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Posted: 3/19/2023 1:41:09 PM EDT
So I’m buying him one, would like it to be a pump 12ga, $700ish. Recommendations?
Thanks fellas. |
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870. I shot a TON of clays (trap, skeet, and sporting clays) with an 870 before I jumped up to an O/U, even took my 870 to collegiate nationals. Its not the arrow, its the indian.
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Size and weight of nephew? Experience level? Sensitivity to recoil? I would generally recommend a gas auto for beginners. They are the softest shooting by far. Follow up shots don't require pumping, he can focus on his swing and follow-through.
Unless he is very young and/or small, 12 ga. is the way to go. Take him to the range and rent some guns, or borrow. See what happens. |
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Not sure how old he is.
Semi autos in 20 ga are easy on the shoulder. Makes for less finch. |
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At least take a look at CZ Drake O/U
https://cz-usa.com/product/cz-drake/ |
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Kid is 15, 125lbs, martial arts, band. He’s in good shape and has good reflexes. Think FPNI and I’m going with an 870.
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Quoted: Not sure how old he is. Semi autos in 20 ga are easy on the shoulder. Makes for less finch. View Quote I came here to say an 1100 or Browing Gold if you can find one for a good price. Going to a 20 gauge is a mixed bag, but worth considering. Curious what availability and cost of 16 gauge ammo is these days, that would be a good compromise. |
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I would rather drive nails with my dick than shoot trap with an auto
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Quoted: I came here to say an 1100 or Browing Gold if you can find one for a good price. Going to a 20 gauge is a mixed bag, but worth considering. Curious what availability and cost of 16 gauge ammo is these days, that would be a good compromise. View Quote I haven't seen 16 gauge in the store (maybe once??) or at a trap club ever. Eta: an 1100 trap with a shell catcher is a good choice for light to moderate use. The only issue is you have to close the bolt when the guy ahead of you shoots, or you'll launch a bird with the voice activated puller |
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If you've got $700, why a pump?
Get him am 1100 or Beretta A300 and he'll shoot it for the next 10+ years. or an O/U in that range like a CZ Drake, or half that and get him a Yildiz to learn and beat on. |
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I have no idea if you can find a used decent O/U for that money but I'd definitely prefer an auto to a pump for trap. Better for doubles and better at the other games as well.
Quoted: I would rather drive nails with my dick than shoot trap with an auto View Quote Why is that? I started with an 870 but would much rather use an auto or O/U |
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Inertia operated gun, not a fan of that system. The A300 recommended above would be easier on the shooter.
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CZ Drake has a low rib and and I don’t like shooting trap with mine. It’s a good, inexpensive field gun that works well for busting through alders and hunting upland game. If I shot a lot of trap (I do not), I would want something with a higher comb and rib. Gun fit is very subjective though.
16 ga guns are nowhere near as common as 12 & 20 ga, and the ammo is both harder to find and more expensive. Even 20 ga is creeping up in price with less availability compared to 12 ga. 12 ga flats are widely available at $90, and can be found for $80 if you look around. 20 ga requires a little more patience and is about $100/flat, possibly less if you look around enough. I’d be looking at a 12 ga with a medium/high rib. Gas if he’s recoil sensitive or smaller statured. |
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Quoted: CZ Drake has a low rib and and I don’t like shooting trap with mine. It’s a good, inexpensive field gun that works well for busting through alders and hunting upland game. If I shot a lot of trap (I do not), I would want something with a higher comb and rib. Gun fit is very subjective though. 16 ga guns are nowhere near as common as 12 & 20 ga, and the ammo is both harder to find and more expensive. Even 20 ga is creeping up in price with less availability compared to 12 ga. 12 ga flats are widely available at $90, and can be found for $80 if you look around. 20 ga requires a little more patience and is about $100/flat, possibly less if you look around enough. I’d be looking at a 12 ga with a medium/high rib. Gas if he’s recoil sensitive or smaller statured. View Quote There's no doubt trap guns are better at trap. The general consensus is that they are not great for much else so if you branch out you might need another gun. |
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Find a used Benelli. SBE 1/2/3 , Lightest and best ergo
If you wanna go cheap, an O/U from a random pawn shop. |
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Quoted: If you've got $700, why a pump? Get him am 1100 or Beretta A300 and he'll shoot it for the next 10+ years. or an O/U in that range like a CZ Drake, or half that and get him a Yildiz to learn and beat on. View Quote I love my A300. Just shot a few pheasant yesterday with it. My vote is a 870 Wingmaster if it had to be a pump. |
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Our youth group has had good luck with the Weatherby sa-08. Nothing fancy, Turkish made, gas operated auto, 22 or 20 ga. - but they work. Kids are going to outgrow whatever you get them, no sense buying fancy.
