Gun advice
 

What is everyone's go to for waterfowl? I just started getting serious with it and purchased a Stoeger m3500 for this past season and it has served me well with only a few hiccups. I am passing the idea around to possibly upgrade and hand this one to my boy or wife for when they comes with me.

Somebody with more experience will come along shortly to give sage advice. I bought my son a Benelli Nova 12 gauge this fall to hunt with. He used it with no problems. Good luck.

I have gone from a Remington 870 to a Browning B80 and now use a Benelli Super Eagle. All in 12 ga.

I don't think there's a wrong answer here. Just depends on what you want and the budget!

Things are crazy in gun shops right now but I'd try to get to a big one and handle a few options and see what feels right. Allot of shooting a shotgun well really comes down to how it fits you.

-Jake

I started off with a Remington 870, switched over to a Benelli Super Black Eagle. Now the 870 is back to my main gun after a particularly cold wet day kept freezing the bolt up on the Benelli, while my buddy and his Mossberg kept going. And I have found that I am actually faster with the pump than I am with the semi.

Same thing happened to the Stoeger. It would go click and strike the primer but very soft. The round would go off but not all the powder would burn and the wad wouldn't make it out the barrel. Wonder if its a flaw of the inertia system? I gave it a good cleaning and didn't have anymore single digit mornings and never had another problem. Even took a spill in the thick mud in Cali and still worked well after rinsing it off in the marsh lol.

Being I have been more of a rifle shooter and even though I have owned and shot shotguns in the past I really don't know what to look for in the right fit? I get it turkey hunting as you pretty much shoot it like a rifle but in bird/wing shooting what should I look for? I have shouldered several different makes and other than weight and a few with shorter length of pulls I am not sure I would be able to tell without actually shooting.

Unfortunately most of the gun shops here are all about sales so even if I asked their advice I'm not too confident they would give an honest answer and try to push me toward the most expensive model lol.

https://www.nrafamily.org/articles/2...-fit-a-shotgun

This link will give you a little more in depth answer.

For most people you don't really need to overthink it. If you pick up 5 different shotguns, shoulder them several times each, you will likely feel a few that feel really natural and a few that you feel like you're searching for the bead. It should shoulder naturally and the sights should come into your line of sight. If you are having to search for the sights ( raise, lower, tilt your head) to find them then something isn't fitting correctly.

Keep in mind that if you try the guns out in a shop while wearing flip flops and a t-shirt it might (it WILL) feel a little different when you are dressed for 5deg weather.

Manufactures make a general fit that fits most of the population. But there are still slight variances between them that you may prefer by handling lots of guns. VS just taking recommendations online.

I PERSONALLY prefer a pump. For it's reliability and simplicity and just because that's what I grew up shooting and have thousands of rounds through. But there are lots of auto loaders out there with pretty good track records as well.

-Jake

My question here would be how serious do you plan to get on waterfowl?
and what loads do you plan to shoot
2-3/4"-3" or 3.5 inch??
and are you wanting a gun that will hunt other things?

or be a strictly a waterfowl gun
dedicated to steel shot and likes?

I mean I will never say I was a Die hard duck/goose hunter, but I have traveled a lot of places chasing them and hunting them

But I simply used a shotgun I already had and just made it work
none of the geese or ducks i shot I think noticed LOL

I simply used a rem 11/87, and has a extra barrel camo coated, and a good choke ( forget what exact model) that gave me good patterns with the round of my using!

then if I wanted to hunt other things with same gun, I was just swapping barrels

but I think you can do this to about any gun you like, as long a sit cycles your round of choice
so many options on chokes these days, one can make things better by swapping them to match your load!

I would want a gun that fits ME better, than buying one that is claimed to be a better so called waterfowl gun?
thing one might want in a dedicated waterfowl gun, would be a durable finish
which again, can be added to a gun you already have if wanted

when you get into more true dedicated design 3.5 guns, the price tags rice up and like most higher end guns, they tend to work well, but fit is more what is an individual deal maker or breaker
so, its about going and handling them and see what you like best

all the top guns from brand name makers are GOOD shotguns these days!, many models have been around a LONG time due to this reason

NOW if your not sure what a GOOD fitting shotgun is or means
I'd suggest going to a GOOD gun shop that has a good shooting instructor that can show you , while your there while holding different guns to see and know what and where things are off , so you get the info and understand it better

but everyone has what they feel is GOOD for hem when shouldering things

basically I tell folks, see how things feel when you shoulder gun with your eyes closed and then open them, after settled in
where are sights, where is your hand on stock, shoulder on stock, cheek on stock, finger on trigger, safety?

the more things that line up for you the better fitting the gun maybe is for you!

keep in mind that when shouldering guns in shops, make sure your wearing like clothing you will be hunting in
as layers of clothes can sure change how a gun fits you!

