Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns A new o/u what brand?

Lately I have been thinking of getting an o/u shotgun. Had Browings, Ithaca's and a bunch of Beretta 's .. Saw a new Browning the other day, a field gun.. liked the slim lines compared to the ones I had in the90's.. Sold all my collection of doubles more than ten years ago.. Just thinking about it now.. Browning still good?

Just bought 2 of the new browning citori model o/u XT trap and the CX.IMHO great fit and finish.They are offering a rebate of $100 off per gun on the O/U models.Not sure of the date when it ends.I think you need to have it postmarked by april 15th.

Thanks! We are headed to the big Gun shop in Pa. next I hope..

Check out the franchi instinct

Still think Browning has the market for fit and finish for the money.

WCH: What gauge you looking for?

Battle, a 12.. i have so many factory loads for it I can't switch !

This. Browning has it all over the other guys for entry level O/U hands down.

Are you after a target gun?

Target 12: I would go with Beretta.

Field 12: I'm not partial to any of them, but if I had to choose it would be a Browning Feather or Beretta Ultralight.

Both kick a good bit with 1 1/8ths.

Thanks!

If it fits you. I live in Browning country, I like and own many Browning firearms, but I can't shoot a Browning O/U for crap. Beretta flies to the eye and feels great and I shoot the Beretta very well. I wish a Browning fit me as well.

My old 12 gauge Superposed Lightning doesn't fit me very well either. Good point.

Browning's fit me like a glove

I'm not an accomplished shotgunner, but the best shooting that I have ever done with an o/u was with a Winchester 101. I guess it just fit me VERY well.

I took my new instinct put last night for a couple rounds of 5 stand.

Having not shot the gun before I figured I'd be lucky to break 5.

First round i broke 20, 2md round 18 but it was beginning to be the time of day when targets were hard to see due to the sun, so I wandered over to the skeet field and broke 19.

It's a bit light for an all day clays gun, but should be he'll on wheels for pheasant and grouse

Beretta O/U fit some people. Other people say a browning fits them better. Try both. Both are good long term guns that can be handed down. Perazzi O/U are great and Krieghoffs are better. Just depends on what you want and how much you want to spend.

For conversation what makes a Krieghoff better than a Perazzi? Or a Beretta?

Or the bigger question what makes the Silver Seitz O/U shotgun better than a browning O/U shotgun.

I knew that would start questions and comments. Shotguns brands are probably them most subjective topic ever conceived for a internet discussion board. I believe a Browning/Beretta will break the same number of targets as a Perazzi/Krieghoff O/U. When I shot a Beretta, the comb was too high. I view guns as a tool, so I took a palm sander to the stock and made it fit. I tried Brownings 425,525,625 and 725's. The browning stock fit me better. Triggers on both guns were so so. I tried a friends Perazzi. Immediately I liked the feel of the gun, how it moved, and the triggers were phenomenal. I also noticed more felt recoil with the P gun.
Lastly I tried a K gun. Granted it is a heavier gun. Felt recoil was less than any of the previously mentioned guns. The triggers were great and it moved very well. I forgot to mention I started out my sporting clay shooting with a stock Beretta 391. I added 8 oz. of weight to the front and back of the gun to get it to my likes. But I just got off on a tangent. My friend's MX 2000 probably has ~150K of rounds thru the gun. He has sent the gun back ~4 times for major rework of the action (triggers falling out, action coming open after first shot, loose action to barrels fit) this was all due to large volume shooting. My K-80 is probably approaching the 100K mark and has only been sent in for standard service every couple of years. The metal hardness of the K gun vs. the P gun is the difference. I believe this is a contributing factor making the K gun a better high volume alternative. I do have ~80K thru the Beretta 391 I mentioned. For the individual that will never shoot more than 50K thru the gun, any shotgun will last multiple lifetimes. I guess that's why we have Fords, Chevy's and Dodges.

Asking for WCH to accept our taking this off track.

Have had them all and in multiple examples of each. Beretta will usually win the long term durability race. Oil and grease them and they just keep working with little else.

