I’ve been meaning to get into Skeet/Trap/Clays - mostly will be skeet. I have a budget of $1k-$1500. I’m wanting a semi-auto. Looking for a gun for sporting (no hunting). Here are the three I’m looking at:

Browning Maxus Sporting Clays
https://www.browning.com/products/firearms/shotguns/maxus-shotguns/current-production/maxus-sporting.html

Benelli Montofeltro Sporting
https://www.benelliusa.com/shotguns/montefeltro-sporting-shotguns

Beretta A300 Outlander Sporting
https://www.beretta.com/en-us/a300-outlander-sporting/

Thoughts?

I'm doing fine shooting clays with my $299 Yildiz Turkish semiauto..but if you want to spend that much go ahead.

I shoot a Caesar Guerini sporting. You can find one used for close to what you are looking to spend. Very nice guns.

I bought this contraption (FD12) to do everything you can do with an 18.5" barrel in an 26" package.
Destroying clay birds is almost boringly easy with this gun equipped with an Holosun 510 that gives you a nice circle that is really quick to position.
I'm occasionally bringing new shooters with me and with this setup someone that never shot clay before gets in 10-15 minutes to the point where he hits 100%
I have my own trap and a few thousand rounds #8 which is still reasonably cheap. The question is to you want to go classic or do you want to have an super easy to shoot clay killer ?
With a bunch of magazines and the sights this will get you in below 1000 bucks... and it also works great as HD setup....

I would recommend an O/U, but, of your three, the Benelli

Whichever one fits you best.

So, my first thought is you're way ahead of yourself if you haven't shot any of the specific guns you're looking at. Don't choose based on website descriptions or the opinions of others. You need to shoulder and swing the guns to see how you get along with them. Shotgunning is all about gun fit. The gun has to come up to your cheek the same way each time so that your eye is properly positioned. That's how you connect with birds.

My suggestion would be to shoot what you have now, or borrow a gun for at least a couple of outings to the shotgun club. Get a sense for the games before you buy a gun. You may find that your initial assumptions about what kind or brand of gun you want change. They often do. You can't buy success at the clays games. You have to put in the time seeing birds, swinging the gun, getting your fundamentals down. It will take several hundred birds before it even starts to become natural. That can happen with any gun. Even a pump will get you started As long as the gun has a long enough barrel to swing smoothly and the choke is appropriate for the game, you've got all you need to get started.

If you're really going to buy a gun before you shoot your first round of skeet/clays/etc. then my suggestion would go as cheap as you can get away with, assuming that whatever you buy first will be replaced within a year. I often recommend people spend $600 on a used Remington 1100 or older Beretta and use that for a year. Once you've got a few dozen rounds of skeet or clays behind you, you'll be in a much better position to make a purchase decision. You won't lose any money this way, because you'll be able to resell a classic shotgun easily.

FWIW, I don't have any personal experience with the guns you've listed. I briefly owned a Beretta A303, but that's the closest I've come to your list. I do have a Remington 1100 semi-auto and am a big fan of the 1100. The vast majority of my skeet and sporting clays shooting is done with a Browning over/under, however. I don't say that to try to steer you toward an O/U, but simply to explain why I'm not qualified to comment on your gun candidates. There's nothing wrong with a semi-auto as a sporting gun. Lots of folks prefer them. I like break open guns because they're easier to show safe, easier to manage spent hulls and just seem to fit the rhythm of the games. I hate carrying a semi-auto from station to station with the barrel pointed safe. It's much easier to move around the course with a open double gun. But that's just me.

Whatever you get, I hope you have a great time. I started shooting skeet about 7-8 years ago and I barely touch my rifles or pistols now. Nearly all my shooting is at flying objects. It's a great sport/pasttime and you'll meet a lot of great guys doing it.


ETA: I don't see many Benellis at the gun clubs I go to. The guys who shoot semi-autos are typically using Beretta, Remington or some variation of Turkish gun. Actually, lately, I'm seeing a lot of Tri-Stars and CZ semi autos. Maybe that's just people trying to go cheaper, but the Tri-Stars get a lot of buzz (they are similar to the Berettas). I don't know much about Benelli but my assumption is that most of them are inertia guns. I think, generally, the semi-auto shooters prefer gas guns.

