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Newbie with lots of questions


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I'm very new to the sport only really starting in September last year and then being scuppered by lockdowns so I'm only on my third lesson so far but I have lots of questions and I hope this is the right place to ask them. 

1. I'm not looking to spend too much money on a gun but there are a few that I'd like to try out such as Yildiz, Kofs and ATA. Are there specific gun shops that stock these guns and what do I do if I want to actually try one out? I'm assuming not all gun shops have the ability to let you try before you buy so can someone shed light on how this works? I don't want to spend £600 on a gun to then find out it's not right for me. 

2. On the topic of buying a gun, I've watched a lot of videos on YouTube where they talk about all of the different versions you can buy of a gun but then when I go onto gun shop sites, they only seem to have one order. Is it similar to when you buy a car in that they have one model in the garage but you can then have one made to order? I've been shooting with a slightly higher comb and although I'm not really able to afford a proper gun fit, I want to make sure that it fits me as well as possible. 

3. My local police department (Met police) aren't accepting new applications for SGC's and haven't been since COVID hit. It's likely that I won't be able to even start the application process until the end of May and I'm bracing myself for the worst in terms of wait times. Although lessons are great for me right now, I don't think I can afford continuing them indefinitely and I only plan on shooting recreationally.  In the meantime, what's a cost effective solution to continuing to shoot?

Sorry for all the questions and thanks in advance for any help!

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What have you been using on your lessons ? And how have you been getting on with it ? If the answers ,good I’d be tempted to stay with what you know for the time being , ATA do a sporter with adjustable Combe but until you get your license you can’t buy a gun anyway unless you know of someone who will put it on their license for you , 

no doubt someone more helpful will be along soon , to answer your questions 

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Hi, welcome to the forum. 
 Plenty of knowledgable members on here so brace yourself for plenty of answers. 
 

1, if your budget is £600 I would recommend considering the second hand market as well as the guns you’ve mentioned, a couple of brand examples that with a bit of searching you will find within budget  beretta, browning, lanber. As for trying before you buy a fair few clay grounds have shops on site that enable trying it out before buying.

2, if it’s mainly clays your going to be shooting I’d be looking at “sporting” guns and if budget allows go for an adjustable comb. A decent gun shop will have many different variants in stock/on the shelf. 

3, as for continuing to shoot without lessons, getting an sgc holder to accompany you would be a good start providing the ground you go to allows this and has the correct documents in place (I can’t recall it’s name I think it’s a “ section 11” but someone else will advise) 

 

good luck with the journey 👍🏻
 

 

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36 minutes ago, girlwithagun said:

1. I'm not looking to spend too much money on a gun but there are a few that I'd like to try out such as Yildiz, Kofs and ATA. Are there specific gun shops that stock these guns and what do I do if I want to actually try one out? I'm assuming not all gun shops have the ability to let you try before you buy so can someone shed light on how this works? I don't want to spend £600 on a gun to then find out it's not right for me. 

Welcome !

Im going to take a wild guess that with your user name you are a girl 🤭 ?
So  a lot of your gun choice may depend on your build/weight of the gun.

The ATA O/U sporter is a fairly substantial weight, and can make swing a bit of a chore.
The KOFS is a lot lighter , they even do a junior version.
The length of pull (LOP) is also a consideration, as the biggest factor is being comfortable with the gun.
Calibre. 12 gauge is a cheaper cartridge to shoot, but if you are slight of build, can get rather painful if you are putting a lot of rounds down, this does improve with experience, but it might be better to start with a 20 gauge ?

Do you know what youve been using so far ?

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Do you have anyone you can shoot with, to take you under their wing as it were? Otherwise, as you say, it’s going to get expensive if your only chance to shoot is via lessons. 
I’d be very surprised ( and disappointed ) if you made your circumstances known at a local shooting ground, and there was no response from regular experienced shooters to offer to help. Clay shooters are generally a happy bunch and all too ready and willing to offer advice and help. 
It’s well worth a go, and that way you may get the chance to use a variety of shotguns. 
Personally for now, I’d totally forget about fit and just concentrate on finding that shooting buddy;  all the other things you mention will then fall into place along the way. There’s such a lot to learn and discover anyhow, before you can make any informed decision on what would suit you best, but your coach may be able to help there. Good luck, and let us know how you get on. 

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A lot of the larger better quality shooting grounds have shops. If you look around you should find one that will carry a good range of guns that you can try at a lesson, including the makes you have mentioned. I would concentrate on one of those rather than a shop.

Not sure which side of London you are but there are a few gorounds around that should help.

Start off my finding a shooting buddy.

Good luck!

