FAC Shotguns

[red_stag88]

Hi all,

 

As my FAC should be done soon, I was thinking about the possiblity of a FAC shotty. It would mainly be for in the hide and maybe the occasional day on the forshore. I would prefer it to be a pump, as I am a smidgin wary of the reliability off SA's. The possibilities currently are the Nova and one I found on Guntrader for £50

 

Any ideas?

 

Red

 

NB The one on guntrader is a Stevens

Edited September 26, 2004 by ernyha

[Cranfield]

My first thought is, why anyone would want a FAC shotgun ?

The advantage of a larger magazine capacity is overrated, in my opinion.

 

If buying an automatic, I would always go for a semi auto.

Having owned three pump autos, I would never own another.

I found them to be prone to jamming, time consuming to clean properly and heavy to carry around.

Perhaps modern pump actions have eliminated all these faults, but I doubt it.

[red_stag88]

I have also heard that the SA's in my price range are also prone to jamming.

 

Are there no advanteages to a 5 shot?

[ernyha]

Red the biggest dis-advantage of a 5 shot is the weight of the cartridges in the magazine tube as the ballance of the gun changes every time you fire.

 

PS never owned one myself, The Sniper told me that last year.

[The Sniper]

Red,

 

As Cranfield said, why do you need one ?

 

The first hurdle you have to overcome is that you have to prove to the firearms licensing authorities why you need one, as opposed to a 3 shot one.

 

I used to own a pump action that I used primarily for practical shotgun, many years ago, and then latterly for vermin shooting. That is, on the back of the pickup, lamping for rabbits. The rabbits in the area we used to lamp were so prolific I had a need for an 8 shot. But, as ern said, the front weight of so many cartridges makes the gun very unweildly to use and heavy.

 

IMHO 3 shot is ample for hide purposes.

 

As regards pump vs semi......go for the semi. Much smoother to shoot without dismounting the gun between every shot.

[red_stag88]

Ok, so non Fac it is. But for £200 can I get a decent semi which wont jam all the time?

[The Sniper]

Well I bought a Winchester 1400 for £150 and it was a ****** for jamming. That is until I took it to my gunsmiths, and he showed me how to clean it, and it has been faultless ever since.

[red_stag88]

If it jams in the field, what can you do about it?

[palombier]

I appreciate you may now have had your mind made up for you,but the other thing to consider is that a 5 shot is illegal for wildfowling.

P

[The Sniper]

Red,

 

Just as an afterthought, I think I have been fortunate in buying one so cheap, and it is now working okay. Like anything else you get what you pay for, you may buy one but the innards could be absolutely worn out.

 

With mine it was not so much it jammed, that is getting stuck in the breech, it would not feed the second or third cartridge through and would stick. That is easy to remedy out in the field, but is frustrating when you want that second bird down

 

A lot of people on here have said it before, you have to have a good cleaning regime with a semi.

[red_stag88]

I appreciate you may now have  had your mind made up for you,but the other thing to consider is that a 5 shot is illegal for wildfowling.

P

If a five is illegal for waterfowl, i'll stick to three then.

 

Snipe, I watched a man at my local clayshoot with a Browning semi. Every stand it jammed, every time he had it to bits, put it back together and it jammed again. Surely a good pump like the nova wont jam like this? And pumps must be easier to clean too.

[The Sniper]

Red,

 

This is where we get into finding the right cartridge for the gun scenario. My semi will only work with 32 g cartridges. Believe me, I've tried loads of varieties in it !! I am told this is the cartridge they were designed for. Anything less and it won't cycle.

 

I have had jams with my pump, and that could have been the wrong cartridge in it.

 

Did you ask the man with the Browning how long since he had cleaned it ??

 

A semi suits me, as opposed to a pump, in that you can keep the gun at your shoulder all the time without moving away from the birds to reload.

 

Try both out at the club if you can, try to shoot them quickly, and see which you like.

 

Have you considered one of these new Escort guns ? It might be a bit more than you intended to pay but you are buying a new gun.

[Cranfield]

red, cleaning any auto, whether its a pump or a semi, keeps it operating efficiently.

The pump actions I owned, were harder to clean than the semis.

I would mention that I had no jamming/recirculating problems with my Beretta 301, or Remington 1100.

 

It would be worth waiting a bit longer and buying a decent seconhand semi auto, than rushing out and buying a cheap pump action.

There are some Benelli bargains about, as people are trading up to the new models.

 

Why do you think there are more semis about, than pump actions ?

[red_stag88]

I'll keep my pennies then and wait till i can afford a semi.

 

Cheers

[webber]

Good decision Red. When you have saved up enough; buy a Beretta.

 

webber

[BTMS]

Red,

 

I bought a Browning B180 semi at a very cheap price (£10) YEAS A TENNER.

Fired a lot of 32gram carts through it ie over 1000 now and never jammed

once clean it every other trip.

 

Good as gold nice balance too.

 

Brian

[red_stag88]

I'll take it off you for £15

[BTMS]

THAT MUCH who do you think you are SNIPER

[mel b3]

hi red ive got an old fabarm semi auto that i bought from minsterly ranges around 2 years ago i paid £75 for it and to be honest as long as i clean it every 300/400 carts it never misses a beat .ive also got a mossberg 500 3 shot pump that ive never had any trouble with and its great fun to shoot but im none too quick with it :*) .

[The Sniper]

BTMS,

 

Red's not in my league yet !!! I would have offered you £11.00, plus you pay the postage

 

Actually BTMS, you've just proved what I thought all along. At £10 that proves there is a good Yorkshireman trying to get out of your Scottish frame

[ernyha]

Actually BTMS, you've just proved what I thought all along. At £10 that proves there is a good Yorkshireman trying to get out of your Scottish frame

Can't go along with that statement Sniper, my FRIEND Brian bought me several drinks on that unforgetable night. B)

[lurcherboy]

I shoot a Nova pump.

 

You do not need to take it out of shoulder pocket to pump.

It needs virtually no maintence and when it does it is stripped in 3 minutes.

So far I have dropped it in water, mud, and down a chalk bank of about 20 foot high.

I shoot clays at Greenfields in Canterbury ( very usefull for keeping people at arms length ) and shoot an average of 68%.

It main use is for pigeons.

The downside of ownership is twofold. One the 'traditionalists' will slag you off, and that the importers are total *******!

Been waiting since May for an ejector spring. Fortunetly I was able to stretch a shorter spring to fit ejector. So far so good.

Its not heavy and I have been told you can fit 4 pigeon load carts in. I would not know about such things.

 

 

LB

[dodeer]

Berreta 303 -never jams even if you dont clean it!

[Lurch]

I shoot a Nova pump.

Quite fancy one of them.

I shouldn't think I'd use it as an 'everyday' but I just love the action of the pump shotgun.

Plus of course I have a slot for a multishot burning a hole in my FAC......

[lurcherboy]

Mark,

 

If you have your FAC organised you can get an extension tube that will allow you to hold five 3 1/2 cartridges (should you be tempted to use shorter cartridges you will be able to fit in more)

 

It takes minutes to fit and you will feel like an armed blagger for a while but it wears off quickly.

 

I love taking it to clay grounds to do a 100 clays but its when shooting pigeons that it come into its own.

 

Good luck with your decision.

 

 

LB