How Much To Spend?? Confusion Reigns!

[Spiderdude]

Hi,

 

I am new to this sport and like many others I suspect have had mixed opinions on what to buy & spend for a first shotgun.

 

So far from the people I know, the guy teaching me and a couple of other people I have spoken to; I have had mixed advice. My question is what should you spend on a first gun? For the foreseeable future it will be used mainly on the clays.

 

I have been told;

 

1) Spend as much as you can afford on the best make you can & always get brand new.

 

2) Get a Browning or Beretta, don't look at anything else as it will last you forever.

 

3) Buy a Lanber or similar at around £500 just to get you going, then trade in or stick it in your cabinet as a keeper.

 

4) Don't buy a semi auto at this stage, get a good O/U.

 

5) Never buy a new one, much better value buying a used one.

 

6) Don't buy at this stage just beg and borrow until you are comfortable.

 

I honestly have no real idea on what and or whom to listen to.....

 

I have roughly £1k to £1.5k to spend should I want to.... What would you guys & gals do?

 

I appreciate a good fit is important, but until I get my mounting spot on everytime there is no real point in getting a perfect fit.... So, does that mean I should get something I have heard is good then have that fitted to me??

 

Sorry for going on, but I have my home visit on Friday & cabinet arriving from Brattonsound on Tuesday... So need to start thinking about the way forward.

 

I have searched on here and there is a whole array of posts regarding should I buy this gun, that gun and the other gun. I am hoping this thread would assist all the other newbies like myself that have joined in the past couple of weeks.

 

Thanks for your replies and again, sorry for going on a bit!

Edited March 9, 2011 by Spiderdude

[semiautolee]

sent you a pm, if interested pm me back

[twitchynik]

I have roughly £1k to £1.5k to spend should I want to.... What would you guys & gals do?

Spend half that on a gun and the other on lessons. Get a load of lessons before you go and buy and kick your local RFD's tyres. Once you've got your gun carry on with the lessons while you start to go out on your own.

 

£800 gun

£700 = 14 lessons (+ carts)

 

Your first gun won't be your only gun but you want to make sure that all your learning is done with something that fits and works for you so you're not compromising from the start.

[NickP]

Been in the same situation as yourself, but not got my visit yet

 

I have looked at all possibilities, a cheap gun to start off with, or a more expensive gun which will last me

 

I looked at the Lanber Sporting deluxe (£800) great reviews, great price for a new gun, but everyone says that it will be worth £200'ish at trade in, and if your going to be spending £800 look towards a second hand well know make, like beretta, Browning or Miroku etc as these will hold their money better if you ever trade up, (I saw a Miruko MK38 for £750, but it was a trap gun so it was no good, but he said there is sports out there for the same price)

 

I thought about buying a cheap 2nd hand Lanber (£395) but this would be a £395 put on, till I could get the better gun and I have now decided that it would be a waste of money and I would be only buying it to get my own gun on my SGC

 

After looking yesterday I found i have a browning, miroku, winchester off the shelf fit, so i am now waiting to find the right gun at the right price, and saving up the £1300 for it, instead of buying for the sake of it the £400 will make the save a hell of a lot quicker. I was also told there is no reason why i can't purchase a cabinet prior to the visit, obviously a £125 risk, but it saves the 2nd visit to check installation etc

 

I was told on using different guns you'll find it harder to get the right position and fit because they are different, same as using different gram carts, as they all will shoot differently, what you'll learn on one, won't be how the other acts, so that is another reason why i am not getting a "put me on gun"

 

One thing they did say to me was forget about what the bloke standing next to you thinks about your gun, the gun is your and if you prefer one gun over another better know brand and it fits, your comfortable with it, don't buy for what it will be worth if you ever sell it on, buy it for you and what you think about it

 

Out of all the guns i tried yesterday, going up to £2000+ models in various brands, the one that I found at ease with was the Winchester Select Energy Sporter ADJ, it felt like it went straight into my should each time and the weight was very nice for me, but saying that, when i have the £1300 saved I will search again and make sure there isn't another model that is better for me

 

Hope that helped in some way or another,

 

Good luck on Friday

[HDAV]

LOL yes it is confusing, I would say you have a very healthy budget for a first gun. What are you shooting (trap sporting etc?) how many lessons have you had?