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6 hours ago, sam triple said:

What have you been using on your lessons ? And how have you been getting on with it ? If the answers ,good I’d be tempted to stay with what you know for the time being , ATA do a sporter with adjustable Combe but until you get your license you can’t buy a gun anyway unless you know of someone who will put it on their license for you , 

no doubt someone more helpful will be along soon , to answer your questions 

I think I’ve been using a Beretta Silver Pigeon but it has a modification on the comb which really helps me to be able to get my eye in the right position. As I understand it though, Beretta’s are pretty expensive so that’s why I wanted to try some others. If I could buy the gun that I’m learning with I would but I don’t think that’s an option! 

6 hours ago, Spr1985 said:

Hi, welcome to the forum. 
 Plenty of knowledgable members on here so brace yourself for plenty of answers. 
 

1, if your budget is £600 I would recommend considering the second hand market as well as the guns you’ve mentioned, a couple of brand examples that with a bit of searching you will find within budget  beretta, browning, lanber. As for trying before you buy a fair few clay grounds have shops on site that enable trying it out before buying.

2, if it’s mainly clays your going to be shooting I’d be looking at “sporting” guns and if budget allows go for an adjustable comb. A decent gun shop will have many different variants in stock/on the shelf. 

3, as for continuing to shoot without lessons, getting an sgc holder to accompany you would be a good start providing the ground you go to allows this and has the correct documents in place (I can’t recall it’s name I think it’s a “ section 11” but someone else will advise) 

 

good luck with the journey 👍🏻
 

 

Thanks for the welcome! I’d be open to buying second hand but I figure that I have less opportunities to try before I buy with that option. I’ve probably got a budget of £1,000 so I’m not completely set on any of the guns I’ve mentioned, I just know those brands from the videos I’ve been watching. Hopefully I’ll be able to find someone to shoot with me! 

5 hours ago, ditchman said:

you have your head screwed on for a start...........so with any help you get on here you should be fine...let us know what area you are in....

good luck..:good:

Haha thank you! I’m in London :) 

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5 hours ago, Rewulf said:

Welcome !

Im going to take a wild guess that with your user name you are a girl 🤭 ?
So  a lot of your gun choice may depend on your build/weight of the gun.

The ATA O/U sporter is a fairly substantial weight, and can make swing a bit of a chore.
The KOFS is a lot lighter , they even do a junior version.
The length of pull (LOP) is also a consideration, as the biggest factor is being comfortable with the gun.
Calibre. 12 gauge is a cheaper cartridge to shoot, but if you are slight of build, can get rather painful if you are putting a lot of rounds down, this does improve with experience, but it might be better to start with a 20 gauge ?

Do you know what youve been using so far ?

Your guess is correct! I’ve been shooting with a 20 gauge in my lessons and I definitely prefer it as my arms aren’t as strong as they could be. I’ve shot some guns which I think were 20 gauges that felt way too light too though so it’s going to be interesting finding a gun that feels right! 

5 hours ago, Scully said:


Do you have anyone you can shoot with, to take you under their wing as it were? Otherwise, as you say, it’s going to get expensive if your only chance to shoot is via lessons. 
I’d be very surprised ( and disappointed ) if you made your circumstances known at a local shooting ground, and there was no response from regular experienced shooters to offer to help. Clay shooters are generally a happy bunch and all too ready and willing to offer advice and help. 
It’s well worth a go, and that way you may get the chance to use a variety of shotguns. 
Personally for now, I’d totally forget about fit and just concentrate on finding that shooting buddy;  all the other things you mention will then fall into place along the way. There’s such a lot to learn and discover anyhow, before you can make any informed decision on what would suit you best, but your coach may be able to help there. Good luck, and let us know how you get on. 

At the moment I don’t have anyone to shoot with but that’s really nice to hear that I can ask more experienced people if I could join them. I don’t want to be a pain though or hold anyone up! I’m in no rush to buy a gun, after reading all of the threads about SGC applications, my expectations are that I’ll be lucky to get one this year but I do want to gather all the information I can beforehand so I go into it knowing at least something haha! 

4 hours ago, Smokersmith said:

This thread should help ... loads of information and advice on here, it’s rare to get a new question so searching keywords will help a lot.

Enjoy!

 

Ah thank you! Sorry I hadn’t realised you could search for threads! This has some great info so thanks for that :)

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Welcome. Have a look at The Shotgun & Chelsea Bun Club: www.shotgunandchelseabunclub.co.uk. Membership is now a fiver a month. I've been going since 2012 and have made friends with so many lovely women who shoot. You don't have to be a member to come to the events, and if you don't have a gun one can be provided. 

A 20G Beretta SP should be achievable second hand on your budget. Your first gun is a sacrifice, you will change the way you shoot as you get better. Kofs are a great price but the folk I know who bought them got new guns after a year. A third of women have 20G, the remainder mostly have 12G. You can shoot 12G for a couple of years and buy a 20G with the money you have saved on cartridges 😀 Personal preference really. 

