am looking at buying a shotgun for rabbit and bird hunting,and some weekend skeet shooting,What is the best shooting and handling gun?
For around 1200.00

I have a Beretta Xtrema without the kickoff system that I like real well for turkey and ducks.

Here are a few choices;



http://www.beretta.com/index.aspx?m=74&idc=1&ids=15



http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?value=008B&cat_id=013&type_id=1 29



http://www.franchiusa.com/firearms/renaissance.php



http://www.cz-usa.com/product_detail.php?id=57

MY 1st choice would be a used Browning over/under, or Ruger red label. 2nd choice would be Benelli semiauto.

Ithaca 37, wont find one that handles better.
You can get them new from Ithaca for about $860-$960 depending on whetheryou want the Featherlight or Ultralight.
Here is their website and phone # 1-877-648-4222
http://ithacagun.com/index.html

For $1200, the sky's the limit. There's a ton of good shotguns out there for that amount.

For the uses that you mentioned try to find and shoulder a Browning Auto 5 Sweet Sixteen. Very light and the craftsmanship is amazing.

For $1200 and the uses you describe, I would get a Beretta Onyx O/U without question. They are not too nice to carry in the field, but they are nice enough to look at home on any skeet, trap, or sporting clays field.

but can you get a Beretta 686 for 1200

Here is a used 686 WHITE onyx for $1400 (there are a lot of WHITE Onyx already in the market).



http://www.dawsonent.com/browse.cfm/4,1338.html


Here is the 686 Onyx "new in box" for $1300


http://www.gunsamerica.com/917000611/Guns/Shotguns/Beretta-Shotguns/O-U/Hunting/Beretta_686_Onyx.htm



Stay with the three B's when buying used Browning, Beretta, Beneli.


"Brownings don't wear out, they wear in......"