 

1) I would agree buy the best you can for budget (dont forget the extras you need on top of actual gun, Cabinet, slip, ear/eye protection etc) I would not agree with always buy new tho!

 

2)Agree they will if you buy the right gun (also add Miroku to that list)

 

3)Could do but when you trade it in you'll some and you need a gun that fits (we'll come back to that)

 

4)I agree unless there are very good reasons for a semi (recoil issues with shoulder etc or weight problems)

 

5) Better value perhaps if you can find one that fits...

 

6)If you can try a range of guns and stick to one that fits to learn on all the better, shooting a different gun every time you go out or lesson is not good

 

Gun fit is a mixture of art and science you need a gun that fits to get mount right and you need a reliable and solid mount to get a gun fitted. Your physical dimensions will dictate a % of the fit gun mount the rest almost any gun can be fitted to you at a cost! I would suggest try and have a series of lessons with a good instructor say 5-6 and at the end of the series ask the instructor to come gun shopping with you to check fit and feel.

 

It's a bit like buying a suit some people are "joe average" and fit off the peg stuff like it was tailor made, others dont. Before you can ***** fit you need to know how the gun should feel, swing etc then you can compare.

 

DOnt rush into buying or you will more than likely regret it.

[NickP]

something i was told yesterday, a guns warranty is not transferable

 

so if i was to buy a couple of year old browning with a 10 year warranty, i would not have this to give me back up

 

Is this correct?

[HDAV]

something i was told yesterday, a guns warranty is not transferable

 

so if i was to buy a couple of year old browning with a 10 year warranty, i would not have this to give me back up

 

Is this correct?

It depends some are, some aren't, some aren't officially but if the gun has a real fault it will get sorted in the period of warranty 3/10 years. If buying secondhand from a dealer the dealer will warranty the gun for a period, some 12 months most 3 months

Edited March 9, 2011 by HDAV

[Spiderdude]

Out of all the guns i tried yesterday

 

Where did you go to try them out?

 

My cabinet was meant to be here today, but is a week late so unfortuantely won't be fitted for the visit. But, not to worried about that as the wife works in the office next to the FLO's so will get her to give them a kick to come round quicker for the revisit.

 

My intention is to continue with a few more lessons before buying (I think); then buy and have a couple more with my own kit.

[mickmep]

you'll probably find that what ever you buy for a first gun you'll want to 'upgrade' after

you get a bit more experiance.

 

i personally would buy secondhand for a first gun, my first one lasted about 6 months before

i 'needed' a better one.

 

just personal experience.

 

beretta warranty transfer is at their discretion, although i had no problem getting the warranty on my A400 transfered

cant comment on other manufacturers.

 

would be interesting to find out how long people stuck with the first gun they bought before changing.

[Pete747]

I was in a similar situation a few years back with a similar budget - lots of opinions and advice.

 

I ended up buying a 2nd hand Beretta Silver Pigeon 28" multichoke sporter for £750, took a series of lessons which cost about £250 and then spent about the same again on vest, bag, glasses, cabinet etc.

 

Personally I would do exactly the same again and would stick with Beretta, Browning or Miroku as I've recently sold the gun on & upgraded to a DT10 managing to get about the same price for the Silver Pigeon as the day I bought it 5 years ago.

 

Thats my two-penneth

Pete

Edited March 9, 2011 by Pete747

[HDAV]

I Inherited a SxS as my first gun, first gun i bought was a second-hand 525 still have it..... getting tempted by a Cynergy Black Ice but doubt i'll buy one unless its a lot cheaper and can be a spare/second gun or i get to use one a few times and actually shoot better with it.

[NickP]

Where did you go to try them out?

 

My cabinet was meant to be here today, but is a week late so unfortuantely won't be fitted for the visit. But, not to worried about that as the wife works in the office next to the FLO's so will get her to give them a kick to come round quicker for the revisit.

 

My intention is to continue with a few more lessons before buying (I think); then buy and have a couple more with my own kit.

 

York Guns, found them very helpful, trying fit and checking things etc and great to have a chat to over all things gun related. They wasn't pushy either they new my situation and spent time explaining the sport and different aspects of guns, trap, sporter, game etc

[al4x]

I was in a similar situation a few years back with a similar budget - lots of opinions and advice.

