Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Browning over and under question

OK so I’ve been thinking I want to acquire a browning over and under, as much as I like the smaller gauges (I would love to pick up a 20 gauge or 28 gauge )I’m thinking something that I can hunt with and maybe begin trapshooting with , I know I want screw in choke tubes but what are the differences between the different Citori’s , Superposed etc. anything I should look for or stay away from? I’m thinking 28 inch barrels, what say you with experience ?

12 gauge ,screw in chokes, 30 inch barrels because its a better for trap . you will be disappointed trap shooting with a smaller gauge than 12 gauge believe me you will. 12 gauge shells are cheaper too.make sure you put a center bead on this shotgun too. good luck,Pete53

The shotgun I want for target shooting (and esp. trap) is way different from the one I want for hunting. The former will be a 12-ga, heavy, to soak up recoil. The hunter will be much lighter, usually a 20-ga.

I suggest you find someone knowledgeable to guide you in deciding which model to buy. someone with a lot of experience who isn't selling you something.

The most consideration in buying a shotgun is how it fits YOU. Your eye is your rear sight, and you should focus on your target, NOT your bead sights.

Screw in chokes are a definite plus.

The length of your barrel depends more on your physical size than the game that you are playing. If you're taller than 6' a 30" barrel would be fine for you for either Trap or Skeet. If you're closer to 5' a 26 or 28" barrel would fit you better.

If you can't have a professional fit your gun, you can do a pretty good job yourself by picking a spot 20-30 yards away to "shoot" at. Hold your shotgun like you are going to shoot it only with your arms down at your side, and stand facing that spot and focus your eyes on it. Now close your eyes and then raise thg gun to your shoulder and cheek, essentially aimomg at that with your eyes closed. Now open your eyes and see if your gun is pointed at the spot. Do this several times. If your gun fits you properly, it will be pointed at the spot.

I was a class AA singles, A doubles, and 27 yard handicap trap shooter until we put the first skeet field in at our range. I had a 12 gauge trap model Browning Citori, grade I, with 30" barrels and invector chokes. I had also cut the comb down on it to match the comb on my BT-99 trap gun.

Soon after we put in our skeet field we had John Shima give us a skeet clinic. The first thing that he did was to check each of us for the fit of our guns. He had a box full of Moleskin that he used to build up the comb of many of the shotguns.

While I was waiting for my turn I said to a friend that I hoped John wouldn't put Moleskin on my stock as I had cut it down. John heard me and looked up and smiled. He didn't change anything on my Citori, and at the end of the clinic he told me not to ever get rid of that gun.

I then had Briley fit 20, 28, and .410 tubes to that shotgun and I have shot well over 200,000 shells through it. I also used it to shoot class AA or A in all 4 Skeet gauges and doubles, and to make the Montana All State Skeet team.

Browning says their acceptable limit for point of impact varying from point of aim is six inches. Browning has no actual warranty. That half a foot is just what they think is OK for you to live with before they'll fix it if they feel like it.

If that’s at 40 yards, it’s not bad. Lots of double guns have much more deviation than that. That’s the centers of the patterns; pattern size is several times larger than that.

Consider that most game birds are shot between 20 and 30 yards, this barrel deviation is only 3-4” in that range, with 2-2 1/2’ effective patterns (depending on chokes and loads of course). Lots of other things loom larger than this issue in hitting a bird or clay target.

The ideal gun for hunting and trap shooting are not the same gun. So, you will have to figure out what's more important to you and/or for what you will mostly be using this shotgun. A Citori Feather Lighting with 28" barrels at around 7 lbs might be ideal for you for hunting where a heavier shotgun might begin to feel like an anchor at the end of a long day. Such a light shotgun can be shot at Trap but after a couple rounds it'll feel like you just went a couple rounds with a heavyweight boxer. Dedicated Trap shotguns tend to be 8 lbs ++ with stocks designed to soak up much of that recoil and they tend to have 30" to 34" barrels and a be a little muzzle heavy to promote a nice follow thru. Trap shotguns are also stocked/ribbed to shoot their patterns a little high with about 70% of the pattern above the point of aim. Shotguns used for hunting, skeet and sporting clays are typically set up to shoot 50% above and 50% below your point of aim or to "shoot flat". The reason trap shotguns are set-up to shoot high is because trap targets are best taken on the rise and the higher pattern allows to still see the target and not have to cover it with your beads to shoot where the target is going - - -up.

If hunting is going to be your priority get a 7-7.5 lb shotgun with 28" barrels and if you want to shoot clay targets, shoot skeet, sporting clays or 5 stand with light loads. Your hunting shotgun will be better suited for those games than trap shooting.

Could cover trap and sporting with this one. Wouldn’t want to carry it around on a long day hunt.....

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