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Most Important Semi-Auto Attributes?

  • Low recoil

    Votes: 42 44%
  • Low price

    Votes: 6 6.3%
  • Easy to clean / maintain

    Votes: 46 48%
  • Needs minimal cleaning or maintenance.

    Votes: 20 21%
  • Light weight

    Votes: 11 12%
  • Must be blued / walnut

    Votes: 31 33%
  • Must be plastic / synthetic / camo

    Votes: 3 3.2%
  • Must have a 3-1/2 inch chamber

    Votes: 3 3.2%
  • Must look attractive

    Votes: 12 13%
  • Must have a strong warranty

    Votes: 3 3.2%
  • Must have excellent customer service

    Votes: 5 5.3%
41 - 60 of 88 Posts
Dr Duk said:
A really important factor for me is an adjustable stock for fitting!!!
Beretta gives me 15 mm af adj for drop.
Dr Duk, I thought the single most important factor for you was that it must say Beretta on it? :p
 
oyeme said:
Dr Duk said:
A really important factor for me is an adjustable stock for fitting!!!
Beretta gives me 15 mm af adj for drop.
Dr Duk, I thought the single most important factor for you was that it must say Beretta on it? :p
He said " A " really important factor, not " The" most important factor. " The " most important factor is what you mention. :D
 
Dr Duk said:
A really important factor for me is an adjustable stock for fitting!!
QFT. Fit shouldn't be a 'given', as not all of us can mount every shotgun on earth to find out what fits (and other than nuances like grip size and palm swell, virtually every modern, non-youth, non-female SA has roughly the same 1.5" DAC and ~14.5" LOP anyway).

An adjustable comb is a hugely important feature for me, since I've needed at least 3/8" less DAC than the factory comb for every long gun I've ever owned. Shims aren't sufficient, since even if you could decrease DAC 3/8" using shims (not possible on most SAs), you also reduce the DAH and change the comb pitch in the process.

A fully-adjustable (including LOP) butt plate is a huge plus as well.

I'm considering buying an SKB RS400, even though it possibly lacks in many of the categories in the poll, just because it's the most adjustable factory SA target shotgun for sale in the U.S. (that I know of). I'm not going to buy a new shotgun then send it off to a stockfitter to have them hack it up to install an adjustable comb/buttplate and/or custom stock either (that costs as much as many entire guns, and voids your stock warranty).

I've noticed that folks with 'average American'-type facial structure (like the OP) think 'fit' means something very different than those of us with small heads/high cheekbones/long necks/etc. With a typical field stock, I don't have the luxury of comparing cheek welds or minor differences in cast/checkering/grip/whatever, because I don't even seen the damn bead(s) when I mount it (just the back of the receiver).
 
Reliability while desirable is never a given with a Semi-Auto. I have yet to see one that would never screw up in some manner sooner or later.
 
Curly N said:
Reliability while desirable is never a given with a Semi-Auto. I have yet to see one that would never screw up in some manner sooner or later.
They will ALL screw up!
They all must've cleaned periodically.
They all need proper lube!
They all need proper shells, ie too light of a load may not cycle.
.
Sad news! No posts tomorrow as I'll be goose whacking, hopefully! :lol:
I think I'll take a Beretta tomorrow! :shock:
 
yep another poll for Randy to do some marketing research for a company so that we can hear

"the next big thing in semi auto shotguns"

Adjustable shims for stock fitting and LOP adjustment spacers.
 
Yup semi autos FTC, but if you do the maintenance the amount of times a semi messes up will not matter.

Nothing mechanical is fool proof. I have seen O/U's mess up too.

The difference is when my SA has a FTC I clear the round and go back to shooting the O/U's end up back in the trunk and you have to get your backup gun out.

Had it happen.

I have been shooting SA's since 1981. Can't say that I have ever had enough problems with them to make a difference. I love my O/U's too so I am really not biased for or against either type of action.

They all need to be taken care of, but SA's just need a bit more regular maintenance to make their actions a non-factor.

The biggest problem with MOST SA's are the people that own them, they either don't take care of them or try to feed their SA crap ammo.
 
dogchaser37 said:
Yup semi autos FTC, but if you do the maintenance the amount of times a semi messes up will not matter.

Nothing mechanical is fool proof. I have seen O/U's mess up too.

The difference is when my SA has a FTC I clear the round and go back to shooting the O/U's end up back in the trunk and you have to get your backup gun out.

Had it happen.

I have been shooting SA's since 1981. Can't say that I have ever had enough problems with them to make a difference. I love my O/U's too so I am really not biased for or against either type of action.

They all need to be taken care of, but SA's just need a bit more regular maintenance to make their actions a non-factor.

The biggest problem with MOST SA's are the people that own them, they either don't take care of them or try to feed their SA crap ammo.
I would not at all be surprised if there`s more than a small amount of truth in that statement.
 
From my experience, I would bet that it is pretty evenly split between poor or incorrect maintenance techniques and lousy ammo. I have experienced exactly one failure to fire in past 5 years and it was due to a Federal shell's primer being off center too much to get hit properly by the firing pin. I have seen over 8 problems due to Winchester Universal ammo in same time frame. That is why I never use that ammo, although I was too "frugal" to turn down 4 free boxes of 20 gauge once!

If I was a rich man, I would only shoot top of the line Remington STS and Federal Paper shells. Although the recent Power Ball winner was here in FL, I will still be seen using my normal factory Remington Gun Club shells. That should tell you whether I won! :?
 
dogchaser37 said:
Yup semi autos FTC, but if you do the maintenance the amount of times a semi messes up will not matter.

Nothing mechanical is fool proof. I have seen O/U's mess up too.

The difference is when my SA has a FTC I clear the round and go back to shooting the O/U's end up back in the trunk and you have to get your backup gun out.

Had it happen.

I have been shooting SA's since 1981. Can't say that I have ever had enough problems with them to make a difference. I love my O/U's too so I am really not biased for or against either type of action.

They all need to be taken care of, but SA's just need a bit more regular maintenance to make their actions a non-factor.

The biggest problem with MOST SA's are the people that own them, they either don't take care of them or try to feed their SA crap ammo.
Bingo! Added to that, they don't actually know how a particular gun works.
 
Reliability/durability is never a given, especially for semi auto shotguns. There is a huge range from barely functions to eats everything you feed it in every environment for decades and asks for more.

It is the single most important aspect of any firearm. It's also what separates the real tools from the toys.
 
41 - 60 of 88 Posts