The best beginner shotgun for hunting

Hi everyone,

What shotgun would you recommend for total hunting beginner who is reasonably skilled in rifle/hand gun shooting (paper). I'm looking for something with good ration price / functionality, the main purpose will be hunting (small game, birds) but also something I can take to range and practice.

I looked through the forum and did not find the topic like that. I realize that this is very subjective question but still I'd love get your opinion.

Thanks!

if its for an adult, I would choose a semi-auto like a beretta A300, a Franchi, Browning silver hunter, or a remmy 1100


semi-auto's have less felt recoil and allow for fast follow up shots. $700-$900 will buy you any of the above.

I own both the A300 and the Silver Hunter, the franchi is built on the same action as the silver hunter and have owned a few 1100's....all are solid guns

For a price, function and reliability I would recommend a Remington 870, Mossberg 500, or Benelli Nova.

If you don't mind pump, Remington 870 (or Benelli Nova) first and foremost. After that, I'd go semi-auto. I've got a Weatherby SA-08 that I really, really like. However, I bought it after looking at about 15 different guns and seeing which one I thought fit me best. I'd start with the action you want, then look at/handle them all and see what you think.

pump- 870


semi- weatherby sa 08


o/u. - stoeger condor

just my two cents love dem guns

don't know when the last time you have shot a newer 870 but those things suck.

if its not a Wingmaster I don't want any part of it. the Nova's are solid guns if you like synthetic

What about it sucks? Build quality? The way it shot? Do you work in quality control for Remington and you know that they all suck, or just the one that your buddy has? It's a $290 shotgun. If you want better, buy better and pay for it. Just checked Academy, it has 21 reviews with 17 of them being 5*, including 2 in the last 20 days.

Thanks to everyone for the reply.

It is good that I asked because I'm very surprised with the responses. I would expect, that for hunting you would recommend some double barrel shotgun and it actually is semi auto or pump.

I will definitely look around but I think that start with cheaper pump shotgun would be way to go.

Rem 870 is a good option for a cheap, reliable, easy gun.

If you want a semi I like the Browning Silver Hunter and any of the Beretta's. I'm not a fan of Benelli's.

Rem 870 is a good option for a cheap, reliable, easy gun.

If you want a semi I like the Browning Silver Hunter and any of the Beretta's. I'm not a fan of Benelli's.

What is your budget? That's really the first question you need to answer.

I have only been Bird hunting for a couple of years. I started off with a Mossberg 500 pump when I was in college. Last year I purchased a used semi Beretta A300 for doves, duck, and deer. I love this gun. This gun shoot every time and never jams. I purchased a Over/Under Red Label last week for Doves. But if money is an issue, Academy has brand new pump shotgun for $180.

This is really hard to answer since I'm starting there is a lot of things I have to buy. But that being said I do not want to buy trash. So even though I'm happy to save money and do not buy something I do not need I still want something useful and reliable. So budget can be up to $800 but I would be happy to stay lower and buy for example better binocular

By the way I assume that 12 gauge is the way to go

870 for a pump.
Winchester Super X2 or 3.
I own both and both are very reliable. Only issue I have had with my 870 was a pheasant hunt in Kansas where it was really dry, windy and dusty. Everyone that had semi autos were cut to a single shot. I could get 2 out of my 870. Everything was just nasty dirty and gummed up from all the dirt in the actions. A good cleaning and I was back in business.

Yes 12 gauge. You can find ammo just about anywhere in 12 gauge. 20 is pretty popular too and is also plentiful. Bigger payload with a 12 though. Less recoil with a 20.

I have a bunch of Remington 870s I shot them and never have any issues let some one else use it and they work 85% of the time. I think part of the issue with the 870 is the user. I think guys try to short stroke the action trying to be fast instead pulling the action all the way to the back.

I like my Remington 11-87s never have had any issues with them. Soft shooting guns.

I really like my new Browning A-5, never had an issue and fits me very well.

My favorite guns are my Merkel SxS. I have a 12, 16, 20 and 28. These are really fun guns for everything except geese....

