If you were to buy a new O&U for sporting clays today, what would you buy?

Probably a Blaser F3, but that's just me.

I pondered the same question recently. I decided to see what our top shooters were using. Then I put it in a table.
I haven't bought my ideal sporting clays gun yet. I'm still having too much fun shooting the course with a British SxS.




Note: total = 98% because of rounding off

Krieghoff - 32%
Blaser - 26%
Beretta Semi-auto - 10%
Perazzi - 10%
Browning - 10%
Beretta double - 5%
Zoli - 5%


Regardless of gun make:

32" barrels are preferred for O/U

30" barrel are preferred for auto

LM seemed to be the primary choke

Most used 1-1/8 ounce loads at standard velocity (1235, 1280)

Among those who specified shot size, four favored #7.5 and two favored #8

A few Krieghoff shooters used factory chokes but the other fifteen used custom or after-market chokes

.

Great report by Grenadier....,
Unless I was recoil sensitive I would favor an O/U than an auto in that it gives you choke options in case you discover FITASC ... But you asked about an O/U....
There is a bit of a handling difference between the Italian shotguns Perazzi's and Beretta's and the Krieghoff's, Blaser's and Browning's of the guns mentioned in Grenadier's report..
The Italian guns have thinner receivers and seen quicker between the hands than the others..I have shot a converted Win mod 101 Pidgeon grade and a Browning 325 so I am somewhat bias towards a heavier receiver would replace both guns with a K-Gun if I could justify it that and the fact that the K-Guns are very modular and you can change barrels and stocks quite easily for trap singles and doubles..
Go shoot a few and keep us posted...
Merry Christmas

Interesting ! Remember that Sporting Clays was originally developed for training and hunting , not for developing an equipment race .
My Orvis book says , " that type of shot [very high and slow ] gives you lots of time to decide how you are going to miss it !! Have fun !

After several years with Berettas, I bit the bullet last year and bought a new K80 Pro Sporter, high rib with 32" barrels, standard model. Started at trap and smoked 'em. Moved to 5 stand and struggled. Thought about selling it. Settled down, spent the time with it, and now it's my multi-purpose, all around, go to gun. I shoot every thing with it, including skeet. Just change the chokes and go. Same feel, same balance, same mount, same solid, smooth swing.

Currently selling off some safe inventory to afford a K20, just 'cause.

The same experience can be had with almost any gun. Spend some time on this decision, as the cost of even the mid-range guns are pretty steep these days. It's well worth the effort of finding a gun room that has all the major brands so that you can go and handle them literally side-by-side.

Good luck on your quest.

Because I have beenvery happy with my Browning Citori Sporting Clays model for the past 15 years I would look around for one used and buy it.

Then, If I were really serious about it, I would buy a few rasps, files, and a jug of bondo. I'd pattern the thing on a pattern board and take off wood where I needed to and add bondo where I need to until it shot where I looked and everything felt comfortable. Then I'd have a new stock duplicated from the old.

I prefer to shoot with side by sides for the fun and hunting training. If I was going to get serious and money wasn't a big concern, I would try Perazzi and Krieghoff, before any other o/u shotgun.

Currently shooting a Caesar Guerinni Summit Sporting w/ 34" bbls. A fine gun that I am very happy with. However, I still believe that the most gun for the $ is the Citori.

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
Interesting ! Remember that Sporting Clays was originally developed for training and hunting , not for developing an equipment race .
My Orvis book says , " that type of shot [very high and slow ] gives you lots of time to decide how you are going to miss it !! Have fun !

One man's opinion. I reckon that a guy is going to buy the best he can afford, same as any other shooting discipline.

My mate in Australia that's in the top of Australians trap shooters uses a Perazzi for everything.

that's easy to answer, Krieghoff

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
Probably a Blaser F3, but that's just me.

+1

Grenadier,
That's an impressive chart. It would be tough to find all that information.

I think the PSCA website has a lot of it listed, maybe that's what you studied.

There are a few changes I know about. Long time Browning shooters, Andy Duffy and Bobby Fowler, have both switched to Krieghoff. I'm sure I'm forgetting someone, but I can't think of any of the top shooters with Browning right now. But you see a ton of them at the tournaments.

Kienbaum hasn't shot a Perazzi for a while. He's shot Krieghoff most of his career, but is now shooting a Beretta DT-11. His girlfriend, Desi Edmunds, was dominating the ladies class and giving the guys a run for their money with her Krieghoff, but she has also just switched to a DT-11 this month so it will be interesting to see how that goes.

Fennell works for Krieghoff now so he switched from a Beretta to a K80 Parcours.

I saw Kim Rhodes shoot last month and she switched to a DT-11. After so many wins with Perazzi that's amazing they wouldn't try to keep her no matter what. Overall for the Olympic shooters I think Perazzi dominates.

A few months ago I shot with Robertson I think he was shooting a Beretta 400 instead of a 391.

Long time Krieghoff shooter, Kruger, has switched to a Kolar.

Those folks at that level can probably shoot almost anything, but they do tend to pick something that will handle a lot of rounds.

Personally I wore out several Beretta's so I switched to Krieghoff and have been really happy. But they're heavy (and expensive) so they're not for everyone.

Thank you Kyler. Yes, the Krieghoff IS heavy, and, for any sport that is shot with the gun unmounted, that is a disadvantage. That is why I am not aware of ANY Olympic level International Skeet shooter that shoots a Krieghoff. Now, American skeet is a different story, and plenty of competitive shooters do use a Krieghoff. My impression is that there are quite a few stations in FITASC and Sporting Clays which are best shot with the gun unmounted, but not to the level required by International Skeet. Berettas and Perazzis seem to dominate IS, and that may be why Ergosign makes stocks for these guns. I have shot a Beretta DT10 with an Evocomp stock and the balance was amazing.
Peter.

I haven't shot much lately but we had an informal club that shot sporting clays on Saturday's in the desert till we were prohibited by the National Forrest people. This was years ago and my grandson used to partner with Gebben Miles and clean us old guys plows. At that time I was shooting a Marocchi right hand sporting clays model. I really like it. Prior to that I used a Browning. My grandson shot a Benelli automatic.

Low end? Field grade miroku citori in anything but full choke. High end? Couldn't tell ya. The finest shotguns I have ever shot didn't break sporting clays nearly as well for me. The one I shot the worst with was a beautiful but Teutonic k80.