Which Shotgun for Open?

[Brian Gonsalves]

I want to get a Shotgun for Open class. There is a ton of info on this forum, but let's get down to it.

If you could have any shotgun, which brand, what mods, and which gunsmith?

Thanks in advance!

[benny hill]

Benelli super field, all the open mods & for a gunsmith, myself of course.

[uscbigdawg]

Chico,

I shoot a Remington 1100 that’s been worked over by Briley. It’s had the forcing cone lengthened, barrel ported, full set of Briley chokes, trigger job and sights added (only ‘cause I don’t like most red dots). I will be adding the JPoint soon though. After that, it’s set up for Tec-Loaders, and I’m considering getting the Arredondo magwell. If I do, I’ll be cutting about half of it away for the sake of size economy. A mod that will be coming soon too, will be sending just about everything to Robar for a Teflon coating. Remingtons are heavy, but reliable and cheap.

Realistically there are only two other options. The Benelli and the Winchester SX2. The Benelli is nice as it’s light and has the same parts available for it. Too, Benny Hill does some awesome work on them. The only negatives that I’ve heard on them, is that they are kind of expensive to start with and are finicky with just about everything (the joke that was told to me was, “I added a side saddle and it ran flawlessly with six rounds in the saddle, but jammed with 4???”).

The SX2, appears to be the heat if you can get parts and get them running. They seem to be inherently reliable and really well built. I honestly though don’t know that much about them. I read somewhere that they cycle something like .03-.05 seconds faster than a Remington or Benelli. Big deal. I would definitely ask around your club to see what folks think. Too, this site is phenomenal for information.

Hope that helped.

Rich

[mike.45]

IMHO I have never heard of anyone using a Gold in open, but think they should be great when the springs are tuned. In the UK I shot my first Gold in 28" barrel and 14 + 1 mag (SX2 mag extension) and it preformed flawlessly.

The Sporting Clays comes with a ported barrel and it has the SX reliability as its the same gun. I realise the US assault gun laws effect long mags on new guns but if a post ban Gold had a 10 shot mag then I think its also a safe bet. I would definitely give it serious thought.

Mods would be the springs mainly and a few easing jobs, as well as an adapted Arrendo mag funnel. As for sights I wouldnt use any apart from what the gun comes with. I personnaly hate optics on a shotgun. As for Gunsmiths - I hear Mr AH6IP at RockingHTactical has his *$*!* together with Golds.

cheers and good luck !

[warpspeed]

If money were no object, I'd get 2

[Carlos]

Price no object? That's easy: Class III Destructive Device USAS-12 shotgun. About $1800 plus $200 tax (& 4 to 6 mo. wait); in place of speedloaders it takes 10 & 25 round magazines. A bit on the heavy side but dead reliable. I think Wakal shoots one of these in USPSA. You did say money was no object.

Seem a bit steep price wise? How much are pre-ban bennelis or fully tuned open Briley's??Were I in your shoes, I'd just get a Rem competition master & have JP put on their clamshell break & a set of fiber optic open sights; set it up for speedloaders & go race.

[Wakal]

Actually, the USAS-12 runs a 10-round stick mag or a 20-round drum

http://www.dreadnaught-industries.com/imag...s/3gun_open.JPG

Does it work? Well, look here:

http://sanangelogunclub.org/action_pistol/...S3G/opeshot.htm

Notice that a schmuck who has had his A-card for a whole four months managed...barely...to beat Don "I Shoot Like A God" Bednorz and James "I Ain't So Bad Either" Darst...with a USAS-12.

Equipment over talent!

While I can't recommend them for everyone, if the weight is acceptable the USAS-12 is first-rate. Guy Hawkins didn't seem to have any trouble with it, but he has biceps size of volleyballs. I'm just a little guy (6'3" 220), but I find the short barrel and very...centered...weight to be faster to track across an array than the long tube guns.

I think I'll pull the EOTech off it and play in Tactical for a while...buah hah hah...

Back on topic: If I had all the money I wanted, I'd just buy another USAS-12 and another box full of magazines...

Alex

[George]

I want to get a Shotgun for Open class.  There is a ton of info on this forum, but let's get down to it.

If you could have any shotgun, which brand, what mods, and which gunsmith?

Thanks in advance!

Ok, in order here are my picks.

1. Remington (1100/11-87)

2. "All" of the mods available!

3. JP Rifles

"This" is an Open shotgun JP Open 1100

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Regards,

[ringram]

The JPoint/Optima or Doctor sights are definately the go. Especially for slug.

As for a proper "open" gun check this out Open Gun

Yes its 18+1 and thats a 9rnd speed loader with 65mm cases.

Unweildy you ask? Well its does kind of get heavy up front, its a 30" barrel too.

Still firepower is awsome, which in my books is key. Tunnels and tight spaces can be a pain it depends on how many you think there will be and how the stage designers work.

