Hey guys I have a really nice Remington 1187 in 12 gauge its a real sweet shooter, but I have a bad hankering for a over and under shotgun what would y'all recommend without breaking the bank.

 

I'll probably get flamed for this, but..........I've got a Browning 20Ga, Citori. Been a good shooter for me, and there are a bazillion of them around. I also shoot an SKB in 12Ga, that's my baby.

It realy depends what you want it for, a looker to take to the range, or a combination boat paddle/Duck dropper.

The Winchester 101 is a nice gun also, my Dad had one and I liked it a little better than the Browning. And a buddy had a Ruger, I thought it was over rated.

What ever you get make sure you get something with changable chokes. I bought my SKB years ago with fixed chokes and it really bothered me. Paid $515 for the gun (back in the 70's) and it cost about $350 to have the chokes put in by Briley.

Also get a single selective trigger.

That would be my $.02

BTW if you are shooting an 1187 you do need a good gun. IMHO!

 

Thanks that gives me something to start on I'd like a combination of a sweet range gun and duck gun. I can honestly say my old 1187 has never failed me goes boom every time I pull the trigger.

 

Edit: I don't know if it matters but I just went to the safe and checked out my shotgun its a Remington 11-87 Premier.

 

That's good!^ I have never cared for auto loaders in a shotgun, just one of my many quirks I guess. I know if I had to grab just one of my shotguns for all around it would probably be my old beat to death 870 Remington. You can alternate a shovel full of dirt and a shell when you load it, and it just keeps popping! Brought alot of Dove home to roost on the ol' BBQ too!

 

I have owned a Ruger Red Label, a Beretta 686 and a Browning Citori. Here are my reviews....

Ruger. I couldn't get rid of it soon enough. Hated it after the first time out in the field. It shoots fine, fits fine, and is a decent looking weapon. My resoning, the safety/selector swiveled at an angle so it looks like / for top barrel and \ for bottom barrel. However I quickly found out it can get stuck in a completely straight position, |, if you are trying to quickly change from safe to fire and doesn't enable you to fire.

Beretta. Beautiful weapon. Very light and easy to carry. I loved this gun in the field, but I had one major problem with it. It didn't fit me, not even close. When I brought the weapon up to shoulder i had to adjust my head slightly this caused 2 things. 1. I wasn't quite as accurate as before. 2. It would bruise my face after just a few rounds. I was faced with either brining it to a gunsmith that could fit a new stock for me or selling it. It was stolen before I could do either.

Browning Citori White lightning. Its a bit heavier and not as much of a joy to carry as the beretta was. But the weapon is an absolute joy to shoot. It fits me well, and I shoot it well.

I will add that I am in the market for another over/under and have been looking at another Citori, or a Superposed (older browning o/u design). My uncle has an older superposed that is fantastic. Unfortunately, Browning has ceased mass production of the superposed but are still available through the Browning custom shop. Downside to them there are no superposed that have interchangeable chokes from the factory, but you do get your choice of barrel sets and can purchase as many as you want. And it is a completly hand made custom weapon made in the Belgian Browning factory.

 

There are lots of over and unders out there that are decent guns for good prices. My dad has a Browning Cynergy, which I like a lot because of its smooth action and easy swinging, but thats one of the more expensive priced ones. Another one that I like is a Stevens over and under. It isn't a big name brand, but they break open very smoothly and are very pretty and are only about $500 locally. One that I don't recommend is a Yildiz. They are very lightweight, but kick bad compared to most shotguns and you almost have to use your knee to pry them open after you shoot them a good bit.

 

Brownings are not "one of the more expensive priced ones". They are really middle of the road to the cheaper end of the scale. While expensive is a subjective term, high end o/u shotguns start in the $4000 range and go up there to the tens of thousands. $2000 and under is really reasonable for what you are really asking for.

Now there are many cheaper o/u shotguns ($1000 and under, many around the $500 range) they all lack in at least one area of "shootability". Now these bargain priced o/u's will function fine, ie. stevens, mossberg, etc. you will most certainly feel taken when comparing the quality, fit, and finish of a pump action in the same price range.

