Your "Go-To" gun and why?

I had the misfortune of being burglarized some years ago, so most of my boyhood shot guns be gone…This led to the fortunate consequence of replacing them….some in kind some not….
I struggle every time to pick one since I’ve only been shooting these for 20 years or less and usually try to get them all in the upland rotation…. You’ll see the infamous Goosemaster transition there pump to OU to auto loader…which is exactly how I grew up these are replacements….
I guess if I was forced to pick only one, I’m pretty fond of the Benelli Legacy 28 ga as a general purpose upland gun….due to light weight and adjustability ( I shoot left handed ) and I’d screw in a modified choke and suffer the occasional Benelli bump. The main reason it’s my overall pick would be the migratory add ins to the upland line up (doves and snipe).
I probably shoot the little Nikko OU 20 best since I’ve handled it since 1976IMG_2394.jpeg
 
The gun I use 90% of the time is a Beretta 686 Onyx 20ga that I bought in 1996. I have killed everything from quail up to deer (with a slug) with the gun. 100s of pheasants, quail, ducks, some geese, rabbits, grouse and some stray varmints. Could not tell you how many shells I have fired from that gun and never once had an issue.

I think in 1996 I paid about $800. I had a very good year at work and "splurged"! Prior to that I used an 20ga 870 Wingmaster for absolutely everything because it was the only gun I had. I could pump that sucker faster than any semi-auto my friends carried, and I could put lead on target. Don't think I've fired that gun since 1996.
 
Between dad and I there are a lot of shotguns to choose from, he’s a collector and I sell guns. I am also lucky enough to live in pheasant country, although it’s not as good as it was when I was a kid. This year I bought a Dickinson Plantation in 28 GA. I love carrying the little gun but man I cannot hit anything with it. I think Shiloh (ESS) was going to quit on me this year I missed so many birds. So I got tired of the side eye and had to go back to my Benelli Legacy 12GA in 26”. We eaked out four pheasant limits for the year after the switch. I just shoot it better than anything I own. However, if there was one gun I would never sell it would be dad’s Belgium Browning Sweet Sixteen that was the first gun he bought with his own money. The stock is a little short for me as he had it shortened and a pacmayr recoil pad installed on it. But there is something that brings a tear to my eye hunting with it behind a once in a lifetime dog.IMG_2695.jpeg
 
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In the last 20 years there have been three that were my go to guns. A Merkel 1620, a 16 ga with a set of 20 ga barrels, a Fausti DEA Roundbody 16 ga that weighs 6 lbs even and the last is my Rizzini Aurum Light 20 ga.
When I got the Merkel 20 years ago I couldn’t miss with it, a rooster would get up and it would go down! I amazed myself with some of the shots I made with it but then I quit being able to hit with it! I missed something like six in a row and then the season was over. Must be the gun right? So after several years of being my go to shotgun I started looking for something else.
I found another SxS 16, the Fausti. Back to being deadly again, I went 11 in a row and that was my new go to shotgun. I flirted with others, a 20 ga AYA SxS, a 12 ga Belgium SxS but would always come back to the Fausti.
Then a few years ago I saw the Rizinni Aurum Light 20 ga at a very attractive price. It weighs just over 5.5 lbs and I went 14/15 on doves the first time I shot it! I took it to Iowa on an opening weekend and killed six roosters with it but I stuck with my SxS’s. I even broke out the Merkel and went 3/4 on roosters late last year.
This year I alternated between the Merkel and the Fausti and then because my hands don’t stay warm like they used to and I had trouble with heavier gloves and double triggers I went to the Rizzini and it’s single trigger.
I used that exclusively for the second half of this year’s season and it did well for me except for the last day of the season. Damn, is it me or the gun, haha. It’s me!
 
Good story. I’m a firm believer that if you hit a shooting slump, grab another shotgun that you shoot well and give that a try. Seems to work for me.
 
My "go to" Upland gun is something lite, 20 gauge, 16, or 12 Beretta Ultralight. When I was younger I used a Winchester 1400, and 11-87 back in the "heyday" of Pheasant hunting here in Oregon. Great guns, but feel like lead to me now, after packing all day.
 
I swap up from autos to o/u for upland but if I HAD to choose any gun in my safe, it would be my Wicked Wing A5 12, it’s what I duck hunt with all year and usually dove hunt with. Been shooting a A5 for about 15 years so why stop now!
 
I use the 1970's Ithaca auto loader 300XL model. Never had one problem in any weather or shooting low or hi base. The only thing is that it doesn't not have the screw-in chocks like the newer models. Hunt Grouse, Pheasant and Quail. It has two barrels IC and Modified.
 
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