Favorite clays gun

[tgaines]

ok guys, lets hear it!
we all have our fav's, but i wonder if any names will show up consistantly?

my personal experiance is limited to rem 1100's and beretta 390's, of which i prefer the latter due to it's reduced recoil.

also, what are the best bargain guns for beginners? :lol:

[VSSF]

Just put on the bird barrel and skeet choke and had a 40 ave. for sporting clays.haven't shot since I moved to VA.

[Graybeard]

Not sure I can say I have or ever had "A" favorite clays guns.

Since I have shot and to some much lesser extent still do shoot all the standard clays games and a few most of you have never even heard of no one gun would do the job anyway. But here are some of the ones I used to own and sure wish I hadn't let go.

1. Trap. I had a Winchester Model 12 Y model I think they were called. Made after the shutdown of production on the orginal Model 12s. It was set up as a trap gun with monte carlo stock and I shot that old gun on trap targets better than any gun I've ever owned before or since. Like a fool I sold it to my cousin when I bought a Browning single barrel trap gun (BT99 I think?) and then found I couldn't hit squat with the Browning. Oh well. We used to play a game at my Skeet/Trap range which I owned that was shot from 37 yards behind the trap. Five shots. Best of five takes everyone's money as it was a money game pure and simple. That old gun is the only one that ever broke all five from the 37 yard line.

2. Skeet. Tough call here as I've owned several O/Us I really shot well and really wish I had back. There was the old Ted Williams branded Win. 101 with 28" barrels that started life as M/F but I had opened to SK and IC. Man I shot that gun like none I've ever owned before or since. Like a fool I traded it in on a Ruger Red Label when they first came out. Couldn't hit the side of a barn with the Ruger and got rid of it soon. The fellow who bought the TW lives only a couple miles up the road from me but it was stolen from him. He had promised it back to me when he tired of it but it was stolen first.

Then there were the Remington 3200s. I had four of them. Man I shot those guns well also. The one I really wish I had back was again a 28" gun that started life as a M/F field gun. I had it opened to SK and IC and me and it went to town on the clays. Almost as good as the TW but I never made quite as long a runs with it as the TW. Shot some 100s but never made the long runs like the TW.

Then there was the Belgian Browning three barrel set (20/28/.410). Nice. Really did well with that set. Especially the 28 ga. which was always my favorte skeet gauge. Once I came in late to a shoot they were holding at Fort McClellan which was my local club back then after I sold my skeet range and the folks who bought it closed it down. Some military guys were running a shoot of their own and agreed to let me join in. They had just finished shooting the 28 ga. competition but said if I wanted to shoot for gun champion only and thought I could beat the 97/100 already posted to have at it. I did and was gun champion. I liked that set. Sure wish I'd kept it but sold it to a dealer for more than I had in it after it was pretty darn near ready for a factory over haul.

I can't foret the first 28 ga. I ever had and the one that taught me to love the gauge. It was an old Rem. 870 pump with 25" IC barrel. I put a match weight screw on attachment Remington made in those days on it, filled it with lead shot for weight up front and shot more good scores with it than any gun I've own in the gauge really. I shot it for 28, 20 and many times 12 ga. in registered matches. Sure ran a lot of 98s and 99s with it but never broke 100 with it. Gave it up when I picked up the three barrel set and sure wish I hadn't.

I've owned a lot of others and still have some that I do well with. But that's the ones I've let go that I really wish I had back and if there is such a thing as a favorite for me it has to be among that list.

GB

[Smokem]

Beretta model# 685 it was my fathers. Winchester model#120. The Beretta is strictly for the clay. The Winchester is my "do all" gun clay, ducks, turkey, goose, upland game. and deer too (fully rifled slug barrel).

[Bob_K]

Trap: 32" Browning Citori Golden Clays
Skeet: 26" Grade V Browning Citori with Briley Lite Weight Tubes
Hunting:  Remington 11-87 SuperMag 12 3.5", also 11-87 Premier, also 1100 w/Hastings fully rifled barrel.

Started Trap & Skeet with 11-87 Trap & Skeet guns, but found I liked the O/U for ease of catching my empties, plus the Brownings fit so well.  Had to sell my National Match Super Heavy Barrel M1A to afford the Brownings, but the knees were shot and could not go rapidfire standing to sitting any more without risk of knee lockup.  First Browning Trap gun was a hunting grade 30" modified for Trap.  First Browning Skeet was a standard grade 26".  Later upgraded both to fancier models.

[Grumpy]

Skeet: toss up Browning Citori with Kolar tube set or an Ithica model 51 for Olympic targets.

Trap: Model 12 Winchester

Sporting Clays still looking.