Quail Hunting Shotguns | Quail Guns

Quail hunting is a rather new subcategory of the bird hunting family, gaining more and more enthusiasts in the United States and other regions as well. It is in most of the cases, a chase hunting type of sport which requires much setup and planning well in advance, as well as great strategy skills along with efficient shooting abilities. More than that, if the hunter decides to bring a pack of hounds to aid him, then he must also have solid coordinative and leading abilities in order to consider it a successful and enjoyable experience.

Quail Hunting Guns

As far as the quail hunting guns are concerned, almost any 20 gauge will do the job just fine. The most important issue in this matter is how the shotgun feels to you. The ideal model should be well balanced and proportioned for you, with the important thing is you can bring it from a ready position to a firing position, very quickly with little effort. Quails are clever little creatures, and you along with the shotgun in your equipment, need to be as one. You do not need to spend a whole lot of money; even a second hand shotgun might do the trick.

Quail Hunting Shotguns

A classic quail hunting shotgun should be easy to carry around – portability is very important. The shotgun should not be longer than approximately 4 feet, but this depends on the hunter. The vast majority of upland hunters have a wide array of gauges they choose from. Some find success with gauges from 28 to 12. The most popular and most likely the best is the 16 gauge. The 16 gauge shotgun will give you an adequate shot pattern, ideal for shooting quick birds on the fly at medium ranges. Upland bird hunting and here we include quail hunting, is best done with a gun that shoots rounds in a fast matter. A gun with 3 to 5 shot capabilities. Single shot or double barrel shotguns may require reloading, which is very time consuming which is why a "repeater"  is highly advisable. Here are a few good examples of quail shotguns you might want to try: Remington Model 870 SPS-T Camo 20 Gauge, Westley Richards Model 1880 Grade C 12 Gauge SXS Shotgun, Browning Citori Superlight Feather, Beretta AL 391 Urika and the Franchi AL 48.

Regarding the best shotgun for quail hunting there is a lot to talk about and if you would ask ten people, you would most likely get ten different answers that will confuse you even more than before. Open chokes are best for close in shooting. Tighter chokes for longer range shooting. For quail and other upland birds you will most likely be doing more close in shooting. The weight should be between 6-7 lbs and the balance should be muzzle light,neutral or very slightly muzzle heavy. Mentioned before, the gauge could be any from 28 to 12, depending on range, game and level of expertise. The 410 is not a good choice unless you are an expert and shooting quail and rails at close range. On the other hand, the best upland gauge is probably the 16. It shoots an oz of shot that seems adequate for everything smaller than ring necks, and is often a 1/2 lb lighter than a similar 12. As you can see, there are a lot of firearms that could qualify as the best quail hunting guns, the choice in the end is up to the hunter. Reviewers on the site would recommend a Beretta Pintail which is a light gun, easy to carry around. The recoil operated action is more finicky on light loads than are many of the newer gas operated designs. The Pintail is an incredible gun in the blind thanks to its recoil operation. It is more reliable under adverse conditions, and thus the name that suggests waterfowl. However, when using light loads, it will have some problems but nothing major.

Quail hunting guns come in a wide array of varieties, all of them to fulfill the needs of different hunters. The list of recommended quail guns can continue with the Browning A-5, Winchester 1300 XTS, Stevens 512 Goldwing and others as well. As a general advice, it is best to try out the gun before purchasing it because many hunters have various needs from a gun which is why it is best not to make the final decision based upon the opinions of others.