SKB 585 Sporting Clays Review

Overall Rating

Inexpensive . Very reliable and very forgiving. An easy gun to pick-up and shoot well enough for AA scores.

Hard to find sometimes. most gun dealers don't carry them. Then you'll find a small dealer to which thats all they'll have. AS far as it appears on SKB's website, the 585 is no longer offered in a sporting clays (competition grade)...only field grades. However, some (sporting clays) still seem to pop up on occasion at larger sporting good stores. I'm not sure if this is old inventory or if SKB still produces the 585 in a sporting clays (competition grade). There is one page on the SKB site which offers the 585 in sporting clays or trap combo's. Perhaps this is special orders. Its a little unclear and perhaps a phone call to SKB is inorder to get the skinny on the 585. According to some of the gun dealers, the new 585 is a field grade gun... regardless of what they use to be. As I said earlier...call SKB for clarity.

The SKB 585 gun goes anywhere from $1000.00 to $1500.00...depending on where you buy it. I found that usually the price is set at $1499.00 and then reduced to $1299.00...after some negotiating and cash on hand, for $1000.00 to $1099.00 you could probably take it home (not including tax and background check). I watched my father do it and was surprised the dealer went that low ($1000.00). Whatever you pay for it...this gun is worth the money (even if you payed $1500.00). The fit and finish is excellent...triggers have a bit of a creep but are not too terrible (some gunsmiths in this area have been able to take it out). The design ,in my opinion is just as good as any gun that cost 2 times as much that may have come from Italy or Germany. The top cross lock is a durable. I like it better that the box locks that you may see on other guns. From what I was told by a engineer at Ithaca Gun Company (kingsferry, New York...formerly Ithaca, New York), Ithaca engineers designed the O/U SKB's and were the first to import them into the United States. The older O/U will say Ithaca SKB on the barrels.
So I believe this to be fact. On a side note Ithaca also introduced the Parrazi's into the United States. However, I don't know if they had much or anything to do with designs. The earlier Parrazi's also shared space with the Ithaca name on their barrels. Now I have 2 Ithaca's...a 4E Fluze and a Victory Grade. The guns were made approximately 30 years apart (the 4E was made in 1917 and the Victory Grade...best guess may have been made in the the 1950's or 1960's...(I need to look it up). Point being, This top cross lock design has been around for a long time and has held up well. I like it as much as I like the Barreta or the new Browning Cynergy locking systems (and those are good designs). SKB has done a great job with this design. I'm not sure if SKB originally designed this locking design or it was Ithaca's doing. the Ithaca engineer did not specify. I was just there to get the 4E appraised and just started shooting the breeze with this now retired engineer. But he did say that he went to Japan to help design the guns Ithaca imported for SKB. So thats how I got my information...nothing in writing, though. As for the SKB 585 review...I love this gun. It has a nice fit and breaks the targets with little effort. I still can't get over how underrated this gun is. That might just be marketing. The prices are starting to go up (like everything else). It comes down to supply and demand. Supply can be limited and demand is questionable when there are plenty of Barreta's, Browning's, Benneli's, Winchesters, and Remington's (1100 Trap) on the shelf. If you find a 585 Sporting clays, you won't be disapointed. It runs in the same price range of a good automatic. If you want a better grade O/U than the 585, whether its a SKB 685 or up, Barreta, or Browning, etc...you'll be somewhere in the $2000.00 starting out. There are cheaper O/U's (I should say less expensive)...but I don't feel their quality will come close to the SKB (quality of SKB's I rate high...same class as the Barreta's, and Brownings). Trust me...I own one of these lesser O/U's. Some people like them. After shooting both...I 'll take the SKB.