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I shot a lot of trap with my 870 and got very good with it, but now that they have the automatic bird callers, the bird goes flying out when I close the action. I probably was waiting too long to chamber a round...
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Have you been shooting at the local club?
When you say "Trap", do you mean "American Trap" specifically? |
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Skip the pump. 870s are junk. Have been for 20 years. Rem rust or bad QC. Pick your poison. There’s a reason why Remington went bankrupt.
Get an beretta A300. |
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My son shoots one of these.......https://www.savagearms.com/content?p=firearms&a=product_summary&s=23224
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Quoted: If you've got $700, why a pump? Get him am 1100 or Beretta A300 and he'll shoot it for the next 10+ years. or an O/U in that range like a CZ Drake, or half that and get him a Yildiz to learn and beat on. View Quote I agree with getting him a semi. Specifically a gas operated semi. There is a strong chance that trap will become boring and he will want to try different sports where a semi will not handicap him. I disagree with getting him a Turkish double (including CZ). If you really want to get him a double, save up another $300-$500 and buy a used "B" gun... Browning, Beretta, or Benelli. Most people who shoot a lot regret cheaping out on doubles. |
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Quoted: There's no doubt trap guns are better at trap. The general consensus is that they are not great for much else so if you branch out you might need another gun. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: CZ Drake has a low rib and and I don’t like shooting trap with mine. It’s a good, inexpensive field gun that works well for busting through alders and hunting upland game. If I shot a lot of trap (I do not), I would want something with a higher comb and rib. Gun fit is very subjective though. 16 ga guns are nowhere near as common as 12 & 20 ga, and the ammo is both harder to find and more expensive. Even 20 ga is creeping up in price with less availability compared to 12 ga. 12 ga flats are widely available at $90, and can be found for $80 if you look around. 20 ga requires a little more patience and is about $100/flat, possibly less if you look around enough. I’d be looking at a 12 ga with a medium/high rib. Gas if he’s recoil sensitive or smaller statured. There's no doubt trap guns are better at trap. The general consensus is that they are not great for much else so if you branch out you might need another gun. You say that like it is a bad thing |
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Quoted: If you've got $700, why a pump? Get him am 1100 or Beretta A300 and he'll shoot it for the next 10+ years. or an O/U in that range like a CZ Drake, or half that and get him a Yildiz to learn and beat on. View Quote this is what I was thinking. Pumps are great and all but if he decides to jump to skeet he'd probably prefer a semi. I'd be looking at that Beretta from these two options. |
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A bit pricey, but --- Beretta OU shotgun --- 686 Silver Pigeon I --- $2,600
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Have you looked at any of the steel frames Yildiz O/U at Academy Sports?
Yildiz has a good reputation over on shotgunworld.com |
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The safest bet is to go to a gun show. Look for a 70's era Remington 1100 Trap that is in good shape. Buy it relatively cheap and enjoy. That advice had been given to me a few years back. Found one that was near mint. It does what I need it to do. Great for me and my interests in trap and shooting 5 stand.
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For a pump I would go with a Winchester Model 12. Tons of them in your price range. Many with custom trap stocks. Way better balance than other pumps, especially 870's. Look at old pictures of trap clubs. They are shooting 12's far more than anything else. I don't like seeing kids at the trap range with semi-autos. Too hard to tell if they are loaded. Break action is even better, BT-99 or Citori.
$700 on GB and will be worth more when you sell it, unlike an 870 https://www.gunbroker.com/item/972904911#carousel-modal-view-item |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: CZ Drake has a low rib and and I don’t like shooting trap with mine. It’s a good, inexpensive field gun that works well for busting through alders and hunting upland game. If I shot a lot of trap (I do not), I would want something with a higher comb and rib. Gun fit is very subjective though. 16 ga guns are nowhere near as common as 12 & 20 ga, and the ammo is both harder to find and more expensive. Even 20 ga is creeping up in price with less availability compared to 12 ga. 12 ga flats are widely available at $90, and can be found for $80 if you look around. 20 ga requires a little more patience and is about $100/flat, possibly less if you look around enough. I’d be looking at a 12 ga with a medium/high rib. Gas if he’s recoil sensitive or smaller statured. There's no doubt trap guns are better at trap. The general consensus is that they are not great for much else so if you branch out you might need another gun. You say that like it is a bad thing It is when you're 15 |
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SPAS-12, that way if he gets bored of trap he can still hunt dinosaurs and be cool
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Skip the cheap O/U guns. We have seen problems out of the box with them and they just don't hold up.
