I'm looking to get a new gun for hunting mountain grouse. I'm tired of lugging around my 1100 and beating it up in the mountains while chasing grouse. I'm looking to get a lightweight gun in 20ga that will be easier to carry while hiking through my hunting spot. I'm torn between a new CZ Bobwhite G2 (SxS), new Weatherby Orion (SxS) and a used Beretta 686 Whitewing (O/U).

The Whitewing was a budget-friendly model of the 686 that Beretta offered around 2010ish. So, it could be anywhere from 11-20ish years old. I can get the Beretta for a good price, it would only be $100-200 more than the CZ. The Beretta is in decent condition; has some surface rust and some minor scruffs. It wasn't a safe queen, but it wasn't abused.

From the research I've done, it appears a SxS is handier and can be quicker to mount, but it O/U seem to be more popular.

Those who have used a SxS and an O/U, which did you prefer? Or would I be better off going with an Italian shotgun over a Turkish shotgun?

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Save some more money. If you go cheap you will not experience the magic of a fine SxS.

@Rodent in your opinion, what is the starting point for a fine SxS? And is there a difference in how a higher priced Italian/English made SxS shoots compared to a budget Turkish gun? I think the value of the craftsmanship, materials and artistry is self-evident in the premium guns. How does that translate into the actual use of the gun? Or is it something that needs to be experienced to truly appreciate?

My concern is hiking through thick wooded mountains, slipping, bumping into trees/rocks, ect.; would a high-end gun tolerate this kind of use?

Grouse are hard to hit, but not hard to kill. A "light game gun" - built to be "carried much and shot little" - is the traditional tool for hunting them. Most Americans do not appreciate light game guns. Light game guns have thin barrels, splinter forends and slender straight wrists and weigh around 6 1/2 pounds for a 12, and 6 or less for a 20. The 12s are regulated for 7/8 or 1 ounce of shot, the 20s for 3/4 or 7/8. Americans want magnum artillery throwing lots of shot. (I have even seen a guy at my club shoot trap with a 3 1/2" magnum.)

So, most hunters buy a heavy cheap gun, shoot heavy loads through it, and can't figure out why us old Boomers like side-by-sides. If they do buy a true light game gun, they fire 1 1/4 ounce loads through it, or high-velocity steel, and punish themselves while they ruin it.

I've bought some Turkish guns, but sold all but one. They had nice wood, but the barrels were heavy and the triggers had significantly different pulls. One of them was poorly regulated. The one I kept needed trigger work and I had to have the stock bent for a right-hander, so it ended up being not a bargain. But I keep it in case I want to shoot steel shot, which the vintage guns are not made for.

If I wanted to get a taste of what's possible without spending a lot of money, I would sniff around for a vintage boxlock from Spain that fits you. You'll have to educate yourself, though, because when Americans wanted cheap shotguns with bulky beavertail forends and pistol-grip stocks, that's what the Spanish makers produced for export.

But they also made truly fine shotguns for the European market. When Spain effectively outlawed firearms, a couple smart importers bought literal boatloads of used shotguns at close to scrap-metal prices. That was a once-in-a-lifetime buying opportunity that has dried up, but you can still find decent Ugartecheas and such for not insane money. You need to educate yourself on what you're looking at, though. You might need to have the chokes opened up, too, most of them were choked pretty tight in the days of old-fashioned wads.

AyA is one of the few Spanish companies still in business, and their #1 and #2 shotguns are really nice, but the new prices are shocking. You might stumble across a vintage one though, you never know.  

I have a couple truly fine sidelocks that I only hunt with when I know I won't be busting through brush or stumbling on steep rocky ground, and it won't be raining. They are functional works of art that I baby.

I also have a couple more workmanlike but still nice boxlocks. I don't cry when they get the inevitable scratch or something.

I don't play golf, but I think of upland hunting shotguns as being like golf clubs. You need a variety of them for specific purposes. A light game gun for grouse - like I said above, "carried much, shot little", a medium game gun - "carried little, shot much", and what was called a "pigeon gun", for competitions - "carried not at all, shot continuously".

Ducks, turkeys, geese, trap, skeet, home defense, and etc., those are more golf clubs that you might need.

O/U’s are much easier to shoot than SxS’s and tend to be much better regulated at any given price point.

You’d be crazy not to get the used beretta for a little more than a Turkish CZ.

A really great bargain option is an old Stevens 311 in 20 gauge.

Not fancy, but extremely durable and well made guns.