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Can I tell much of a difference? Shotgun advice please

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Cleveraction
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Can I tell much of a difference? Shotgun advice please

Post by Cleveraction » Mon Mar 21, 2022 4:09 pm

Hey all! I have a spot left in my gun cabinet...I want to scratch that itch. I don't have a shotgun and am thinking about a 12 ga. I looked at some O/Us but am leaning toward a pump/semi. For my uses... a little waterfowl, upland birds, clays and maybe slugs to 100 yards I am wondering if I will be able to tell the difference at price points. Here is what I am looking at from low to high in terms of price (all with wood furniture).

Win SXP field $400
Rem 870 $500
Weatherby Element $625
CZ 1012 $640
Franchi Affinity 3 (though someone mentioned there is a plastic trigger guard? ugh.) $899
Beretta A400 $1300

I have one child (8) who has shown no interest in shooting so far, so while the Beretta could be more of a pass down I am not sure that will be a reality. The CZ/Weatherby seem to be in the sweet spot and look nice (and I was kind of hankering for a CZ when I bought my Savage BNS-SR .22), but will I be able to tell any practical diff between that and the 870? This will probably be my least used long gun, but I want something reasonably nice. If you guys have thoughts/experience with any of these I would love to hear it.

Thank you!
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GFK
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Re: Can I tell much of a difference? Shotgun advice please

Post by GFK » Mon Mar 21, 2022 4:41 pm

I paid $440 for my Benelli Tactical Nova, about $40 more than I wanted to paid for a shotgun. My goal was home defense. But, deer hunting was a thought. Nonetheless, I am happy with it. I thought about a semi-auto. Yet, it cost more than I was willing to spend. However, I have shot a semi-auto, and it was sweet: low recoil and not pumping.
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Re: Can I tell much of a difference? Shotgun advice please

Post by BigAl52 » Mon Mar 21, 2022 5:18 pm

Cleveraction wrote:
Mon Mar 21, 2022 4:09 pm
Hey all! I have a spot left in my gun cabinet...I want to scratch that itch. I don't have a shotgun and am thinking about a 12 ga. I looked at some O/Us but am leaning toward a pump/semi. For my uses... a little waterfowl, upland birds, clays and maybe slugs to 100 yards I am wondering if I will be able to tell the difference at price points. Here is what I am looking at from low to high in terms of price (all with wood furniture).

Win SXP field $400
Rem 870 $500
Weatherby Element $625
CZ 1012 $640
Franchi Affinity 3 (though someone mentioned there is a plastic trigger guard? ugh.) $899
Beretta A400 $1300

I have one child (8) who has shown no interest in shooting so far, so while the Beretta could be more of a pass down I am not sure that will be a reality. The CZ/Weatherby seem to be in the sweet spot and look nice (and I was kind of hankering for a CZ when I bought my Savage BNS-SR .22), but will I be able to tell any practical diff between that and the 870? This will probably be my least used long gun, but I want something reasonably nice. If you guys have thoughts/experience with any of these I would love to hear it.

Thank you!
Ive been in your area for 4 months. I bought a CZ Redhead Premier 20ga over and under. Nate at On Point Armory FFled in for me. He mentioned he had a few of them himself and I would really like this gun. You might check with him on a shotgun. I do really like the gun and I am thinking about buying the target model. Been shooting skeet at the Corpus Christi gun club a couple times a week. Going tomorrow.
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Re: Can I tell much of a difference? Shotgun advice please

Post by JEBar » Mon Mar 21, 2022 5:26 pm

at one time or another we've owned 12 gauges with about possible every action .... the reality is, being designed for their action to take part of the shotgun's recoil to operate their actions, semi-autos will have considerably less felt recoil .... for that reason, my go to shotgun is a Remington 11-87 .... you can pick up a very good preowned one in the price range you have mentioned ....
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Cleveraction
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Re: Can I tell much of a difference? Shotgun advice please

Post by Cleveraction » Mon Mar 21, 2022 5:29 pm

BigAl52 wrote:
Mon Mar 21, 2022 5:18 pm
Cleveraction wrote:
Mon Mar 21, 2022 4:09 pm
Hey all! I have a spot left in my gun cabinet...I want to scratch that itch. I don't have a shotgun and am thinking about a 12 ga. I looked at some O/Us but am leaning toward a pump/semi. For my uses... a little waterfowl, upland birds, clays and maybe slugs to 100 yards I am wondering if I will be able to tell the difference at price points. Here is what I am looking at from low to high in terms of price (all with wood furniture).