We have tons of kids shooting 870s and 500s without gun issues but they are more punishing than autos. Older 1100s or 11-87s are good guns with softer recoil. The Beretta A300s are a good value for new guns and will also work as a field gun. Take a look at the SKB autos. About 1k will get a good gun with an adjustable stock. The Benellis are too light. Novas are miserable for recoil and the inertia guns are not much better. The worst new guns we have seen were Winchesters. Just shitty. Most importantly, FIND ONE THAT FITS HIM. You can spend 10s of thousands on a trap gun but if it doesn't fit he will struggle. |
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Quoted: For a pump I would go with a Winchester Model 12. Tons of them in your price range. Many with custom trap stocks. Way better balance than other pumps, especially 870's. Look at old pictures of trap clubs. They are shooting 12's far more than anything else. $700 on GB and will be worth more when you sell it, unlike an 870 https://www.gunbroker.com/item/972904911 https://www.gunbroker.com/item/972904911#carousel-modal-view-item View Quote But you're stuck with one choke, and a far less efficient system overall. The combination of lengthened forcing cones and chokes on modern guns, and modern ammo, allows for very little choke at 16yds. An IC works much better than full at 16 using modern equipment. |
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I have shot close to 4000 rounds of 12 ga. trap loads from a Mossberg 500.
16. ga trap loads are almost impossible to find in my area. That being said I have a 16 ga. sxs that is really sweet for trap. |
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Quoted: But you're stuck with one choke, and a far less efficient system overall. The combination of lengthened forcing cones and chokes on modern guns, and modern ammo, allows for very little choke at 16yds. An IC works much better than full at 16 using modern equipment. View Quote The kids on our team all end up using full chokes pretty quickly. There are so many of these out there that you can find whatever choke you want or one that has been back bored for removeable chokes. Besides, who wants to shoot an ugly gun? |
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Some reasonable advice and poor advice in this thread.
Firstly, 16ga isn’t a thing in clay sports, and trap is all 12ga. You can get by with 20ga for trap and sporting, and 20ga is fine for skeet, but 12ga is the best all around. You can commonly find 1oz loads @1200 for lighter recoil. Don’t buy any Turkish o/u. The Turkish autos can be okay, but they won’t last like a Beretta. A new Beretta A300 is $800 and solid. I bought my son a 20ga youth sized Turkish auto two years ago and I hope it lasts for him until I he outgrows it but that’s questionable. For $450 it was worth it thiugh and it’s been dead reliable honestly. The guts are wearing faster than I would like to see. An 1100 at $700 is likely going to be worn out and not worth working on anymore. Those things have skyrocketed in price so much I wouldn’t bother looking for one especially when Beretta makes a better auto. The best singles trap gun you can get is a Browning BT99 but probably north of your price range. If you are actually stuck on getting a pump, you can likely find an 870 trap in that price range and while you can wear them out, it’s pretty tough. |
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Quoted: The safest bet is to go to a gun show. Look for a 70's era Remington 1100 Trap that is in good shape. Buy it relatively cheap and enjoy. That advice had been given to me a few years back. Found one that was near mint. It does what I need it to do. Great for me and my interests in trap and shooting 5 stand. View Quote 1100 and cheap are no longer two words that go together. I'm seeing them around $800. More for a trap. |
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Son and most of the team shoot a BT99. I might let him shoot my CX White this year. Coaches like being able to see a broke open gun on the line.
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Quoted: Here you go. I bought mine 5 years ago for something like $1200. Highly adjustable for fit (Fit! Fit! Fit! Get an expert to *fit* him immediately!) Contrary to what others have said, the arrow is just as much a factor in trap/skeet/whatever in that it *must* fit the Indian properly. View Quote Just buy it. Dang. I might buy that. Too good to be true, of course. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Here you go. I bought mine 5 years ago for something like $1200. Highly adjustable for fit (Fit! Fit! Fit! Get an expert to *fit* him immediately!) Contrary to what others have said, the arrow is just as much a factor in trap/skeet/whatever in that it *must* fit the Indian properly. Just buy it. https://westerngunshop.com/product/remingtompetition-12-30-pb14-ac-synthetic/ SCAM eta2 Dang. I might buy that. That's a fucking smoking deal if legit. Those go for 1.2k Eta retail.... around 1k on gun deals https://stopgunscams.com/westerngunshop-com Westerngunshop.com is owned by criminals. |
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Quoted: Here you go. I bought mine 5 years ago for something like $1200. Highly adjustable for fit (Fit! Fit! Fit! Get an expert to *fit* him immediately!) Contrary to what others have said, the arrow is just as much a factor in trap/skeet/whatever in that it *must* fit the Indian properly. Just buy it. [url=scam.com/[/url] View Quote I'm to the point where I think people dropping links to scam sites should at least be a warning. There's nothing legit about that site and the idea you could get that gun for under $600 should have been the first of many clues. @Anastasios you should really edit you post and delete the link |
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