An "everything" shotgun

[mikebravo]

I'm starting to look around a little bit for my first shotgun, something I could use for hunting, trap shooting, 3 gun, and, well, everything else. I would prefer an autoloader, but for the price and how they feel in my experience, I do like the Binelli Nova and the good 'ol 870. I would like to spend around $650 on a semi-auto, and I know the pumps are significantly cheaper. Opinions?

 

[P.B.Walsh]

its Benelli..... I have a Supernova and love it, very natural to aim and I can shoot light 2.75" target loads to 3.5" waterfowl loads. For an "everything" shotgun, I'd have this because you can fo everything. Its under your price range as well.

 

[herbie1]

I went through a similar though process last month.

I got a Supernova w/24" barrel.

The supernova 24" seems to be a bit of the 'jack of all trades, master of none" type shotgun, and I am happy with that.

So far I am getting used to it. I have only shot it twice.

It is my first shotgun so I really have nothing to compare it to.

H.

 

[Jason_W]

So far, my Nova tactical seems to be working as an everything shotgun. I used it last week to take two partridge (would have been four had I not messed up) and it's surprisingly accurate with slugs out to about 70 yards, more than accurate enough for deer in the brush.

 

[jmr40]

With a $600 budget you'll get a lot more gun with a pump. You are considerig the top 2 in my opinion. I've a preference for the 870, but the Nova is a good gun. If I weren't so accusomed to the 870 I might prefer the Nova.

The 870 is a better choice if you want to buy extra barrels for versaility. They are available for the Nova, but are about the same price to just buy a 2nd gun as buy another Nova barrel.

 

[Virginian]

Anything is going to be a compromise. An 870, or a Mossberg, or a Nova, or a BPS will all work as well as you can at whatever you are trying to do. If you decide you want a longer barrel for clay pigeons and hunting and a short barrel for the other stuff there are more accessories out there for 870s and 500s than everything else combined times four.

 

[Jason_W]

Carlson's is now making aftermarket barrels for the Nova/supernova that are threaded for choke tubes. They're not super cheap, but they're far more affordable than Benelli factory barrels.

I haven't mustered up the $$ to buy one myself and test it, though.

 

[creeper1956]

I'm starting to look around a little bit for my first shotgun, something I could use for hunting, trap shooting, 3 gun, and, well, everything else. I would prefer an autoloader

I'm sure you would prefer an autoloader, but unless serious 3-gun competition is really high on your list of "things to do with a shotgun"... then a good pump is a good place to start, and a Benelli is, arguably, the very best place to start.

The two least expensive semiautos that come to mind are the Mossberg 930 and the CZ 712 Utility. They are, for the most part, reliable, durable and well made, and have made modest inroads into 3-gun competition... in particular the 930 JM Pro.
As the JM Pro is only a bit more (MSRP) than your $650 budget... this might be the gun to look into... the 24" in particular. 24" is an excellent compromise length for all that you want a shotgun for, other than some would argue it's a bit long for HD.
One small problem is availability. The JM Pro is highly desirable for 3-gunners on a budget, and consequently, they are frequently difficult to find, and sometimes priced above MSRP.

Being a Benelli biased individual ... if you had a (much) larger budget and 3-gun was a priority, I would of course recommend a Benelli M2 24" field, modified by yourself (it's pretty easy to do the basics actually), or by a 3-gun 'smith like Taran Tactical, Accurate Iron or C-Rums.
If you had that mystically larger budget and were really feeling frisky, a gun that quite a few 3-gunners are looking hard at is the Firebird Precision MKA 1919.

C

 

[oneounceload]

Sorry, your budget of $650 limits you to a pump, as most quality semis go for almost double that, so find the 870 or nova that fits the best and go from there. You can have a gun that works somewhat OK for all of your scenarios, but it will not be the best choice for any -that is the price of compromise

 

[theboyscout]

All in All for a first gun, that works flawlessly, i bought a Mossberg Model 88, $180 dollars at Wal-Mart i love that gun it was my first and i have had it for 3 yrs., and now bought a single barrel from gander for $160 (ROSSI S121280) and it’s a beauty too, don’t think you need to buy a supper expensive gun this is the best advise i can give you... also make sure that yout take note, you must make sure to know if the barrel is rifled or not. Rifled barrels are not good to shoot bird shot through, but non-rifled barrels can shoot both slugs and bird shot (both guns are 12 gauge, 2 3/4- 3 inch shot)