Hunting shotgun

[Socalmedix]

Looking for a lite 20ga for hunting upland birds, quail, dove and the like.

I am liking the Franchi line... Any experience with these models?

[Adam25]

Remington 1100, I have three....never had an issue all of mine are 12ga. My cousin has a 20 and loves it.

[BigDogatPlay]

+1 on an 1100 or 11-87 in 20 would be a solid choice. I've owned 1100s and I shoot with a lot of guys who use 11-87's and they run marvelously. The 11-87 20 is a nice weight and is easy to lug around through a full day of hunting. One of my bosses has one and it's his go to pheasant gun.

The Franchi 48 is an older and even more time tested design than the 1100 and is an excellent choice. I find the Franchi 48 to be a nice handling package. They still catalog them in 20 gauge. Haven't seen any examples of their newest release as yet, but they look promising.

[alfred1222]

+1 on the 1100, i would go with a remington over a franchi

[FLIGHT762]

You didn't say auto loader or an O/U. I have a little experience with The Franchi I-12 and the 12 ga. Renaissance O/U.

Had quite a few issues with the I-12. Kept malfunctioning with 3" steel Duck loads and tossed the bolt handle a couple of times. Went back to Franchi 4 times!. Finally, on the fourth visit, they replaced it. The new gun works pretty well, but it malfunctioned a couple of times during the Duck season, I haven't been able to put the new gun through it's paces enough yet.

Looks like Franchi changed the I-12 autoloader line with the Affinity line in 12 and 20 ga. The 20 ga. weighs 5.6 lbs. Looks like it may be a good gun, but it's too new to be sure. The Franchi Affinity is an inertia gun similar to the Benellis. The 20 Ga. might be worth a look.

I have a 20 ga. Benelli M-1 Super 90 that never malfunctions and dispatches Ducks and Doves regularly. It's a sweet gun to shoot and is very light weight.


As far as the Franchi O/U line, I have a 12 ga. Renaissance that is light weight and is a great field gun, it's not a heavy duty clays gun due to it's light weight. My Renaissance looks to be very similar to the new line of Franchi Instinct line. I'm happy with my Renaissance.


While you have some here happy with Remington 100's and 1187's, I'm not a big fan of them. Their gas systems are complicated and can be troublesome (especially the 1100's). Fine for a target gun, but in the 80's I had an 1100 and used it for Duck hunting. Had nothing but reliability issues. I got rid of it. Haven't used one since. Remington looks like they finally made a good, reliable gas gun with the new Versa Max.

If I were in the market for a 20 ga. gas gun, I would be looking into the Beretta 391 line.

[redrex]

I may be old fashioned but when I hear "Upland bird hunting" I immediately think side by side 20ga with a straight, aka English, stock. They are light, simple, stupidly reliable and the straight stock allows for faster transition such as when you are hiking and climbing hills.

Personally I'm a big fan of the CZ guns. I have the Redhead O/U in 12ga. More of a duck gun/skeet gun if you ask me but they make a great line of SxS as well.

http://www.cz-usa.com/products/view/bobwhite-202-b-case-hardened/

At $700 for a gun like that it's hard to beat.

[redrex]

I may be old fashioned but when I hear "Upland bird hunting" I immediately think side by side 20ga with a straight, aka English, stock. They are light, simple, stupidly reliable and the straight stock allows for faster transition such as when you are hiking and climbing hills.

Personally I'm a big fan of the CZ guns. I have the Redhead O/U in 12ga. More of a duck gun/skeet gun if you ask me but they make a great line of SxS as well.

http://www.cz-usa.com/products/view/bobwhite-202-b-case-hardened/

At $700 for a gun like that it's hard to beat.

[JagerDog]

The Franchi 48 is a upland dream. 1100 might as well be a baseball bat in comparison. If you desire 3" capability, then Benelli Montefeltro. In light 20g autos for upland hunting, that's really about all you need to know. Just this upland specialist's opinion.

[Socalmedix]

Thanks for all the insight guys... My brother has a 1187 and I'm not too fond of it, as I feel it is pretty heavy, but it is chambered in 12 ga.

I'm not a big o/u or sxs guy, more of an auto loader guy, but I did learn to hunt many many years ago on a break action

I'm off to do some interweaves research on the models provided here and hater more info...