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Has anybody here recently bought a new over/under shotgun for under $700 that he really likes?

So when you put a rail and light on for home defense bruh, does the checkering still matter? Or do you put skateboard tape over it?
 
I'm waiting for the ground dove recipe thread.

I put ground glass and cardamom in ground dove meat and serve it in canapes to the oldsters at my local chapter meetings of the Savage the Savage club. If it saves just 1 99 from having a scope mount Bubba'd it's worth it.
 
In the price range you mentioned my favorite of what we carry at the shop are the CZ Drakes. I have found them to be nice shooting guns and comfortable for me.
I just picked up a 28ga Drake a few weeks ago and am very impressed so far. Will be my 12yo's pheasant gun and my blue grouse gun for a number of years.
 
I've been dreaming of getting an over/under for awhile now. I'm pretty set on a Beretta SP III or Browning 725. Figure I want 1 lifetime nice over/under, so I'll wait and save for the one I really want. That said, if I were more practical, I've heard nothing but good things about Franchi and CZ over/unders. The Savage 555 seems quite nice for the price as well.
 
They are when you shoot them off power lines.

I thought doves were easy pickings with pellet guns? 12 gauge advantage?

It seems as that in my home state, Oklahoma, the anal game wardens just won't allow dove death by compressed-air power. This state is so old-fashioned I'm frankly surprised I don't see Flintstonemobiles on the moon-crater roads here. They will allow dove death by archery equipment, however. I'm no aerial Robin Hood so I will settle for a shotgun to deliver the dove poppers. I gather taking down dove with a scattergun is tough enough as it is. There is an old wives' tale that "you can't miss with a shotgun".

 
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So when you put a rail and light on for home defense bruh, does the checkering still matter? Or do you put skateboard tape over it?
No, the stock bead on the barrel is just fine to take aim at any would-be burglar. Moreover, the sound of the gun racking alone should give him a run for his money so the bead should be a moot point anyway. The checkering will allow me for a firm grip as facing a home intruder could be a nervous palm-sweating thing. Back in 1885, they did not have rail lights on cowboy guns whenever hostile Indians, cougars, wolves or hen-house-raiding foxes snuck on the homestead at night.
 
Back in 1885, they did not have rail lights on cowboy guns whenever hostile Indians, cougars, wolves or hen-house-raiding foxes snuck on the homestead at night.
WTF does that have to do with 2021?
 
It might even make a swell buffalo, uhm, bison gun in that it has two barrels.

Jumping to shotguns in general, I do have a pre-owned shotgun on my way right now won from an online auction. Not even an over/under but an older Mossberg 500A 12 ga. circa 1980's. 5+1 shot. Checkered wood stock. Blued receiver. Looked sharp in the pictures. Has 28" field barrel with choke tubes, vent rib and white bead. Certainly, a dove hunter. $375 buy-now price. SOLD! to moi. A novice dove hunter (moi again) needs the 12-gauge advantage. Don't know yet if the gun has the required magazine plug. The seller, an FFL, said may have never been fired. Hopefully, this gun won't disappoint when inspected at my local FFL for transfer and test-fired at the range. With a scoped cantilever slug barrel, it will also make a super woods deer gun as well. Not many public lands in Oklahoma allow rifles for deer gun seasons, especially doe/antlerless. Will even make a home defender with a tactical barrel. This blue/wood Mossy has to be the prettiest single-barreled hunting long gun I've ever seen for under $400 if the pictures at GB.com tell no lies. Time will tell. Each and every one of these Mossy 500's is truly one American gun for all seasons with their famous modular swappable barrels and stocks. This is the AR-15 of pump shotguns. You can't even go deer hunting with an over/under.

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Since 1964 essentially all pump shotguns are "modular with swappable barrels and stocks." Nothing unique about that. This shotgun will not wear well. The whitewood birch stock is stained walnut. Every little ding will show through white on a dark background. Blech! The Mossberg 500 is serviceable enough but clunky. For $400 you should be able to buy a used 870 Wingmaster and it's ten times the gun (avoid 870 Express!).
 
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