There are two challenges to finding a great shotgun — fit and suitability.
The shotguns section of Shotgun Life is dedicated to helping you recognize the perfect shotgun (that you’ll want to keep for the rest of your life, and then hand down to your family for generations to come.)
For some people, finding a great shotgun is simply love at first sight. For others, a great shotgun grows on them — and they find themselves down in the basement cleaning it for absolutely no other reason than just to be in its company.
But for every shotgun owner who falls in love with their pride-and-joy, there are teams of engineers and craftsmen toiling away behind the scenes to bring your gun to fruition.
As you’ll see, shotguns are generally designed for a particular sport. Some shotguns have composite stocks and fore-ends to withstand the travails of duck hunting. Then there are single-shot trap guns with high ribs that help you intercept rising targets. And skeet shooters find that their beavertail fore-end is particularly adept at bringing about a smooth, quick swing.
So let the search begin. Here is what you’ll find in our shotgun section…
Suppose you were a connoisseur of fine shotguns. And suppose you possessed a vision of the best way to sell those beautiful firearms to fellow disciples of the shotgun sports. And finally, let’s suppose you were a successful retired banker with the time and resources to make your vision a reality.
Through its many incarnations the Weatherby over and under has continued to stand for a quality gun at a reasonable price.
Mention Weatherby, and most people associate the company with its line of magnum rifle cartridges and the associated rifles. The Weatherby name also stands for quality and that carries through to the company’s shotgun line as well.
Once you have handled a really well-balanced shotgun, you will never again be satisfied with less. One shooter, back in the 1990s, described it as being like the first time you taste a really great French wine. Your palate changes forever.
In November 2015 we visited the legendary OSP Shooting School in Fulshear, Texas to evaluate a pre-shipment model of the Mossberg 930 Pro-Series Sporting 12-gauge semi-auto under the guidance of clays instructors extraordinaire, Gil and Vicki Ash.
Vintage orange recoil pads that conjure an era we might call the “Golden Age of Shotguns” bestow today’s bird guns with a classic, abiding romance. Let yourself drift and that autumnal ginger color invites the fragrances of pipe tobacco, dewy tweed, musky dogs and wet feathers.
Chris Batha’s British Ordnance Company originated from a happy accident that brought to market a bespoke tour de force attractively priced at $32,000.
One year after it was officially announced, the new Remington V3 semi-auto shotgun is finally available at your local dealer, and for the most part it feels like a winner.
Although Remington introduced the V3 in February 2015, the shotgun didn’t start shipping until February 2016 at a suggested retail price of $995.00.
A quail covey exploded from the wire grass and Jarrett Lafferty straightaway downed a double with the 20-gauge Krieghoff Essencia side by side. As Regional Director of Ducks Unlimited from Tallahassee, Florida he has hit plenty of game birds on the wing with shotguns. Still, he was impressed with Krieghoff’s $29,895 game gun and immediately dubbed it “the meat stick.”
Blaser has parlayed its winning reputation with the F3 shotgun into a new line of affordable models that uphold the original’s quality, handling and performance at less than half the price –resulting in the exceptional Blaser technology becoming far more accessible to wing and clays shooters.
The sunsets of Sedona, Arizona draw seekers in pursuit of their own personal spiritual enlightenment to the fiery glow cast on high-desert rock formations. That haunting splendor is a monument to the local mystical soup of Native American beliefs, New Age transcendence and self-proclaimed UFO refugees. As a hot spot of awakening and harmony, Sedona is a natural home to artists who draw inspiration from the beautiful gods of the harsh, majestic landscape.
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Shotgun Life is the first online magazine devoted to the great people who participate in the shotgun sports.
Our goal is to provide you with the best coverage in wing and clays shooting. That includes places to shoot, ways to improve your shooting and the latest new products. Everything you need to know about the shotgun sports is a mouse-click away.
Irwin Greenstein
Publisher
Shotgun Life
PO Box 6423
Thomasville, GA 31758
Phone: 229-236-1632
