I'm looking to buy an all-purpose (clays, small game, upland bird) shotgun. I've got my heart set on an over/under, but don't have the budgetary guts to buy anything over $1000 (preferably well under that mark). I've seen a few things (positive and negative) about the Spartan (aka Baikal) shotguns. Does anyone care to give their opinions comparing the Spartan SPR310, the Stoeger Condor, and the Traditions Field I? Also, does anyone know the relative pricing for the new H&R Pinnacle, and have an opinion on it?

Thanks!

save your money until you can afford a good one.....IMO there are no good O/U shotguns under a grand.....most thrifty is a SKB 505 that can be bought for about a grand if you deal hard enough.....or get a used gun....Citori, SKB, 101.etc.....

Is your opinion based on experience with the guns I've mentioned, or just a personal feeling?

Don't know anything about the Spartan, but you might want to check out GunBroker.com. There's quite a few O/U shotguns there for around $1k, and several
for under that.
Link: http://www.gunbroker.com/

Go to firearms/shotguns link, and just type in, over under , in the search bar.

I love my Baikal o/u 12 guage. I know a lot of people with Benl's, Brwng's, etc. who leave them expensive bad boys at home in the safe and take their 300 Baikal to the range and field.

I've changed my mind on the sub $1000 O/Us recently after getting a chance to handle some of them. They usually have cheap stocks made of wood colored plastic, and the actions feel a little too tight, but other than that they look like decent guns. I still doubt that they will hold up as long as a Browning Citori, but for casual shooting or hunting, they should last a long time. I'm very interested in getting a EAA 20 guage SxS after looking at them.

If you shop carefully at Gun shows you can often find used Ruger O/U's for under 1000

Look around for a used Franchi they are a really nice gun and they usually run at a reasonable price.

eparvier, I've got a good deal on an O/U in the classifieds if you are interested. $1000 will get you a nice O/U, but for the casual shooter, something less expensive will allow you to shoot and see if you like an O/U. Email me if you want to talk about my gun [email protected]