shaggy Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 (edited) firstly hello folks great site ive stumbled accros here as the post title states i just wondered what you folks thought to the 3 above guns?? i am in the middle of my aplication for a shotgun licence but as i live in west yorks its taking a bit of time i will be shooting clays at the weekend but i do get invites to 5 or 6 pheasant shoots a year and am able to go shooting for pigeon and for rabbit on a farmer friends land so i was thinking if i got either a browning or beretta or the midnight in multi choke version i could have 1 gun for both purposes i have around a £1000 to spend on the right gun i am a newbie to the sport of shooting but 8 years ago i used to go every weekend to brandsburton and shoot clays, i did this for about a year and although i didn't own my own gun they lent me one every weekend i thought i was pretty good :*) averaging around 75 out of 100 i had to quit due to work commitments but now them commitments have gone!! i have recently (past 2 seasons) been invited to shoot pheasant on a little shoot up the north east so go there 5/6 times during season anyway thats enough rambling i just wondered what your thoughts were on the 3 guns as they are the ones im looking at thanks in advance Edited December 26, 2005 by shaggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossM Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 Sorry can't answer your question but would be interested on people's comments on the Winchester Midnight as I too am considering getting one and trading my Lanber in against it. They were recently featured in Sporting Gun and got a good write up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibby Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 cant beat a beretta... as you only have a grand you would probably only be able to get a second hand one, but if you could go that little bit further get a new one, they are well made and will last you for life as long as you look after it... I currently shoot with the 682 gold e, superb gun, with mc and i use it for clays rough and shoot days. im sure if you went to your local shop pickd each up you would soon see how well the italians make their guns. Problem with the Brownings is that they are prone to rusting even if you keep it well, and the action is bloody horrible to clean aswell. So after all this ranting, i would go for the beretta hands down. Gibby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry d Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 I like the Beretta and have had a 686 for 10+ yrs of abuse and it hasn`t faultered,so thats my 2p worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaggy Posted December 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 cant beat a beretta... as you only have a grand you would probably only be able to get a second hand one, but if you could go that little bit further get a new one, they are well made and will last you for life as long as you look after it... I currently shoot with the 682 gold e, superb gun, with mc and i use it for clays rough and shoot days. im sure if you went to your local shop pickd each up you would soon see how well the italians make their guns. Problem with the Brownings is that they are prone to rusting even if you keep it well, and the action is bloody horrible to clean aswell.So after all this ranting, i would go for the beretta hands down. Gibby thats wierd i called a local suplier the other day for a price and he said he could do me a silver pigeon for £999 so im wondering if it is a new one or an old one now?? im sure he said it was new Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 You won't go far wrong with a beretta silver pigeon.I've had mine a year now and love it.If you shop around you can pick one up from anything between £950-£1100,brand new.I have a 28' m/c Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibby Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 soory ive i have given wrong information, it may well be new, you probably can get a silver pigeon 1 for around a grand. As long as it fits right your in for a good deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisNicholls Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 Beretta for me everytime, considering getting one in 20 bore to start my son off with, I always use a s/s for my shooting now, but used to do a fair bit of sporting clay's and bought a Beretta for this (after trying out a few other makes) wish I had never sold it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodeer Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 Get the 525. Can do you a new one for £1035 new in multi choke or a silver pigeon fixed choke at £925. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaggy Posted December 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 thank you all for your replies am i right in thinking that i need multi choke due to the dual purpose im intending to use it for?? also would a 32" be better than a 28" for the 'all round' use i need? does my height 6'5" make any difference because i remember shooting mostly 32" when i was at brandsburton or it may just have been the only gun he had in for me to borrow lol ive spoken to my local shooting supply store (swillington , leeds) and they have been very helpful and they have quite a few new and used guns in stock so im thinking about my friend buying it and putting it on his licence till i get mine as i only ever go shooting with him anyway sorry for so many questions but i need to get it right first time because once ive spent what i have mrs shaggy will turn me inside out if i then say the gun is wrong lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibby Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 (edited) 6"5 no doubt your height will affect the the length of your arms, some guns may be a bit short in the stock, pads can be added. but im not sure if im right in saying this but i would have though the longer barrels would have a slightly longer stock length. i would say the 32" would proably be better, for the clays, but your shorther barrels would be good for your game shooting. You could compensate and go for the 30" barrels...depends what you plan to do more of. multi chokes are definetly a must if your clay shooting... i myself am not one of these choke twidlers that change pretty much every stand, but nice to know you have them. If you have the chokes atleast you can change them and not blame the gun. :*) If you can try the 682 gold e.. what i use and superb, just go in and pick them up. If your worried about the gun not being right, it may be worth getting it fitted. The price will vary where you go, but atleast when it is fitted your mount should be perfect and your half way there then. But guns straight off the shelf can fit pretty dam well. Hope you can make some sense of this.. Cheers Gibby Edited December 26, 2005 by gibby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunganick Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 (edited) my advice would be this... go to a gunshop with a range which they will let you use shoot both the silver pigeon and the browning and winchester if you like it (the few ive handled have been very very tight) see which one works for you, and work from there. if you do find you like the browning, take a look at the miroku MK70, nearly identicle gun, just about £250 cheaper, with a slightly worse piece of wood (not always true) the browning/miroku actions do rust, and it is anoying, it comes from nowhere, but dont let this put you off, the rusting is normally seen the day it appears, and