I would also suggest this,
when your buying a HIGHER end shotgun, its worth yourt time and $$ to find a GOOD shop that knows shotgun and fitting of them

there are shops that cater to HIGHER end shotguns, and stock hundreds if not thousands of them in stock(I know of a few, but none in your area) think places that cater to sporting clay and skeet shooters on a larger level!


but going to a shop like this, that has tons of high end over under/side by sides
you tend to get more knowledgeable folks on shotgun fitting!
not to mention you get top FEEL the differences in designs in shotgun stocks!

when I had my shop, I sent a LOT of buyers to a shop about 5 hours away from em to go see and handle and select a gun that fit them
some DID buy there, MANY came back to me and I ordered the gun for them!
as honestly, many shops that stock THAT much high end inventory, have HIGHER price tags than I did on same guns!
so, I never was scared to send a customer to another shop,
the customer typically won, they got to learn and handle guns they were considering before buying, making sure it fit and they wanted it
they also got to see a selection of guns, most never even knew existed
and then came back to me to buy an save $$$ and got the gun of there dreams or one they just wanted that fit like a glove!

if you have any GOOD sporting clays courses near you, many of them places have good on sight shops that sell and know how to fit a GUN to you!
or know of shops that can
over just a basic gun shop/smith!

I am NOT a waterfowl guy. So I can't give any specific recommendations anyway.

How do you like the stoeger?

-Jake

That makes sense. Definitely not in a hurry. An all around gun would be nice but I have an 1100 I have used on doves and upland and recently got a nice winchester 20g as my go to turkey gun. So I guess the new family member could be a dedicated waterfowl gun with the option to change chokes to match the situation in case something else came up.

I went with the Stoeger M3500 to have that 3.5" capabilities just incase but I haven't really had a need to use it yet as 99% of my waterfowl loads this past season has been 3" and I have been knocking around the idea of maybe trying some bismuth in 2 3/4. I guess recoil could be an issue on follow up shots as well but I have only noticed that affecting me a little this past season.

Right now I have found that turkeys have overtaken deer as my passion but waterfowl was so much fun it may be right up there. Whether it will stay I couldn't be sure but man I had a blast trying for the different species. Would love to get after elk one of these days before I can't walk the mountains and from what I have been told it is like turkey hunting on steroids so I'm sure that would be up there too. I guess you could say hunting is my drug and I am addicted bad. Ha

...thats a shell issue, not the gun.
Soft strikes in the cold is usually oil on firing pin has thickened..don't oil pins
But the primer went off so....did you get your shells wet?

In my case, it wasn't soft strikes. The firing pin had no issues functioning. It was the bolt actually freezing to the point of not cycling. In essence I had a very expensive single shot.

I know that on late season elk hunts I completely spray out my bolt gun and run it dry, no oil.
My 1100 did the same as your semi a couple of times, went back to my 870 because I didn't want to shoot the semi dry..save it for quail and chukar where it's usually nice out.
The rotary bolt guns will ice up and stick, I have heard.
As of late, had issues with the 870..it's 35 years old and getting sloppy. Shells were sometimes sticking, gunsmith buddy said could be blahblahblahblah...picked up a Cynergy Wicked Wings on his recommendation, says it will be my last duck gun and then some.

Hey Kelly I used a Rem 11-87SP 3" 12 ga for many years then went to a rem 870SP 3 1/2" 12 ga. I've shot a lot of duck and geese with both in addition to a few turkeys. I still have the 870 but I also Purchased a Franchi Intensity which is the same operation system as the Benelli Super Eagle (both owned by the same company) for a couple hundred dollars less than the Benelli. Unfortunately overlapping hunting seasons and taking out grandkids hunting have stymied my waterfowl hunting for a couple years so I can't tell you how the Franchi performs.

