I have to disagree with the bunch. I have shot sporting clays, trap & skeet for many years and many a shotgun as well. I still come back to my Red Label for every sporting clays tournament and have no problem keeping up with the " BIG GUN' S" . I feel the Beretta' s are nice to look at but they don' t fit me well, everyone I' ve ever shot I look down the rib at an angle and never could fix it. The comb just doesn' t suit myself or some others as well. Of the 2 Franchi' s I' ve shot one completely came apart in my hands one hunting season and the other cracked in the stock. I find Browning Citori' s to fell like a 2X4 in my hands, granted there are ton' s of different models out there, but of the ones I' ve ever used or even shouldered, they just seem unbalanced and bulky, I do like the older superposed however. I have never encountered any problems with my Red Label after years of shooting and thousands of rounds. The fit & finish is flawless! I do agree the majority of Clay users are using Berettas and Citori' s but thats no reason to follow suit. Try before you buy in my opinion...sometimes the gun you think you like just doesn' t suit yourself. I find a lot of guy' s at the clubs don' t mind you trying their guns for a couple of shots and it gives you a whole new perspective on it than shouldering it in a store. As for recoil, it' s a o/u shotgun not a semi or pump...your loads will be a bigger factor than the gun in most cases and a good recoil pad can fix any big problems. Not starting any fights just my thoughts...JDinAB Good luck!