Finally, we made extensive use of the 5-stand at Pintail Hunting Club where we got more trigger time with every gun and could evaluate its function, handling and felt recoil. They have incredibly expressive, often comical, faces, and a sensitive nature, which belies their impressive work drive and tenacity. The polymer stock is heavy enough for good balance, and features an adjustable rubber butt pad. We chose the bare-bones black synthetic stocked version as our gun, and it sells at a low enough price that almost anyone can afford it. Another semi-automatic shotgun option is an excellent gun for waterfowlers who want something for upland game birds and turkeys. It weighs just under 8 pounds, with a solid polymer stock thats well balanced and takes most of the kick out of the action. Now remember I'm also a gun collector and always prefer a vintage gun to something more modern. .725 constriction. For side-by-side users I would tend to recommend 28g 6s, moving to 30g 5s later in the season. Can spend less on a duck gun? TheRemington Versa Maxhas a unique gas system, for very gentle recoil. Any of the "B" brand semi autos will work just fine for all. Thats because it has a wider spread than smaller-bore guns, making it easier to hit those pesky moving targets. 2023 Outdoor Sportsman Group. You can buy a 12-gauge with a 26-inch barrel if you want a little more heft and discipline in your swing, or you can choose the even lighter 20-gauge model. And like many inertia guns, it can be bumped out of battery so it wont fire, too. I do like the bolt-release button, which is big enough to be easy to push, but nearly flush so you dont bump it accidentally as you do with so many of the enlarged bolt releases on the market. The ideal fit varies from person to person, yet some stocks suit a wide range of shooters. Then there are dedicated turkey guns. Phil Bourjaily After all, a big spread isnt much good if your gun is too unwieldly to shoot. A shotgun, especially a waterfowl gun, is a tool. What makes the Versa Max shine is its proprietary gas port system, which adjusts the cycling pressure depending on what size shell youre using. The 835 ships with three interchangeable chokes: Improved Cylinder, Modified, and Full. The X4 has been slimmed down and lightened up to fit current tastes and it has the enlarged bolt handle and bolt release that waterfowlers want. For some hunters, a $2,000 gun might be a great value, if it means they can make that expenditure once and have a gun that they can rely on to hold up day after day and season after season. It wont leave you with a mis-feed when youre going for that clutch follow-up shot. We recommend installing a choke on this gun to get the most out of your purchase. Hunters can register on the reserved hunt page. People stuck at home in 2020 and 2021 went hunting, causing waterfowl hunter numbers to buck their downward trend and increase. Which one is best for you depends on how far of a lead you prefer. Depending on what range you usually hunt from and how much you tend to lead them, different versions will work better or worse for you. On the other hand, a costly gun packed with features you may not need or care about isnt a good value. Try them each to see which you prefer. When you choose a duck gun, keep reliability in mind. And while light inertia guns recoil stoutly, the soft Franchi TSA pad does a good job of cutting the kick. At this size, its chambered in 20 gauge, and has a 20-inch barrel with a 7-round tube magazine slung underneath. And while that bothered us on the pattern board, we had no problem hitting clays or teal with the gun, but I wouldnt want to hunt turkeys with it. | TheMossberg 590A1 Retrogradehas a large magazine for non-bird-hunting purposes. Of the great Spanish gunmakers, only AyA is left making double guns today. Our gun shot straight and patterned well, but we had a couple of failures to cycle 3-inch loads, and the grip cap fell out. The gas-operated semi-automatic action is smooth and reliable, provided youre using 3 or 3 -inch shells. A gun that doesnt function properly is a poor value no matter how little you pay for it. Also, although its a small thing, I also like the magazine cap, which comes off with just a half-turn after you depress it (like its childproof) and is high-visibility green on the inside. From experience, steel 3's and 4's in 12 or 20 gauges seem to do the job quite well on pheasants and steel 6's or 7's are good for quail and woodcock hunting. 