If you're dead set on a semiauto, try out the Benelli's and Beretta A400s and see which one fits you the best.  You can't go wrong with either brand

No matter what gun you buy, if it doesn't fit you, you won't shoot it well and you will be frustrated. I helped with a local HS trap league for a couple years before my son graduated and went offer to college.. The SKB RS300 Target is a decent entry level gun that is adjustable out of the box to better fit you. The Remington 1100 Competition Synthetic is another fairly adjustable model in that $ range. I like double guns and have a Browning Citori CXT and love it. Talk with a gun fitter before you plunk down a bunch of cash on a gun that doesn't fit you.

Pretty good advice above. When I shot skeet regularly back in the '80s, the 1100 was the autoloader of choice. Honestly, I'd give thoughts to joining a club and shooting a bunch of skeet guns. You may find that an autoloader isn't the best for you. If you value your hulls, many clubs claim the hulls that hit the ground, a con for the autoloaders. I shot a 12 gauge Japanese Winchester 101 bored skeet and skeet. For the four gun shoots, I used a borrowed Browning Citori for the 20, 28 and .410 stages. I found that OUs pointed and tracked much better for me, YMMV.

How does that work on Station Four doubles? Or Station Eight (low house might be easy, but getting the optic on the high house double might be a challenge).

There is already some good advice here.  Trying out multiple guns to see what fits you best (or can be easily adjusted, like the Beretta) should be your first step.

Do not try to combine a home defense gun with a clays gun.  Those are 2 completely separate applications.  While a good clays gun can serve HD purposes, an HD gun with horrible dynamics will never be an effective clays gun.

I prefer an O/U for skeet because it swings better but more importantly, as stated above, it needs to fit you. An ill fitting gun for skilled games like trap, skeet, and clays will cause frustration and bad habits, not to mention make being competitive much harder.

IMO, O/U for everything you're looking for. I have 2 Benellis SBE/Nova, a Browning Citori and a Mossberg. I used a friend's Beretta Silver pigeon which shoots slightly better than my Benelli.

Nothing shoots as well as my O/U but then I spent a lot with the Barretta Gallery gunsmith getting it fitted and customized.

Rule 1: Get a professional fitting or it won't matter what you shoot. Yes, it's that important.
2) If you ever plan to shoot migratory birds, get 3 1/2 chamber and plan on Barret expensive ammo. Bismuth used to be $5/shell 10 yrs ago when I had an expense account.
3) Orvis wing shooting guide is a good place to start reading - very short read.
4) spend time at the range and join a league. The old timers will give you lessons for free most days if you're not a douche.

O/U for the range and upland birds. Get the cheapest 3 1/2 mag chambered gun you can for waterfowl. You will rather drop a $250 gun in the lake than your $3k O/U.

Good Luck.

My  $200 Boito 12 ga. sxs does just fine.  (An old wal mart gun.)

The issue is SKILL, not equipment. A poor shotgun will sing in the hands of a good shooter; likewise, a bad shooter will never realize the potential of a good gun.

If you're a beginner, don't blow your entire expense on a super gun until you are real sure you want to stay with the sport.

Beretta of course.
Out of your choices A300.
But the A400 would be the one I looked at.
I own an older Beretta al390 silver mallard.

Picked up and handled a A400 in 28g at a lgs.
Could have picked that A400 up with two fingers it was so light and the stock has some recoil reduction gizmo inside it.

Never tried with this gun - usually I just bring my own trap and throw singles / doubles. Once there are not 2 feet of snow on top of the automatic throwers I'll try and let you know :-)

While you’re not wrong that a side-by-side isn’t the best choice, you are wrong in your reasoning. You don’t “sight” any shotgun, and if you did, the SxS would still have a “single plane” - the center rib. But like with all shotguns, if you’re looking at the barrel instead of the bird, you’ll miss.

I’m sure the OP, who asked about semi-autos, is fascinated by our discussion about double guns.

yup.  what he said, 100%

He said he had his own trap.  This means hes shooting a fixed path target out from under his feet or within the range of a pull cord.

He's obviously never shot Trap, Skeet, or Clays with it.

