which coachgun

[luckydawg13]

hello i would like to get a coachgun i would like to use it for cowboy action shooting
and small game hunting house gun too i put this hear because well you shoot them a lot
and i don't know a thing about them so witch coachgun would you get what works
like a work horse
thank you

[BUGEYE]

the stoeger coach gun has been around a long time with a good reputation.
that's what I would get.

[luckydawg13]

thanks bugeye
there is a used spartin at my gun shop and a new stoeger there for about $50. more
that why i asked I'm OK with used if it a good brand i hope i get a few more replays
to this post $400. is a lot to me right now to spend on a shotgun just wont it to last
thanks

[dukkillr]

I'd get a 97.  There really isn't anything good about a SxS.

[spruce]

SxS's are far and away the best action type for upland hunting - how's that for two divergent opinions?!!!  Unfortunately really dynamic handling SxS's aren't available in the price range you mention.
 
For the uses you mention I would probably look for a used Savage/Stevens/Springfield 311.  They were a durable, robust shotgun and should hold up well for your intended uses.

[luckydawg13]

i do have in old fox i can cut down i mite just do that
thanks guys

[BUGEYE]

one that I used to have was an ithaca model 100 20ga SxS.  great shotgun.

[Modoc]

Please don't cut down the Fox unless the barrels are damaged.  There are a finite number of vintage shotguns left. 

I have been happy with the Stoger, and the newer 12 gauges have screw in chokes, so you can set it up how you want it.  Personally, I would use the Fox as is.  For years, I was using a Stevens 225 with original barrels and having the chokes outweighed the long barrels.

Modoc

[jlchucker]

I can't speak for the Spartan because I've never owned one.  I do own two Baikal doubles which EAA imported before Remington came along and started calling what amounts to the same gun.  My Baikal 12 has served me very well indeed, with no trouble at all--and that includes shooting trap with it twice a week nearly every summer at my club. One member at the same club bought one with the coach gun 20 inch barrels and has used it quite frequently--also with no trouble at all. Maybe some gunsmith that's worked on both Baikal and Spartan variants can say, but the only difference may be that Remington slapped their own name on the same gun and jacked up the price by $100 or so.  I've heard that EAA may be importing them since Remington dropped the line.  Those guns are rugged, and don't have the fat forearm that you find on Stoegers.

[ipyrek]

Trying to go to the Stoeger web sight, keep getting an error report, anybody else having this problem ? Is there another websight with Stoeger info ? I would like to find out as much as possible about before I buy one.

[luckydawg13]

i can get on there web sight ok take a look at cz coachgun wow is that nice but $$$$
google stoeger look at side by side

[dukkillr]

I recently had the worst experience with CZ customer service that I have ever had with any product, gun or not, ever.  I would not use them, and I would not keep a CZ if you gave it to me.  The real crappy part is that their US repair facilities are only minutes from my office.  It should have been so convenient.

[ipyrek]

I've been looking for a Stoeger sxs, 20ga, Not a Supreme, so it may have fixed chokes, I think there IC/Mod. Does anyone know how well these patern and what range ?  Would like to have screw in chokes but not shure its worth paying extra for it.

[shaner]

i picked up a beat up stevens 311 refinished it  cut her down and polished off the last of the blueing, left it gray ,sprayed it with clear enamal paint  been shootin it for 8 yrs now
 

[jlchucker]

i do have in old fox i can cut down i mite just do that
thanks guys

The one shotgun that I wish I still had was a Fox Model B, twin trigger version.  After I bought it brand new, I didn't use it much because I instantly hated the fat forearm.  At that time (late 1980's), one could buy stocks and forearms for about any gun made, from a company whose name escapes me at this senior moment.  I called them, and ordered a semi-inletted one along with their standard, more slender forearm.  They asked a few questions over the phone, such as how tall I was, if I was left or right-handed, my approximate weight, etc., along with the make and model of my gun.  Also if I wanted an English blank or a pistol grip one, and if I wanted them to furnish/fit the buttpad.  Yep--and English stock all the way.  That was a winter project, and when I was done, my claybird score went from miserable to great all of a sudden.  I moved, and a co-worker talked me out of that little 26 inch Model B that I couldn't seem to miss with.  Those old Foxes, with decent wood, are great guns.  If you cut it down, you may want t ask a gunsmith (if you aren't one yourself) if what you have left can be fitted with choke tubes.  Good luck.  Wish I could remember the name of that stock company--they went out of business in the early 1990's.

[bilmac]

When I was shooting it became apparent to me that handling the shotgun well was about the most important way to improve scores. Almost everybody had problems with the scattergun. The guys who did well shook the empties out. I was learning to do this when I stopped shooting. The thing that aided this most was to use trap grade 8 fold shells. I was loading my own, I think high grade new shells would make things easier. I probably would have polished my chambers if I had continued.

[dukkillr]

Wish I could remember the name of that stock company--they went out of business in the early 1990's.

In this part of the country the only name in shotgun stocks was Fajen.  I haven't heard about them in awhile, and their website leads me to believe they have change ownership of focus.

[jlchucker]

Wish I could remember the name of that stock company--they went out of business in the early 1990's.

In this part of the country the only name in shotgun stocks was Fajen.  I haven't heard about them in awhile, and their website leads me to believe they have change ownership of focus.

That's exactly who it was!  Reinhart Fajen.  I ordered their catalog, and did business with them over the phone. My order was for only around $100 or so, but they treated me as well as if I were a big-time maker of custom shotguns that nobody but a zillionaire could afford--and they did offer wood for that market as well.  A super company that knew how to treat any and every customer.  I'm sorry they disappeared.  You could order about any kind of wood for any sort of firearm from them and get your product very timely. 

[Greg B.]

I bought a CZ hammer coach gun for CAS. Hammer guns are not the fastest shotguns if you want to win. Most use Win 97's or copy. However I have liked SxS hammer guns since I was a kid and here was my big chance. The only regret I have is that the ones with the full length barrels were not available when I bought mine. Now that I think od it I could still hunt with this one as I am not that great a shot anyway.
Greg B.