Phil in MO

I have a question for those of you who have OU shotguns. I have always used semi-autoloading shotguns and will be needing to replace my current gun in the next year or so. I primarily hunt quail and phesant over dogs in MO and KS. I have always wanted a OU, but to this day have never had one available to shoot. My question is with all the choices out there, which ones should I look at first?

SCbowhntr

Phil,
I own a Ruger Red label (which I got used for $800)w/ 26" barrels and absolutely love it. Some other excellent choices would be Weatherby and Beretta which are priced somewhat higer than the Ruger. A buddy of mine swears by his Remington 332 but I guess it's a matter of preference...

Antler Eater

I would say first and foremost, find one that fits you. If you have been shooting autos, and are the least bit recoil conscious, the change will be noticeable (but not bad) if you target shoot (not that big of deal in a hunting situation, weight will be more noticeable than recoil then).

There are a number of good o/u out there. In addition to what has been mentioned Franchi, SKB, Browning, Winchester, Remington to name a few "middle priced" o/us. A couple "high end" priced o/us Krieghoff, Perazzi. Economy class Baikal, Stoeger, Huglu.

I had a winchester 101 years ago that was a good gun but it didn't fit me and pounded my check bone unmercifully. Again nothing wrong with the gun it just didn't fit. I ended up getting a Browning ( a bunch of them actually and I liked them all) that fit and the pounding went away.

Good Luck.

stubblejumper

As others have said it is important that the gun fits you.I am very happy with the browning citori.

GordonGekko

Good advice so far, particularly, "find a gun that fits you", that can't be said enough (although you probably will not be able to get one that fits perfectly off the rack, get as close as you can). As for where to look, for a target shooter I'd generally say Beretta, and if you don't care for them then look at the Browning's. But, as primarily a hunter either of the "B" guns would be a good place to start, and then either go up or down (line wise) depending on what you're looking for. If you have a clays range near you, there should be several people willing to let you shoot their gun, or at the very least handle it, and they may have some you could rent. You might want to look up Newcastle Hunt Club, they should be able to help you out.

Gordon

Vapodog

my personal favorites are the SKB and the Citori.

Phil in MO

Thanks guys for all the good advise it makes a lot of sense. I forgot to mention that I shoot lefty. Right now I'm shooting a LH Rem 1100 that my dad bought me when I was a preteen, that's over 25 years now. I've killed a lot of birds with it, but it's getting sloppy and worn. Can the Brownings have the safety switched without a big deal? Please forgive my ignorance here, but what is the term for the lever for the break? Can it be switched too? Thanks for all your help!

stubblejumper

The citori safety and action lever are centrally located on the tang.This works well for either left or right handed shooters.

DM

I also shoot left handed, and the O/U that i own and shoot is the "Made in Finland" Valmet 412. There's a lot of O/U's that are good, so look around and MAKE SURE the gun fits you well!!!

The Valmets can be had in 12 or 20ga, and numerous other combination and double rifle bbls.. Once minor fitting is done they all can be used on the action you own, and shoot very well!!

Valmet made "field guns", and also "trap and skeet models". They made "cased sets" that had multible bbl sets!! Also, you have a choise of "single selective", or "double triggers", choke tubes, and other features!

These are very well made guns for a reasonable used price, and if you find one that hasn't been abused, your kids will still be useing it after your long gone!!

Drilling Man

Ruddyduck

Buying what fits and feels good is the bet advice.
There as so many Quality O/U's to choose from. Browning, Beretta,H&K,SKB,Weatherby etc. Handle a many as possible then decide.
I'm lefty also , most O/U's come with nuetral cast today and opening lever is a non issue as well as the safety,they are easy enough worked by either right or left shooters. If you need some cast on the stock can always be bent buy someone who knows what they are doing and stands behind thier work.