Winchester 1300 or Mossberg 930.

Beretta A300, great gun for a great price. Will do anything and everything you need.

Thanks I think I will go for Remington 870 12 gauge. Seems to be the best first choice.

Is it out of box usable or would you recommend any accessories for hunting?

Just make sure it has interchangeable chokes and you're good to go out of the box. Make sure someone shows you how to exchange the chokes and properly clean the gun. Save your extra money for shooting lessons and ammo at the local shooting range. And invest in hearing and eye protection and a shooting vest.

Good luck with the new hobbie! And don't forget to take a hunter safety course before heading into the field. It's the law in Texas.

Awesome thanks

No matter what the 870 is always going to come up number one because that's what people have. The 870 is not very recoil friendly after shooting a day of skeet or doves.

I would skip it and get into a semi auto.

Unless you are definitely going to hunt ducks, geese, turkeys, or pheasants I would get a 20 gauge.

Dove, quail, skeet, trap, squirrels, rabbits, etc. are all fine for a 20 ga. In fact, I prefer the 28 ga for all small game, but those shells have gotten so expensive that I have pretty much quit using mine.

You are correct, however, that the 12 is the most universal shotgun for everything.

That is the thing, I'm beginner (scheduled for hunting course next week) so I do not know what I'm going to end up hunting so I wanted something as much universal as possible.

What about the shell length? I see two version Magnum for 3 1/2 and express for 3. Does it make difference?

If you don't plan to hunt waterfowl very much 3" is plenty. Most of what you'll be shooting is 2 3/4", particularly for smaller birds and game as well as clay targets.

what ever you end up with, if it
has choke tubes get a tube of choke
tube lube and use it. religiously.
without fail. each and every time
you remove or change a tube.
way cheaper than a replacement
tube and/or barrel and a gunsmith fee.
yeah it's messy, but rags are cheaper
than repairs.
good luck

Hmm.. Maybe the best would be to rent it at range and try both. Do you, by any chance, know a good range with shotgun rental in Austin area?

3.5" is only necessary for hunting geese. I've never used them for ducks and don't need to. 3" is fine for 99% of hunting plus it kicks less and costs less. For everything except ducks I actually use 2 3/4".

1100

Or 870 if you don't mind tha kick

put my 870s through bad nasty muddy situations and don't clean them much... never had an issue

I have an 870 its been a great gun. I would go with a pump for a starter gun.

11-87

An 870 20 guage is perfect. My son weighs 56 lbs. If he can take the recoil from dove loads from a pump shotgun, I'm pretty sure anyone can. Spend $290 on a new 870 at Academy, buy a soft case, cleaning kit and a case of shells and you're still hundreds of $$$ under your budget.

There's a safety factor too. I make my son rack the pump back and keep an open chamber when we're at a break in the action. He'll pull the round out of the chamber and put it back in the magazone tube. All he has to do is rack the pump forward and he's ready to roll. You can't do that with a semi auto. And you can't bump fire a pump.

I really like pump shotguns for beginners, as well. I agree with the poster above about the safety aspect, and in my opinion, you think about each shot more when you have to do more than just pull the trigger.

When I was a kid, I started out on an old Stevens single shot 20 gauge. I think the pump is safer because you don't have to lower a hammer on a pump to unload it if you don't shoot. My first dove hunt, I the hammer slipped out of my grip and I fired a round off. it was pointed in a safe direction, but it scared me.

I'm just curious why everyone is so quick to recommend a pump for safety when the OP said he has experience shooting rifles and pistols at paper? I'm betting that he's familiar with using at least an autoloading handgun. There is nothing wrong with a pump, for many reasons, but someone that can safely handle an autoloading handgun shouldn't have a problem transitioning to an autoloading shotgun.

Man oh man. I remember slipping my thumb on the hammer of a New England Arms .410. Scary stuff when you're not expecting the boom.

I wouldn't touch an 870. Quality on the new ones is terrible. Buddy of mine bought a new one and headed out for a hunting trip. It jammed shut on the first shot and he wasted the whole trip. I'll never trust the 870 unless someone else buys Remington.

