AT THE CLUB THE OTHER DAY I SEEN A COUPLE OF MEN WITH SKB TRAP GUNS.
I THOUGHT THEY WERE SOME EXPENSIVE GERMAN OR ITALIAN BRAND AT FIRST. THE THING THAT COUGHT ME IS THE QUALITY OF THE GUNS.
AFTER LOOKING ON LINE FOR A PLACE THAT SOLD THEM I COULDN'T BELIVE THE PRICE...VERY REASONABLE I THOUGHT. ALL I CAN SAY IT LOOKS LIKE YOU GET A LOT OF GUN FOR THE MONEY.
HERE IS MY MAIN QUESTION....HOW WELL DO THESE HOLD UP AND SHOOT. I WAS TRHINKING OF MAYBEE BUYING ONE, IF IT'S SOMETHING THAT WILL LAST ME A WHILE FOR SHOOTING SKEET.
Good guns but they have trigger problems in my experience.
My 585 would not reliably fire the second barrel...and I weigh 190, shoot 1,1/8 oz. all the time, and grip the stock so hard it leaves diamond checkering imprints in my palm - so that wasn't it. The inertia block simply wouldn't re-set a good portion of the time. The service person's fix didn't work.
Once it started to cost me targets in doubles (malfunctions), I decided to move it down the road. I traded it to Jaqua's as partial trade on a Krieghoff and never looked back (it only covered the sales tax, but at least the eff'er was gone).
They are an excellent gun for the money. I have three that I have used for skeet for the last three years, shot thousands of shells through them, and have not had a trigger problem with one of them. Like anything with moving parts, if you take care of them properly, they will last a long, long time. They are not being manufactured at this time, but from what I understand, SKB of Omaha has enough parts to maintain and repair these guns for many years. Neil Swenson, Omaha
I just bought a 85TSS unsingle for my 15 year old who is a second year shooter.
First time out was pretty disappointing: 20s out of 50 at both 16 and 26 yds.
I found he had put in a "Trap Full" choke. If you are a sure shot that would be fine, but if you're a relatively new shooter that's just too tight.
Second time out was a different story: 40s out of 50 at both 16 and 26 yds.
We put in an Improved Modified choke in.
As for the gun, I love it. It appears to be high quality made and functions smoothly. Also, SKB USA in Omaha has probably the best customer service of any gun manufacture in the World and is well stocked in parts.
Bought an 85ttr combo. No regrets. Has all the bells and whistles that guns selling for 10,000 have. Try Jaqua's guns for a good combo. Or hi-grade. Jim
I bought an 85TSS o/u used 3 years ago. They are a nice guns, and as others have said the triggers cna have some issues. I sent mine back to Omaha for maintenance/claning etc. and the whole process cost me $150 and tokk ten days. They installed new triggers and I'll shoot it some more. I use a Briley choke 0.020 on the bottom barrel and a light-full 0.030 on the Top. All is well. Not sure of SKB being out of business, so contact their offices in Omaha.
I owned an SKB 600 and a 700 over under. Broke firing pins in both guns. Had problems with the firing pin not setting off the shell in both guns. Had to have them both worked on. Ended up selling them.
My friend bought a brand new SKB 3 years ago. His firing pin broke after about 500 rounds. He sent the gun off to get fixed, and it took 5 weeks to get it back. They tested the firing pin taken out of his gun and found out that SKB failed to heat treat the pin (it was soft). They put a hardened pin in his gun and sent it back. My friend shot about a years worth of shells through it and the bottom barrel stopped setting off the shell. He sent it back for more maintenance...it's been sitting in his safe for over a year and he's been shooting his Browning instead.
Another friend bought an 85TSS and had nothing but trouble with it. Had it in the repair shop twice and was very frustrated with it. They must have fixed it, because he's been shooting it for a couple of years now without any repairs.
Bottom line is they aren't real reliable.
You Chevy drivers must own SKB's as well. Even though you haven't had any problems with your guns, I would consider you lucky.
When I first started shooting trap, the SKB's were readily available and affordable and that's why I shot them. But I can tell you there's nothing more frustrating than standing on the line while shooting in a trap league and either your gun breaks, or it won't set off the shell.
Dolphin62 was looking for advice about SKB's, and I gave him my experience. I've had 5 friends that have owned SKB's, and every one of them has had problems with their guns. I haven't had ANY buddies that have owned SKB's go without problems. Sorry if you guys can't take the truth.
Well, I guess you can pay 3 grand for an SKB combo and 'MAYBE' have a problem one or two times. OR, you can pay thousands more for another gun and 'maybe' not ever have a problem. No matter what, I've never owned only one shotgun. So, if one had to go in for service I'd just shoot the other. I see no problem owning an SKB. Jim
So I guess all of us that aren't SKB proponents should just shut up and go away, huh? Everything is just rosy, sure go out and buy all the SKB's you can find. You guys need to wake up.
There's a reason they are so readily available and cheap...
I don't propose buying Ferrari's either. But there are other guns out there that are just slightly higher than SKB's but much more reliable.
I've owned 5 different Browning shotguns in my shooting career, and there will always be at least one in my gun safe. They are great guns. So are Beretta's. These guns are just examples. There are many others.
My point was that it is pretty ridiculous to say or even imply that the products of a company that's been around for over 100 years is no good, based on just a few problems. How do you account for the thousands of owners that have never had a lick of trouble?
I've heard several times on this forum that Perazzi owners carry spare firing pins with them to every shoot because of breakage problems. Should I assume that Perazzi's are unreliable as well?
And you personally know all these thousands of shooters that have never had a problem? I think not. It's just because we haven't heard from them...
I wouldn't own a P gun if it was given to me. So I'm not P gun proponent.
How do explain the fact that 5 of my friends owned SKB's and they all had trouble? Just a coincidence I guess.
I believe in telling the whole story, not just part of it.
There's good and bad in every gun. And having confidence in your gun to go bang every time you walk up to the line is part of good shooting. I personally had no confidence in SKB's to go bang every time since I got burned by 2 guns in a row. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Nothing ridiculous about sharing your experience when you are asked to do so.
This is the way I look at it
Show me a SKB that has say 40-50k or more rounds on it
And how is the gun after that
We also at the local club had one shooter that had a SKB
It was a nice looking gun but did have problems it wouldn't fire all the time
I dont know what was the matter with it but the point is it had problems
Many I am sure don't have problems but many use a gun just a few times a year(not many rounds)
Even 2 boxes a week is only 2500 rounds a year and for some that is a lot of shooting
I dont understand why people would buy a gun like this when for the same price or a little more you can buy a proven gun....
Blueraven I've owned one for about three years, put over 14000 rounds through it, no problems. Cheep enough that I could take it to S.D. bird hunting and not fell I was risking the family treasure...Mike
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