In Praise of the Hundred Dollar Shotgun

Always had good luck with the hundred dollar shotgun. My first was a vintage Winchester 1200 pump, bought from a friend. A little cleaning (ewwww - gritty!) and it's been a great all-rounder for clays and hunting. Then a Stoeger Uplander side-by-side for upland birds. It's a little fussy (likes to be CLEAN) but comes up super-fast and shoots where you point it.

Recently my buddy Paul picked up a Remington 11-48 for a hundred bucks at a gun shop. A little rough, and needed some parts and some love. But it's built like a truck.

I'd been thinking about a semi-auto for clays. Was really eyeing the Beretta 391's. But even used, they're a grand. Plus, you whack them into a tree ducking under a fence or something, you feel bad.

Sure enough, I'm in Cabela's a couple weeks back and they have not one, but TWO 11-48's. The cheaper one ends up around a hundred bucks. It's in VERY nice shape. A little clean-up, some attention to the wood and VOILA! Looks like a TWO hundred dollar gun.

Only issue is it's got one of those awful PolyChoke adjustable chokes. Looks like a snake digesting a rat and totally distracts sight picture. But that's an easy enough fix. Shot clays with it last week and worked great!

Picture above is a portion of Paul and my collection of hundys. My new 11-48's in the center, with his 11-48 and Model 31 pump (SUPER smooth!).

Moral of the story? Don't need to drop a grand to bust clays!

-Sean-