OK, I'm the owner of a Remington 1100 in 12ga that I love.

 

The problem is that I've got a bum shoulder and the gun is on the heavy side. So after a while it's painful to shoot. Not from recoil, but from aiming, holding, etc.

 

So I need something lighter.

 

I'm looking for opinions on Over/Under's for skeet and trap, and field use.

 

I've only shot an O/U once or twice before, and any time I've handled one in a store it seems to me that the effort necessary to break the gun open to reload seems a bit....much. It's probably me but it seems rather cumbersome.

 

The S/A is a breeze to load and with the new shell ejection clip I got there is no more bending over to pick up hulls.

 

Your thoughts and responses will be appreciated.

I think the Remmy 1100 is about the softest shooting semi-auto ever. Any over-under you get may have the advantage of being lighter (i.e. smaller receiver, so lighter gun), but it will have the disadvantage of having more recoil because of the lighter weight. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

I would suggest that a 20 gauge may be more what you are looking for. It has both the advantage of light-weight and reduced recoil. I owned a Remington 1100 LT-20. It could handle three inch shells and had a 28" barrel. It was significantly lighter than my Rem 1100 in 12gauge. The recoil was only about 60% of 12 gauge. Unless you plan on shooting a lot farther than the 16 yard line at trap (i.e. handicapping yourself by increasing distance to targets), a 20 gauge is enough gun to hit those targets. For skeet, it is more than enough.

What about something like the Beretta Extrema II

OK, I'm the owner of a Remington 1100 in 12ga that I love.

 

The problem is that I've got a bum shoulder and the gun is on the heavy side. So after a while it's painful to shoot. Not from recoil, but from aiming, holding, etc.

 

So I need something lighter.

 

 

 

I'm looking for opinions on Over/Under's for skeet and trap, and field use.

 

I've only shot an O/U once or twice before, and any time I've handled one in a store it seems to me that the effort necessary to break the gun open to reload seems a bit....much. It's probably me but it seems rather cumbersome.

 

The S/A is a breeze to load and with the new shell ejection clip I got there is no more bending over to pick up hulls.

 

Your thoughts and responses will be appreciated.

The two responses to your post are spot-on.

 

Serious shooters would opt for at least three different O/U's for all three sports, or potentially two could suffice. The 1100 in 20 ga. is a lightweight shotgun, not the best for trap because of the gauge but fine for the other two games and it can serve as a field gun as well. The Beretta Xtrema with its aluminum receiver and gas-assist is a lightweight shotgun and is light recoiling. The newer Beretta A400 Xcel is an updated model that's light also (lighter than an 1100,) has a slim forend and feels well-balanced between the hands.

 

O/U's that seem cumbersome to break open in the store loosen up a bit with time and use. (The cheap ones loosen up the fastest.) If that is a concern for you, there are makers than manufacture doubles with "assisted openers" but they are not cheap. Expect to pay seven to ten times the cost of a new 1100 for an O/U with such a feature.

My buddy just got the latest and great from Beretta, the 400 Extreme Utica (or something like that). It comes in black or camo, that's it. Not a pretty gun, but very light on the recoil. I look at it as a Rem 1100 with the recoil-reduction system I have on my Browning O/U. It aso makes the gun $1600. I have shot it and at first I thought missing a middle bead would be a problem, but I broke all 10 birds I shot at so obviously the middle bead is not needed.

 

He is using this gun for Sporting Clays and Trap, it is fine. I can't imagine finding a lighter recoil than this while still using 2 3/4" shells with 1 1/8oz loads. Now, reduce the size of the shells and the load and you will reduce recoil even further, but unless you reload yourself it's going to cost you more money to shoot.

 

I sometimes have some issues with my O/U simply because it is so light. Perfect for Sporting Clays, but I sometimes over-swing it shooting Trap. Almost tempted to try the weights that will fit in the upper barrel just for Trap shooting.

look into lightweight/featherweight models.

ithaca makes a feather weight pump but some fancier skeet ranges dont allow pumps.

I've started looking around and compiling data. Damn shotguns are expensive.

 

CZ makes a base model O/U for around $550 that is around 7 pounds.

 

The Browning Cynergy featherweight series in 12ga are around 6 pounds, but almost $3,000.

 

My Remington 1100 is 8 pounds.

 

The difference between 500 and 3k buys a LOT of Aleve.

 

I'd love a very nice brand name shotgun but as this hobby may or may not stick, I can't justify spending thousands of dollars. Not yet at least.

look into lightweight/featherweight models.

ithaca makes a feather weight pump but some fancier skeet ranges dont allow pumps.

My shoulder arm issue won't allow me to do pump.

 

Recoil isn't the issue. I've got a tear in a tendon in my upper arm/shoulder area.

Ok, if recoil isn't the issue and a heavy gun is, then look at a 20 gauge. I have a 20g Rem 1100 that my niece uses since all my other shotguns are too heavy for her. That gun kicks as hard as the 12g Rem 1100 simply due to it's lower weight.

I've started looking around and compiling data. Damn shotguns are expensive.

 

CZ makes a base model O/U for around $550 that is around 7 pounds.

 

The Browning Cynergy featherweight series in 12ga are around 6 pounds, but almost $3,000.

 

My Remington 1100 is 8 pounds.

 

The difference between 500 and 3k buys a LOT of Aleve.

 

I'd love a very nice brand name shotgun but as this hobby may or may not stick, I can't justify spending thousands of dollars. Not yet at least.

 

I own a CZ Mallard I got for around $500. It's awesome. I shoot trap a few times a month and it does the trick. I upgraded to chokes to trulock extended, but the stock chokes that come with it do just fine.

 

I've hit rounds with 20+ clays out of 25. I don't keep a record or anything, it's just fun for me to get out and pop off some rounds.

I like to come back to my threads and thank people for their replies, so thanks people.

 

I had the opportunity last weekend to shoot a round of trap with a .20 ga O/U. I weighed around a pound, perhaps a pound an half less than my 1100 in .12 ga. I had no trouble with my arm.

 

I'm going to see if I can find one in .12, just so I have continutity in ammunition purchase, but otherwise I'm sold on the O/U.

Glad to hear it.