12 ***** or 20 ***** for Skeet, Again...

I'm sure you've all been dreading this question coming up again. I went back over all the topics and also tried a search but didn't come up with anything definitive.

I'm getting back into Skeet and don't own a gun right now. I want to purchase soon but not sure if I should go with the 12 or 20. My thinking is that I can shoot both 12 and 20 competition with the 20. I know I can get tubes, but they're really not in my budget at this time.

I'm also wondering about 26" vs. 28" barrels. I believe the Silver Snipe I had back in '69 was a 26", 12 gauge. I'm not thinking about using the gun for anything other than Skeet, and am not interested in Trap or Sporting Clays at this time, and I don't hunt.

I'm looking at the Verona LX502 ($699 locally), the Baikal IZH27 ($399 locally), and the Beretta 686 Onyx ($1229 locally). The Beretta is really more than I want to spend right now, but I might bite the bullet :roll: for the perceived quality and longetivity advantage, if it's really there.

I do like the pricing of the Verona and Baikal even though they seem to be more crude in comparison. Not sure if they would stand up to the usage that serious Skeet shooting would put them through.

I also plan to reload. That was almost as much fun as the shooting from what I can remember.

Your help and comments would be much appreciated. Please go easy on me if you're sick of seeing these questions asked again.