Bad Shoulder

[Nuclear]

Ok, I'm a lurker on this site, and I've been reading the threads on which shotgun to buy. Seems to be a Chevy/Ford type thing, but I still am looking for particular advice. I would like to get into 3-gun and/or sporting clays, but I have a bad shoulder on my dominant eye (left). What I'm looking for is a semi that will be easy on the bad shoulder, reliable and ready to go out of the box. I'm guessing it will be a gas gun, I'm open to a 20 gauge (though most seem to be lighter than the 12s), and I'd prefer something with good availability of parts (been down the path of not being able to get parts with handguns before - not fun). Spending money is not an issue if it is well spent (like when you buy riflescopes). I want a good trigger, because that always seems to be the thing you have to send the gun off to get worked on. If it needs a tube extension, that's OK. Being able to change barrel lengths is a plus, but not necessary.

So what are your recommendations?

[gm iprod]

For someone with your disadvantage I would steer away from 20G as they are lighter and with a lighter gun for any given energy output you will "feel" more recoil. A heavy gun regardless of method of operation will feel like it recoils less.

In 12G you should drop back to 1 1/8oz loads, this will reduce the recoil more than switching to 20G.

For all the guns especially gas operated, I believe you will need to run the gun in to ensure reliability with light loads, we have found that many will not cycle soft loads out of the box

Not sure what is available around your way but guns we sell here in NZ are as follows.

In no particular order.

Browning, I have found for the last ten years that these are very soft shooting. They are really pushing the new Maxus as soft.

Beretta A391 and Extrema2, get one with the kickoff. It is brilliant, one of the guys at work all 5ft 3" of him uses one with 3" heavy loads all the time.

Fabarm (Italy) good looking guns, well made and few issues. Not overly cheap, very reliable once run in. That is the only criticism I have of them. They certainly need a hiding at teh beginning.

Benelli with Comfort-tech stock. I have an older Benelli old style stock. Wish I had the new one. I have torn ligaments in my shoulder, I have finally admitted defeat and installed a mercury recoil reducer. Great idea.

The Mercury reducer would be brilliant in any of the gas guns and reduce recoil further, but you must be physically able to lift and swing the gun properly. Rumour has it the new Vinci is amazing, we have them on order and hope to see some soon.

I have left Remington out as I don't have enough info at my disposal to be certain of the models, they have changed a lot of what is available recently. I have always liked the 1187 for it's simplicity.

[ShooterSteve]

Completely agree with the Ford/Chevy thing. I have both the FN, and the Remmy 1100. The Remmy shoots noticably softer. There are others that are going to chime in and say that the FN is softer. I can't speak for them, but my Remmy is softer, and I have let a number of friends shoot both, side by side, and NO ONE has ever said the FN was a softer shooter. NO ONE has ever said they are about the same. I have weighed both side by side, and they are only an ounce or two apart, so someone may say this one or that one is lighter and shoots softer, but for all practical purposes, they weigh the same. One thing that will help regardless of the two brands here, buy a side saddle and load it up. Also, get one of the elastic bands from Wally world that holds five rounds, and put it on your buttstock. Don't reload from the buttstock, it is purely for weight to reduce recoil. I still stand by my feelings that all shotguns regardless of brand are voo-doo cursed. I'm taking mine to Jamaica to get rid of the curse! I know the Benelli's are good shotguns, but being inertia driven, they do kick more. When I got started a friend let me shoot his Black Eagle. It used to beat the crap out of me, and I'm 6-2 and 260lbs. I have heard good things about the new Vinci, and I would like to check them out. Maybe some of the guys lucky enough to have one can chime in and let us know how they shoot. Good luck with your search.

[Jman]

My vote for sporting is the 12ga Beretta gas gun. I used a department store Beretta for years. Being left eye dominant as well, the adjustable stock made that a non-issue. A quality Briley Light Modified choke and Estate competition loads dusted birds just like the "high priced spread". A comfortable all day shooter.

Jim

[EkuJustice]

I would look at the 1100. With the ease of changing barrels, you can go from a 28-30 inch sporting clays gun, to a 21 inch 3gun shotgun with a simple barrel and tube extention swap. I would avoid the heavy loads. A good 1oz at around 1200fps load will work very well for sporting clays. For 3gun, I would get the lightest load that will knock the poppers down and choke accordingly. The poppers can down with the 1oz load if you choke properly. This will probibally require opening the port a little on the shorter 3gun barrel. A good recoil pad is a must. The best I have found is the Gooey pad from trapdude.com. It works extremely well, but wears a little more than the harder pads. For recoil reduction, weight is your friend. So the heavier the gun is, the less the recoil. If you still want a lively gun, that back ie stock needs to have the weight and not the front.

[StealthyBlagga]

A gas operated semi-auto will be softest on the shoulder - I would recommend either a Remington 11-87 or a Winchester SX2. I also suggest a shorter barrel, like 22" - although the barrel will be lighter, the shotshell will also burn less powder and so recoil will be softer. I recommend 12ga because, as previously mentioned, 20ga guns tend to be light yet the ammo is almost up to 12ga recoil. Oh, and get a good quality recoil-absorbing buttpad and - if legal for your 3-gun division of choice - a mercury recoil reducer (or just fill the buttstock with lead shot). One other suggestion: if the shoulder on your dominant-eye side is weak, have you considered shooting off your other shoulder ? There are several ways of doing this: cross-over stock, red-dot sight or just closing the dominant eye... these can work very well, so don't get hung up on the eye dominance thing.

[EkuJustice]

What alot will do for the eye dominence is the Browning magic dot on the lens of the dominent eye. It is almost like a piece of tape that distorts the vision in that eye just enough that it causes you to focus with the other eye. In the Clay target sports, that is the most common and cost efficient. It just looks like a small circle on the lense

[duncan]

I tore my rotator cuff in half. So I know how you feel. Everything except a gas gun hurts like hell. I use an 11-87. And it isnt too bad at all.

Never shot a Winchester, so I cant say. But a Benelli kills me.

[kar45]

Rem 1100 with a Soft-Touch conversion from Shooters Emporium will be very gentle on your bad shoulder. I have run 100 straight registered handicap with this combination... Regards, Kirby

[RH45]

I have been putting off shoulder surgery for about 4 years now, and have done some testing.

I have fired FN, Beretta, Benelli, and Remington.

I tested 20 gauge vs. 12 gauge in almost identical guns.

My shoulder tells me that with the sharper recoil of a 20 gauge vs the 12 gauge, the 12 gauge has softer, FELT recoil, and I was only running 1 oz. loads in the 20 gauge vs 1 1/8 oz loads in the 12 gauge.

The Benellis had the MOST felt recoil.

The Beretta's I own are almost as light as a Benelli, but, don't have quite as much felt recoil.

I thought the FN was o.k., but, not quite as soft as a Remington 1100, or, 1187. Even though I know that I could have even less felt recoil in my Remingtons by going to a 1 oz load, I almost always use 1 1/8 oz loads.

On my "limited" 1100, I had to put a pistol grip stock on it to be able to hold it up and load it weak handed, because it is so much heavier than my Beretta, or, the Benellis. I've been toying with the idea of trying a Saiga for open class, but, I haven't shot one yet.

So, for now, I'll keep running Remingtons.

P.S. a lot of people seem to have reliability issues with Remingtons, but, I keep mine clean and oiled, and haven't had any issues.