School me on Over/Unders and local Skeet/Trap places

[calebp]

Hey Folks,

Got the itch for a decent over under. Casual skeet shooting was my favorite type of shooting years ago and I was pretty decent at it but then I lost vision in my right eye. For a long time, shouldering a long gun on my left side felt strange. Been shooting a lot more rifle lately and had the opportunity to try shooting skeet on my left shoulder for the first time couple weeks ago. Went great and fell back in love instantly. I have only ever used pumps and a buddies A5 he brought out before but would like to spend a little cash and get myself a nice over under and start hitting the local skeet/trap/clay courses around here. I see from 12 to 28 gauge. Whats the consensus for general skeet and maybe a little trap. Any advantage/disadvantage to gauge other than more shot per shell vs a less bruised shoulder at the end of the day? What do you guys like around $1k? Unless spending above that gets you something tangible other than good looks. If I really get into it I'll get myself something purdy in a year or two but just want a solid, attractive over under to begin knocking around with. What are places local to Marietta/Kennesaw/Acworth or closeish to shoot clays?

Thanks!
Caleb

 

[Propilot]

River Bend Gun Club

https://rbgc.org/

 

[Fear Itself]

CZ has some attractive looking sub $1000 options. I haven't tried but they review well.

 

[savannahboy]

Just be sure whatever you get fits you. I am a lefty and shoot a CZ Drake Southpaw 20 gauge. I only shoot skeet and 5 stand at Charlie Elliot.

 

[rumrunner55]

Garland Mountain

 

[cmshoot]

mikey357

 

[87KJH]

With a gun that fits, proper gun mount and the proper shells you should be able to enjoy a day at the range without a bruised shoulder.

General consensus is 12 ga for Trap competitions, but for fun, 20 ga works fine.
Most shoot a 12 or 20 ga for Sporting Clays and/or Skeet.

Lots of folks who are right handed and left eye dominant switch to the left shoulder. Most say it is strange at first, but after a while it seems as natural as shooting right handed. You may be surprised at how quickly you adapt to the other shoulder.

Most ranges offer gun rentals so you can try out a couple of different models before you decide what works best for you.

 

[Dirty J]

Garland Mountain is the spot. Superb facility.

 

[SKEETER25]

In actual registered Skeet, shooters use 12, 20, 28 and .410 bore shotguns.
For general shooting, 'going to the range for fun', I would recommend a 20 ga.
As stated earlier, CZ makes some fine starter O/U guns. If the budget will permit a Beretta Silver Pigeon or Browning CXS are both guns one could shoot for years to come without needing to 'upgrade'.

 

[gh1950]

For casual shooting, I'd go with 20 ga. The price difference is shells is nominal, and you might miss one bird out of 100 due to the smaller load, and that one, you should have centered more.

I'm a big Beretta fan, but in moderately priced 0/u, i agree that CZ is hard to beat. Fit and finish, balance is very good. Then I'd look for a good used Beretta.

If you can wait to spring for some of the big sporting clays shoots, there were will be vendors with used guns that you can try out.