 

I ended up buying a 2nd hand Beretta Silver Pigeon 30" multichoke sporter for £750, took a series of lessons which cost about £250 and then spent about the same again on vest, bag, glasses, cabinet etc.

 

Personally I would do exactly the same again and would stick with Beretta, Browning or Miroku as I've recently sold the gun on & upgraded to a DT10 managing to get about the same price for the Silver Pigeon as the day I bought it 5 years ago.

 

Thats my two-penneth

Pete

 

this man speaks sense, a 2nd hand decent make over and under with 28" barrels and multi choke if you can. Will do anything you want shooting wise to learn with and you won't loose any money on it. Get some lessons and spend the rest on actually shooting. Best advice though is Don't buy a hatsan no matter how cheap you are offered one

[Richard.Hosgood]

I was in the same situation until yesterday when I bit the bullet and bought a gun which will last me a lifetime.

 

Similar budget to yourself, and the same questions - buy something cheaper then upgrade (if required) in the future, or buy something now that I really enjoy, covers all bases and will last the length of my shooting "career".

 

Spent a good hour and half at Ladds looking at various guns and chatting to Tom who offered excellent advice and service, and in the end whittled it down to 2 guns which I liked. Both 30" sporters, one being a extremely little used Fausti Warwick and the other a brand new Beretta Silver Pigeon 1.

 

Took both out to try and shoot, both lovely guns which I got on with just fine, so then the choice was to me to decide.

 

I chose the Beretta.

 

What mainly swung me to the new Beretta was the greater potential to retain its value. Coupled with it being a new gun, its warranty and world reknowned Beretta reliability, the extra £350 over the Fausti was, for me anyway, worth it. I even said to Tom "do you think this Beretta is a bit overkill for my current level" - his reply was along the lines of if you can afford it, and intend to make good use of the gun over many a year, get it, you wont go wrong and it wont go wrong.

 

If your intending to make shooting a pleasure for as far as you can imagine into the future, get the best gun you can afford and enjoy it - thats my advice anyway

[HDAV]

I guess i am A typical, I had a decided to buy a L/H O/U and had a budget of £500 this then increased after a month of looking to £700 then £800 then finally £1000 as i couldnt find anything for under £1000 I liked, having driven about the country looking at guns i bit the bullet after taking 525 and 686 out to the shops clay ground and having a lesson with the owner and both guns i bought one both were same price, same spec 30" sporters both a couple years old...

[Spiderdude]

The only other thing I was told was, get as big a cabinet as you can fit in the space you have got....... So got a 5 gun one from Brattonsound.

[Canis]

another shooters 2p worth :

 

If you are planning to do only/mainly clays, unless there is a particular reason why you need the softer recoil of an auto (ie previous shoulder injury, diminutive stature, being a woos etc ) then buy a O/U as your first gun. For a beginner shooter it is easier to be safe with an O/U and some grounds will not allow auto's!

 

If you stick with shooting long term, sooner or later, if your pocket will stand it, you will buy other guns on the basis that you want a gun for a different type of shooting, a posher gun or one of any number of reasons why!

 

With regard to new or secondhand, Take a thought of this : with a decent O/U nearly all the depreciation happens in the first 250 shots. If a decent over-undergun is 3 years old providing it is kept in reasonable condition it should be worth the same if/when you come to sell it in 5 years time as you paid for it. cheap starter guns won't hold their value as well neither will fixed choke, trap, game and skeet guns seem to have less appeal to the secondhand market. With longer barrels being fashionable at the moment,30" will have greater appeal than 28" making them easier to sell on later.

[kighill]

Get your money out and buy the Beretta Silver Pigeon V advertised today for £1500.

 

You will not go wrong and should not lose out (much) should you ever decide to change.

 

Advertised by brndn16 at 11.15 today. Its in Dorchester, its a bargain.

 

Good luck

[timps]

The only other thing I was told was, get as big a cabinet as you can fit in the space you have got....... So got a 5 gun one from Brattonsound.

Good advice, I bought the same cabinet when I had one gun and no intentions of getting any more...... Up until last month it had 5 guns in it now just 4 lol.

 

For someone who is new to the sport then brand new is a safety net. I bought band new at first as I did not have the experience to tell if a S/H was worn out. Now with experience I buy S/H and I have been offered some pups by some dealers which I probably would not have spotted when I first started.

