huntineveryday
Lil-Rokslider
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2019
- Messages
- 251
I've been looking for an o/u for a while and picked up a Weatherby Orion yesterday. I was in the $1000-$1300 ballpark for budget and was looking for a used Citori or Beretta 686, or a new Weatherby Orion, Franchi Instinct L, or Winchester 101. I have not owned an o/u before. I will be using it for upland hunting, shooting in a trap league over the summer, and some hunt tests with my dog. I was looking for a steel receiver gun with 28" barrels, and I need to be able to shoot steel as I frequently hunt WPA's that are non-tox only.
I've watched used prices for a while and think I could have gotten a good citori in my budget, but I am tired of waiting and it could be a while to find one in the shape I want. I was able to shoulder a new Beretta, Citori, Franchi, and Weatherby over the weekend. The Citori and Weatherby seemed to fit the best, both just naturally aimed right where I'm looking when I shoulder them. No one had the 101 in stock and hadn't seen them regularly, so it looked like I could be waiting a while to get my hands on one I could handle without buying first.
I settled on the Weatherby Orion, with the glossy finish. The gun was the cheapest and is a Turkish o/u, but it checks a lot of boxes with changeable choke tubes, chrome lined barrels, 5 year warranty from Weatherby, and an action that seems built to handle some trap shooting. It seemed to fit me about the same as the citori's and better than the others I handled, which was the main reason I went with it. I figure I'll either love it or I'll learn what I really want in a o/u while I save up to upgrade to a different gun.
The Scheels I bought it from had 3 glossy 12 gauges with 28" barrels in stock, and a matte version with 28" barrels. Fit and finish seemed good and was consistent across all of them, and wood was pretty consistent. They all felt smooth and tight in the action. The safety had more play than the citoris and Beretta, but not excessive like I found in some Mossberg and Stevens that I handled. Triggers don't have very much creep and seem better than the ones in Randy Wakeman's review seemed to have. The gun balances at the trigger side of the hinge pin. When I got it home, the choke tube threads felt pretty dry and rough initially, but I couldn't find anything abnormal and after I cleaned the threads out and applied some choke tube grease they felt smooth and normal. My gun weighs 7 lb 7oz (heavier than the listed 7lb weight).
My impression on the first hunt this morning was pretty good. One shot, 1 rooster! I intend to update this after hunting with the gun for a month, then again after shooting it in trap league this summer. Good or bad, just trying to put some real world experience with the gun out there.
I've watched used prices for a while and think I could have gotten a good citori in my budget, but I am tired of waiting and it could be a while to find one in the shape I want. I was able to shoulder a new Beretta, Citori, Franchi, and Weatherby over the weekend. The Citori and Weatherby seemed to fit the best, both just naturally aimed right where I'm looking when I shoulder them. No one had the 101 in stock and hadn't seen them regularly, so it looked like I could be waiting a while to get my hands on one I could handle without buying first.
I settled on the Weatherby Orion, with the glossy finish. The gun was the cheapest and is a Turkish o/u, but it checks a lot of boxes with changeable choke tubes, chrome lined barrels, 5 year warranty from Weatherby, and an action that seems built to handle some trap shooting. It seemed to fit me about the same as the citori's and better than the others I handled, which was the main reason I went with it. I figure I'll either love it or I'll learn what I really want in a o/u while I save up to upgrade to a different gun.
The Scheels I bought it from had 3 glossy 12 gauges with 28" barrels in stock, and a matte version with 28" barrels. Fit and finish seemed good and was consistent across all of them, and wood was pretty consistent. They all felt smooth and tight in the action. The safety had more play than the citoris and Beretta, but not excessive like I found in some Mossberg and Stevens that I handled. Triggers don't have very much creep and seem better than the ones in Randy Wakeman's review seemed to have. The gun balances at the trigger side of the hinge pin. When I got it home, the choke tube threads felt pretty dry and rough initially, but I couldn't find anything abnormal and after I cleaned the threads out and applied some choke tube grease they felt smooth and normal. My gun weighs 7 lb 7oz (heavier than the listed 7lb weight).
My impression on the first hunt this morning was pretty good. One shot, 1 rooster! I intend to update this after hunting with the gun for a month, then again after shooting it in trap league this summer. Good or bad, just trying to put some real world experience with the gun out there.
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