Hello all,
first, I just realized that the forum has areas for pistol and rifle discussions, but none for shot-guns. I did not know where to post this thread, apologies if it is in the wrong spot.
Anyway, my situation is that I am limited by budget and by agreement with spouse to ONE firearm of each category: one pistol, one bolt action rifle, I recently convinced her that I also needed a semi-auto rifle/carbine, and lastly one shot-gun. I do not own a shot-gun yet, I am starting to do a bit of research on them.
I would anticipate that I would use this shot-gun mostly for shooting turkeys, birds and small game, and also for trap/skeet and competition. I do know that shotguns are good self-defense tools, but I got other tools for that and so this role is less important to me.
I think that I have decided that 12 ga and pump action would be most versatile and most reliable/lowest maintenance, but I have serveral questions:
- what barrel length? 24" 26" 28" 30" ?
- what choke type?
- lastly: what brand model?
Budget would be < $1000 hopefully < $600.
I have researched the Mossberg 500, but then there is the 535, 590, and the 835. I just do not understand what the differences between these is and Google is not much help to me because I do not understand the intricacies of shot-gunning.
And there is the Remington 870 and the IAC Hawk 892 which is a super cheap but good quality Chinese clone.
And I lusted over the Kel-tec KSG 25 because it looks like a fun toy, but apparently it is not very reliable and has a tendency for short stroking failures.
Finally, I don't anticipate I'd be a dedicated shot-gunner, pistol shooting is what I enjoy most. I just want to have ONE shotgun in my collection so I don't miss out on outings with friends and acquaintances who are shotgun shooters.
Any help? Whatever guidance you can give would be much appreciated.
first, I just realized that the forum has areas for pistol and rifle discussions, but none for shot-guns. I did not know where to post this thread, apologies if it is in the wrong spot.
Anyway, my situation is that I am limited by budget and by agreement with spouse to ONE firearm of each category: one pistol, one bolt action rifle, I recently convinced her that I also needed a semi-auto rifle/carbine, and lastly one shot-gun. I do not own a shot-gun yet, I am starting to do a bit of research on them.
I would anticipate that I would use this shot-gun mostly for shooting turkeys, birds and small game, and also for trap/skeet and competition. I do know that shotguns are good self-defense tools, but I got other tools for that and so this role is less important to me.
I think that I have decided that 12 ga and pump action would be most versatile and most reliable/lowest maintenance, but I have serveral questions:
- what barrel length? 24" 26" 28" 30" ?
- what choke type?
- lastly: what brand model?
Budget would be < $1000 hopefully < $600.
I have researched the Mossberg 500, but then there is the 535, 590, and the 835. I just do not understand what the differences between these is and Google is not much help to me because I do not understand the intricacies of shot-gunning.
And there is the Remington 870 and the IAC Hawk 892 which is a super cheap but good quality Chinese clone.
And I lusted over the Kel-tec KSG 25 because it looks like a fun toy, but apparently it is not very reliable and has a tendency for short stroking failures.
Finally, I don't anticipate I'd be a dedicated shot-gunner, pistol shooting is what I enjoy most. I just want to have ONE shotgun in my collection so I don't miss out on outings with friends and acquaintances who are shotgun shooters.
Any help? Whatever guidance you can give would be much appreciated.
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