New Clay Gun Purchase

[Livez]

Hello All,

Newbie here after advice. I have been clay shooting a couple of times
in the last year and have decided to get into the sport.

I have been offered a Beretta Silver Pigeon S 687, 28", Fixed Choke 1/4
& 1/2. Should be about £600. The gun is in great condition and feels
good. I am going for a test shoot with it tomorrow. I understand that
it is technically a game gun, don't really understand the differences.

Just after opinions re it suitability for Clay shooting, what to look
out for re second hand gun etc.

On previous occasions I shot with my brothers Silver Pigeon 30" with
multi choke. Did quite well with it, if I had a complaint it became a
bit heavy.

Thanks

[Dave P]

"Livez" <***@ntlworld.com> wrote in message news:***@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com...
Hello All,

Newbie here after advice. I have been clay shooting a couple of times
in the last year and have decided to get into the sport.

I have been offered a Beretta Silver Pigeon S 687, 28", Fixed Choke 1/4
& 1/2. Should be about £600. The gun is in great condition and feels
good. I am going for a test shoot with it tomorrow. I understand that
it is technically a game gun, don't really understand the differences.

Just after opinions re it suitability for Clay shooting, what to look
out for re second hand gun etc.

On previous occasions I shot with my brothers Silver Pigeon 30" with
multi choke. Did quite well with it, if I had a complaint it became a
bit heavy.

Thanks
Game guns tend to be lighter but as with all light guns the recoil you will
feel will be greater than a heavier sporter. The heavier a gun is the more
recoil it soaks up. Therefore a long day on the clays with a game gun will
tend to be noticed in the shoulder.

If clay shooting is to be your thing you're limiting yourself with fixed
chokes. Clay disciplines need different chokes. Skeet for example is a close
target so very open chokes help. Down The Line needs tighter chokes as the
targets are further away.

Gun fit is more important than any other factor.

I'd leave it in favour of a multichoke gun.

Dave

[Sarah Cooper]

Post by Dave P
I'd leave it in favour of a multichoke gun.
Dave

seconded. It's also quite handy to practice tightly choked (assuming not
DTL), then loosen up for a competition. If you are /very/ new, I would be
tempted to bung in 1/4 1/4 or better still even skeet, skeet, and not
worry about it until you get used to it, then fiddle about with chokes
once you have the angles and basics sorted out. I started off with a game
gun and didn't progress nearly as quickly as my SO who had multichoke to
start with. Also a silver pidge for 600 sounds like an incredible bargain
or more likely a bit knackered to me YVMV, go with multichoke..

[Livez]

Thanks. So multi choke is the ideal way to go, but how big a deal is
it.

This fixed choke gun I have been offered is just 3 years old and looks
in great nick.
It is available to me via a friend of a friend and I am told it is
around the trade price. With that in mind, should I still hold out for
a multi choke or could this be a good buy for me.

[Livez]

PS any idea what the new price for this gun is.
I have looked but find it very difficult to differentiate between
models.

Thanks again..

[+.com (A.Lee)]

Post by Livez
PS any idea what the new price for this gun is.
I have looked but find it very difficult to differentiate between
models.

They are £1500ish new.
I looked at them around a month ago, but they seemed a little
lightweight to me compared to a similar priced Browning, I bought the
Browning eventually.
The fixed chokes is a bit of a downer, but I dont think you should go
and buy it without trying out different makes and models of guns.
Even though some guns have a similar spec on paper, when you hold them,
they are completely different.
Alan.

[Dave P]

Post by +.com (A.Lee)

Post by Livez
PS any idea what the new price for this gun is.
I have looked but find it very difficult to differentiate between
models.

They are £1500ish new.
I looked at them around a month ago, but they seemed a little
lightweight to me compared to a similar priced Browning, I bought the
Browning eventually.
The fixed chokes is a bit of a downer, but I dont think you should go
and buy it without trying out different makes and models of guns.
Even though some guns have a similar spec on paper, when you hold them,
they are completely different.
Alan.

The S version is the most basic. My Silver Pig 2, 32", multichoke is listed
as £1600 new though I got it new for £995.

I've seen lots of 2nd hand Silver Pigeons, multichokes, for this price. Saw
a cracker with Derek Lee gunshop in Lincs, SIlver Pig 3, 30", Multi, oiled
wood, mint- £995

Dave

[Tim Guy]

Post by Livez
Thanks. So multi choke is the ideal way to go, but how big a deal is
it.
This fixed choke gun I have been offered is just 3 years old and looks
in great nick.
It is available to me via a friend of a friend and I am told it is
around the trade price. With that in mind, should I still hold out for
a multi choke or could this be a good buy for me.

