I'm looking for a 20 ga to mostly hunt mearns quail. Looking for walnut, under 7 lbs, contenders would be a Wingmaster, Orion various double barrels. Let's say budget is $1000. Are Wingmasters even being made anymore. In searching i only see " sold out".
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Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.
The Remington 20 ga Fieldmaster just as well made as the Wingmaster….I have a Wingmaster to compare it to and believe me, I would take the Fieldmaster. I use mine for turkey hunting…26” and 6.7# dream to carry. Beautiful satin walnut no shine steel like the Wingmaster. Same twin action bars as Wingmaster and just as smooth. Here’s the kicker….out the door for $499 if you can find…LGS can’t keep them in stock. There is a Video comparing the two…you need to see it…probably on You tube. I have taken it apart and compared the parts and they are made just like the Wingmaster. Bought the spring to reduce trigger pull to 3.1 # just like Wingmaster….from Mcarbo for like $15 I believe.
Wingmasters are being made again. But they sell out quickly, and I don't know if they are making them in 20 gauge yet.
As Winnie says, the Fieldmaster IS being made in 20 gauge. It's a matte finished Wingmaster, essentially, and is far nicer than the older Remington Express. I've handled them and they are very slick, well finished shotguns.
I think this is the video Winnie is referring to
By the way, tte Target Focused Life youtube channel is great. Tons of really good shotgun reviews.
You may also want to look into the Franchi Affinity 3. It get every good reviews across the board.
An old timer but a wonderful semi-auto is the Franchi AL -48. I hunters rabbits in my youth with one. My hunting buddy brought the Montfeltro and just loves it. If $ is a big concern the Stoeger 3020 might be an option.
SxS options are few that I would buy. I keep a CZ Bobwhite around to shoot steel if needed, it works but just doesn't have the appeal of a true sxs. I do have a reasonably priced LaFever Nitro Special in 20ga that fits me.like a glove and shoots great.
SxS's are hard, I find I have better luck with lightweight 12s shooting 7/8-1 oz. loads. I have a couple that are.sub 6 lbs. and a couple in the 6-7 lb range. All fine upland shotguns that are easy to carry.
I would say a Benelli Montefeltro 20. I’v used that gun succesfully on bob white and black throated quail in Mexico.
^^^This^^^
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I have a 2012 Franchi Affinity 20 gauge. I've put over 2k of trap loads and a couple hundred waterfowl loads through it. Grandkids killed a lot of ducks this year with it - they like the light weight and slimness. I'm happy with it and it has held up well.
i would buy a decent over / under with choke tubes , a o/u never jam.
Rarely, but I have an A400 with 30K out of it and less than two handfuls of jams...All with the same brand of shell. The jam issue with good semi-auto''s is mainly a thing of the past.
I'm partial to plain (ie non-vent rib) barrels in Wingmasters. Makes for a light, nimble gun. Look for a vintage one with a corn-cob fore and you'll be happy
i would buy a decent over / under with choke tubes , a o/u never jam.
I've had more trouble with SxSs and O/Us with inertia triggers than I have with pumps and semi-autos while hunting quail in the desert. The blowing desert sand and brush finds its way into the action and have had more than one model of gun stop consistently firing the second barrel until the stock is pulled and action cleaned. I prefer a semi-auto or an O/U with mechanical triggers for this reason. Some guns with inertia triggers seem to do fine and some do not do so well.
I've had Berettas start running a little slow in these conditions and squirt a little oil in them and they start running normally. Never had any issues with a Benelli, 870 or Model 12 in those conditions. Once as a kid on my first quail hunt, even tripped and jabbed the barrel of an LT20 1100 in the side of a sand hill. After my dad's friend took a stick and cleaned the 18" of sand out of the barrel, the gun kept running.
The Montefeltros are a pretty good deal and should please anybody. A guy could do far worse. The Beretta A300 20 comes in under budget but I only see them in camo. I prefer doubles but good ones in 20ga probably bust the budget. Cheaper doubles are better avoided IMO. Careful searching might find a good used 20 double but night not.
I would get something with the Benelli inertia system. From my research they have fewer mechanical issues overall than other autos. I have a 12 and 20 with nary an issue but neither have had more than a few hundred rounds through them. Check the magazine loading as some are difficult to load.
I prefer doubles but good ones in 20ga probably bust the budget. Cheaper doubles are better avoided IMO. Careful searching might find a good used 20 double but night not.
I can tell you first hand that any O/U under 1K are not very well made. Most good ones are going to be starting in the $1500+ range. I use to coach the SCTP for our county for the skeet and sporting clays part of the program. I would try and get parents to steer clear of the cheaper O/U's but usually one or two would buy them anyway. Never and I mean never would one of them hold up for the whole practice season. In many cases, they would send them back to be repaired and 3 or 4 months later, they would get them back only to have them break again.
Last edited by pullit; 01/26/23.
I may not be smart but I can lift heavy objects
I have a shotgun so I have no need for a 30-06.....
There is no way I would buy that before a Montefeltro, or any $1000 O/U or SXS. If you want to spend $2500 get a Beretta 686, which is about the entry point for a decent 2-barrel shotgun.
I have an older Winchester 101 20 gauge that I really like, though I purchased a little above your stated budget. I also had an older Browning Citori 20 gauge that I liked. The Browning was an 80s gun in like new condition that didn't move on Gunbroker I suspect because of out-of-favor 26" barrels, no extra choke tubes and a poor description by the seller. I think I paid $1,000 and not sure it had ever been fired. The Citori 12 gauge is pretty heavy but the 20s can be nice.
I also picked up a really nice Charles Daly (Miroku) 20 gauge with a semi-pistol grip (Browning Lightning style) in the Cabelas used rack for around $600. This gun is the same as a Citori but without the Browning name. It was a 28" M/F and seemed lighter than most Citoris and handled great. The feel was really similar to my above mentioned 101 but I was able to buy it at less than 1/2 the price. That gun falls into the rare category of shotguns I wished I'd kept.
I've never hunted AZ but have spent more days than I could count in Southern NM hunting quail and the not firing the second barrel on inertia trigger guns has been a problem for me when the wind and sand blow with certain models. Sand, sage and chamisa (rabbitbrush) get in there and cause problems. I've not seen this problem as of yet with a 101 (mechanical triggers I think) or a Browning Citori, BSS or Miroku, which are inertia triggers but don't seem susceptible to this.
Some gun designs seem to be worse than others regarding this issue in those conditions.