I just bid on a Weatherby Orion grade II, 12ga, 30" bbls, on gunbroker.

Are they any good? Made by SKB right? I've never bought a O/U, but this one looks to good to pass up. Nate

OK, update time.

If these suck it's too late. Spare me the bad news! Nate

Nate,
They don't suck at all, they are damn good guns. I went and looked for it but you must have got it already. Nice looking gun, congratulations.

Thanks, I'm having to wait for it to ship + we have a ten day anyway. I'm like a kid at Christmas almost. Nate

Nate, this won't help your anticipation but you will love it. It is made by SKB and it is a great shotgun. I have a good friend who owns and one and shoot it well. Chukars are in serious trouble if they get up anywhere near him.

They don't shoot to bad, they just have a bad tendency to fire both barrels at the same time (regardless of gauge).
BTW from the attitude the warranty/service guy at weatherby displayed to me (ya, I used to own one of those POS, it started doubling after only 3 months), I'd have to say the they truly don't give a phuck about the problem either.

But if you can get one for just the cost of shipping, than I guess you'll be happy.

Well I picked it up a week ago, and finally got to shoot it yesterday. I like it.

I broke the first four I shot at. I was throwing for my boys so didn't get many shots in but I did ok with it. My son's (11&9) both wanted to try it. They both hit with it on the first try. The 11 yr old hit several with it, in spite of the fit. It was a fun day out.

No misfires, doubling, ect. Nate

You really should like the gun. I have an SKB and a Weatherby Orion. They're nearly identical, even down to the engraving patterns.

I've never heard of the doubling problem, though. When I was stationed in Japan, SKBs were nearly the only guns used at the base Trap & Skeet range. I've put thousands of rounds through them, and seen 100s of thousands put through the range guns over the years and never heard of a doubling problem.

They were extremely reliable, which is why I ended up buying a couple from a local dealer.

CFS
Circa 1990, they had a run of real soft sears (IIRC 50-60% of them).
I knew one guy that bought a bunch of the "doublers" from their origional owners (he wasn't happy when I didn't sell him mine) for about 33cents on the dollar.
Let's just say it wasn't the shotgun that left a bad taste in my mouth, but rather the piss poor attitude of the factory service dept person I spoke with.
Mine went back into it's origional box and got traded in on a Browning Cetori GTI, and that gun has never given me a bit of trouble.

quote:

Originally posted by Tailgunner:
CFS
Circa 1990, they had a run of real soft sears (IIRC 50-60% of them).
I knew one guy that bought a bunch of the "doublers" from their origional owners (he wasn't happy when I didn't sell him mine) for about 33cents on the dollar.
Let's just say it wasn't the shotgun that left a bad taste in my mouth, but rather the piss poor attitude of the factory service dept person I spoke with.
Mine went back into it's origional box and got traded in on a Browning Cetori GTI, and that gun has never given me a bit of trouble.

Well, I'm not going to argue that SKB didn't put out a batch of guns with soft sears for Weatherby. A Japanese manufacturer will build to a specification depending on the amount of investment and qaulity level the contracting party wishes to achieve. That's not just gunmakers, but optics manufacturers, etc. But SKB does know how to build a good solid gun. Those range guns at Atsugi saw a lot of use with zero problems that I witnessed. And I was there a lot.

I picked up my Orion in the mid-90's and the problem must have been resolved, as it has also been solid and reliable.

Can you guys tell me approximately how old mine is? Nate

quote:

Originally posted by Tailgunner:
They don't shoot to bad, they just have a bad tendency to fire both barrels at the same time (regardless of gauge). .

Before posting, I thought I'd read the previous comments first, and lo...

I shot a borrowed Orion 12 ga at a gun dog trial once, and about every 10th shot, the thing doubled on me. You couldn't pay me to own one. Original poster, hope you fair better.