SOLD/EXPIRED WTB: Looking for a SHOTGUN!!!!

[PRCLITE]

Prefer 12 gauge, semi-auto with 24" barrel.

Remington
Mossberg
Stoeger
Benelli
Etc...

 

[J E Custom]

Will it be a hunting shotgun ? if so what game ?

If it is a home defense there are lots of good choices.

J E CUSTOM

 

[PRCLITE]

It will be used for everything and anything. Hunting, trap, home defense

 

[J E Custom]

It will be used for everything and anything. Hunting, trap, home defense

Those uses almost require 3 different shotguns.

Goose and turkey Hunting requires a 3'' to a 3.5'' with a 28 to 30'' barrel.

Dove and quail sized birds need a 2 3/4'' and a 24 to 26'' barrel.

Trap shotguns need a 30 to 34'' barrel for the longest sight radius.

And for home defense, a 18 to 20'' barrel works best for close quarter handling.

You can use one shotgun for all uses, but it is not very good at some task.

I would decide what the primary use will be and go with that.

J E CUSTOM

 

[engineer40]

Take a serious look at the Mossberg JM 930 Pro. You get a lot for your money. A good friend of mine had one. I liked it so much I got one also. Neither of us have had any problems with ours. But you will probably find some negative comments about them out on the Interwebs.

It holds 10 rounds. But you can quickly take the tube extension off if you want to take it hunting and have ammo restrictions.

Comes with many great features that are normally reserved for much higher priced shotguns.

Recoil is super mild for a 12 gauge.

Fiber front sight.

Trigger measures 4.5lbs on my gauge. It also has an adjustable over travel screw.

Receiver is already drilled and tapped if you want to add a pic rail.

The loading port is beveled so you don't pinch your thumb in there like I seem to do on my Rem 870's.

If you want to shoot sabot slugs, you can get an additional rifled barrel for $217.



One of my other friends has a similar Stoeger. It is also a decent shotty. It doesn't shoot normal field weight loads though. Only seems to cycle the heavy loads. But it was fairly new when I shot it with him, might get wore in a bit and become more reliable.

I don't think you'll ever hear anyone badmouth a Benelli.

I agree with J E Custom also. You might eventually buy more than just a one size fits all shotgun. I have an 870 with multiple barrels, this Mossberg 930 Pro, and a NEF 20 gauge that is brought out every time I shoot shotguns because it is so much fun. Next addition to my own collection will be either a side-x-side or O/U 12 gauge.



I think that Mossberg JM 930 Pro is one of the best deals in semi auto shotguns right now.

 

[PRCLITE]

Appreciate the comments and guidance. This isn't by any means my first shotgun. I have quite a few in fact. I have mostly pump guns which fit the bill for each activity. I am looking for a go to shotgun for almost anything. It doesn't have to be a shotgun that will be an expert for clays, turkey, HD etc...

I would never use a shotgun with anything longer than a 24" barrel for turkey. In fact, I would prefer a 21" like I have with my Mossberg 535 turkey tactical. The issue for me is that I want to get into the semi auto game. I have been looking at the Stoeger M3K which looks like a lot of features for the price. I like the fact that it is inertia driven and that it shares a lot of components with Benelli. It has a 22" barrel which fits the bill for plenty of tasks for me. I am not one to follow the standard for all things written. For example, with the 21" barreled Mossberg 535 I have taken deer at over 100 yards, a bear at within 20 yards, turkey anywhere from 15-50+ yards, I have taken it dove hunting, duck hunting, shot clay birds with it and the short barreled shotgun although got plenty of crazy looks for the applications I was using it for, held it's own against plenty of longer barreled bird guns. I have been more successful with that shotgun than any other firearm I have to date. In fact on the 4th of July my neighbor and I enjoyed the holiday in my backyard shooting clay birds and ran through almost 1000 shells throughout the day. I'm not saying that a 28"-30" barreled shotgun isn't a better fit for clay birds but I'm not a competition shooter either. I wouldn't be scared to use it as a home defense shotgun, although my pistol is my go to for that job.

With this next shotgun in semi auto, I will be enjoying the above mentioned activities. I just wanted to make sure that my intentions were out there. Thanks again for the replies.

 

[engineer40]

It sounds like you've made up your mind on the Stoeger. It'll probably be a great shotgun for you. I would have no hesitation going forward with that.

I wasn't as impressed with the Stoeger as I was the Mossberg 930 when I shot each of my friend's. I went with the Mossberg.