Perazzi was originally designed for the rigors of high volume international trap and skeet and have proven themselves more than adequate. Beretta the same. I would disagree that either has any issues with metal hardness compared to Krieghoff. I won't get into which of the three have the strongest metal because I don't know. Will say, again, that all three have proven themselves more than adequate by hard use in competitions where weakness quickly shows itself. Those that don't hold up, don't hang around long. When it comes to International Olympic trap/skeet, Beretta and Perazzi are the ones whose users get the medals hung around their neck, and almost exclusively.


Krieghoffs are fine shotguns and I've owned three over the years. Extremely well made and extremely complicated in the German way of doing. In fact, if they were not so well made they just wouldn't work. Springs here, springs there, etc.Perhaps the best triggers of the three for let off and almost infinitely adjustable with springs. Provided you have a smith that knows what they are doing. Going inside a Krieghoff is only for those who know where they are going.

Changing firing pins or spings (leaf or coil) on a Perazzi or Beretta is fairly straight forward. Couple pins and punches and they come out. Change the firing pins on a Krieghoff and they are pretty much the last part to be removed. Then all the springs and such need to go back together in the right order. Fine shotgun, but overly complicated to the extreme. To their credit, they undoubtedly have the best customer service. Browning, Beretta and Perazzi are not even close.

Currently shooting a Perazzi. Perhaps 40 thousand thru it presently and just replaced the firing pins. The tips were getting burnt. Opening lever is still right of center. Krieghoff recently changed the hardness of their firing pins because the Spanish shells that are now so popular were for some reason burning the tips quickly.


Krieghoffs are infamous for opening up after the first firing if one is out in the rain and there is a drop of oil under the sliding cover. Usually not all the way, but you can feel it coming open and then closing.

Most of the older farts who can swing a Krieghoff, can't swing the extra weight all that well. However, the LW fixed choke Parcours have gone a long way towards addressing that.

If your friend is having that many problems with his Perazzi it is definitely an exception. They are workhorses.


All three are great shotguns but after multiple examples of each, I'll take a Perazzi.

If I wanted a 20Ga competition shotgun. It just may be a Krieghoff. They got that one right.

When I was shooting a Beretta O/U, I started out with a 686 then changed to a 682. I never made it to the beefier DT but I suspect they would be a true workhorse. International skeet and bunker trap require fast movement to the target and weight would be an issue, so I agree with the Perazzi and even the LW Parcour. For sporting clays, I have never felt handicapped with the additional weight of the K gun. I am almost into the old fart category (hehe), but that may just be an excuse for the K20.

Had a DT-10 and shot it loose rather quickly. 4 years? Perhaps an example of one. Much prefer the 2 pin lock-up of the 600 series. Acquaintances have them and have pounded them hard with what seems little effect.

Have made the old fart category and then some. Super Vet, but not exactly sure where they come up with the Super part.
Whaaat? Super I showed up.

Anyway, the K 20 is sweet and excuses are nothing more than excuses.

Kinda like when someone wished Digweed good luck. His reply? "What's luck got to do with it?"

Very interesting! Keep on always interested in guns👌

I have 4 browning citoris all have been very reliable.Love to have a Beretta 686,Kolar or perazzi but being a old bastard on a retirement income thats not gonna happen.LOL

Battue
I was referencing the Super Vet. in the old fart remark. I am on the backside of the Vet. concurrent. If a K gun gets too heavy later, I still have my old 391 and even a NIB 391 sporting. I believe that more beginner shooters would probably shoot higher scores if they spent the money on a 391 (or similar) with an adjustable comb and the correct LOP. Buy a light mod choke and unscrew the choke on anything within 45-50 yards.

If I could get an equivalent trigger out of a 391, A400, etc that is what I would shoot. They compare poorly with crispness and the lock time is much longer. Then again, some of the guns win big with those sloppy triggers.

My current is LM/LM fixed. The vast majority of shots here on the East Coast are under 45yards. Wouldn't bother me if it was Mod/Mod.

There are a few companies that can tune up a 391 trigger group. Cole, Angle Port and Timney Gunsmithing can "help" the 391 trigger but even on its best day it ain't going to feel like a P or K gun trigger. Timney or Alum(?) made up a pull/release for another friends 391 and he shoots it well. I started going with J&P Products when I replace my 391 springs. They advertise their springs are made from "best chrome silicon wire available". They even offer P gun coil springs.

The above mentioned pull/release trigger was not correct. The trigger was a release/release as the 391 trigger only has one hammer.