I have to say that the Remington/Baikal Spartan SPR310 that I bought for a
friend whos just started shooting is a bleedin bargain. £399 for a 28" 4
choke (Improved Cylinder, Modified, Improved Modified, Full) brand new / 3
year warranty. OK the finish isn't stunning but as a work horse gun you
really cant see why you'd want to commit to an unknown gun. Dont get me
know, its not chineese air rifle shoody, all the woods unmarked and the
metal is spotless.

http://www.remington.com/Products/Firearms/Shotguns/SPR%5Fmodels/

We went to the South West Ground for a weekends shoot. My friend shot a 15
out of 100 first day with the Mod and Full chokes. We stuck the Imp and
Modified chokes in Sunday, he got 35 and on on Monday he for a 43.

Open Chokes for beginners in a must Id say.

Tim

[David Christensen]

*Date:* Wed, 08 Mar 2006 20:03:35 GMT

Post by Livez
Thanks. So multi choke is the ideal way to go, but how big a deal is
it.
This fixed choke gun I have been offered is just 3 years old and looks
in great nick.
It is available to me via a friend of a friend and I am told it is
around the trade price. With that in mind, should I still hold out for
a multi choke or could this be a good buy for me.

I have to say that the Remington/Baikal Spartan SPR310 that I bought
for a friend whos just started shooting is a bleedin bargain. £399 for
a 28" 4 choke (Improved Cylinder, Modified, Improved Modified, Full)
brand new / 3 year warranty. OK the finish isn't stunning but as a work
horse gun you really cant see why you'd want to commit to an unknown
gun. Dont get me know, its not chineese air rifle shoody, all the woods
unmarked and the metal is spotless.
http://www.remington.com/Products/Firearms/Shotguns/SPR%5Fmodels/
We went to the South West Ground for a weekends shoot. My friend shot
a 15 out of 100 first day with the Mod and Full chokes.

A beginner with Mod and Full?????

Get them Skeet and Skeet for 6 months.

IMHO

DC

[David Christensen]

*Date:* 8 Mar 2006 11:03:14 -0800
Thanks. So multi choke is the ideal way to go, but how big a deal is
it.
This fixed choke gun I have been offered is just 3 years old and looks
in great nick.
It is available to me via a friend of a friend and I am told it is
around the trade price. With that in mind, should I still hold out for
a multi choke or could this be a good buy for me.

The right gun at retail price will be much much better for you than the
wrong gun for nothing. Shoot a gun for a year, look after it well, and
sell it, and it will cost you at most a few hundred pounds in
depreciation. Your shooting over a year [at say 100 per week] will cost
you maybe ten times as much. *Don't* buy the first gun you see - shoot
many, get to appreciate the difference between different guns, then buy
the first one that you *then* think is a natural extension of your body.

Preferrably a multi-choke natural extension of your body :)

DC

[Livez]

I went for a shoot today with this gun and an instructor.
It all felt pretty good, but as I have nothing to really compare the
experience with I have decided to wait and try other guns before making
a decision. Had it not been for all the advice I would have been
carried away by the moment and bought it.
Reading these posts has helped me take a more considered approach, so
many thanks. Will let you know when I'm looking at the next one,
probably with multi chokes!

[Dave P]

Post by Livez
I went for a shoot today with this gun and an instructor.
It all felt pretty good, but as I have nothing to really compare the
experience with I have decided to wait and try other guns before making
a decision. Had it not been for all the advice I would have been
carried away by the moment and bought it.
Reading these posts has helped me take a more considered approach, so
many thanks. Will let you know when I'm looking at the next one,
probably with multi chokes!

If the gun feels right you could blow another £400 on top of the price and
have multichokes put in it!

Dave

[David Christensen]

*Date:* Fri, 10 Mar 2006 07:08:54 -0000

Post by Livez
I went for a shoot today with this gun and an instructor.
It all felt pretty good, but as I have nothing to really compare the
experience with I have decided to wait and try other guns before making
a decision. Had it not been for all the advice I would have been
carried away by the moment and bought it.
Reading these posts has helped me take a more considered approach, so
many thanks. Will let you know when I'm looking at the next one,
probably with multi chokes!

If the gun feels right you could blow another £400 on top of the price
and have multichokes put in it!

Or just keep looking a bit longer...
How many have you {Peter) shot that didn't feel right? And do you know
why they felt wrong?

DC

[Livez]

Only really had the chance to shoot 2 guns, neither felt wrong, just
thought I should shoot as many as possible before making a choice.

[David Christensen]

*Date:* 10 Mar 2006 14:14:32 -0800
Only really had the chance to shoot 2 guns, neither felt wrong, just
thought I should shoot as many as possible before making a choice.

I agree entirely. If you're ever near Cambridge, give me a shout and try
mine!

DC

[Livez]

Thanks for the offer David. If I find myself that way I will look you
up.