I'm not going to pretend to know the statistics on how reliable inertia driven vs gas driven semi auto shotguns are. The Benelli's are world renown reliable. But my friend's Stoeger jammed a lot. So even though Stoegers are similar to Benelli's, I question how similar can they be?

Gas driven recoils softer also.

Just food for thought. I'm sure you'll love whatever you get.


I also know a guy who loves Browning semi auto shotguns so much, he won't buy anything else. We all have our preferences.

 

[PRCLITE]

My mind definitely isn't made up on the stoeger at all. I have yet to handle one. The mossberg is not even close to being left out of the possibility. The problem is I haven't been able to handle a 930 yet. They are both competitively priced so either one is as good as the other from what I can tell. I'm also not down to those to choices yet either... Since this would be my first semi auto, I can't begin to say what is better between gas and inertia driven actions. I also am not going to completely bank on the fact that the poor man's Benelli is just as good as its higher priced brother... We all know how that ball seems to roll. I posted this just to see my options that are out there and try to make a decision based on an affordable offer. I have by no means made up my mind yet. If someone chimes in with a 930 or an M3K and it happens to be a good price I will go with either.

 

[J E Custom]

Appreciate the comments and guidance. This isn't by any means my first shotgun. I have quite a few in fact. I have mostly pump guns which fit the bill for each activity. I am looking for a go to shotgun for almost anything. It doesn't have to be a shotgun that will be an expert for clays, turkey, HD etc...

I would never use a shotgun with anything longer than a 24" barrel for turkey. In fact, I would prefer a 21" like I have with my Mossberg 535 turkey tactical. The issue for me is that I want to get into the semi auto game. I have been looking at the Stoeger M3K which looks like a lot of features for the price. I like the fact that it is inertia driven and that it shares a lot of components with Benelli. It has a 22" barrel which fits the bill for plenty of tasks for me. I am not one to follow the standard for all things written. For example, with the 21" barreled Mossberg 535 I have taken deer at over 100 yards, a bear at within 20 yards, turkey anywhere from 15-50+ yards, I have taken it dove hunting, duck hunting, shot clay birds with it and the short barreled shotgun although got plenty of crazy looks for the applications I was using it for, held it's own against plenty of longer barreled bird guns. I have been more successful with that shotgun than any other firearm I have to date. In fact on the 4th of July my neighbor and I enjoyed the holiday in my backyard shooting clay birds and ran through almost 1000 shells throughout the day. I'm not saying that a 28"-30" barreled shotgun isn't a better fit for clay birds but I'm not a competition shooter either. I wouldn't be scared to use it as a home defense shotgun, although my pistol is my go to for that job.

With this next shotgun in semi auto, I will be enjoying the above mentioned activities. I just wanted to make sure that my intentions were out there. Thanks again for the replies.

Your intentions are good and your choices are ok but if you want to be proficient in all areas you will compromise the outcome in many cases.

The reason that I use a longer barrel for Turkey is the same reason we use longer barrels on our long range rifles. More velocity with heavy projectiles. Where I turkey hunt the area is very open
and the birds are very cautious from hunting pressure. the average shot is 45 to 50 yards with an occasional 60+ shot. so I use a Beretta extreme in 3.5'' and shoot 3.5x2 1/4 oz lead loads in order
to be successful. For goose hunting this thing is devastating with a max load of steel shot.The down side to it is that it is purpose built for 3.5'' shells and is physically to big and hard to swing for duck and other fast moving birds. With its long barrel it is also ideal for deer
(Buck shot) and will bring down deer quick.

The point I am trying to make is There is no one shotgun that will do everything great. just like there is no one rifle that will do everything great. you will have to compromise on something.

If you want a semi auto I would recommend against the inertia operated action because in order to change uses (Shells) you will have to change springs to get it to function correctly. There are a few semi auto gas guns that will shoot everything from 1 oz 2&3/4 shells to 3&1/2'' heavy loads without changing anything.

I have been down this road owned everything from a $25,000 dollar Krieghoff to an $85.00 single shot and finally realized that I needed more than one shotgun.

It's a good question and I hope I helped.

J E CUSTOM

 

[PRCLITE]

Your intentions are good and your choices are ok but if you want to be proficient in all areas you will compromise the outcome in many cases.

The reason that I use a longer barrel for Turkey is the same reason we use longer barrels on our long range rifles. More velocity with heavy projectiles. Where I turkey hunt the area is very open
and the birds are very cautious from hunting pressure. the average shot is 45 to 50 yards with an occasional 60+ shot. so I use a Beretta extreme in 3.5'' and shoot 3.5x2 1/4 oz lead loads in order
to be successful. For goose hunting this thing is devastating with a max load of steel shot.The down side to it is that it is purpose built for 3.5'' shells and is physically to big and hard to swing for duck and other fast moving birds. With its long barrel it is also ideal for deer
(Buck shot) and will bring down deer quick.