7 and 9 shot for 12- and 20-gauges and .410 bore. This is the gun you want when you have to walk miles between birds, but still need the punch of a 12-gauge when the time comes to shoot. SLX 600 Black Benelli 828U Performance Shop Upland Savage 555 16-Gauge TriStar TT-15 Field The days when we used one shotgun for everything are long past. Shotguns are best used instinctively, and how a gun handles, balances, points, and swingsand how comfortable it is to holdall have an effect on how easy the gun is to hit with. Then, Remington quality took a nose-dive, and 870s, once the most reliable of pump guns, stopped working so well. It has a redesigned buffer tube, boron-nitride coated internals, and a stainless recoil spring as well as cerakoted metal surfaces. TheRemington 870 ClassicTrap has a 30-inch barrel, the longest on our list. 78.9 percent pattern average. Or you may be looking for the best semi-auto shotgun for, Other than what style action youre looking for and whether youre willing to shell out the money for a semi-auto length is another important consideration. Justin is a firearms enthusiast with an expansive knowledge of the firearms & hunting scene. The Weatherby PA-08 Synthetic is a 28-inch, pump action shotgun with a 12 gauge bore. A 20 gauge is more than enough gun if you shoot your birds at close range overdecoys as most people prefer to do. The 20-gauge Superposeds are just right for upland bird hunting, however. RemArms has a way to go before this is the equal of the old Express shotgunsthe hardwood stock looks even cheaper than old Express stocks, for instance, and this gun has a plastic trigger guardbut it also represents a huge step in the right direction. TheRemington 11-87has been a staple of American duck hunters for decades. Key Features. But its worth stretching even the tightest budget to move up to theX4, which can hold its own in the blind among the Benellis, Beretta, and Brownings. This gun is a little pricey for a pump action, but very well-manufactured. The Browning A5 Stalker is a recoil-operated semi-automatic shotgun. It comes with adjustable fiber-optic rifle sights installed, and comes drilled and tapped for optics if youre looking for even more accuracy. It is available in a wide variety of configurations to fit nearly any use. Big shot works well in 3 1/2-inch 12- and 10-gauge guns with overbored barrels. The breed was developed in the late 1800s to be suited for multiple tasks like pointing, retrieving, trailing game,. It wont leave you with a mis-feed when youre going for that clutch follow-up shot. We patterned each gun from a bench, in a Lead Sled, to test its point of impact. Like most John Browning guns, its complicated, with lots of parts. And you can compensate for a lot of that lack of accuracy with the iron sights, or even install a red dot sight for faster target acquisition. They also kept the heavy polymer, which brings the guns total weight to a hefty 8.25 pounds. Even better, if your hunting customers are environmentally conscious, they're sure to love features like Kent's clean-burning design and biodegradable wad. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. It never malfunctioned, and it patterned well during the gun test, though. TheSavage Arms 320 Field Pump Shotgunpacks a lot of punch for its weight. To my eye, the Winchester Super X4 is not as well fit and finished as its predecessors and it looks cheaper, but if Winchester has cut some costs with this gun, it doesnt come at the expense of performance. This is one of the most affordableall-over camo gunsavailable. The heaviest Stevens 555 weighs just 6.2 pounds, perfect for those long days walking the fields following your dogs and bagging pheasants. Your shots may come at very close range, or you may have to reach out well past 40 yards. Of course. When looking for the best duck shotgun, theres no one-size-fits-all solution. This is an idealpump action shotgunfor left-handed people. If all youll do with a duck gun is take it waterfowl hunting, it should be heavy to absorb recoil and swing smoothly. Everyone shoots straighter when theyre not getting beaten up, and the stock comes with spacers so you can adjust the fit, too. They cost about a tenth the price of a Holland or a Purdey, which is still a lot, but at least moves them out of the wildest dream category and into the plausible dream category. We particularly appreciate the all-over camo finish, which you dont often see on guns that are priced for the working man. A 20-gauge Model 12 with a short, ribless, cylinder-bore barrel was a lightning fast gun, and in the hands of the quail hunters who loved them, absolutely deadly on a covey rise. An upland gun can be a pump, a semi-auto, an O/U, or a side-by-side. It was tough. The shotgun the final and probably the most crucial piece of the upland puzzle besides choosing a . It also features an enlarged bolt handle and bolt release and a cutaway loading port for fast, easy reloads. The action itself is reliable, and makes a classic ka-chunk when you rack it. Although, its on the heavy side for an all-day upland hunt or serious running and gunning for turkeys. #5 load is the best all-around pheasant shotshell I've ever used. During the first thirty years of the 20th century, Parker produced some of the best double guns ever made in the United States, from the workingmans Trojan up to ornate, high-grade models. The performance-perfected Kinematic Drive System makes for clean-running, dependable action that handles all loads in all conditions. Gone are the days of deciding between your dedicated duck gun and devoted upland gun, this category combines it all in a single selection. A no-show draw is held at 11 a.m. at the office both days. 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