Yep

And the OP, never to be heard from again, decides maybe skeet isn't for him after all . . .

I live 5 minutes from Coles. When I’m there and we get to talking about semi autos for sporting clays they speak very highly of the A300 Outlander .

On the odd chance that the OP is still paying attention to this thread, I'll go on a bit, in hopes that it encourages him . . .

I'm going to assume that the playinARound has not actually shot any skeet/sporting clays or trap beyond maybe some backyard or pasture clays with a hand thrower. He just likes the look of the shotgun sports  and thinks he'd like to try it. Cool. Been there, done that. Seen it many times.

First: It's difficult. No, I'm not saying the shotgun sports themselves are difficult (though they are if you want to be really good), I'm saying it's difficult to suck it up, show up at a gun club, knowing nothing and saying to want to shoot. That's difficult. Embarrassing. Frustrating. Discouraging even. What you're wanting to do is something you have no experience at. You don't know what you're doing. You don't know what to do right, or what's wrong to do.

We get it. We've all been there. THere's only one way past it, and that's to suck it up and do it.

There are a few things that will make it easier:

1.) Go with a buddy. Even if it's just some guy at work who says he shoots skeet, trap, whatever. If you can find somebody to take you under the wing and introduce you, that will help.
2.) Take a lesson. I'm told that larger clubs have coaches who offer lessons. I've never been to a club like that, but I hear they exist. You might ask.
3.) Don't pretend -- Be upfront about what you know and what you don't know. Just go in cold and tell the fellas that you want to learn the game. Ask if there's somebody who would be willing let you shoot with them and teach you a few basics. Err on the side of knowing nothing.
4.) Check your eye dominance. The first thing you should do is determine which eye is dominant. If you're lucky, it will be the same as your strong hand. If not, you should seriously consider shooting with the gun on your eye dominance side. That could mean a right hander shoots left handed, but doing so will eliminate a lot of problems.

Have you played golf? Do you know what it's like when a guy joins a foursome and his skill level is way short of the other guys? Do you remember what a drag it is when that guy is always making excuses, cussing his shot, etc.? Don't be that guy. Be gracious. Be humble. Be open to learning. Be a good companion. The skills will come later.

Bring safety glasses and ear protection (foam plugs are fine). Bring a pouch for carrying a box of shells, with a second pocket for 25 empties. Stay safe at all times. Keep the action open and the muzzle pointed in a safe direction when you're not shooting. Don't load until you're ready to shoot.

Watch a few videos. Pay particular attention to the advice on stance and set-up (where you put your feet and how you position yourself in relation to the target). When shooting, your focus needs to be on the bird. Do not look at your sight or the barrel.

Keep your head on the stock, and your eye on the rock (the bird).

Excellent advice for the OP.

I started clays with a Remington 870 supermag.  Enjoyed it so much that I went out and bought an O/U.  Kept going shooting, and only now, like 10 years later, instead of just going out and shooting, I'm trying to figure out the what's, why's, and what-if's of sporting clays and just clays in general.  Turns out I couldn't hit SQUAT with the O/U, but with my pump gun and 1100 I can do between 50-75% on a good day.

Just like any other sport where equipment is involved, work on the basics, get better, then find someone who has what you are looking to buy and ask if you can try it.  THEN go out and drop a bunch of coin on it if it fits you, is what you want, and does what you want it to.

Very true, run what you have got until you have the basics and know what you want. I spent five years shooting a Remington 870 and Remington Model 11. I was averaging 22/25 with a pump when other guys were shelling out serious cash for O/U’s and only shooting single digits. It wasn’t until a few months ago that I ponied up the cash for a Beretta A400 Xcel.

Not even close to a real clay target game.  Hell, I broke targets with a 44 mag shooting shot cartridges on a straight away home trap thrower.  

Try that ninja shotgun on a real skeet range and you will be sadly disapointed.

One of the guys I shoot skeet with brings out his Standard Arms DP-12 double pumper baby killer shotgun. I've seen him clean the field 25/25 with that ridiculous thing several times. But this is a guy who also routinely shoots a 25 with his .410 Browning 725 and loves to show off shooting station 7 from the hip.

So, skeet can be shot with a tactical shotgun, but it's not the right tool for the job.