Best all purpose shotgun?
May 9th, 2010 by eranio
I have been practicing skeet shooting the last month and love it. I am planning to buy a shotgun some time this year. I am looking for something that can moonlight as hunting/skeet shooting/ home defense. Any insight on gauge and make (sxs, o/u, semi, or pump). I am probably leaning to Remington over Mossberg; Beretta is too rich for my blood. I would like to stay under 0 if possible.
Also I have shot with 20 gauge and 12 gauge, but not noticed a strong kick either way. I have heard both have a stronger recoil. Your thoughts?
Posted in best shotgun
May 9th, 2010 at 7:13 am
1187 Remington would be a great choice for you but it’s not under $300.
870 Remington would be the next one I would recommend.
May 9th, 2010 at 7:13 am
My thoughts are "a Remington 870 pump gun, or a Mossberg 500 pump gun." If you want to shoot clays, trap, skeet, or sporting, then go for the 12 gauge. It puts out a lot more shot that the 20, though the 20 (my choice) is fine for most hunting/home defense.
To stay under $300, go with the base units of the above guns. They skirt the $300.00 range, or you can buy used. I got a used Mossberg Combo in 20 Gauge for $275.00, that I’ve had and used for going on 20 years.
You can also look at the Maverick 12 Gauge Pump gun, a bare-bones, but highly practical gun that’s made by Mossberg.
May 9th, 2010 at 7:13 am
* Mossberg * Go 12 Gauge for best performance.*
May 9th, 2010 at 7:13 am
A mossberg 500 would be the way to go. Why?
1. The cost.
2. This:
http://www.mossberg.com/products/access.asp?type=barrels§ion=access
May 9th, 2010 at 7:13 am
If the price is the biggest determining factor go with the Mossberg. You can find them new at gunshows for less than $250.
May 9th, 2010 at 7:13 am
The 2 most popular "all purpose" shotguns are the Remington 870 and the Mossberg 500….. Both are offered in an all purpose field model…. Take a look…..
Remington 870 Express…..
http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/shotguns/model_870/model_870_express.asp
http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/shotguns/model_870/
Mossberg 500 field model…..
http://www.mossberg.com/images/Mossberg_Guns/930/NEW/50120.jpg
http://www.mossberg.com/products/default.asp?id=3§ion=products
I should point out Mossberg offers a 12 gauge shotgun with a field barrel and a home defense barrel — When you come home from skeet shooting just swap the defense barrel on the shotgun….
http://www.mossberg.com/images/Mossberg_Guns/930/NEW/54169.jpg
All of the regular run of the mill field models can be had by both manufactures for under $300…. The Mossberg one with the security barrel is a little more but is definitely worth the extra money……
If your a regular size guy the recoil from the 12 gauge should not be to objectionable…. Just use 2 3/4 inch shotshells for reduced recoil — For home defense surely use 2 3/4 inch 8 or 9 pellet buckshot….
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=388805
May 9th, 2010 at 7:13 am
A pump is not the best shotgun for Skeet but it is great for everything else. Remington, Mossberg, Winchester, Savage will all last a life time. I have NEVER had any kind of breakage with a pump. With autos, the forces are totally different as the bolt carrier group is cycled so much faster and interacts with the trigger group at the same speed. Extractor pins, hammers, springs, ETC all take a pounding and tend to break much more often than in pumps.
Just my 2 cents worth from 40+ years of shooting everything under the sun (and rain and snow and sand).
May 9th, 2010 at 7:13 am
skeet shooting is a ton of fun.. almost addictive haha
]
[i love it too.. ton of fun
what ever you do, do NOT get a pump to shoot skeet with! i shoot skeet and on a team of about 25, there’s only 3 people who shoot a pump. when shooting doubles with skeet, your second shot will be a few seconds off than if you were shooting a semi-auto, o/u or side-by-side… and those seconds it takes to cycle the pump will cause you to miss the bird, i’m NOT saying that it can’t be done, you said that you just started shooting skeet and a pump is something that you need to shoot with once you become more experienced.
i shoot a 20 ga shotgun- semi-auto, and i use it for everything (but i deer hunt with a 243) my shotgun is a Escort with a wood stock- and i got it from Walmart. it wasn’t over $300 too.
my boyfriend shoots a o/u 16 ga Browning and he’s won MANY awards in skeet shooting with it. (he’s the 2nd best shot in the state and best in regions and he’s taught me a bunch about skeet shooting.. well shooting overall)
so, get either a semi-auto, o/u or a side-by-side… that’s really up to you.. but get a 12 ga- you can hunt with a 20 ga, but if you wanna hunt deer with it, slugs and buckshot are harder to find than a 12.
what kind of hunting do you wanna do?
any gauge (20, 16, 12) but a .410) is good for hunting game smaller than a deer. you can deff. go bird hunting (any type) with any of the ga’s i mentioned except for a .410.
in general, a 12 ga has more kick than a 20 ga does, but i’ve shot many 12′s and 20′s and i’ve shoot a good few 20′s that kicked WAY more than a 12 did.
one way to reduce the recoil if your worried about it any is to get a gun with a wooden stock- the wooden stock will absorb more felt recoil than a synthetic stock will, but a synthetic stock is a little lighter than a wooden stock, but to me, the wooden stock is WAY better than a synthetic stock, but everyone is different there
again, with recoil, to help reduce it, MAKE SURE that the gun fits perfectly to you- if it doesn’t- you can take it to a gun smith to get the size adjusted- and it’ll be worth it.
here’s the way recoil goes (from less to more):
least felt recoil: .410 ga
then a 16 ga
then a 20 ga
then a 12 ga
then a 10 ga (10′s are pretty hard to find now-a-days)
for home defense- at close range, a 20 and a 12 are pretty deadly too
again with skeet shooting, the smaller the gauge, the better shot you’ll be because of the shot pattern that the smaller gauges throw- you can shoot skeet with a 410, i’ve heard it’s really tough, but i wanna try one day
and a lot of people do choose a 12 for skeet, but any ga’ will work perfectly
May 9th, 2010 at 7:13 am
870 express