Was asked by a friend what over/under I would buy in this price range. I own a couple of shotguns for basic hunting purposes but no over/unders and nothing in this price range. Basically, I have rifles and certainly do not have extensive knowledge of shotguns of this type. For those of you who own these guns, know of others that own these guns, or have an opinion about these guns, your input is appreciated. My friend is wanting a 20 gauge in a 28 or 30 inch barrel length for field use, decent to good wood. Browning, Beretta, Guerini, others??

Thanks, Mike

I don't think you can go wrong with a Beretta 686 O/U in 20 bore.

Browning Citori or Beretta would be at the top of my list. Your friend would have to handle them to see which balanced better. I like an English style straight stock in 20 ga field gun as opposed to a pistol grip.

The ones you named are pretty much the only and best guns you can get in that price range, unless your friend would be willing to take a look at used guns. Then he could probably find a Kreighoff K32 in that range easily, or maybe even a used Perazzi O/U, but if he doesn't know what he's looking at exactly, it might be better if he sticks with new and just goes with one of the B guns or a CG. I worked at a sporting clays range the last few years and we had CG's as our try guns, and we had problems with some of them. A lot had to be sent back with cracked stocks. Customer service was great, but there were problems. Beretta and Browning aren't very well known for customer service, either, but at least if you look around you could find a gunsmith locally to work on those guns if you needed it. And tell him to find one that fits him well, too, that's the most important thing to consider when buying a new shotgun. Well...my rant is almost over and I haven't really said much...so tell your friend to go buy a Browning!

MikeD-

Here's one ready to go:

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2711043/m/798100969

My .02 for what it is worth, I qualify that with all I have hunted and shot with over the last 10 years have been O/U and this includes south american trips, quite a bit of clays and hunting upland and waterfowl in the US. I have hunted with only berettas because they fit me better than brownings. I tend to like the thinner fore end but that is personal preference. However many of my friends shoot brownings and they have also been very well served. Beretta USA is an Ackopeek Md and the customer service I have experienced has been very good. I beleive your friend would be very well servied by either mfg but the best gun for him would be the one that fits the best and comes up correctly. With Beretta and the 686 platform which ranges from 1100 to 4K the difference is fancy, engraving upgraded wood etc. If this is a show piece or a clays gun only that choice is up to him but if it will be a field gun, 12 gauges are chambered for 3" then a 28" 686 Onyx is hard to beat. Good Luck

I've been shooting Browning O/U's since the early 80's. Everyone has a gun that just feels right for them. My 8 Citoris feel right for me.

Caesar Guierini...Cambridge MD

Excellent guns for the money and offer possibly the best variety of guns field and competition from 2-12K...

...Great stuff!

i got my first citoria when i was 16 and shoot alot. it is my favorite dove gun and has never given me any problems in 14 seasons of hard use, but it does have a lot of character after all those years of barb-wire fences.