QUESTION

[Antler]

Question is im shooting a Browning 525 30" im ok on clays and had a couple of invites on pheasant last season did ok with it and have joined syndicate for this season so keeping the 525.

Ive been going out on pigeon and i am just not comfortable useing it in the hide so thinking of getting an escort 26" work horse, is there any difference in shot pattern and effective range going down to this size of barrel legth ?

Im also going for this size due to girlfriend wanting to go clay shooting with me as she cant even hold the 525 let alone shoot it.

 

Cheers.

[Billy.]

You can do much better than an Escort.

 

Save up a little and get a gun you can actually rely on.

 

...By the way

Edited June 14, 2011 by Billy.

[sporting shot]

buy a good used Beretta 303 or 391 semi auto, you can pick up a good 303 for less than £500 or a good 391 for less than £800, check the for sale section for guns here or look in the Sporting Gun or Sporting Shooter magazine adds. your girlfriend will have no probs shooting a semi and it's the tool for shooting pigeons and clays or just about anything.

[Bowen20]

im in doncaster too shoot have rifles and shotguns shoot both regularly. i bought a 30 inch beretta AL390 gold mallard functioned perfectly and looked amazing but i couldnt get on with it and was **** with it. so i sold it and bought a £180 larona over and under 12g and i could hit everything with it. it was miles better a few friends have had escorts and said they are good for the money but they can be fussy with lighter carts on the clays and jam occasionally when not cleaned. if i were you id go for a berettA and just to try a few guns on for size id go to euroguns i know a few people slate it but i get on there with the staff well. and they will let you take a shotgun out on the clays for a few shot just to try them out to see how you like it and shoot it. plus if your in doncaster its probebly 15 miles away tops. But i wouldnt buy a shotgun from their as they are far to expensive i find the cheapest shop around for shotguns is Swillington shooting supplies and Browns lock stock and barrel in sheffield now they are very nice people there cant help you enough.

[klatuveradanikto]

From a loyalty point of view i have a Browning 425 and a Browning Gold Semi Auto i just like the Browning name and quality it represents however there are lots of quality semi auto's from £500 upwards so it's your choice really just as a side note my brother has a Hatsan and as of yet never missed a beat the general feeling with Hatsans is you either get a good one or a bad one but don't let anti Hatsan bias put you off owning one, hope this helps.

[Citori1]

If looking for "budget" field gun that your girlfriend can use for clays etc.. Take a look at the Yildiz 12g O/U

You should be able to pick up a 12g single selective trigger ejector model for between £550 and £650 new. The biggest problem for ladies is weight.. And the Yildiz weighs 6 3/4 lbs, which when combined with 21grm or 24grm loads works well. A semi-auto will give less recoil, bur if "other half " is a novice, a S/A may complicate matters as loading is a little more complex, as is unloading, which is important when getting to grips with the basics.

I recently observed a guy trying to teach his g/f to shoot a S/A , which was too long in the stock , Was right handed (she wasn't!) and her stance & mount was not as it should be! Result.. Gun was mounted incorrectly, head off stock, recoil was felt ( she was rubbing her shoulder after every shot!)

I learnt to shoot with a £150 investarm 12g, with fixed chokes (1/8 and 3/8 - modified from 1/4 and 1/2 by local gunsmith to give wider patterns) at the age of 15 , and I loved it! The reason I shot well was that the gun fitted me..

So, if you want a gun that you can take pigeon shooting, and that the g/f can have a go with, look at a budget 12g o/u like the Yildiz.. Or if the budget is tight .. Try a second hand gun. In my opinion, A s/a does give you the 3 shot capability for pigeons , but might not be the best bet for the other half.. having recently introduced my g/f to clays .. We tried a 20g to start with.. Worked well.. She wouldnt even pick up a s/a - too complicated! And we settled on a 12g Yildiz ( she wanted a Browing Ultralight... But I convinced her that she needed to "try" shooting first before persuading me to spend £1k plus on a gun!)

Best advice I can give you is .. If G/f wants to try shooting .. Book a lesson to get the basics right .. Then choose a gun that fits her. . But that you can shoot pigeons with.. This depends On how different you are in terms Of gun fit.. E.g my g/f's Yildiz is 1/4 inch shorter that mine! Can I hit targets with it? Yes! But only the easy ones !

You may end up with 3 guns.. One for you (525) one for her and one for pigeons! In answer to your original question.. Should I buy a Hatsan s/a for pigeons.? ... Yes I would.. I've had one.. And it "works!" will it be ok for your g/f? - see above!

Hope you manage to fix both problems!

If you need. Any more advice / assistence, please PM me. . Happy to help!

[wymberley]

To simply answer your question, excluding some of the "rangey" clay disciplines, no.

[Schmoo]

For most field and clays barrel length doesnt make much difference.

Do be mindful that a 28 semi will be the same in length as a 30 o/u.

Found that out when I couldnt get my new mp153 28" in my browning 30" o/u gun slip.

I reckon my mp153 would be a 31" o/u if you get my drift.

I would if the funds would allow like to get a 24" barrel for my mp153, does make things a little easier in a tight hide.

Schmoo.