Quite an old thread to revive, but here we are, April 2009, in the midst of much turmoil regarding gun control. It's getting near impossible to find decently-priced ammunition, and gun prices themselves are rising every day.
So last week, I decided I ought to get a pump-action 12 gauge, since it'd be able to shoot better & more often than my H&R single shot that has an issue with not firing once it heats up. Thursday, I went up to the gun shop by my apartment to look at some shotguns in the $200 range.
After passing over a couple mossberg mavericks for $200+, I was about to settle for a used 500A for $230 or so. Out of curiosity, I just wanted to take a look at one of the semi-auto 12 gauges that looked pretty nice, a Remington 11-48 on the wall. Everything was smooth and the gun was in good condition. Just to see what I couldn't afford, I checked the price tag, again out of curiosity. I was quite a bit surprised at what I saw: $299.
I had planned on getting a pump action now, then saving up some cash later to look at the higher-dollar semi auto shotguns, but I just couldn't pass up on this gun. I bought it, took it shooting a couple hours later, and had one single issue with it. I fired one shell to make sure it worked. Then I loaded two in, and the first shell didn't eject all the way. Most likely it hadn't been shot in quite a while, since it's worked fine since. I've shot around 70 or so shells without an issue since then, and I couldn't be more satisfied.
While it's not quite the deal that some people get on this gun, for one in great condition that fires great, I feel like I lucked out at the price I did - mostly because everyone's gone gun crazy and paying more for less expensive guns. This is, by far, one of the best deals I've got in my lifetime.
And for a short intro, I'm 22, in college, and a friend of mine just started getting me into shooting in November of last year, when I realized I might actually lose my rights. Starting with a 10/22, I've picked up the shotguns mentioned above and a S&W 9mm in those 6 months. It's much harder to do when you factor in the little pay that I get from my part-time job, and factor in working on a mechanical engineering degree into how much I can work part-time, and I feel like I've done pretty good. That is, of course, at the expense of my diet consisting of cup-o-noodles and instant potatoes.