Any gun and any choke will work as long as you pattern the gun and try different ammo. I use a biakal MP-153 and used to be sold on Hevi-steel B's but once I patterned it I found out why I missed a lot of ducks. I found Kent #1's pattern great in my gun and factory chokes and I use BB's for resident only hunting.

You don't need an expensive gun or after marlet chokes, but you need to pattern them to see how they are shooting various loads you put in them.

One thing I did forget to mention. Waterfowl hunting can be hard on a gun. If not in a case it can get jostled around in a boat. (hopefully its unloaded), gets mud on it just because of the surroundings, dogs come out of the water and shake themselves off on it Be extra careful of a dog's saliva. It will rust a gun fast.
A good cleaning and total wipe down and sometimes strip down is necessary on a daily basis.. Sometimes you may even have to take it down and wipe it in the blind.
I remember one time I was hunting a spot were a small creek emptied into the river. I only had 4 dekes out and I was getting ready to leave. I slung the shotgun over my shoulder and grabbed my decoy bag. Water was about waste deep. As I got close to my decoys I saw a small group of ducks coming down the river. I bent over grabbed my call and gave a few notes to them. They turned locked their wings and were coming right in. At about 40 yards I reached for my slung shotgun and it slipped off my shoulder (an Ithaca Mag 10 at the time) and dropped into the water. I grabbed it, dumped the water out of the barrel and folded a pair of those black ducks. One of those memories you never forget.

Ended up replacing the firing pin spring and all is good. Still ended up purchasing a SBE3 for myself and an Beretta A300 Ultima for the wifey. Both seem to be awesome once fitted correctly. Only downside with the A300 is I had to remove the recoil reducer to get it to fit her and now it kicks quite a bit more than with it in. Guess I'll be shopping for a pad for it now ha.

Interesting. I have a Benelli Nova that wouldn't pattern steel shot or Hevi-Shot well. Actually, it didn't do that well with lead past 20-30 yards. I put in a Hevi-Shot aftermarket choke and it helped some. I didn't consider trying different sizes of shot, just used what I had on hand. May have to revisit that issue now.

Cal make sure you try the improved cyclinder CHOKE.
That made a huge difference in my SBE. I also dropped a supplied shim.to change the POI.
One thing most shooters dont do is pattern. They dont spend the time eith different manufactured loads and different chokes to really find the best pattern. If they did they would find most tmes the cheaper steel load is just fine.
i teach a class such as that for the state of Wisconsin offered rhru the DNR.
Do look at the Tom Roster's table.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...m-aYuUaEZYy5uv
That man has shot thousands of rounds from all the manufacturers with different shotgun choke combinatins at different yardages.
Taking the time to pattern at 30 and 40 yards will help understand your best POI.


JW

Pre duck season, a few of the guys would setup a claybird machine. A great way to get your eye In, we use steel No2 #3 field loads & modified choke. Clays are easy to hit at close range but the further away the target gets, the more lead you give & follow through with your target. Good shotguning.

Test post ******* test post

I attached a pattern of one I did years back. Hevi-steel B, full choke and Modified at 40 yards. I drew a duck size target and that is about a 30" circle. I was shocked how open my pattern was on Modifed. I could find one of the Kent 3" #1's I use now, but it was much more dense.

That said, a different round might work better in your Nova than did in my Baikal.

Try different shotgun shell brands and shot size, for that pellet density you prefer. Its challenging to place the shot pattern on the bird in flight, hopefully to get the best value out of your shotgun. I use a Beretta A300 Xtrema & maintain the shotgun myself, this model has 3:internal chokes Full, Modifd, and Imp:C. I can't use steel shot through a Full choke only Modified and Imp.cylinder, or purchase a after market external choke for steel shot.

Anyone who has their inertia shotgun freezing up in the extreme cold, it's because you are using the wrong oil. Switch to Birchwood's synthetic and only use a little and your problem will be solved. If you don't believe me, call Benelli customer service and they will tell you the same thing. Your new SBE should be awesome and a lot easier to clean than you Beretta but the Beretta is an awesome gun.

same heree! My first one was Remington 870:)