The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Aye Sim, it's called "value for money" and "seen you coming" with Benelli (barrels made in Turkey I am hearing :lol: )

Nope, mine says made in Italy.... :55:

A mate of mine works for the Beretta group, which owns Benelli. He is involved in the military/law enforcement side but recounts regularly that there is an Australian rabbit shooter that got one of the first Benelli inertia operated shotguns in the late 60's. He's had over 1/2 a million cartridges through it with next to little wear and only a few breakages of small parts.

With all the will in the world, a Hatsan, as good as they are, will never be able to do that. A mate has just traded in a Hatsan Escort which is starting to batter itself to death... He's gone for a Benelli.

Sometimes, you get what you pay for.....

I love my hatsan escort pump,it's a great loaner/training gun and has had a few thousand rounds through it without a single hiccup. But it's slow to load compared to my Benelli which has caused me grief since day one! (Bent carrier it seems) ho hum!

My original Hatsan semi bought in 2007 (for the vast sum of £275) has had around 8000 cartridges through it. Apart from me jamming a bit of cleaning patch in it it's continued to work perfectly.

I then bought a mk3 as a spare as everyone kept telling me my mk1 would drop to bits/explode/dissolve etc. The mk3 sat in the gun cupboard unused for 2 years so I sold it!. I've also got a Silver Select O/U which is a lovely tight action and mounts very nicely (sounds like my sister in-law!)

The only "problem" I've had was with the new Sec.1 MPA I bought for PSG, I found it too stiff to load but I have an arthritic load thumb so that didn't help, sold it and bought a used Remington 870 Wingmaster Deluxe, much easier on the thumb smile2

Musta dmit never had probs with my hatsans and I like them because they FIT me perfectly. I am more taken with the CZ HC-P pump action (Made in turkey) seriousy accurate from the box, with decent ghost ring sights as standard.

I do know that one Italian manufacturer IS using a Turkish company for it's barrel and inertia operated systems.

Stoeger is part of the Beretta group, so design sharing is to be expected.

I just got my SGC through today, 2 weeks after applying! Well done Wiltshire

With a budget of up to £500, what is a good starter O/U for clays?

Whatever fits you properly, most people wouldn't shoot any better with a £5000 gun than they would with a £150 used Baikal if the fit of the gun isn't right. If you have a local club or clay ground they will usually have someone who can advise you on this, if not try as many different guns as you can and see which (if any) seems to shoot better for you.

For £500 you have a huge choice of guns available, from new Hatsan and Winchester SXP semi-auto for around £350 to a vast amount of used Beretta and Brownings etc.

CDM5 wrote:I just got my SGC through today, 2 weeks after applying! Well done Wiltshire

With a budget of up to £500, what is a good starter O/U for clays?

How tall are you?

Sim, Stoeger is a Turkish company but it is not Stoeger I have in mind.

http://www.stoeger.com.tr/eng//sayfam/1 ... &m3=0&m4=0