A $5000 shotgun?

[GregS]

Hopefully this doesn't come across negative against these high dollar shotguns. I really don't mean it like that, I'm just trying to understand what makes an expensive shotgun expensive.

I've shot several different shotguns. From $200 break action single shot shotguns, to a $400 Mossberg pump, to a $1500 Weatherby semi-auto hunting shotguns. There was a noticeable difference between each of these. Is there as big of a difference between a $1500 shotgun and a $5000 shotgun?

Is there a huge difference between that $1500 Weatherby and that $5000 Beretta sporting shotgun.

 

[mpollan1]

I'm not a well heeled shotgun or anything person, but at first blush there is a $3500 difference which is pretty huge for this peasant.

 

[Conundrum]

You should see the price on a Krieghoff Skeet or Trap gun.

 

[Defense Initiative]

Hopefully this doesn't come across negative against these high dollar shotguns. I really don't mean it like that, I'm just trying to understand what makes an expensive shotgun expensive.

I've shot several different shotguns. From $200 break action single shot shotguns, to a $400 Mossberg pump, to a $1500 Weatherby semi-auto hunting shotguns. There was a noticeable difference between each of these. Is there as big of a difference between a $1500 shotgun and a $5000 shotgun?

Is there a huge difference between that $1500 Weatherby and that $5000 Beretta sporting shotgun.

Go to a real Trap Match and see who gets the better scores.

 

[ToolAA]

Years ago I did some work with a local machine shop in Hampstead. Big place that employeed maybe 50 people at the time. They had some big government contracts along with a lot of custom local work. The father who started the business was basically retired from the day to day work and spent all of his working time making hand made competition and sportsman shotguns. All uniquely personalized for his customers. He mentioned that they started at around $10K and went up from there. Oh yea these were 1995 dollars.


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[MaxVO2]

Go to a real Trap Match and see who gets the better scores.

****This. At a certain point, when someone is already good - the equipment absolutely makes a difference, even if just for consistency. This is true for Skeet/Trap as well as other sports at the highest end. Remarkably expensive guns at the Olympic level and they aren't using $500 shotguns from the local gun store.

This is true in other sports including skiing, luge, bike racing, triathlon, IDPA/IPSC, BMX, etc...

A champion Trap shooter will absolutely crush a novice or average Trap shooter even with a stock gun and nothing fancy - they are just better shooters. However, at the highest levels of competition - everyone is really really good and that extra few % for superlative equipment is the difference between winning and getting bupkus.

 

[Biggfoot44]

10 years ago , you would have told their was a dividing tier at around $1200 . Nowadays, that would be more like $2K - ish .

 

[delaware_export]

My buddy on a good day is a 98/100 or better on trap. And 94/100 on skeet or better. With a browning maxis

he regularly outshoots the krieghoff and other $$$$ gun guys. On a good day, 3 other guys i shoot with can outshoot the same guys. Not all the time, but fairly regular Enough.

it’s the shooter more then the gun.

i got nothing against anyone shooting a gun they like and have funds to purchase . More power to those guys. I am married with child.

that said, if I could afford that kind of nice gun, I’d buy a 4wd truck and drive it. And still shoot my ‘90s Remington 1187’s and browning (low end, field grade) citori lightning.

 

[Biggfoot44]

. And still shoot my ‘90s Remington 1187’s and browning (low end, field grade) citori lightning.

Kind of proving my point from earlier post .

Today , the MSRP of Browning Citori Lighting is $1869 to $2069 . Aka , $2K - ish .

If you are going O/U , $2K range will put you into a solid gun , much better than the cheap stuff . But going from 2,500 to 5K will have minor incremental differences .

 

[Doco Overboard]

Go to a real Trap Match and see who gets the better scores.

Then go to a real duck blind and see who kills more ducks.

 

[Harrys]

I just love my 20-year-old Mossburg Silver Addition I and for 500 bucks it has never failed me. You can throw money at anything but doing that does not make you shoot any better.

 

[slsc98]

…what makes an expensive shotgun expensive. (?)

I think the answer may be there are those who are able and choose to buy expensive (stuff) …

I shot the red course at Sarasota yesterday and among my squad there was one each: Browning 525, Blaser F3, Beretta A400 and two Krieghoffs. One of the Krieghoffs I happen to know had a base price of $12k and after upgrades and options it came to just under $15k. I am confident the other krieghoff owner paid more than that.

Everyone shot within a few targets of one another and there was no, “far and away” winner. If there was any advantage it was among those who’d had their guns fitted to them, by someone who really, really knew what they were doing.

I did notice at one point that the ejectors on one of the krieghoffs had been polished so incredibly that the metal was mirror like - I could literally see empty hulls and small rocks on the ground, in the reflection. That was pretty impressive.

 

[dannyp]

i would think it's more the process that the gun it's self , when you get to those kind of guns they are being custom fitted and such , plus all the engraving .

 

[GregS]

Thanks for all the responses. Interesting takes on the question.

 

[fabsroman]

10 years ago , you would have told their was a dividing tier at around $1200 . Nowadays, that would be more like $2K - ish .

