I went pheasant hunting for the first time this week. It was an absolute blast.

I can see myself going a few times a year now.

I used a Mossberg 500 and while effective I think I could do better with a semi.

Double barrel shotguns just don’t do it for me.

Are there any semi autos worth while under $1000? I remember seeing a video for the Beretta Xtrema years ago and they looked awesome but are a little out of my price range.

I will be shooting between 5- 7.5 shot

This message has been edited. Last edited by: gpbst3,

My boss has some flavor of Beretta semi 12ga. Synthetic stock & a super smooth shooter. IIRC he's in it for around 1200.

Noticeably less recoil compared to my Browning BPS Invector.

If you look around and they have them in stock you can find some models of the semi auto Franchi Affinity 3 Semi-Auto Shotgun for under a grand. They are made very well at least mine is that I bought around 2017. The Italians generally seems to know how make wonderful semi auto shotguns these days compared to many other countries.

Retay Gordion

or

Retay Masai Mara

is what I would buy if I was in the market for sub $1000 SA.

CZ 1012. Great gun at a great price. I've had one for a year or two now. Only sort of issue is choke options, but that's getting better. And it comes with 5 that cover nearly all uses.

Street price for a benelli montefeltro is about $975 or so new.

Take your pick of 12 or 20 and have a classy and (modern) classic shotgun.

quote:

Originally posted by alptraum:
CZ 1012. Great gun at a great price. I've had one for a year or two now. Only sort of issue is choke options, but that's getting better. And it comes with 5 that cover nearly all uses.

That looks like a really good choice. I've been out of the looking for new guns mode for too long.

Slight drift - can you get a HD type barrel for that?

quote:

Originally posted by apprentice:

quote:

Originally posted by alptraum:
CZ 1012. Great gun at a great price. I've had one for a year or two now. Only sort of issue is choke options, but that's getting better. And it comes with 5 that cover nearly all uses.

That looks like a really good choice. I've been out of the looking for new guns mode for too long.

Slight drift - can you get a HD type barrel for that?

Not at the moment. Only factory barrels I'm aware of are 28" and 26". Though there may be a 24". Though any half way decent gunsmith should be able to chop any of those down for pretty cheap.

Now im looking into inertia vs. gas guns. I am seeing inertia guns have more felt recoil and could potentially have issues cycling light target loads.

quote:

Originally posted by gpbst3:
Now im looking into inertia vs. gas guns. I am seeing inertia guns have more felt recoil and could potentially have issues cycling light target loads.

Depends on the gun and how light is "light". My 1012 has shot nothing but 7 and 7.5 shot fairly light target loads with no issue. But I haven't run any 1 ounce loads through it. Gas guns do have less felt recoil in general. That wouldn't matter to me much in a hunting gun. But thats a personal thing and different people have different recoil sensitivities.

why limit yourself for looking for Semi Auto?
You may want to look into a OverUnder.
I use my Browning Citori and kill as many birds as the rest of the group i go with. And if you only have 2 shots it will reduce the urge to just blow Shot towards the bird with 3 or more shells

quote:

Originally posted by IndianaMike:
why limit yourself for looking for Semi Auto?
You may want to look into a OverUnder.
I use my Browning Citori and kill as many birds as the rest of the group i go with. And if you only have 2 shots it will reduce the urge to just blow Shot towards the bird with 3 or more shells

OverUnders just are not my thing.

I'll admit I'm partial to Mossberg shotguns. I have a 930 JM Pro that I really enjoy shooting. They've since revamped the 930 lineup into the 940 and have several different variations. You should be able to find what your looking for sub 1k.

Franchi Affinity is worth a look.

Beretta A300 Outlander. Way less than a grand, very reliable and soft shooting.
Of course, there's tons of used Remington 1100's and 1187's out there. They're on the heavy side but tried and true.
Weatherby makes some really good gas semi autos and inertia guns. They're made in Turkey but they're also reliable, light and soft shooting.

Beretta a300 Outlander is one of the bangs for the buck going. I’ve owned and shot a lot of different semi autos waterfowling the past 50 years, I keep going back to my tried and true 870s. Pick something from a reputable maker and you’ll more than likely be happy but they all have different drop and cast etc, finding what fits you best is worth buying one that comes with shims for adjustment. I know what works best for my shooting style and adjust accordingly

I'd by a used Benelli M2 or SBE, but the Beretta A300 is a lot of gun for $600 (if it's still that cheap.)

Of course, pheasant hunting is a low volume sport so old Remingtons and Berettas and the like are perfectly fine too.

quote:

Originally posted by IndianaBoy:
Franchi Affinity is worth a look.

My Brother inlaw has one.
I Have shot it and it handled well. he likes it

I have a Mossberg 930 SPX and which someone here gifted me a 28" ported barrel. With that, i installed an OR3Gun field kit (also allows light loads to cycle).

Its been an outstanding gun for dove with home defense capabilities. (Barrel swap)

I use a Remington 11-87 with a 28" modified choke, I have taped cardboard on top of the stock for 80/20 high pattern at 30 yds.

My buddies call this gun "Dr. Death" when we meet for pheasants............