SKB Performance
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Hi Mike, I am glad you used the site. I think you will get some good opinions from the people here.
If you do not get any replys fairly soon post your question in the "Gun Opinons" board just a few columns down from this one. Good luck, Mike C. (The guy who has the Beretta you shot). :wink:
If you do not get any replys fairly soon post your question in the "Gun Opinons" board just a few columns down from this one. Good luck, Mike C. (The guy who has the Beretta you shot). :wink:
Did you open and close the action on an SKB? Did you mind the metallic noise it makes? How about the step-up rib... do you like the sight picture it produces? I used to be a fan of SKB/Weatherby until reading Weatherby's responses to a SGW member whose SSC had forcing cone and choke problems that were left unresolved (as far as I know), The 505 amd Orion do seem to be pretty good deals these days.mikecw said:
i don't own one but know two shooters who do. Both seem very happy. I did shoot a few shells through the unsingle barrel and thought it was one of the softest shooting guns I had ever tried. Customer service from SKB is reported to be as good as it gets. They are very reasonably priced compared to others especially with all the extras that come with the SKB like Briley chokes etc. Try to shoot one if you can, that's the best way to find out if its for you.
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I have a similar O/U, an Ithaca/SKB model 600. It is a great gun and I shoot it very well. Mine has fixed chokes but that works fine for me. I don't know about the newer ones but I am very happy with mine. My Ithaca of SKB manufacture is on the bottom.WinM12 said:
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Good choice, I hope you enjoy it!
keep looking for more answers, I have heard from some friends that the SKB's have broken various springs, not a major concern, but certainly an AGRAVATION. same basic problems with three different guns. As I remember the break open lever broke on one, and firing pin springs broke too....
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1,384 Posts
Mikecw..........I like the SKBs especially the new "sexy" looking 85TSS with all the extras that you can get for it. I've shot my friends many times and like the "heft" of the gun when you break it open and as dumb as this sounds, in my hands it almost feels like I'm shooting a side/side with the width of the receiver, which I like.
Sometime when you ask opinions, you get only the "negative stuff". I don't know why everyone likes to "warn" you about a friend who knows a friend who heard about a guys gun which broke. :? It's human nature I guess.
Heck, I'm hear to tell you my 1992 Citori Trap Model after only around 30,000 shells BROKE A FIRING PIN. So now, I guess using human nature, I should be going around "bad-mouthing" Browning
My point is everything mechanical can and will break. I don't think SKB has the corner on the market.
Next time I'm in the market for a Trap gun, I'm going to get me one of them 85TSS's.
Happy shooting..........................Levi
Sometime when you ask opinions, you get only the "negative stuff". I don't know why everyone likes to "warn" you about a friend who knows a friend who heard about a guys gun which broke. :? It's human nature I guess.
Heck, I'm hear to tell you my 1992 Citori Trap Model after only around 30,000 shells BROKE A FIRING PIN. So now, I guess using human nature, I should be going around "bad-mouthing" Browning
My point is everything mechanical can and will break. I don't think SKB has the corner on the market.
Next time I'm in the market for a Trap gun, I'm going to get me one of them 85TSS's.
Happy shooting..........................Levi
I had a Grade 5 Weatherby Athena made by SKB for a number of years, and liked it a lot. Well constructed, pointed well, and I did well with it. It was a great field gun and pretty good with skeet and trap.
After maybe 10,000 rounds, the hinge loosened up to the point where I started worrying about it, so I called Weatherby and asked what if anything I could do about it. I made a comment to the customer support lady at Weatherby that I hadn't put a lot of rounds through it and was disappointed that the hinge was so weak. Her comment floored me: 'That gun is not made for high volume shooting like that. There's not much we can do for you.' She acted like 10,000 rounds was unheard of. She either didn't understand shotguns or she was 'off the reservation' at Weatherby.
I subsequently showed the gun to two gunsmiths who said basically the same thing, and both suggested I sell the gun, which I did.
An additional problem that occurred twice: the extractors disassembled themselves and spontaneously flew apart. Ever try and locate a spring in grass while other people are waiting to finish a round of trap?
I've seen many comments from folks who have shot SKBs for decades without problems, and they defend SKB's like dobermans (no offense to the loyal). I've also seen comments that the trunions can be replaced, but after I sold it to a low-volume shooter.
I'd still buy another one, as long as it was for field use and not boatloads of trap and skeet.
After maybe 10,000 rounds, the hinge loosened up to the point where I started worrying about it, so I called Weatherby and asked what if anything I could do about it. I made a comment to the customer support lady at Weatherby that I hadn't put a lot of rounds through it and was disappointed that the hinge was so weak. Her comment floored me: 'That gun is not made for high volume shooting like that. There's not much we can do for you.' She acted like 10,000 rounds was unheard of. She either didn't understand shotguns or she was 'off the reservation' at Weatherby.
I subsequently showed the gun to two gunsmiths who said basically the same thing, and both suggested I sell the gun, which I did.
An additional problem that occurred twice: the extractors disassembled themselves and spontaneously flew apart. Ever try and locate a spring in grass while other people are waiting to finish a round of trap?
I've seen many comments from folks who have shot SKBs for decades without problems, and they defend SKB's like dobermans (no offense to the loyal). I've also seen comments that the trunions can be replaced, but after I sold it to a low-volume shooter.
I'd still buy another one, as long as it was for field use and not boatloads of trap and skeet.
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I had an SKB 600 Trap in the early 1970's, back when Ithaca imported them.
So people used to say, back then, they were "better than the Browning's". I have my doubts about that now. IMHO, they occupy a space slightly below the present day Citori, but are still above many of the mid price o/u's.
Personally, though I have a Citori Trap, I do prefer the way the SKB trap guns fit me and also prefer their weight distribution.
The problem, for me, is, they are not currently sold or serviced here, in Canada. If they were, I would consider one for my own use.
A new guy at the club has newer trap model (I forget the exact model No. ), with a monte carlo stock and 32" barrels that suit me very well. He bought it from a guy that brought it in from the U.S., privately.
I had somewhere around 20,000 shells through my 1970's SKB when I sold it. It did break the spring for the lower barrel around 15,000 shells; this was the only issue it had.
So people used to say, back then, they were "better than the Browning's". I have my doubts about that now. IMHO, they occupy a space slightly below the present day Citori, but are still above many of the mid price o/u's.
Personally, though I have a Citori Trap, I do prefer the way the SKB trap guns fit me and also prefer their weight distribution.
The problem, for me, is, they are not currently sold or serviced here, in Canada. If they were, I would consider one for my own use.
A new guy at the club has newer trap model (I forget the exact model No.
), with a monte carlo stock and 32" barrels that suit me very well. He bought it from a guy that brought it in from the U.S., privately.I had somewhere around 20,000 shells through my 1970's SKB when I sold it. It did break the spring for the lower barrel around 15,000 shells; this was the only issue it had.
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