I think that either beneli or remington are the go. As Mike says browning gold would be good due to the autoload feature if you can get a nice speed loader bracket.

In all cases reliability is key.

Rich

[mike.45]

Rich,

You could have cleaned your lady before displaying her to the world !!

Blooming colonials

[gunther]

Has anyone tried a Siaga/AK shotgun with the detachable magazines. Seems it could be a alternative, set up right and if U can get 10 rd mags after AWB sunsets might have potential. Only the 5 rd mags available now.

[uscbigdawg]

gunther,

Wakal uses one and can speak highly of it.

Rich

[George]

Wakal, to my knowledge uses the USAS-12 (AKA Weapon of Mass Destruction). Basically a 12 gauge AR on Steroids

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Regards,

[Deuce]

I am bran new to all this 3-gun stuff ... but, I must say I'm surprised that the USPSA deemed box-mag shotguns as "speed-loading" and, therefore Open.

Doubtless, I don't know any of the details, but, if they were Limited, I have to believe at least one of the big four woulda built one. If for nothing else, the police and military ... or does all of the military use that USAS-12? Now that that's an Open-only deal, I would guess the market's a lot smaller and the possibility of one of the big four building one is lower.

The first time I saw the Siaga (sp?), I immediately thought it would be a neat "practical" shotgun ... I just don't know anything about the manufacturer and haven't seen anyone use it so I don't trust it.

I guess I'm a little surprised that such a gun isn't more popular ... even marketed to home-defense purchasers.

My one regret to my choice of SX2 (haven't even shot it yet) is that I coulda got a Benelli with that AR-style grip ... I think that'd've been neat.

[ErikW]

Having witnessed untold numbers of Open shotguns puke at the Area 1 3 Gun, I think the best Open shotgun would be a Standard shotgun, or at least an otherwise-Standard with a larger magazine and a speedloader bracket.

[jkmccoy]

Wakal uses a USAS12 (very much like an AR on steroids, lots of steroids). Other than having been officially declared a Destructive Device by the BATFE, the weight of the USAS12 (12.5 pounds) is a serious detriment for most of us. I borrowed Wakal's shotgun for one stage at the NM State 3-Gun (the hammer in my shotgun broke) and the weight definitely slowed me down. Wakal is a big guy in good shape and it works for him, but it ain't for everyone.

I've been playing with a Saiga 20 gauge for 3-gun for several months. Don't have all of the teething problems worked out, but I think it has real potential for 3-gunning. It's much more nearly the same weight/size as a "regular" shotgun. The action should be highly reliable (although as I said I've had a few problems, I'm getting them worked out, but there have been some problems). 10-round magazines are occasionally available (I see them on Ebay sometimes) or can be made, but one must be cautious of the current federal firearms laws. The BATFE has apparently indicated by letter and by telephone (I'm reporting this second-hand, I didn't talk to them and I didn't see the letter) that the Saiga shotguns with 10-round magazines would be prohibited from import under 18 USC 925.D.3 as not being "particularly suited to or readily adapted to sporting use." Under 18 USC 922 it is illegal to assemble from imported parts a firearm that would be banned from import. 27 CFR 178.39 clarifies this regulation and provides a list of 20 parts. A weapon that would be banned from import under 18 USC 925 cannot be assembled using more than 10 imported parts from this list. Thus, if you replace sufficient parts in your Saiga you will not have violated this law (just like you have to use a certain number of US-made parts to assemble an FN-FAL from a parts kit).

The AWB has nothing to do with it. The Saiga shotgun is NOT an assault weapon no matter what the magazine capacity since it has only one of the banned features.

The hammer that broke in Alamogordo was one of the US-made replacement parts.

Cheers,

Kelly McCoy

West Texas

[sargenv]

I shoot a Gold in Open class, but I'm starting to rethink myself into Tactical Scoped and take off all the stuff I have on the shotgun. When I do my part, the gun works pretty good. However I think the +20% action spring has it so that loads have to be pretty warm to reliably work the action. If I had the standard spring in it, and with a full magazine, the action wouldn't completely close. I prefer the Gold over the SX-2 mostly due to the speedload funtion of the gold (load one down below and it auto-loads into the chamber, saving about a second or two dropping one in the port and hitting the button or gate like an 1100 or a Benelli). With sticks, you can shove 4 in the mag and it'll auto load one for you, put another stick in and you have 8 at the ready, one already loaded. No need to crank the action like I saw so many 1100's needed to be this weekend at Area 1. In comparison to others, I didn't have many jams.. Mostly it was me being in too much of a hurry to load it right.

I'm sure I'll get mine tuned eventually, but as for now, Tactical is starting to look pretty good. If I were to have no limit to the mods on any gun, I think I'd still stick with the Gold and work out all the kinks. As it is, no one but me has worked on the springs so it's mostly trial and error thus far.

They don't make a tec loader bracket for the Gold, so I adapted an 1100 bracket for mine with pretty good results.

Vince