normally seems to happen on the action face, or along the side of the action (this makes it sound worse than it is), the down side i have found with the miroku, is that it feels very mechanical, not much feeling to it, the action is very wide and not to everyones taste. but they are reliable as anything, (more so from what i can tell than berreta's) and the chokes, spare parts etc are very common. the berreta (i hope im spelling it right...) has a nice slimline action, feels slightly more hand crafted and not so mass produced (sounds funny, but its what i feel) as the miroku/browning. they seem to be slightly less reliable than brownings (still very good) seem to have slightly nicer wood on them. also dont like the optimore (spelling?) chokes, they come undone, dont look good, and apparely the 1/4 choke patterns more like a 1/2, so a experianced shot tells me. i cant comment too much on the berreta from experiance as ive only put a couple of dozen shots through one, where as i shot a mk70 for a few months. personally i would have the mk70, but that is becuase it has 14 3/4" pull, which is quite long and suits my height, long arms, neck and sloped sholders. oh and im a cheap ******* and would rather spend the extra £250 on something else. and just to reinforce my point, trying before you buy, could save you 9months of messing around, before deciding you would rather you had the other one. Edited December 26, 2005 by dunganick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaggy Posted December 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 thank you folks i think a run to the gun range may be in order before i go back to work and then maybe try them all and see waht they feel like Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaggy Posted December 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 just had hold of the browning 525 the miroku (spelling?) and the beretta white onyx i have to say the miroku & browning felt very much alike although if i had to choose it would be the browning then i handled the beretta and WOW what a gun it is! now i have not had chance to shoot any but just on the hour and half i had "playing" i have to say the white onyx felt the best and it has 5 chokes and comes in around £970 all the guns i have handled today have been 30" and have fealt great has anyone got one of these guns and if so how do they perform?? cheers in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobt Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 Brandsburton will let you take a gun out of the shop to try on the clay ground, I would try them. they should price match swillington. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caragh Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 Hi If at all possible please try to shoot both the browning/miroku and beretta as you may find that one seems to kick much harder than the other. They also handle very differently in my opinion the beretta being much faster. I waved a beretta around in my local shop felt great! bought it then spent a year getting knocked about by it. Exchanged it for a miroku mk70 and could shoot it all day, moral of the story try both if you can. regards Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibby Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 when i was looking around the guns i did look at the white onyx, i saw the stock and didnt get it out of the rack... thats only because they have this horrible stock, its not proper wood. its some sort of laminate wood...apart from that i dont know what it feels like. if your not to bothered about looks, go for it, but the wood lets it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibby Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 just been looking around, depends which type of onyx you go for about the wood, so you can ignore above post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaggy Posted December 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 it looked like wood to me although he did say it was not wood that dont put me off though and i am not to bothered about all the fancy scrolling and birds on the side if the gun feels right then i dont really care if its matt black a friend of mine has a silver pigeon with all the engraving etc and it dont make him shoot any better lololol and he payed aroung £2500 for his although i may get the pi$$ taken out of me out in the field im not too worried as long as i can hit something anyway folks i wish you all a good new year and happy shooting im going for some pheasant tommorow so will try and get some pics (if im allowed) aim high aim straight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the last engineer Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 to quote caragh, the berreta onyx will knock you aaround its a lighter feild gun, the Browning would be my choice, why i have two 325's one 425 and one 525 with an accumalated 500,000 rounds through ,no rust, no failures, well made and well worth the money, but that just me good luck Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_ls26 Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 Hey Shaggy, Let me know how you get on. I'm in the same boat as you ! Applied for my SGC (not here yet), looking for advice on a gun (same ones as you!) and I only live about 5mins away from Swillington. Let me know know which you went for and how your getting on with it. Cheers Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaggy Posted December 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 where in wakefield are you? im in tingley area :thumbs: but dont hold that against me lol im just on my way to brandesburton now too shoot a few clays as my game shoot yesterday was not that impresive :*) as for your shotgun licence , dont hold your breath!! they are 2 officers down at the moment and i was told it may take up to 6 months when i called them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browning GTS Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Shaggy, as my user name reflects i use a Browning GTS. This stands for Game and Target Shooting for some reason there are not that many around but the people i have spoke to who have shot them think they are great. Mine cost £999 from The Oxford Gun Club but i think the normal cost is about £1250 ish. If you are thinking about a Browning have a look here www.browning.com for a look at the guns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaggy Posted December 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 im leaning towards the beretta at the moment i shot a 425 yesterday at brandesburton but to tell you the truth it didn't feel right for me i also shot a miroku (dont know which) and i hated it but saying that it was an old one that dont mean im not going to try the 525 when you buy a gun from their shop you are allowed to fire 25 through it to see if its right for you so that is what i will probably do i havn't had a chance to fire a beretta yet so will see how i feel when i have Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the last engineer Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 what was the stock configuration on the 425 ?? a lot ive seen are very narrow on the comb, therefore causing a slao to the cheeck of a lot of guys, try( before you dispell the Browning) to find someone with a 325/425/525 with a better stock, a thicker comb makes for a more comfortable gun to shoot, just a thought from a biased Browning user :thumbs: :thumbs: remember one thing " itS all about keeping the WOOD on the WOOD " Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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