The point I am trying to make is There is no one shotgun that will do everything great. just like there is no one rifle that will do everything great. you will have to compromise on something.

If you want a semi auto I would recommend against the inertia operated action because in order to change uses (Shells) you will have to change springs to get it to function correctly. There are a few semi auto gas guns that will shoot everything from 1 oz 2&3/4 shells to 3&1/2'' heavy loads without changing anything.

I have been down this road owned everything from a $25,000 dollar Krieghoff to an $85.00 single shot and finally realized that I needed more than one shotgun.

It's a good question and I hope I helped.

J E CUSTOM

I absolutely agree with everything you've just posted. I was not aware of the issues with the inertia systems.... thank you very much for that heads up. I do not doubt your need for a long barrel hunting turkeys in an open area. Where I hunt turkey you can barely see 50 yards in most cases. The birds come in close and on full alert. Most of the time your gun is up and in position for what feels like hours and if you blink, your done. I do realize that to do everything with the right tool is preferred but I have those for when I need to be serious. Most of the time like I posted earlier I am grabbing my 21" for everything and it does very very well. If you had to choose for me, what would you suggest?

 

[J E Custom]

We all have our "go to" rifles and shotguns that normally will do most things that we want.

My favorite type of shotgun is an over and under. Because with the short receiver, the overall length
of the gun is short and easy to handle. for upland game a 26" barrel over and under is very handy (
26"barrels +3'' receiver+ 12" but stock = 40 inches overall) just over 3 feet long.

I tried most all of the semi auto's and found that they were very ammo sensitive and when duck and goose hunting they were not reliable when changing loads. (geese needed Heavy loads of steel,
and ducks only needed medium loads of medium shot). + the over and under only had 2 fast shots.

After finding the Beretta extreme, I found a shotgun that could shoot any 12 gauge load without problems. Its gas system operates like the AK so it can consume almost any load without failure.
And depending on the game and season, it can be loaded with 4 3&1/2" shells for devastating power.

The problem is that it is very big and long and not what you are looking for so I would have to recommend the 3" version of the Beretta (The 392) to do more and you should be able to get it in a shorter barrel. I still use my over and under for upland game, but if I ever decide to go with a semi auto it will be the Beretta 392 3 inch to be able to shoot both 2 &3/4 and 3" shells. It will have screw in choke's and the shortest barrel I can get. Probably, if I could own only one shotgun, it would be the 392 Beretta.

I think they still make a home defense version with a much shorter barrel. But again I like a pump for this use (Because of the dependability and the deterrent sound it makes when you jack a shell in to it.

Just My preference

J E CUSTOM

 

[PRCLITE]

JE Custom,

Thank you for all of your knowledge, experience and suggestions. I did a search for a Beretta 392 and didn't come up with anything. I keep finding the 391. Funny enough, my neighbor has a Beretta A390ST with a 24" barrel for sale. I shot it last night and I did like it. It is in pretty good shape, just a few nicks here and there but overall very nice. He is asking $500 for it, is it worth that? It doesn't come with any extra chokes or paperwork, just the shotgun.

Could you point me toward a 392 so I can see one?

 

[J E Custom]

JE Custom,

Thank you for all of your knowledge, experience and suggestions. I did a search for a Beretta 392 and didn't come up with anything. I keep finding the 391. Funny enough, my neighbor has a Beretta A390ST with a 24" barrel for sale. I shot it last night and I did like it. It is in pretty good shape, just a few nicks here and there but overall very nice. He is asking $500 for it, is it worth that? It doesn't come with any extra chokes or paperwork, just the shotgun.

Could you point me toward a 392 so I can see one?

I did the same thing and found that they have changed the numbers.
A400 Xtreme Unico Camo Max5
It is now called a 400 .

The other one I found that might have what you want is=
A300 Outlander Camo Turkey

Sorry about the numbers being wrong.

J E CUSTOM

 

[PRCLITE]

I did the same thing and found that they have changed the numbers.
A400 Xtreme Unico Camo Max5
It is now called a 400 .

The other one I found that might have what you want is=
A300 Outlander Camo Turkey

Sorry about the numbers being wrong.

J E CUSTOM

Much appreciated! they are both holding my interest. What is your opinion on the A390ST my neighbor has for sale?