what is the best universal over under for under 800 bucks * must be 12 gauge

.308 over 12, that'd be my pick.

what do you mean by universal ?

like multi species over and under shotgun in 12ga

save more money , CZ or maybe a Weatherby but you need more like 900

or look for used and maybe you find someone upgrading from their CZ to a higher end one.

by universal I mean it can be used for waterfowl upland sporting clays. possibly home defense just an over all good shotgun

I like my Stoeger Condor Supreme in 20g. I bough it for my daughter but sort of took it over. She hunts with a 12g O/U now.

I'd like to buy another one but Stoegor doesn't make the Supreme grade in 20g anymore, just in 12g.

The difference in grades is the Supreme has ejectors rather than extractors and much nicer finish on the wood.

My Supreme had a feature that automatically returned then safety to safe position when the barrels were broke. It's an annoying feature when trap shooting and I don't want my kids getting used to the gun putting itself on safety. That's something I want them to do automatically. I removed the linkage and disabled that feature.

It's been a good gun over the last twenty years, very reliable. It's my go-to for upland game now. And I don't have to worry about it getting beat up like some of my expensive O/U's.

I recommend you look at the Stoeger Condor Supreme in 12g. Or the plain Condor if ejectors and nicer wood don't matter to you.

Forgot to add that the Supreme grade has a barrel selector and the regular grade does not. I fires the bottom barrel first always.

Check out Pointer shotguns. Ordered mine off of gun genie and couldn’t be happier. AND ONLY $450

https://cz-usa.com/product-category/shotguns/over-under/


I have the upland ultralight and it’s over 10 yrs old now and I’ve had zero issues and love it. It was one of the only o/u that fit my needs and budget at the time. Actually just pulled it out of the cabinet to head up in the woods for the first time this fall today. Not sure what all they have that would accept up to 3 1/2” waterfowl loads but I posted a link above to their site. Happy trapping! ScottW

If you were willing to up the budget a little, I'd say consider following along the lines of what Green County said and look for a well maintained, used gun. I'd look for an older Japanese made gun with American branding such as Browning or Winchester or Weatherby. They'll likely be made by Miroku or you may run across a Nitto, etc. As typical over and under production started shifting out of the US and Europe sometime by the end of the 60's a good chunk of it went to Japan and returned here in those guns. Over time the Turks started taking production away from Japan and the Turkish guns have come a long ways in a fairly short time over the last couple of decades but I'd personally take the older Japanese production any day if that was the type of O/U I was looking for

Tristar!

At that price point new CZ. There is a used Beretta onyx on Guns International now for $995.

I have a CZ Swamp Mag, Browning Cynergy, and TriStar Hunter Mag.

All synthetics as I wouldn't dare bring wood slogging through swamps and sloughs. Sometimes I'll bring them on a waterfowl hunt, but usually bring my Winchester SX3 for the 3rd round.

The TriStar and CZ are my two favorites. The CZ and Browning took awhile to break them in, they're still fairly stiff.

The one I want more than any though is a Ruger Red Label all weather. Black synthetic with a stainless barrel.

Someone mentioned a Pointer. I've shot a buddys liked it too.

Something to consider though is how readily available chokes are for whatever gun you decide to go with.

Tristar makes some decent ou shotguns.

I’d recommend the Stoeger O/U shotguns, I have all of them 410, 28,20,16, and the 12ga in the condor not the supreme like lugnut speaks of. They are in the $450 range.

I have a stoger condor in .410 and I like the gun. I wouldn't fall in love with any gun until I shoulder it and get feel for it, get your hands on a few and it will narrow down your choices.

The above post ^^^ shoulder a few, then make a decision. I think I have a little TriStar in 20ga and it’s a basic no frills model and shoots great. No extractors so on a good dove shoot it’s a pain, lol.

I would recommend going to your local Sporting goods store and handling a few to see what fits you. There are some shotguns that I like, but they just don't fit me well so obviously I would shoot poorly with them.

Mikuro (sp?) can be had for well within your budget. A fantastic O/U

If the Tristar fit you, that's my recommendation. They stand behind what they sell too. There's a local kids shooting club that just plain wore out some of their shot guns. When they inquired about parts, Tristar sent them new replacement guns free of charge.

Tristar's service, IMHO, is outstanding compared to other Companys.

Savage Fox

Stoeger's customer service isn't bad either. I just talked with one of their reps yesterday about the Supreme in 20g being discontinued. We talked at least five minutes and he was really knowledgeable and helpful.

You mean no ejectors? I would think it almost has to have extractors.

I was on this similar hunt a few years back and just couldn't warm up to the TriStars and such. Couple buddies and my dad have them and love them. Lots of varieties as far as plain to more deluxe wood, etc.

I ended up getting an older Savage Fox SxS and have been using that. It doesn't carry like a Beretta or Browning, but the price point was a lot nicer and I shoot it well.

Years ago, I owned a Winchester O/U 101 3" chamber with a selector switch. One of the dumber things I've ever done was to get rid of it. Now, they're almost impossible to find and if you do find that rare one out there be prepared to pay a lot.

Yes, you are correct.

probably 20 yrs ago I borrowed a buddies 101 for a hunt. What a nice gun. I check out every one I see at a shop or online . Suckers are pricey now!

I found a used 101 at a gun store. It was only for 2 3/4" shells and didn't look to be in great shape. They were asking $1,800 for it.

I saw a custom German 3 barrel gun once in a American rifleman I think it was a SxS 12ga with a 8x57 barrel mounted between/under the to shotgun barrels it had a set of sights that flipped up out of the vent rib

wound't be much you couldn't hunt with a gun like that

At the same event that I got to shoot that 4 bore at, the same guy brought one of those along. Called a "drilling", it was two 16 ga. barrels in top of a 7mm X I forget rifle barrel. The rear sight flipped up when the selector switch was moved to rifle barrel. Absolutely beautiful firearm.

He also said, "If God wanted us to shoot O/U's, he would have put our eyeballs on top of each other". LOL

I keep thinking about picking up coach gun 20 inch cylinder barrels and threading it for chokes a single trigger coach gun would be about perfect as an upland bird gun

my hunting partner runs a 24inch Baikal with chokes , it is very handy pheasant or grouse easy in and out of a truck as well

I just keep running my 20inch pump it is really easy to break down after hunting in the rain.

Other than turkey hunting, all of my shotgun hunting is done with a SxS, either a Savage 311 in 20 gage, or a Savage Fox in 12 ga.

Geesh that's a bunch of money for a 101. Would have never guessed that kinda pricing on one. My dads got a 3 gun set that a number of guys have wanted to buy over the years. I used them for registered skeet when I was a kid many decades ago. Guess nostalgia is the only reason we still have them around. We both currently have other dedicated guns and I doubt any of the 3 have been fired in the last 2 decades. Probably should send them down the road someday

check out american tactical.