Buddy of mine is looking for a good O/U 20 gauge for bird hunting. I am not familiar so looking for input. Nothing too crazy price wise. Sub 750, 1000 max

Buddy of mine is looking for a good O/U 20 gauge for bird hunting. I am not familiar so looking for input. Nothing too crazy price wise. Sub 750, 1000 max

Get a stoeger. I handled another members in 12 gauge and it was really nice for the price. I think they run in the $500-600 range

CZ makes great O/U in that price range. http://www.cz-usa.com/products/by-category/over-under/

 

Stoegers are good but low end 350-600.  I have one but would recommend a CZ or possibly a Franci first

+1 on the CZ.  Their Wingshooter is a great gun.

 

Lanber also makes a great gun in that price range.  I have one of their 12 gauge Hunter models.  Solid and beautiful gun for under $1K.

 

Here's a 20 gauge:  http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=370930764

 

ETA:  Looks like the Lanber 20's are becoming like hen's teeth.  CDNN used to have the 2067 in stock, but looks like they are out. 

CZ's are nice. I wouldn't buy a Stoeger if I planned to shoot it much. The Shotgun boards are filled with stories of broken firing pins and extractors. 

Shotguns are pretty hard to kill. It takes forever to wear out a barrel or shoot one loose if using target loads. Your friend would be able to step up in class and get a decent used Browning for that price. I bought a Browning BSS in 12 gauge for $550 last year from Lou's in Raritan. The stock's finish is a little ugly from the prior owner dunking it in a pond duck hunting, but it is in immaculate shape otherwise. Awesome shotgun. Liked it so much I went and got one in 20 gauge. That is my exclusive pheasant gun. remember that you usually pay a premium for sub-gauge guns. 

Lanber's are nice. I am not sure where I would go to get one serviced though. I thought their US distribution ended. 

These guys are taking care of Lanber warranty work   http://mastergunmakers.com/warranty/

Another vote here for the CZ line. Both the double trigger and single trigger models are real bargains!

If you buy a CZ made by huglu they had firing pin and trigger issues.. has been a few years so that may have been corrected..

If you buy a CZ made by huglu they had firing pin and trigger issues.. has been a few years so that may have been corrected..

Yes that's correct and a concern on used guns. I own and have handled quite a few new CZ's and haven't heard of any problems so I would assume they put that problem behind them.

I will say that the CZ triggers are heavy, but tend to smooth up after a bit of shooting.

 

I have another Redhead on order, the Target this time, and I'm bird hunting this year with my side x side Ringneck 20ga. The Ringneck is 2 years old and a fantastic gun. The triggers are about 6# pull but they are nice and crisp and the gun shoots great.

I have a redhead O/U. After purchase i started looking into them and found all the bad info. i do not have many rounds through mine and i do like the gun i shoot it very well.  It is a very good looking O/U also the fit and finish is good...