Best shotgun for beginners shooting clays?

**DrillNFill** · April 18th, 2013, 11:10 PM

Hi everyone,
I'm normally a rifle and pistol guy, but lately my wife and I have wanted to start shooting clays at the shotgun range. Nothing serious or competitive, just for fun. I haven't shot clays in about 15-20 years so I'm pretty rusty. Wife has never done it but she showed an interest after watching some family members enjoying it, so I want to strike while the iron is hot

A few questions:
1 my wife is recoil senstive, so should we get a 20 gauge to start with?

2 is a pump action like an 870 OK for casual skeet shooting? I know an over/under is like the gold standard but I wanna try to contain costs somewhat.
Would a pump action be in "poor taste"?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

**Lycanthrope** · April 18th, 2013, 11:46 PM

The reason for using the over/under is due to being able to suit the choke pattern to the shot you need to make. "Clays" is a general term. Skeet is a lot different than sporting clays.

A gas operated semi-auto will be the softest shooter. I find pump guns to kick a bit harder than the over/unders. A youth model will be lightest if that's an issue, but light weight increases felt recoil.

I also think a 20 kicks as hard as a 12 if you use reduced or light loads in the 12....and you sacrifice pellets.

Under $600 a decent 11/87 with a shorter barrel is a soft shooter (although most favor longer barrels for easier pointing). There are also some cheaper over/unders like the Stoeger Condor.

Lycanit'sastartthrope

**knight0334** · April 19th, 2013, 10:54 AM

Pumps are usable, but suffer from reloading time and accidental loading issues like FTE, FTF, user forgetting to pump the gun, short stroking the slide, etc.

Semiauto's can still suffer from a FTE, FTF, or a short cycle.

Thus is why O/U's and SxS's are preferred. Plus what Lycanthrope mentioned about having an additional choke to select. A closer faster moving clay - you might want a looser choke. A further slower clay - you might want a tighter choke. With a multi-barrel shotgun, you can cater to such things.

However, it is possible to use anything. I saw a guy using a single shot on some clays years ago at a place along SR119 below Punxy(place is now closed). He was able to bust a clay, reload, then nail the next with that single shot.

**BDRATC** · April 20th, 2013, 05:31 PM

I have just recently started shooting skeet myself, and I use my 870 12ga. I don't find it to be a nuisance and so far, neither has anyone that I've shot with. YMMV, but I have gotten to the point where when I shot my friend's 11-87, I was actually a bit thrown off by the action cycling rather than having to rack the gun. Unless you start to get really serious about it, I think the 870 is just fine for what you're asking about.

**SauerGrapes** · April 20th, 2013, 06:11 PM

Find a decent semi auto. Gas operated semis are best for recoil.
Problem with pumps is that they are a fixed breech gun and lighter than O/Us'. Operating a slide on a pump shooting skeet can be fun, but it's hard work.
I assume you won't be reloading so I see nothing wrong with buying a 20ga gas gun. Yes, you can buy low recoil 12ga loads, but they do get pricey depending on how much your going to shoot. If you aren't shooting a lot, the difference in price will be minimal.

Beretta has couple entry level semis in the $600 range. {3901, I forget the new one they came out with}. You can also find some nice deals on used Browning Golds and Silvers in the $600 range. Remington 1187 and sporting 1100 are always a safe bet. Old technology, but they work.
If you want to spend more, nothing compares to the Beretta 391 for clay shooting in respect to semi autos. Even the synthethic models are close to $900 though.
Just make sure whatever you buy has interchangable choke tubes. {used}

I don't think a pump will make your wife want to shoot clays. They can be hard to manipulate. Why complicate the process by having to shuck a pump.
Remember, hard focus on the target, not the gun.
Good luck and have fun.
Check out www.shotgunworld.com. Everything you ever wanted to know about shotguns can be found there. They also have a classified section for guns.

**SkeetShooter145** · April 22nd, 2013, 12:09 PM

Originally Posted by DrillNFill

Hi everyone,
I'm normally a rifle and pistol guy, but lately my wife and I have wanted to start shooting clays at the shotgun range. Nothing serious or competitive, just for fun. I haven't shot clays in about 15-20 years so I'm pretty rusty. Wife has never done it but she showed an interest after watching some family members enjoying it, so I want to strike while the iron is hot

A few questions:
1 my wife is recoil senstive, so should we get a 20 gauge to start with?

2 is a pump action like an 870 OK for casual skeet shooting? I know an over/under is like the gold standard but I wanna try to contain costs somewhat.
Would a pump action be in "poor taste"?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I use my reminton 870 with a 28 inch barrel and a skeet choke from carlson's and I love it. I do very well with it, I just have to remember to rack the slide after each time I pull the trigger. I just bought a Fausti O/U and it seems I am more accurate with the remington, but it will take time to get used to the O/U