 

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If you live in south east/ Kent border try some at country way guns in west malling. Spent  over a thousand on one shotgun  and other guns more went to a shop in welling. Best gun I kept was a free one from a Pidgeon watch member a BSA x11  the rest got sold as i found this to suit me the best and fitted me

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13 hours ago, girlwithagun said:

Your guess is correct! I’ve been shooting with a 20 gauge in my lessons and I definitely prefer it as my arms aren’t as strong as they could be. I’ve shot some guns which I think were 20 gauges that felt way too light too though so it’s going to be interesting finding a gun that feels right! 

There is a balance between the actual weight of the gun, and the amount of 'felt' recoil .
A heavier gun absorbs more recoil, because... science !
Your muscles and shoulder tend to build up in shotgun use, where as at first you feel it more , that recoil becomes less over time.
Starting with a heavier gun is not usually the way, but a lighter gun with heavier cartridges has a more uncomfortable recoil.

I would say 20 g is the way forward to start, the weight of gun is whatever you feel comfortable swinging.
Trying some different guns is an excellent idea, but be aware that 20 g carts are a fair bit more expensive than 12 g , just because they are less 'mainstream'

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Welcome 

definatly get a shot gun certificate before you spend to much time looking 

get known at your local gun club and get to use as many different guns as you can 

some you will like some you will hate 

also be aware that you are built differently to most of the blokes giving you advice and you may need a little removed from the heel of the gun for comfort of shooting 

 

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As said by ehb102 look into the ladies only shooting scene while you are waiting for your licence, they have many meetings around the country and  welcome ladies without a licence, some grounds do a day for ladies off there own back barbury shooting is doing one soon but might be a bit far for you.

Good luck with your application it's a great scene to be in 

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15 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

GwaG

Can I politely suggest you don't try to run before you can walk.

 

Get your SGC and a pocket full of money and then as things open up is the time to go looking for your first gun.

 

Good luck.

Just trying to gather information in the mean time...I’m in no rush! 

23 hours ago, ehb102 said:

Welcome. Have a look at The Shotgun & Chelsea Bun Club: www.shotgunandchelseabunclub.co.uk. Membership is now a fiver a month. I've been going since 2012 and have made friends with so many lovely women who shoot. You don't have to be a member to come to the events, and if you don't have a gun one can be provided. 

A 20G Beretta SP should be achievable second hand on your budget. Your first gun is a sacrifice, you will change the way you shoot as you get better. Kofs are a great price but the folk I know who bought them got new guns after a year. A third of women have 20G, the remainder mostly have 12G. You can shoot 12G for a couple of years and buy a 20G with the money you have saved on cartridges 😀 Personal preference really. 

 

I’m going to the Oxford event next week! 

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34 minutes ago, girlwithagun said:

Just trying to gather information in the mean time...I’m in no rush! 

I’m going to the Oxford event next week! 

Super! I love the  Oxford Shooting School and Lucy who coaches there is fab. 

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Clay shooting is very addictive AND very expensive, once your ticket arrives getting your first gun is a really special experience. I have just brought my friend and his wife into the sport and they had a budget of £2000, so it can be done quite easily, they both own new supersports they got for £699 each.

Once your ticket arrives you are in the new/2nd hand dilemma, many will say buy a good 2nd hand “good” brand, others like me favour warranty and like new.

We are spoilt where we live as the WMSG is just down the road so my wife could handle a good selection. She tried the 525 Liberty, vittoria, Kofs, ata and a few S/S, she chose the Kofs 20g.

She has now bought a Yildiz junior in 20g, and my daughter has one in .410, cracking gun for virtually no money, both non electors.
 

To summarise, try as many as possible for fit, buy one and go and have some fun.

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2 hours ago, bottletopbill said:

Buy  a cabinet for five guns to save buying twice. ?

That's the best shooting advice you'll ever get 😅. We all start with a two gun safe ,  and say , well I'm only buying one gun.

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24 minutes ago, Newbie to this said:

I started with a 5 gun safe and now have space for 12 

Why did I sell my five gun safe when I bought my seven gun safe? It is now a *little* full so once again I’m in the market for a safe 😭

Going to accept that it will get full so keeping my current one and getting a second 7 gun safe, it’s like a fat man buying elasticated trousers as it’s getting too expensive to re-wardrobe. 

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7 hours ago, bottletopbill said:

Buy  a cabinet for five guns to save buying twice. ?

Hahaha great advice. I have a 3 gun safe that’s ready and waiting to be fitted. On the topic of safe fitting, I live in a terraced house and the optimum place for me to fit the safe would be against the wall of the adjoining wall. Would that be okay? 

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