my dad's wanting to get an over/under 12 gauge for skeet shooting.  he's a novice, and is convinced that over and under is the way to go.  he found a company called lanber that i understand to be spanish, the guns on the flyer look nice.  the top of the line model goes for ~$500, that kinda scares me.  i pretty sure that you get what you pay for.

anyway, this gun will be used maybe once or twice a month by a novice skeet shooter.  the question is if lanber is an acceptable brand, or if not what is?  i can tell you that he's not gonna break the thousand dollar mark, and i can't seem to talk him in to a used gun.  any advice to give dear old dad?  thanks in advance

If your Dad is a novice, then he will be VERY glad he bought a used O/U.  Not to knock the Lanber and the price, but consider this;

$900 will get you a new Beretta White Wing. Stress NEW.  Uses tubes, 3" chamber, good all around gun.  I have one.  Add some Pattern Master choke tubes and you have something.  Not so pretty that you might mind taking it in the field and getting some scratches on it, but good enough to kick some supposed experts asses on the skeet pad.

$700 to $900 will get you a used Ruger, Remington, Winchester, Browning, Beretta and others.  Field grade or Skeet guns.

The cheapest used guns will have fixed chokes and 2 3/4" chambers.  But in many cases these will be top of the line guns from their day, and all he will need.  Dedicated Skeet guns, but more gun in terms of shooting skeet, than any new gun for the same price.

If you look hard at used, dedicated skeet guns, you will find a lot of used guns in the 600 to 800 range.  Zero in on the model that fits him best first, then shop for a deal on it.  Also compare the Lanber to the Whitewing.

The other issue is this, if he spends $500 on a Lanber now, he can always sell it for $350 to $400 later.  If he spends more now, he will probably keep the gun he bought, thus saving money in the long run and will have a better gun.  BUT if that cheap gun fits him wrong, he will suck at Skeet and own a gun he hates.

Have fun spending his money!

Pilot, One major question is if you father is going to reload. If he is then a over/under is the way to go. If he is not, and he is in the $500.00 dollar range why not a Remington 1100. Great skeet gun and if skeet gets boring for him the gun can be use to hunt, defence, trap of just fooling around at the sand pit. MIKE.

hey, thanks for the responses.

there will be no reloading done.  he's got an 1100 20Ga, but doesn't like it because it's not really a gentleman's gun, and the autoloading noise is loud in the ear.

around here, all of the older nice o/u's are still in the $1k range, so we're still on the hunt.  thanks for all the help.

If he figures out what gun or guns he likes, you can look on the web.

gunsamerica.com
gunbroker.com
auctionarms.com

These will all have used O/U's AND he will see a lot of damn good used semi-auot's for $500, but since he is a gentleman, he will need 2 barrels.  If that is what he wants, that is what he should get.

Another good place to look would be some of the clubs within 50 miles of your home.  Just like any other gun clique, skeet shooters own too many guns and there will be some for sale.