Win SXP field $400
Rem 870 $500
Weatherby Element $625
CZ 1012 $640
Franchi Affinity 3 (though someone mentioned there is a plastic trigger guard? ugh.) $899
Beretta A400 $1300

I have one child (8) who has shown no interest in shooting so far, so while the Beretta could be more of a pass down I am not sure that will be a reality. The CZ/Weatherby seem to be in the sweet spot and look nice (and I was kind of hankering for a CZ when I bought my Savage BNS-SR .22), but will I be able to tell any practical diff between that and the 870? This will probably be my least used long gun, but I want something reasonably nice. If you guys have thoughts/experience with any of these I would love to hear it.

Thank you!
Ive been in your area for 4 months. I bought a CZ Redhead Premier 20ga over and under. Nate at On Point Armory FFled in for me. He mentioned he had a few of them himself and I would really like this gun. You might check with him on a shotgun. I do really like the gun and I am thinking about buying the target model. Been shooting skeet at the Corpus Christi gun club a couple times a week. Going tomorrow.
Just missed you! We moved up to Hill Country in June. Hope all is well in Corpus and glad you are enjoying the Redhead!
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Re: Can I tell much of a difference? Shotgun advice please

Post by Rifletom » Mon Mar 21, 2022 6:41 pm

Cleaveraction, both the Weatherby Element and CZ 1012 are inertia operated semi's, where as the Beretta a400 is gas operated. Gas recoils even less than inertia guns. If you're good with the a400 price, that is the one. Doubt you'd be disappointed. Really, no flies on any choices, maybe the 870. Older 870's, yes all day; newer one's, more than likely a hard pass. Hope this helps a little.
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Re: Can I tell much of a difference? Shotgun advice please

Post by North Country Gal » Mon Mar 21, 2022 7:49 pm

Back in my bird hunting days, I learned the hard way the importance of gun fit with a shotgun, so unless you have experience with a certain model, try to inspect before you buy.

Back in the day, I owned and shot every pump gun there was, but the one that worked the best for me was the 870. Then I tried the 1100 and fell in love.

CZ double shotguns (made in Turkey by Huglu for CZ) are pretty guns, but be double sure to inspect before you buy. Triggers can be very heavy and actions are sometimes very stiff and hard to open. Finish can sometimes be spotty. A Browning they are not. At this price point, reliability favors a pump or autoloader. This from experience.
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Re: Can I tell much of a difference? Shotgun advice please

Post by Rifletom » Mon Mar 21, 2022 8:07 pm

North Country Gal wrote:
Mon Mar 21, 2022 7:49 pm
Back in my bird hunting days, I learned the hard way the importance of gun fit with a shotgun, so unless you have experience with a certain model, try to inspect before you buy.

Back in the day, I owned and shot every pump gun there was, but the one that worked the best for me was the 870. Then I tried the 1100 and fell in love.

CZ double shotguns (made in Turkey by Huglu for CZ) are pretty guns, but be double sure to inspect before you buy. Triggers can be very heavy and actions are sometimes very stiff and hard to open. Finish can sometimes be spotty. A Browning they are not. At this price point, reliability favors a pump or autoloader. This from experience.
This is some very good advice. Thanks NCG!
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Cleveraction
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Re: Can I tell much of a difference? Shotgun advice please

Post by Cleveraction » Mon Mar 21, 2022 8:11 pm

North Country Gal wrote:
Mon Mar 21, 2022 7:49 pm
Back in my bird hunting days, I learned the hard way the importance of gun fit with a shotgun, so unless you have experience with a certain model, try to inspect before you buy.

Back in the day, I owned and shot every pump gun there was, but the one that worked the best for me was the 870. Then I tried the 1100 and fell in love.

CZ double shotguns (made in Turkey by Huglu for CZ) are pretty guns, but be double sure to inspect before you buy. Triggers can be very heavy and actions are sometimes very stiff and hard to open. Finish can sometimes be spotty. A Browning they are not. At this price point, reliability favors a pump or autoloader. This from experience.
Thanks for the advice, I did look at https://cz-usa.com/product/cz-redhead-premier/ but it sounds like the higher end stuff gets me past my price points in a hurry. If this pulls a little duty as home defense I wouldn't mind the extra capacity. I appreciate your thoughts! Why do they always seem to quit making the stuff we like the best?!
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Re: Can I tell much of a difference? Shotgun advice please

Post by GFK » Mon Mar 21, 2022 8:33 pm

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