watefowl gun...

[readonly]

I have never killed a duck or a goose, but would like to take it up a little on the side. I do not have a suitable gun. I bought some chokes and ammo for my 870 last year, but it is a dedicated turkey gun and that is not going to work.

What do you all shoot and what do you stay away from? thanks

 

[Gator]

Duck hunting is extremely hard on a gun. One of my duck hunting buddies shoots a spray painted 870 and it works just fine. He has no problems sticking it in the mud, using it as a paddle etc.
I shoot a Berretta Extrema A391. It has a coating on the gun to help with corrosion. The best answer is to pick a gun that fits you! A gun that fits will kill more birds period.

 

[catscratch]

I spent 25 yrs killing ducks/geese with the same Mossberg 500. I don't know how many firing pin springs I put in it but it went though thousands and thousands rounds of heavy loads with relatively few problems.
I shoot a Berretta now too.

 

[Btaylor]

My 870 turns thirty this season. It will get a fresh coat of paint this year too. Easy to maintain too, give it a good dose of wd40 right before season and one after season. I shoot an improved modified tube and it patterns steel or heavy shot really well.

 

[E_308]

My 870 turns thirty this season. It will get a fresh coat of paint this year too. Easy to maintain too, give it a good dose of wd40 right before season and one after season. I shoot an improved modified tube and it patterns steel or heavy shot really well.

My 870 SP is on its third coat of krylon. It's 21" barrel shot plenty of ducks and geese back when I liked being cold wet and miserable. I just shot a round of sporting clays with it two weeks ago (and won). There is nothing that can be done with a shotgun that can't be done with an 870.

 

[j-bird]

Semi auto, 12 gauge, 3 1/2" chamber, polymer stock. Then buy ammo based on the birds your chasing and different chokes as well. You need a heavier load and a tighter choke for geese and a lighter load and a more open choke for ducks......I once shot a teal with my goose set-up - that wasn't pretty! My son asked if I killed it with the wad!

Other than that find what your comfortable with. I waterfowled with my boy for a few years. It's fun but it's a social thing and he is now off to school. I bought an 11-87 (not the best gun I know) but it has worked for me and I didn't want to have a fortune invested in a gun. It is essentially a turkey gun with a waterfowl camo pattern on it. My son has a love/hate relationship with it. He loves to use it, he hates when I use it! He uses his mossy 500 as well.

 

[Tenured Student]

Like Gator said- find a gun that fits you. I would also add find one with a good recoil pad- a must have IMO.

 

[dogdoc]

870 is a work horse but i like my auto loader. Quit shooting 3 1/2 inch shells many years ago - wasn't worth the beating. I purchased a Benelli M2 about 5 years ago and absolutely love this gun.

 

[Btaylor]

Semi auto, 12 gauge, 3 1/2" chamber, polymer stock. Then buy ammo based on the birds your chasing and different chokes as well. You need a heavier load and a tighter choke for geese and a lighter load and a more open choke for ducks......I once shot a teal with my goose set-up - that wasn't pretty! My son asked if I killed it with the wad.

So you would find it odd that I open dove season with a 30" full choke A5 browning with heavy field 6's?

 

[swat1018]

I use to blast geese with 3 1/2" hevi-shot. The key to killing ducks/geese is learn how to decoy them. I hunt ducks in FL for about a month every winter. I rarely use anything anymore but 2 3/4 low brass 7s. Granted, 75% of my birds are teal. But, they have killed all kinds of ducks when they're feet down in the decoys, and at $7.00 a box it's cheap!

I second the M2. I got it last year after toting a SBE around for ever. Got tired of toting the 3 1/2" gun around to shoot my 2 3/4 7s. The 3 1/2" shells are reserved for turkeys now.

 

[readonly]

I appreciate all of the feedback. I have my eye on the Benelli ethos....I am a sucker for a good looking gun. My biggest concern is that it doesn't take 3.5" shells. Right now I have very little access to waterways for hunting so whatever I get will see limited hunting for the foreseeable future.

 

[Ed K]

Not cheap, but I have had a Benelli Super Black Eagle II for years now. That gun has been packed with mud from disced fields while goose hunting, submerged in nasty swamp water and muck and had more shells ran through it than I can count, and it has never (as of right now) failed me once.
It cycles everything from light 2 3/4" loads to heavy 3 1/2", it's light, handles great, and even my wife enjoys shooting it at clays I toss for her.

 

[badgerfowl]

I've got the browning maxus 3.5". Bought it when it first came out 4 or 5 years ago. Never any problems. Fits me perfectly. Can't go wrong w/ any of the three B's autoloaders.

 

[catscratch]

I'm not big on shooting the long shells anymore. 2.75in 1's or 2's in steel kill everything I'm interested in at the ranges I'm comfortable with.
The Berretta I replaced the Mossberg with is a 3 gun competition model. Pretty nice as it came with an oversized safety button, charging handle, and it's stock is very adjustable. The very things that make it great for competition also help quite a bit with freezing cold fingers and bulky clothing.

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[boot]

In my experience pumps perform better for waterfowl, semi-autos get jammed easily and can have problems cycling, waterfowl hunting definently gets a gun dirty quick

 

[badgerfowl]

I've never had a jam w/ my maxus and have hunted w/ guys that shoot benelli's or beretta's and have never seen any of those jam either. Some of the cheaper semi-auto's may have issues with jams but I've never witnessed one of the more expensive ones do it. Doesn't mean it can't happen but I think that notion is a bit of a myth these days. The three B's will eat just about anything you put in them.

 

[gut_pile]

3 1/2" shells typically do not patten as well as 3". I don't even own a 3 1/2" gun any longer. The juice wasn't worth the squeeze. My doubles honestly doubled when I went back to 3". Heck, most of the birds I shoot now are with 2 3/4" #7 and I kill more birds than ever.

 

[Islandguy85]

Remington V3?


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[Gator]

I've never had a jam w/ my maxus and have hunted w/ guys that shoot benelli's or beretta's and have never seen any of those jam either. Some of the cheaper semi-auto's may have issues with jams but I've never witnessed one of the more expensive ones do it. Doesn't mean it can't happen but I think that notion is a bit of a myth these days. The three B's will eat just about anything you put in them.

I agree with this. Keep a good semi clean before the hunt and it won't have issues even in the field once it gets dirty.

 

[swat1018]

I've never had a jam w/ my maxus and have hunted w/ guys that shoot benelli's or beretta's and have never seen any of those jam either. Some of the cheaper semi-auto's may have issues with jams but I've never witnessed one of the more expensive ones do it. Doesn't mean it can't happen but I think that notion is a bit of a myth these days. The three B's will eat just about anything you put in them.

I love my Benelli, but I've seen it jam! They all will at times, for different reasons. I shoot Benelli's, but mainly because I fell in love with the fit. they just shoulder perfectly for me. I have an original 1187, it's a descent gun, just don't like the way it feels and swings.