I bought my first o/u in 1989 on my 18th birthday. It was a Browning Citori and it was just under $1,000. Then, I graduated undergrad in 1993 and started shooting a bunch of trap with that Citori. It would heat up quickly and it was a field gun, not a trap gun. So, I ended up getting a Beretta 682 Super Trap for around $2,900. It just felt completely different. In 2002, I bought a Beretta 682 Gold for $2,000.

There is a huge difference between a field gun and a competition o/u, and those entry level competition guns are around $5,000 now. When I looked at a Beretta DT-11 some 7 years ago, it was $10,000. That is Beretta main competition gun and it has a different locking mechanism and feel compared to a Beretta 694, which is Beretta's somewhat entry level competition gun at $5,000. I guess a 686 is really the entry level Beretta, and that is around $2,500. I bought a Beretta 686 Onyx Black sporting in 1995 for $1,000 just as I was starting law school, and there is a difference between it and the 682 Gold.

If you want to get into the engraved stuff, it gets really expensive.

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Beretta Gallery - SO10

Straddling two continents and operating under the Beretta trademark, the Galleries constantly refine their philosophy and strategy, while maintaining intact the style that is signature of the Beretta brand and always operating in harmony with the rest of the company’s distribution channels.

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Beretta Gallery - 687EELL Series

Straddling two continents and operating under the Beretta trademark, the Galleries constantly refine their philosophy and strategy, while maintaining intact the style that is signature of the Beretta brand and always operating in harmony with the rest of the company’s distribution channels.

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Two years ago, I was debating on these two as my 50th birthday present. The DT-11 has the locking mechanism I want, but the SL3 has the game scenes I want. If I could get game scenes on a DT-11 for around $15k, I would have bought it.

Beretta Gallery - SL3

Straddling two continents and operating under the Beretta trademark, the Galleries constantly refine their philosophy and strategy, while maintaining intact the style that is signature of the Beretta brand and always operating in harmony with the rest of the company’s distribution channels.

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DT11 EELL | 12 Gauge Clay & Competition Shotgun | Beretta

The DT11 was designed to meet the technical requirements of the shooting discipline, and the DT11 EELL elevates this prestige to the highest level by adding long sideplates. Click here!

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The gun I really want, but that would require a divorce first that would then make it unaffordable:

 

[engineerbrian]

Interesting question that I’ve thought about quite a bit too. fwiw, I’ve shot my best round of trap (24/25) with a $180 Maverick 88 and did lousy with a $5,000 shotgun that was on loan.

 

[fabsroman]

Interesting question that I’ve thought about quite a bit too. fwiw, I’ve shot my best round of trap (24/25) with a $180 Maverick 88 and did lousy with a $5,000 shotgun that was on loan.

My scores initially went down when I went from the Citori to the 682, but they did not drop out of the 20s. Shot my first 25 straight with the 682 and then shot several more. Have never shot 50 straight because in 1995 I met a guy in law school and we shot sporting clays together. Nowadays, I mostly shoot sporting clays.

Just because you pick up a $20,000 shotgun does not mean it is going to have target acquisition on it. You still need to get used to how it fits and how it shoots.

When I bought my first 682 and people found out it cost $2,900, they almost always asked, "Does it shoot by itself and break the clays for you?" Just like a Ferrari drives itself. Then again, I guess there is the Tesla.

 

[Moonlighter]

Been considering getting into trap shooting. Is there a particular gun shop that carries a lot of O/U shotguns so I can at least get a feel for what's what? Looks like Cabela's would be one place to start with, any other stores recommended?

 

[slsc98]

…Is there a particular gun shop that carries a lot of O/U shotguns so I can at least get a feel for what's what? …

Shydas in Lebanon, PA … fer sure.


Maybe still Miller’s in DE (that is where I had them hand me each of around 30 used 12ga o/u’s they had on consignment, about 20 years ago. I wound up with two lightly used o/u’s for the price of one new one … eventually traded one for a SuperSport, still have the other for guests.)

 

[fabsroman]

Been considering getting into trap shooting. Is there a particular gun shop that carries a lot of O/U shotguns so I can at least get a feel for what's what? Looks like Cabela's would be one place to start with, any other stores recommended?

Cabela's in Christiana used to be awesome. I was there in the fall, and it SUCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When I was there several years prior, there was at least 3 Beretta DT-11 guns in the gun room and the room was packed with high end guns. There was five or more Beretta 692 guns there too. In the fall, there was maybe 10 guns in the gun room, which had room for 100+ guns on the shelf, and they weren't really high end guns.

I have not been to PG Trap & Skeet in a couple years, but they used to have a decent amount of Beretta guns there. Maybe go and rent a couple and see what you like. Mind you, every gun will fit differently. I shouldered all three DT-11 guns at Cabela's back then and one fit me perfectly. It just felt so, so right. I almost regret not buying it that day. My wife said, "Maybe for your 50th." Then, on my 50th she said, "Go ahead and buy that Beretta you wanted or that Colnago you have always wanted." I bought neither. lol Still trying to figure out what is wrong with me. lol

Then, there is Caesar Guerini. They list places around the area where you can demo the guns and dealers all around the area.

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Produced to spec's by top American shooters and hunters these O/U shotguns combine the finest craftsmanship and materials Italian gun makers are famous for.

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Doubt I would ever buy another clays gun without an adjustable stock.

Here are my two 682 guns