Shotgun buying advice for a newbie (in the UK)

[shooter]

thanks guys,
first of all, when i said i agree, i wes referring to:

"Dont bother about any names or makes,if you have a budget keep it in mind and the type you want trap/skeet or game. "

Mack The Knife i did read the post (very informative.)
In fact i have been following it to the word when seeing guns.
also i must say (in my experience) the gun dealers here , on the whole are helpful and dont try to fleece a stranger/ newcomer. (compared to India).
I also realise it might be a controversial statement but im just stating my personal experience.
also want to state for the record that if a dealer knows you well in india, the kind of services one gets in india cant be expected in uk.

i still maintain that a good foundation is essential to not just shooting but all sports/activities.

if you recall, i told grumpy that my budget has gone up and would tell the reason when everything was confirmed. Well it is now.
I have been offered a new job. which will eventually reasult in me becoming a consultant.
thought i'd treat myself.

grumpy, do you think its time we talked about ammo now( )

sanjay plz tell us about what you bought. look forward to ur pics. i would hav liked to hav taken grumpy along but we dont stay close to each other.

grumpy by the grace of god (and i say god because of divine intervention- i learnt today that my new job is at a hospital 300 metres away from my shooting ground.) i will not abandon shooting. no matter what the experiences.(cant be worse than what i have experienced)

[Grumpy]

A consultant psychiatrist ? Please excuse my French but you are going to be too bl***dy busy to do any shooting. If any branch of British National Health medicine is under-manned and under-resourced it`s yours. I presume that you are going to be heading up a team ?

No budget. NO BUDGET ? !!!

Right then......No budget. How about an Abbiatico & Salvinelli Excalibur Sporting ?
Round bodied action with side bolsters.......Beautiful. Nowhere near the top-of-the range but the only dedicated Sporter they make.........Of course with no budget you could ask them to build you a Sovereign Sporter ! If you really fancy spending some money there are some seriously expensive Italian makers......or how about a British O/U ? Even with `no budget` the cost of those will make your eyeballs sweat !
Joking aside, what sort of budget do you have ?

[shooter]

grumpy im not a consultant yet.
my new job a new scheme the govt. (nhs for you) has introduced called a run through scheme.
i dont have to switch jobs (as previously in the uk healthcare system) from a jounior doctor/ resident (SHO for you) to senior resident (Specialist registrar for you) etc etc.
to cut the bull, i shall be a consultant eventually for sure but not yet.
i know consultants are busy, head a team etc.
but i wont let it stand in the way of my passion. ( did u notice the divine intervention i was referring to?)
i know all the people here are quite passionate about shooting. when i meet you, i shall tell you about what all i have been through to ensure that i can shoot.

as far as budget i sconcerned, i told you "three figures" read <£1000.
also i have been asking questions on behalf of my friend who has "no budget"
i have great difficulty restraining myself when it comes to shooting. so i try to "shoot low" .
if you are down in london, plz look me up.

most probably im offf to surrey shooting club this weekend to see some guns and go shooting.
will tell you all how it went and post pics.
grumpy, while we are at it, any tips about ammo?
does ammo really make a diff (to a beginner?)
many clubs use rio brand.
there are some brands that sell less than £90 per 1000. are they bad?

[Grumpy]

£1000 is four figures !

I still reckon something like a S/H Bettinsoli Line or, if you are determined that you will be continuing the sport and keeping the gun, a S/H Beretta 682.

How about these:

2x682 28" multichoke sporters and the stock of a 30" fixed-choke 682 Gold.....which must be a trap gun.

[shooter]

grumpy,
dont have to use it all up do i?
nice pics- thanks

cant believe you are suggesting a 28" barrels!!
i DO intend to upgrade. these upgrades will be my incentives and treats to my self everytime i break category barriers like C, B, A; dunno if i can ever make AA/AAA. or in case of dtl- 25 straight 50 straight etc etc etc .
i dunno if its cultural, im averse to selling weapons.
even practically, the amount im going to lose in selling a gun can be used to buy a larger gun vault and keeping all the guns.
god willing will have my first wife.... very soon.

[Grumpy]

You`re going to keep your wife in the gun safe ? Saves on getting a bigger flat I suppose..............

A 28" multichoke feels very like a 30" fixed choke anyway. You can always get set of extended chokes for a 28" gun which will take the barrel length out to around 29" and will pattern better.........and, frankly, what difference is 1" going to make ?

