I went on a hunting trip last weekend for pheasant and duck, and used a Beretta over /under 12ga and then a 20 ga.

Also did some trap and skeet.

It was fun as hell and I want to do some more. What is a decent shotgun to start with, something that isn't the cheap bottom of the barrel but a good starter? Pump? Over / Under? What kind of price range should I be looking at?

Stick with 12ga or go to 20?

What is your price range? I saved up and got a Beretta A400 Upland 12ga semi-auto, and it is a blast to shoot. Cost around $1700.

quote:

Originally posted by Lord Vaalic:
I went on a hunting trip last weekend for pheasant and duck, and used a Beretta over /under 12ga and then a 20 ga.

Also did some trap and skeet.

It was fun as hell and I want to do some more. What is a decent shotgun to start with, something that isn't the cheap bottom of the barrel but a good starter? Pump? Over / Under? What kind of price range should I be looking at?

Stick with 12ga or go to 20?

Beretta A300 is probably the best bang for your buck in a new shotgun.

Used guns often cost as much as new guns in these categories because they have a very long life. Maybe the best bargain in used guns is a Remington 11-87.

The best overall guns tend to come from Beretta, Benelli, and Browning (the B guns.) That could be a semi-auto or an OU, as the prices have kind of evened out. In fact, you may be able to find a 12ga Citori for less than the higher end semi-autos from Benelli and Beretta. And generally a Citori will outlast your grandchildren.

If you think you are only going to own one shotgun, it should be a 12 ga. Especially if you are going to shoot ducks with it. I would avoid a pump as they put you at a significant disadvantage on clays games with true doubles, like skeet.

I’ve shot a lot of trap, I never used a dedicated trap gun and it probably hurt me, I used an 870 with 30 in barrel. Winchester makes a dedicated trap gun in their SPX line of pumps, have never handled one but the price is very reasonable. For sporting clays I’ve always shot my Beretta Extrema because that’s what I usually duck and goose hunt with. CZ has some very nice O/U but I’m pretty sure they are Turkish made and rebranded. There’s so many good shotguns out there anymore, without really trying a bunch out it’s really hard to recommend one to another individual. I think the Beretta A300 is probably one of the best values out there right now and could serve you well as a hunting/sporting clays gun and skeet also. Stoeger makes an entry level sporting O/U gun, I have no experience with it other than a guy at our duck club shoots a Stoeger O/U and it’s been bullet proof through a bunch of shitty weather hunts. Something like a Remington will be more of a “neutral” fit for about anyone. I know this wasn’t a lot of help but honestly either get fit for a gun or go with something you already know you shoot well.

quote:

Originally posted by YellowJacket:
Beretta A300 is probably the best bang for your buck in a new shotgun.

Used guns often cost as much as new guns in these categories because they have a very long life. Maybe the best bargain in used guns is a Remington 11-87.

The best overall guns tend to come from Beretta, Benelli, and Browning (the B guns.) That could be a semi-auto or an OU, as the prices have kind of evened out. In fact, you may be able to find a 12ga Citori for less than the higher end semi-autos from Benelli and Beretta. And generally a Citori will outlast your grandchildren.

If you think you are only going to own one shotgun, it should be a 12 ga. Especially if you are going to shoot ducks with it. I would avoid a pump as they put you at a significant disadvantage on clays games with true doubles, like skeet.

Agree with all this.
For dedicated clays shooting either an O/U or semi.
With spare barrels and parts the semi can be very versatile, not so much with the O/U
If you want something low cost and don’t care it’s made in a predominantly Islamic country, the Turks are putting out a ton of decent quality clones of the various popular beretta and similar shotguns.
Shotguns, like most other guns, get pretty specialized if you want something optimized for a particular type of shooting

Agree that a used 11-87 in 12ga would be an excellent choice. Biggest annoyance would be picking up your shells after a round. If shooting skeet and trap I’d go for a 28” barrel.

This is so hard. The guns handle differently, cycle and load differently. If at all possible, try and shoot a pump action and a semi auto. Everyone here can give you great advice, but there's no way to know what type of shotgun your going to prefer. It'd be easier if you could narrow it down to recomending a type of shotgun, instead of one out of all types.
You might take a look at the shotgunworld forum. Theres a ton of shotgun specific info there.