If you are in the market for a quality o/u but don't feel that you can afford the investment, I suggest saving and looking for a used model. Look in the gun shops and tell them what you are looking for, look in the pawn shops, etc. My grandfather has a couple pawn shops that will call him when any gun comes in that he has on his list. Its taken a while for him to get this kind of service, but he has made quite a few excellent purchases that way. For example, he purchased the above mentioned Browning Superposed that my uncle now owns for about $700. It was well used, but he has shot hundreds of birds and hundreds of rounds of sporting clays with it and is still in perfect working order.

Can you shoot the mossbergs, stevens, etc. and kill birds and clay pigeons? Yes, and it will probably last long enough to pass down to your children, but will your experience be nearly as good as if you had bought something a bit nicer? I doubt it.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

Check into a Yildiz. Bought from Academy Sports. This one was only about $600. I have some pictures of 2 more of these guns in my albums. I love them.

 

This one is my skeet/trap gun. Yildiz MX Clays.

 

I would say that for a machine made, production line gun, the higher end brownings are towards the top of the list. When you start getting over $4,000 O/Us, they are hand fitted trap guns and fine hunting rifles that go up into tens of thousands of dollar range. But with how good CNC machined parts are getting today, most machined guns are outperforming hand fitted guns. I assume when the OP said he isn't looking to break the bank, that he is talking less than $1500, which can definantly get him a nice O/U, but as you stated, many of them are going to cost $4000 or more top of the line gun.

 

After years of shooting, and way more dollars than I should have ever spent, I have found that fit is way, way more important than brand. Browning or Winchester fit me right out of the box. I can hit what I'm shooting at right away. Ruger and Smith for instance do not. They're nice firearms, but for someone else, not me.

As Bennehanna said though, a *nice* piece starts at around 5 grand and they go up, WAY up from there! They may shoot a little better than a Citori, but not that much better. They certainly do look better though, and the fit and finish is truly something to see. That said, I couldn't see myself with one of them in a duck blind!

Get a gun that fits you! Then, look at the brand.

 

Honestly my price range is $2000 and below. I don't want anything that you'd need to wear a pair of white gloves to handle or be afraid to get it out of the safe but I do want something that will hold its value and something to pass down to my son.

 

See if you can find someone or some place where you can try different brands of shotguns to find out which brands will fit you. You'll find that Browning and Winchester and a few others are built with different dimensions than Remington and Stevens and some others. The brands I mentioned are all good brands, as are many others. It's really not about brand, it's about what fits you! You'll like it a whole lot better because it won't kick nearly as hard and you'll actually hit stuff! But a decent model, with good fit and finish. Nice looking wood is good too!

Let us know what you end up with!

 

X2 on the fit. My SKB looked real nice when I bought it, but it kicked the snot out of my cheek. The most I could shoot it was about 50 rounds, and about half way through that 2nd box I was flinching like a kid. I put it away for a couple of years trying to decide what to do with it. One day I got a wild hair and put one of those cheap slip on recoil pads....night and day difference. Problem was the stock was too short for me so the comb was too high. Moving it about 1 inch away made all the difference in the world and I didn't have to shave the stock.

If you shoot your 11-87 well, take it with you to look at your prospective new gun side by side. Compare stock length, comb height and angle, and even look down the barrel towards the stock to see if it has a cast to one side. 1/8 to 1/4 inch of cast (bends to one side) will be a serious game changer. Most guns with cast are made to fit right hand shooters, I shoot rifle and shotgun lefty and everything else right handed. Also as mentioned earlier if they will let you shoot it first is a big plus.

Don't be afraid to look at used, they can be more reasonably priced. You might even be able to work a trade if you aren't planning to keep the Remington. Pawn shops usually won't give you much of a deal unless you know some body working there. Estate sales, gun shows, and even bullitin boards at the range are some pretty good places. You can even post a want to buy at your favorite range/gun shop.

Anyhoo, good luck and let us know what you end up with.