Want to pick up another gun; primarily for one of my sons to shoot. Something he could use for about any target discipline. Bud's has the Browning BPS Trap for $670 with free delivery. Haven't handled one before and would like some pros or cons on this gun.
A pump would put him at a disadvantage shooting doubles trap, skeet, and sporting clays. You should be able to find a good used semi-auto in your price range. Mark
For use in ANY target discipline your going to want a semi-auto or O/U. Unless your kid is really good with a pump skeet, sporting clays, and trap doubles scores are going to be disappointing to him. A good 1100 or a 390-391 will work best.
The BPS is better in the field than it is on the range. I have three of them so this is from experience.
The pluses are;
Good value for the money
shoot well
Good safety location
Reliable
The minuses are
bottom load - something a bit ackward for most folks and you need to know how to single load without making a bunch of gyrations. Pretty simple if you just reverse the typical pump gun loading cycle.
Trigger is pretty spongy and not user friendly
Action tear down and re-assembly not reccomended for typical owners.
The price range you are looking at would also apply to abunch of other good quality gas operated auto loaders like the Rem 1100/1187 or a used Beretta 391. These guns will perform better in the target games.
How did the model 12 users get by, practice -practice-practice. You can use a pump for all of the shotgun sports but it is not easy. Also, the BPS is a good gun but it would be my last choice in the trap configuration for use in skeet.
Whoever says that shooting a slide gun is at a disadvantage when it comes to a 2 target presentation is a damn fool. I'm no slouch with a slide gun and there are quite a few better than I. I'd hate to see how fast I could be if I had a model 31 Remington.
I carried a 47.9/50 average during the last doubles league with an 870 (shooting at both birds on the rise). I guess I must be at a real disadvantage. To further handicap myself I use 7/8oz for the first shot a 1 oz for the second shot.
I've owned several BPS trap guns and still have 3 regular BPS (20,28,410) as well as a Trap. They break targets with authority and is my go-to gun when I go game shooting.
SS- Given that I've used pumps most of my life (@ age 71)still do, I've had SBTs-O&Us-870s-M12s-M37s-etc. still go back to my 31TC 98% of the time. If You ever have the opportunity to shoot a 31 I'm pretty sure you'll like them, only down side is once you shoot a 31 you will start looking to get one (or two) for yourself. You can shoot & shuck a 31 faster than most semi-autos will cycle, yes it may take a little practice, but I can't seem to get used to not shucking and certainly don't consider myself at any disadvantage. Ross Puls
I'm with Ross and short shucker- my main doubles gun is a rem 31 with a 78' BPS field model now equipped with a monte Carlo stock ala trap bps. With a 28" mod and the MC stock I see a little bit of rib but that's how I like it- seems fine for all round use- do shoot the 31 better though. I have yet to try the BPS for sporting but I plan to. The mag cutoff of the old models and the new trap models are good for trap, although loading does take some getting used to. The thing does make some noise when loading for doubles if you're not careful- I've set the trap off a couple of times during a shoot.
Oh and agreed on disassembly- its a chore compared to an 870 or even most autos.
Edit: just shot a round of 5-stand tonight with the BPS, definitely me and not the gun, could shuck and load just fine-
I shoot an older BPS Trap with fixed full choke and it does great for both trap and sporting clays. No problem with the pump on 2 bird presentation. Bought it used for $400 and I'm very pleased with it.
I have a BPS trap in nice shape, 30" barrel, vector plus choke tubes. 450.00 shipped.
Bruce
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