Having owned Beretta and Browning they do last well.

 

My friend took option 3 and bought a New Lanber & I bought a new Browning Ultra XS.

 

After a year he traded for a Beretta 682 gold e and wishes he had bought the 682 straight off (the Lanber was showing signs of wear). However I did not get on with the Browning either so after 2 years sold it for a DT10.

 

Point being we both took different options but we both made the wrong choice for our needs hence the different advice you are getting off people.

 

But I got back what I paid for the Browning and my friend only lost about £180 so not a catastrophic problem in the grand scheme of things.

 

You will have no trouble selling a 30” second hand Browning, Beretta or Lanber Sporter if you do make a mistake.

[jackinbox99]

The only other thing I was told was, get as big a cabinet as you can fit in the space you have got....... So got a 5 gun one from Brattonsound.

 

Excellent advice. So many people (myself included) get a 3 gun cabinet, then after a few years have already filled it up. You cant go wrong with a Brattonsound... ive got one and its excellent.

 

1st gun... well my view on this is never to buy new. You`ll loose so much value straight away. All my guns ive bought 2nd hand and nearly all of them ive not lost much in value on at all.

 

I went for a very cheap gun for my first, a £100 baikel o/u. It fitted me well, and I didnt want to spend much in case i didnt like clay shooting. I also knew at that price, I would easily get my money back on it if I wanted to sell it. Turned out I was drawn to shooting like duck to water so then decided to get something a bit more expensive. I tried various guns at several gun shops and opted for a beretta semi auto. Again, 2nd hand. Looking at used prices now, this gun is nearly worth what I paid for it years ago! I went for the semi over a o/u as i wanted something i could use for everything - clays, pigeons, etc. It had the added bonus that it has little recoil and 3 shots. I had no problems at my clay ground with it.

 

But after a number of years I fancied an better o/u so after going into my gunshop with a view to buying a silver pigeon, I actually walked out with a 2nd hand lanber o/u sporter. It just fitted me so much better off the shelf, and the quality of the wood and feel was great. The gun still looks ace and fits me well, but value wise.... its dropped like a brick. I was just pleased i didnt buy a new one. My only consilation is that i part ex`d the old baikel and got £150 for it, so actually made a profit on that one.

 

Ive also got mixed opinions on lessons. You can pay a lot and have professional lessons, or you can just teach yourself. I opted for the self teaching. I read a book, watched a dvd and just got loads of practice in.

[Tim Kelly]

I can't see any point in buying a new gun, unless you're someone who polishes his car every Sunday. Guns go on and on for ages with no problems. My main gun's a 1950's Brummie BLNE and it still goes bang. I recently had it in for a bit of a service and a new butt pad fitted and it only cost £75, so there'd have to be something very wrong for a secondhand gun to cost you a lot of money. If you buy from a trusted gun shop they will warantee it for a period and be keen to help you if anything does go wrong.

 

As said before, get a secondhand Browning Beretta or Mirouku and you almost can't go wrong. A new gun is going to dump a third of it's value as soon as you buy it. An OU is a good choice if you're only getting one gun, and plan to use it for a bit of everything. Personally, I rough shoot, wildfowl, pigeon shoot and do a little bit of clay shooting, so a sxs is much better for rough shooting and a semi is handier on the marsh, in the hide and will do well enough for clays.

[HDAV]

Lol I bought a Brattonsound ST5 as it was the best value IMO and i was told to buy bigger and with the new airgun laws my airgun fits in too just.... If i could have i would have filled it already, but i think at least 2 more will get in there at some point.

 

I will add i bought a cheap O/U before i bought the 525 shot it once, had it serviced at gunsmith for £50 and sold it within a few months I only bought it as i was offered it cheap with a cabinet and some other bits.

 

As you have a decent budget dont waste it but there are plenty of options just don't rush!

[MITCHF]

You're from Yorkshire and plan to "spend" £1500

[Old Bull]

I've just bought my first shotgun and i bought cheap i got a second hand o/u baikal for £200 you can put anything down them and will last for ever.

[Spiderdude]

You're from Yorkshire and plan to "spend" £1500

 

Live in Yorkshire.... Not from Yorkshire!!!

 

Going for a Silver Pigeon 1..