Damn shame that Freedom group took one of the most venerable shotguns ever made and screwed it up. I have a prefreedom group 870 and 11-87PL, and they are both outstanding firearms. The Beneli pumps work great, but I hate the way they look. I really hate modern plastic molded stocks on rifles and shotguns.

True that I'm not a kid and I have handled guns for couple of years without issues. But I have never hunted.. maybe the stress or excitement may take a focus away. In any case I think that $280 for reliable shotgun (870) is hard to beat so I will probably go that way. More money for ammo

Makes sense, thanks. What about barrel length? Is there any significant difference of performance between 28" or 26"?

I've still got the "Loaner" 20 gauge S&W 1000 that has taught a number of young'uns & wives/girlfriends to shoot. Soft recoiling gas operated using skeet loads is a help, but the most dominating feature this gun has that makes it IMO IDEAL for a teaching tool is....there is a bolt release button on the left side of the receiver to "unlock" the loading gate to allow access to feed the magazine AND the bolt stays back when it is empty...so you can load one shell at a time thru the ejection port, hit the button, fire, and repeat smoothly and without thinking/knowing about the empty magazine.

When the young/new shooter is trained up enough to allow multiple rounds to be loaded, it has always been a big surprise to them that they can load the magazine too by pushing the button to unlock the mag tube gate.

This gun hasn't been in production in a very long time, but you can find'em occasionaly on GB at under 870/Nova prices. Biggest problem they have is that the O Rings on the gas system regulator have a habit of melting over time with lots of firing and are a real PIA to clean out the O Ring debris that coats the inside of the gas handling system portion of the magazine tube ...but this last set of O Rings has been in my gun for mebbe 15-20 years since it hardly ever gets shot anymore.

It'd be worth looking around to see what other brands may have this same kinda setup these days.
Ron

Hit the local pawn shops. I have bought an 1100 in .410 bore for $300 and an LT-20 for $350 that was a safe queen. Deals can be had there if you are patient and know why to look for.

Wiley, my Weatherby SA-08 and my 40yr old 20ga 1100 full size both have similar buttons, the 1100 being on the bottom.

My dad has a SW 1000, and its one of the hardest recoiling 12 gauge autos Ive ever shot. I still love it though. His doesn't have chokes, so he has two different barrels, a shorter IMP cylinder and a longer full barrel.

IDK if this is true, but a gunsmith told me that mossberg bought up all the spare parts and the rights to the SW 1000 so they wouldnt have to compete in the police market with them.

Colt, next time you have access to your dad's S&W 1000, pull the mag cap off, pull the gas regulator aka Gas Regulating Piston out of the tube, clean the hardened carbon outta the orooves and replace the rubber O Rings. Silicon rings work best as I remember. Then totally clean the inside of the mag tube where the regulator rides of all the sticky residue from the burned up & melted O Rings, and open the gas relief holes inside the barrel collar ring on the bottom side of the barrel inside that mount ring - 2 holes for a magnum & 1 hole for non magnums...makes ALL the difference in the world how the gun recoils.

While you are at it, punch rthe receiver pins and pull the trigger group out the bottom of the gun and clean all the gunk out of the receiver frame using a bore cleaner that'll cut powder residue.

When I was at the distributor from '77 thru '82 I sold couple thousand of these guns in my Dallas & East Texas territory alone, and the 1st series of O Rings were too soft , so I'd fix any customers gun my dealer had and showed him how to to do it in under 5-10 minutes to change out his new gun inventories O Rings too. The sticky stuff inside the mag tube from the melted O Rings is the hardest part to scrub clean. Might need a sharp pocket knife to break up and scrape off the carbon deposits in the regulators grooves though. Piece of cake.
Ron

...more than one way to remove a double post...

