New guy here.

I am looking at buying a ATA Sporting O/U in 12 GA. There a a few shooters at a local club that shoot them that have had good luck with them. Just looking for other opinions.

Thanks.

Used beretta browning or miroku would be my bet 

It depends how serious you are about clay shooting . If you want to shoot a few club type 50 bird shoots and have a bit of fun , then an ATA should  do everything you ever want for years and years .  Any Beretta or Browning that you can buy for ATA money is going to have had a very hard life .  

If it’s your first gun you can probably pick up a nice used ATA for around £400 second hand so, you’ll only lose a couple of hundred quid if you part-ex it . To me they are the modern replacement for the Lanbers and Medallists that were seen all over the place a few years back. 

If you have an idea of the volume of shooting you'll be doing (grounds being open, deo volente), take that into account. Brands and models known for reliability and longevity didn't get there by instagram posts, but by products that stand up to thousands and thousands of rounds each week, every month, all year. If you just want to shoot the occasional weekend-midday, pick whatever floats your boat and suits the budget. If looking to put in lots of practice and be sure that your guns stands up to every rigour, I'd look for a S/H of a (more) proven design for more or less the same money.

I'm not slating ATA in any way, but I reckon that the price point is in part related to cheaper materials. Could be all mental, but I want to be sure my guns works and keeps going bang every time I point it at a clay. All in all though, whatever gun you buy I'd recommend an adjustable stock for a first O/U, as your ideas of stance, posture and fit may change over time. 

If i was given 800-1k to spend on a gun, a second hand Miroku MK38 would be top of the list (or variations thereof) followed by a Beretta 686 (or equivalent models)

Got a 3 year old low usage browning b525 sporter one in 2018 for £995.

Stuff is out there. 

Just started myself and bought a (very) well used Rizzini 12g sporter from Chris Potter for £145. Seems to do the job fine for not a lot of £. No huge loss if it dies but gives me low cost way to work out what I do want in a gun.

It's a bit like buying a car when you first pass your test...you won't really know what suits you until you have some experience. In this case you should just get something that is known to suit most people and go from there. I would go for a used Miroku/browning/beretta then when you sell you will get your money back more easily and all suit most shooters with poss a little bit of fitting.

MJJ said:

If i was given 800-1k to spend on a gun, a second hand Miroku MK38 would be top of the list (or variations thereof) followed by a Beretta 686 (or equivalent models)

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Very sound advice indeed!