I just picked up a CZ Redhead for under $900, heck of a O/U for the money.
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Browning O/U vs Beretta O/U aka Over Under Chat
- Thread starter 10thmountain
- Start date
I was wondering about those , did you get off odt?
Why would someone shoot 26” barrels? Hunting / field guns? Seems like 28 inches would be the minimum. ( juniors and ladies, I get it)
Online and shipped to a local dealer. I will be shooting it while my Citori is at Briley getting the action worked on.
I have to ask, what happened to your citori?
Today, 26" barrels are most commonly used for quail and other types of small game where we carry the gun more than we shoot. When carrying a gun for many hours, every once of weight counts and the additional 2 to 6 inch barrels rarely offers any advantage in the 15 to 20 yard shot for the average quail
30 Years ago, the average gun on the skeet field had 26" barrels. Over the years, the average clay target barrel length increased to 28 and 30 inch barrels. Today, many of the top Trap, Skeet and Sporting clays shooters use 32" or even 34" barrels.
Here are the trends we see today:
- Sporting Clays: 28” to 34”, most popular 30”
- Skeet: 26” to 32”, most popular 28”
- Trap: 32” to 34”, most popular 34” single barrel
- Upland: 24” to 30”, most popular 26”
- Waterfowl: 28” to 32”, most popular 30” Semi-Auto
Resale value and resale time for 26" models in rural areas where many folks hunt seems to be about the same for longer barrels. In the metro area; however, where more folks break clays than hunt, it may take longer to sell the shorter barrel guns or they sell for a little less.
Can you break clays with 26" barrel? Absolutely !
Will you have the most popular gun on the sporting clays course? Not likely
Don't have personal experience, but people I know who use them really like them. Fit and finish are considerably better than others in the same price range.
Their small gauges are very well balanced, Have shot them some.
26" barrels are much quicker to move, so have a real place in hunting.
In clay target games, a smooth swing with some momentum in the gun is favored because you mostly know where the target is. You don't have to acquire, range, and lead a target lick you do in the field.
If you look at classic American SxS, the no choke markings, the barrels told you the chokes. 26" -- ic/mod. 28" - mod/full or full/full. That's how the old Stevens/Savage/fox were made.
At one time I acquired a Krieghoff with factory case, 3 factory fitted sub-gauge tubes fitted to the case, and 26" barrels. Belonged to an old time skeet shooter. Probably a $6000 gun in 1960. By 1990 when it cam into my hands, small gauge SC hadn't become a thing yet, and I couldn't hardly give the thing away.
Even today, modern guns with 26" barrels will sell at a discount on the secondary market.
I wouldnt even consider a new beretta auto, they arent holding up, I'm losing count on how many friends have gone through, they put a case through them a week, and these guns are breaking left and right.
For the guy that goes on an occasional dove or duck hunt, a round of skeet every now and then, go for it. But not if you are going to be putting it through its paces.
I dont know what I'd buy knew right now, fabarms having issues, brownings have never really been top notch, the new berettas suck.
I'd lean towards a benelli sporting, my m1s have been tanks.
As far as o/u, the beretta SP1 are a wonderful entry level sporting gun. I have one with 32in barrels.
For the guy that goes on an occasional dove or duck hunt, a round of skeet every now and then, go for it. But not if you are going to be putting it through its paces.
I dont know what I'd buy knew right now, fabarms having issues, brownings have never really been top notch, the new berettas suck.
I'd lean towards a benelli sporting, my m1s have been tanks.
As far as o/u, the beretta SP1 are a wonderful entry level sporting gun. I have one with 32in barrels.
What O/U or semi would you consider a great value $1000 and under ? Can be vintage or new . Very curious to see the responses. Some I can already guess….
