advice semi autos

[topmantim]

Looking to get a semi ,not sure what.My budget is around £250 mark.What should i be looking for when buying second hand?also my son is a small 12 year old .could he shoot it as am not sure about recoil. Any imformation would be great,as i have never used one before thanks Tim

[dunganick]

depends what your sons build is, if he is able to hold it then he will be able to manage the recoil, semi's deliver their recoil in soft nudges, not sharp pokes like an o/u

 

i would be looking at the early berretas if i was in your shoes. 301, 301, maybe 303's and 304's

 

all of them are nearly identicle, they just changed very small things like the engraving, or the shape of buttons or location of catches.

 

all of them if well mantained will cycle most sensible cartridges (not low reocil ones) and never go wrong.

 

if im completely honest, for £250 you probably wouldnt pick up a very clean example of these guns, you should probably look at the £350 mark to get a tidy 301/302

[topmantim]

thanks for that.ill take wot you said on board many thanks tim

[Country_est]

Tim,

 

Unless you & your boy are of very simmilar size I think that one of you will have problems with the gun. I bought a Beretta 303 for my 12yr old and he is OK shooting it but I dont think he is yet ready for a full 50 Sporting. Does 5 - 10 on the practice stands at the moment.

 

Now I can use the gun but find it very short in the stock and can kick like **** when I mount it 2" off my shoulder :blink: . It is Ok when I mount it in tight but then I find it too short to aim well. I have now got my self a beretta 391 Xtrema, with stock size to suit me and the boy cant mount it at all.

 

In all what I am trying to say is that it may be difficult to get a gun to suit both.

 

Trev

[topmantim]

Yes.i see your point. Ill get one for myself,and he will just have to us his 410 for a bit longer.Or get his **** down the gym.but thanks for that. Took what you said onboard.ie stock and gun length.many thanks tim

[Hardy]

I bought a beretta 301 some years ago for the then girlfriend to use. She was quite slight in the arms so had trouble holding up a regular gun & didn't like a 20 'cos of the extra recoil. She found the 301 fine to use, short barrels so not too bad to handle for her, alloy action keeping the overall weight down & very little recoil.

 

Because she was somewhat smaller than me I used to use a slip on butt pad when I wanted to use the gun - which still sits on the end of it now, the gun having lasted longer than the girlfriend!

[topmantim]

hi hardy.Thanks for the reply.Still haven't got one yet,a local gun shop has a lot in.So me and the lad are going thursday to have a look and try a few for gun fit.He is a short **** for his age, but we will have to see.thanks again.talk to you soon

[harrymonk]

Hi Topmantim,

I took my slim but tall 12yr old clay shooting for the first time today. We borrowed a Beretta 303 20boresemi auto. My lad loved it and found it so easy to use. A 20 is also superb for decoyed pigeon. I normally use a 12 and share a hide with my uncle who uses a 20 and regularly pulls down birds from heights I wouldn't even bother to shoot at. He rates it as as good as any 12 and much lighter and easier to handle.

[browningstalker10g]

escort magnum second hand for about 250, it wont let u down

[jonno 357]

Local gunclub

 

Sell 3" mag SA shotguns brand new £100. Think they are turkish ? Not sure

 

Jonno

[Frank]

depends what your sons build is, if he is able to hold it then he will be able to manage the recoil, semi's deliver their recoil in soft nudges, not sharp pokes like an o/u

 

i would be looking at the early berretas if i was in your shoes. 301, 301, maybe 303's and 304's

 

all of them are nearly identicle, they just changed very small things like the engraving, or the shape of buttons or location of catches.

 

all of them if well mantained will cycle most sensible cartridges (not low reocil ones) and never go wrong.

 

if im completely honest, for £250 you probably wouldnt pick up a very clean example of these guns, you should probably look at the £350 mark to get a tidy 301/302

I agree with this. I have a Beratta A 304, cant fault it.

[topmantim]

thanks frank for your advice,where still thinking of wot to get him.I think in a couple of weeks time where going to have a drive round some local gun shops and see wot we can get him,my budget is going to be around the £400 once again many thanks tim

[Dunkield]

Tim, I would be tempted to get the lad a fairly decent 20bore, don't go too cheap as the resale value will be minimal. My son is 13 but very lightly built and I got him a Lincoln 20bore o/u and he shoots that pretty well.

 

One thing he says (and a friend of mine has heard the same from a girl he is tutoring) is that his left arm tends to ache a bit after a while, despite the fact it only weighs 6lb's. His gun fits him at treat, but I have to use an extension pad to shoot it Having done some clays with it yesterday I may just start taking out into the field as is over 1 1/2lbs lighter than my 12bore Beretta

[Sargeant Bang]

Topmantim,

Sounds like your budget has now increased?

If it were still £250 I'd recommend not getting second hand at all. Scratch another £40 from somewhere and buy a new Escaort IMHO.

I think £250 spent on a used Beretta semi may well land you with a peice of junk; well, fairly likely anyway.

If you're now spending more like £400 then your choice opens up a bit. But even Beretta's at £400 can look a bit worse for wear.... just had a look on G/T.

It's my understanding that semi's not only have a softer recoil but that there's less of it ? As I understand it some of the recoil is used up in cycling the ammunition through the weapon and re-cocking it. So it sort of uses up some of the recoil energy to make itself operate, thus there's less for you to feel!

StuartP made a good suggestion with the idea of the 20g, worth thinking about those too.

Good luck with it.