Colt, Dunno about Mossberg buyig S&W 1000's...but I'd be surprised if it wan't the S&W 3000 pumps instead...'cause they got a feaure I never saw before or since any where else. At the distributor, the Smith reps, Tommy Oliver and Kenny Sedlecki demo'd for our outisde Sale Group at a meeting one time ...that you could not jam a 3000 with a loose round that had not stayed in the mag tube for whatever reason, and was loose under the closed & cocked trigger and bolt.

You could cycle the pump and clear the receiver of a live round from the chamber and then shuck the pump again and clear the loose round, leaving whatever other rounds were in the magazine still in the magazine behind the feed catch.

Still have some of the dummy demo rounds I got from Tommy & Kenny in my desk drawer as I type this. I sold a lot of these guns on THAT one feature alone.

I'd buy a 20 guage S&W 3000 right now at a decent price in good shape as the sub sized Steel frame was the best pump gun fit I ever had out of any couple dozen pump shotguns I ever owned. ...and haven't seen one on Gun Broker that I can remember in years.
Ron

An older used Remington 870 Wingmaster will nearly always have a lot smoother action than any of the newer rough feeling 870 Express models, IMO. There are 2 versions, the regular receiver which will handle only 2 3/4" shells and the magnum which has an "M" at the end of the serial number that will handle 3" loads. There is also a 3.5" version with an "A" after the serial number. Not sure that the barrels interchange with the others though.

For maybe just a little more money you will have a better piece of equipment. The aftermarket barrels/chokes have about any configuration you will ever want or need, too.

Just an FYI in case you want to look into some other than brand new options. Mine's been flawless since it was bought new in the mid 1970s.

Thank y'all for the help. I got Remington 870, 26" barrel, 3"chamber from Cabelas fro $305 with night sight and 3 chokes. I would say good deal. I took it to the range for my very first trap shooting and it was one of the best afternoon I have ever had! I think I have a new hobby. My wife loved it as well even though for her it is really heavy gun (she is 115lbs). The kick is surprisingly ok, even after 200+ shots I felt ok.

Now I do not want o start a new thread so I will ask here (if it is against rules I can create new thread). What ammunition would you recommend (you like to use) for

* Practise shooting (skeet, trap)
* Rabbit hunting (e.g. allowed in Granger area - "non-toxic shot or no larger than #4 lead shot")
* Doves
* Genreal Watterflow hunting (ducks etc)


Also does any of you use shotgun to hung a big game (boar, deer etc) with slugs?

As I'm new into shotguns I got a little confused with all parameters of the load.

Thanks a lot everyone!

Congrats on the gun purchase and new hobby. Here's my answers:

1. Whatever is cheapest in shot size 7.5 and up, 2 3/4".
2. Size 4, 5, or 6's in whatever is cheapest in 2 3/4". But I've even hunted rabbits and squirrels with 7.5's.
3. Whatever is cheapest in shot size 7.5 and up 2 3/4".
4. Steel shot #2's or #3's are my favorite, 3". I like Kent Fasteel and Remington Sportsman Hi-Speed Steel.

how your going to store the ammo will be more important than what kind you get.. keep it dry and room temp.

Do not worry I have a dry cool place to store ammo. Thanks for the note though

Thank you DocHorton!


If I understand correctly 7.5 has a lot of very small projectiles so the rabbit would was completly smashed/full of lead. Is that correct? That is why you recommend to use I use larger projectiles (lower number)?
Why is the size different here from the doves? Is it because you shoot doves on closer distance? [/quote]

[/quote]

Rabbits are a lot tougher than dove and if you're shooting on the move, fewer larger pellets have more stopping power than lots of little ones. Sure, I've killed a lot of rabbits with 7.5s but as the range increases, and cover, you may need a heavier load to do the job. Ducks and geese are also much larger and tougher than dove and may also be shot at greater distances than dove, so you need a heavier load. The recs are spot-on, IMO.

I have always hunted squirrels and rabbits with left over 7.5 shot from dove season. If I was buying ammo specifically for rabbits and squirrels, #5 or #6 is what I would buy.

Also, you need to use non-lead shot for waterfowl.

Thank you guys! It is clear now.. you are really helping me, it is one thing to read general rules and another to get a direct answer.