Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns OU for clays and hunting

Looking to purchasing my first OU for sporting clays and and upland. Considering Citori CXS, Citori Hunter 1, or Beretta Silver Pigeon. Was also looking into some of the CZ over unders but have read that they might not endure the amount of use seen by a target gun. Thoughts or recommendations?

Get either of the B brand guns on your list and have fun. Handle them both and get one that seems to fit and handle best for you. I like Beretta guns better but wood quality and finish seems to vary a lot gun to gun. I'd want to see the exact Beretta I was buying rather than order one.

The CXS is a great all around O/U that will serve you forever. The CZ's are good but the Browning will not lose value. If going the Turkish route get the Weatherby Orion.

Looked at the weatherby as well, but I kind of figure i would end up with a Browning/Beretta so may as well just go that way. The Beretta is 5-6 ounces lighter than the brownings. Will this make a big difference clays? I am not recoil sensitive, but it seems a lot of guys don't like field weight guns on the range. Appreciate the help

How much do you really plan on shooting - clays wise?

Fit - yep

But for me, would be a Browning as I've never felt a Beretta that fit me as well. That said - both have great support and are very well built. Can take the pounding a clays gun will take. Obviously do well for the average hunting a guy does too. I mean, I know bird hunters that consider 100 rounds a year a lot, for a clays guy, that's a morning warm up.

Still - Browning/Beretta will last a lifetime and when its shot out, plenty of places that can bring it back to life.

For me it was less the overall weight and WHERE the weight is. I prefer the weight to be in my left hand as a right handed shooter. Object in motion and all that.

Normal clays day is 100-200 rounds so do not go under 7-lbs IMHO.

Thanks fellers. probably overthinking it. I’ve been shooting a SX3 for clays and ducks and a CZ side by side on upland.

If the gun fits.....a silver pigeon would be hard to beat for the uses you describe.

Some complain that the comb is a bit low, I never found that to be the case. Actually shot a round of trap with my 20ga tonight. They are a superb little shotgun.

No experience with brownings.

Balance and fit are key, I like both Beretta and Brownings. I have a Ruger Red Label and in my opinion, both of the B guns are better. I have a Browning Cynergy and I like it a lot.

Do both beretta and browning accept the extended aftermarket chokes?

Yes but NOT the same ones. FN family chokes may fit across the FN brands and Beretta chokes may fit across the Beretta family of chokes; bearing in mind chokes have changed over time. After many years of Invector + chokes Browning recently changed. I have a reasonably complete set of extended Invector + chokes from Browning and no desire to use any aftermarket.

Logically I prefer Beretta but my Sporting Clays gun is a Browning competition gun with vented barrels, adjustable rib, comb and length of pull that spoke to me when I picked it up. I wouldn't hesitate to take my or any sporting clays gun after upland birds but mostly prefer a 20 gauge Model 12 that's been in the family since new. I'd be more inclined to take a competition gun hunting than a hunting gun to a high round count competition weekend. Casual use a field gun is fine for competition as fun but not for winning day after day.

I’ve had a pile of citori’s, from 425-625’s. Never had a 725 which is supposed to be a lot more dynamic/similar to the Italian guns. Zoli k gun and beretta 682 have been the two best fitting/shooting guns for me though.
Brownings are built like tanks though.

I prefer browning only because they fit me better. Shoulder both and go with the one you like.

Beretta or Browing

Winchester 101. I would say that they are even better made than the Citori. They also will fire both barrels without having to have the first shot from a loaded chamber. It may seem insignificant, but recoil operated firing mechanism in the Citori, could be an issue sometimes in the field…

You are recoil sensitive….everyone is sooner or later once they have shot enough. It is just a matter of time or shell count. Field weight guns shot often enough for clays will eventually not be all that much fun. And most times it doesn’t take long to figure it out. And yes, 5-6 ounces will make a significant difference in recoil. Your Citori CSX is listed at 7 lbs 10 ounces. Most serious clay guns will push 8 plus a little and 7-10 isn't much fun for most to carry at the ready in the field. 32 inch barrels are the most common for SC shooting....and not all that great for in the field.

You may get by for a duel purpose example with a semi auto and two different length barrels…however, chasing empties for serious practice use can get tiresome for older shooters.

Briley will convert any Citori to mechanical operation if one thinks that a possible issue, and the new 725 comes with mechanical triggers.

For the long run and any serious shooting 99%++++ will eventually have guns for each. Depending on how serious you are about either game. Get serious about Sporting and you will quickly be looking for a dedicated clays shotgun.

Hello Battue, hope all is well and with reference to the OP's question I too am a novice clays shooter. I bought a 32" CX and some of the things I have discovered are as follows;

The gun is heavy, about 8 lbs maybe a little more. Not a bad thing, front heavy balancing in front of the hinge pin. Gets a bit heavy out carrying it around. Pounds the life outta me with 1 1/8 loads after about 75 birds. Don't tell all my waterfowl buddies, we run 3" #2's out of gas guns en masse during a good season.

I really like the whole 2 choke thing for hunting, a spreader on the bottom and a killer on top.

Not bending over and picking up the hulls is a revelation.

Haven't had an issue with the inertia thing yet, it always goes bang when needed. Bigger issue was getting used to the tang safety in the field.

Like Jonny, I have become somewhat of a fanboy of the Browning sound when closing the action. A solid wood and steel sound, hard to explain the attraction.

Thinking of the 16 gauge Browning Grand Lighting as a field gun, what say you?

Bart

Bartman,

Grand Lightenings are a good looking shotgun, but I’ve never handled a 16. Specs i saw say they are around 7.5 pounds. Which for myself I wouldn’t want for a field shotgun. My Grouse guns are usually around 6 and my new Pheasant shotgun is an Arietta 12 SxS that goes 6-10oz. Its balances really well, but I would like it better 3-4 oz lighter. But I’m on the smaller side.

8 pounds is getting into decent SC weight. If it is beating you a little I would suggest you shoot 1 oz loads around 1150-1200 FPS. They will consistently break most of the targets they will throw in SC. My Browning 725 Sportier goes 8-6 is and shooting a flat of 1 oz at a time is not an issue.

When I hunted Ducks with friends I quickly gave up on anything 3 inches. Over decoys 2 3/4 killed everything they did with 3 inch. And I’m not good enough to consistently kill at 40-50.

Although many of the Boss Boys on FB consider 40-50 chip shots. 🤣

The inertia issue with Brownings is usually not an issue until one has been shot a lot…. And it is an easy fix. The bigger issue is often light primer hits in the bottom barrel.

I will second 1oz loads for SClays. Put em where they need to be and they break targets and not shoulders. Plus makes my light Fabarm Elos a dream to shoot recoil wise!