Even more logical than your idea would be to avoid buying the cheaper `starter` gun altogether - which would be a waste of money if you are going to keep it because a) it won`t get used and b) the money you save by not buying the `starter`gun will buy a safe outright and put a couple of hundred quid towards getting the better gun. Then you can think later about getting a SxS game gun and/or a trap gun. No wastage and no waste of money ( in your case ) on a cheap ( ish ) gun.
You don`t even have to spend all the £1000 ........ although you`ll come close with the gun+safe+shoulder bag+cleaning kit+1,000 cartridges.
Cartridges are much of a muchness. I avoid S&B because they make a heck of a bang and get the barrels dirty very quickly - you see them hardly anywhere anyway. I don`t like sub-sonic cartridges and avoid grounds where they have to be used because I spend the next week shooting in front of everything - It must be psychological because they shouldn`t make much difference at all.
I tend to use Lyalvale Express Pro Competition because they`re good value for money and you can buy them nearly everywhere. The best cartridges I`ve ever used are Baschieri & Pellagri with the Gordon System - fast, smooth and you really can feel the recoil reduction......Horrible price though......but probably worth it.
You`ll find that you`ll stick to a particular make and type of cartridge after a while because you feel confident in them consistency - in all things - aids shooting.

[Sakobav]

Grumpy

Whats equivalent of 682 these days or in US Silver pigeon Beretta Series.

Shooter

I am also one of the Beneficiaries of guidance from Grumpy, Mehul, et al 6 month search for Shotgun or a saga. Its nice you can drive down to gun shops with lot of collection and try them out. Unfortunately I didnt have that option. I ended up with a Beretta 686 a new one which Grumpy located for me on sale at Cabelas. He had to, I was probably driving him nuts with emails. Lost out on two guns at last minute both times I had written the check. With budget and Grumpys advise you are almost there - all the best.

[Grumpy]

The list of Beretta 686/687 and 682 variants has got ridiculously large Navi although, as far as I know, only 686s are available as Silver Pigs.
The 686 and 687 are the same gun - the 687 is the deluxe variant.......or variantS nowadays. The 682 might look very similar but is a completely different gun. Quite a bit more expensive ( comparing like with like ) better built and is a dedicated pro-quality competition gun. They`ve been around for quite a few years now and there are some outstandings bargains to found - as those two at £650 and £695 shown above prove. The least expensive new 682 model is the Gold E Sport at £1695.
It`s just about impossible to find a comparable gun by another maker at anywhere near the price. A new Zoli Kronos is over £1750 new ( that`s a £300 drop from the SRP. ) and I know of no used examples. The four cheapest used Gamba Daytonas in the country are all here in Somerset - at £1495, £1850, £2100 and £2150 - elsewhere they`re a lot more expensive ( lowest is £2650. ) Older Perazzis are similar money ..... and more.....a lot more in some cases. I haven`t had a look at Browning B25s but there`s not a lot of point - only a used A1 can be found for Devs budget......and A1s do look VERY plain. A BO, B1 or B2 is more ( and progressively more ) expensive and the first of the models with deep engraving , the B2G, is more expensive again. ......... and those are the models in the lowest part of the range.

[Mack The Knife]

god willing will have my first wife.... very soon.

You`re going to keep your wife in the gun safe ? Saves on getting a bigger flat I suppose..............

No, no, NO! Read carefully. He intends having more than one!

[mundaire]

The welcome Dev Vrat thread had gone OT and was also becoming an excellent source of advice for newbies (thanks Shooter for asking all those questions and thanks for all the inputs Grumpy ) - Hence I've split this into a new topic under the shotguns forum.

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[mundaire]

No, no, NO! Read carefully. He intends having more than one!

Time for all the married men here to extend their.... condolences? Or must one wait for the second/ third one to do that?

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[shooter]

i agree mundaire.
thanks for splitting the thread.

thanks ngrewal.what gun did you buy?post a pic?
wish you had posted all your email correspondence here.

Mack The Knife i should have written first first wife. as most of you know, in hindus, marriage lasts 7 lives. so i already have 2 wives. first- guns/shooting/hunting. second meat/cooking.
im sure this love affair will last beyond this lifetime - a few decades isnt enough. i do sound loonay dont i?

[Vikram]

"i should have written first first wife. as most of you know, in hindus, marriage lasts 7 lives. so i already have 2 wives. first- guns/shooting/hunting. second meat/cooking.
im sure this love affair will last beyond this lifetime - a few decades isnt enough. i do sound loonay dont i?"


Matey, I am desisting from indulging in stating the hierarchical arrangement of wives for the sheer terror of someone reading this, , we have a lot in common. Meat and cooking eh?

Best-
Vikram

[Grumpy]

It`s nice to know that you cook your meat................................I hate sharing a table with out and out carnivores because they splash blood everywhere

Seven lifetimes eh ? No wonder Hindus only have one wife ! I`m not sure why the European ( I won`t say `Christian` because monogamy in Europe pre-dates Christianity ) tradition is for only one wife.............Possibly because the men were told that was how it was going to be !

Dev, as it looks like the gunsafe is going to have to last a very long time I should get a REALLY big one - and get one with an ammo top-box because it`ll make a handy nursery !

[Grumpy]

"Loonay" ? That would be a very posh loony ?

"Ay say deah, the loonay is being jolly silly on the verandah"

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