Trap is how I got started with my first gun.
I bought a 870 Wingmaster 20" Modified at Woolworth's while I was in highschool (Sr. year and it was legal to drink too ).

A little more info to the OP. What you used, a basic Beretta OU (probably a 686), is about a $2500 gun, new. A new Browning Citori would be a little less than that, usually slightly under $2000.

A new "top of the line" semi-auto from these same manufacturers (plus Benelli) will also be priced in the high teens up to about $2000. A new Beretta A400 is about that, with a Benelli Montefeltro more around $1500 (Super Black Eagle is slightly more), and a Browning Maxus or A5 about $1800.

Semi-autos, however, do not hold their value quite like the OUs and can often be found used for a good bit cheaper. You should be able to find a lightly used version of one of those pretty easily for $1000-1300. There are a number on my local gun classified forum. After those brands, the others are similarly priced new (Remington, Winchester) but drop off a lot more on the used market.

One thing to know about semi-autos is the difference between a gas-operated gun and an inertia or recoil operated gun. Gas guns tend to shoot softer and are usually favored on clays courses. Inertia guns tend to be a little more reliable in nasty, field conditions. The Benelli is an inertia gun and is, imo, king of the field guns. Beretta is a gas gun and rules the sporting clays world. The Browning A5 is inertia but the Maxus is gas. Remingtons are all gas. The Winchester SX4 is a gas gun and is a little bit of a sleeper. It is almost identical to a Browning Maxus and is in fact made by Browning, but costs a lot less than the Maxus.

There are plenty of other brands out there as well. Plenty of stuff being made in Turkey now, too, at the lower price ranges. If you're comfortable spending $1000, then you will likely be fine with whatever you choose. If you need to spend less then you are going to need to hunt a bit for the right deal, I think.

Don't feel like you need to rush out and buy a gun. Ranges almost always have rental guns and if your hunting buddies are anything like me, they have plenty of loaners. Outfitters also will have rental guns. Try a bunch if you can and figure out how you think you will use it mostly and that can inform you on what to buy. I prefer to have a bunch with specific purposes rather than trying to make one do everything but it has taken me awhile of curating and buying.

I mostly agree with YellowJacket. An O/U is preferred for most target games. An auto would be next (Beretta is the dominant brand among those who use autos), and a pump last, by a long distance. No serious competitor would use a pump.

Trap and skeet are very different. A dedicated trap gun will have very long barrels to make it easier to point precisely, and they don't have to be very "quick" pointing guns. They will be set up to shoot low (with high ribs and high stock combs), so you can hold under the bird as it goes away and drops. A real trap gun would be wildly unsuitable for skeet. They are really specialized.

A skeet gun will have slightly shorter barrels, and be set up so the pattern arrives at the aiming point. A skeet gun will be usable for trap, if not ideal. A skeet gun will be a good gun for sporting clays. A skeet gun is a good hunting gun, too. I hunt doves with my sporing clays gun.

Dedicated skeet competitors will need interchangeable barrels or barrel inserts, as they have to shoot 4 gauges in competition - but a casual shooter won't care.

Buy used - you can save a ton over buying new and competition shooters often change guns, looking for the bigger better deal and have not heavily used guns on the market at good prices.

There has been a lot of good Advice. And i believe that someone said it but you need to find out what fits you for what you are shooting.
If you have Trap/Skeet range. Use what you have for now and go make friends at the Range and you will pick up a lot of Knowledge by talking with and watching shooters. And just be aware that Shooting clays is an Addictive sport

I don’t shoot trap, or skeet, mostly 5 stand and sporting clays. Trap and skeet presentations are common in five stand and sporting clays so there is more carryover in gun selection than would first appear. It still gets down to personal preference and fit. As I said I don’t shoot skeet, but my most used guns are more typical of a skeet gun than a sporting gun. Buddy up with someone who has a lot of shotguns and try as many as you can before you buy, otherwise you end up with a safe full of nice shotguns to lend your buddies. Anyone local to me who is not too much of an asshole is always welcome to come shoot clays at my ranch, but that is not much help to the OP. The most important thing is to get out there and play whatever game you like. Life is too short to not break clays when you get the opportunity.