it to your list of guns to try

Don't get to fixated on the brand or be swayed by fancy wood or gold triggers- just look for one that fits you. You will shoot better with a 100quid Baikal that fits than with any £5k gun that doesn't.

What do you intend to use the gun for, ooman ?

If it's game shooting you might do well to look at a nice old English side by side by Richards, Turner or Coghill. Second paw they are very affordabubble and will hold their value.

If you are looking to disintegrate clays then an over / under might be better: plenty of oomans on here can offer you advice in that direction.

SloeginBill wrote:MikeYardley never gives a bad review these days so don't take much notice of his or any other.

His review was about 4 or 5 years back and in those days he did not hold back.

Budget is about 700 max so top end bettinsoli and Lanber market and bottom end Miroku market . Not interested in names and the gun is for sporting clay's and the club I shoot at certainly isn't snobby by any means! I'm more interested in fit than a name.

Bettinsoli is a member of the Beretta family. I've owned one since about 2007. I think its called a 'Diamond-line' or something similar. It's never failed me yet and i've fed at least 5,000 shells through it.

Go to somewhere like York Guns or a large clay ground with a stock of guns on site and try everything there. Forget brand, decoration and what the current numpties are claiming is the 'in gun' and just concentrate on what fits you and 'feels right'. Then walk away and seek that gun on guntrader or similar. People are hurting at present and its a buyers market - there are some great deals to be had if you're willing to haggle.

Be very cautious of any 2nd hand Beretta, Miroku, Browning or similar that's sold aggressively by a dealer (especially on a clay ground). There are alot of guns out there that have went through tens of thousands of shells, are slacker than an old whore's knickers and have been tightned up on a vice.

I've had a fair bit of stick over the last 5 years or so because I bought a Hatsan semi auto, Northallerton Shooting were great, gun fit me so why pay more for anything else?. Have to say that over 5 years and 6000 shells later it was easily the best £270 I've spent on a gun.

I also bought one of their synthetic Over & Unders, got it very cheap slightly used (only fired about 50 shells) and again it's a good fit and does a better job hitting clays than I can so why pay more, for me it's a tool for doing a job and it does it well.

Try as many as you can, if you're not sure ask advice about getting a good fit, as has been said, you'll shoot better with any gun that fits well rather than an expensive one that doesn't.

Honestly, every Miroku I have held would have better fit Jimmy Krankie than it fit me, even with stock spacers. Tried two Lanbers up at Wheldon Gun Room last weekend and they both felt good and shot straight, although one was a touch short, the other was great. I think the better of the two that I tried has gone now though as it is no longer listed on GT. They do have another one listed now though so if I get chance in the morning I may pop up, failing that it will be next weekend (I'm away this weekend...bugger :cool2: ) I'm going to ring/call into Bradford Stalkers again tomorrow to see if they have anything new in since I was last there.

Must say though that even the second hand Lanbers feel more nicely engineered and better than some of the new guns that I have felt.

Shame I didn't get to the clay ground last Wednesday due to work otherwise I could have had an ask about there too, ah well, C'est la vie.

Thanks for the input everyone. :goodjob:

billgatese30 wrote:Honestly, every Miroku I have held would have better fit Jimmy Krankie than it fit me, even with stock spacers.

I have a Miroku 6000 and it did need tweaking a bit to suit me. Made a huge difference as well.