General Purpose Semi-Auto Shotgun

[HES]

Great thread, especially since I was about to start a very similar one. Keep the comments coming. I guess a question for me with my shoulder would be recoil dampening.

[jdavis6576]

I shot sporting clays Saturday for the first time in a few years and borrowed a friend's Remington 11-87. If he was a very good friend I would have sold it to the first sucker I ran into for $10, given my friend the money and told him he got the better end of the deal. We shot a 100 round course, I stopped counting the jams after 20. I applied some Slip 2000 after the first few jams and it helped for a little while but started to choke again. One of the guys I was shooting with said they were known to be Jam-O-Matics. Just sayin'...

If I decide to shoot more I may try to pick up a Benelli SuperSport if I can find one used. Not really a GP gun but I shot one a few years ago and it was sweet. The SuperSport is available in 12 and 20 gauge but I don't know if you can change barrels on them or not.

[rjacobs]

I shot sporting clays Saturday for the first time in a few years and borrowed a friend's Remington 11-87. If he was a very good friend I would have sold it to the first sucker I ran into for $10, given my friend the money and told him he got the better end of the deal. We shot a 100 round course, I stopped counting the jams after 20. I applied some Slip 2000 after the first few jams and it helped for a little while but started to choke again. One of the guys I was shooting with said they were known to be Jam-O-Matics. Just sayin'...

When I bought my Stoeger 2000 this is exactly what I found out in my research, that the 11-87 was a jam o matic.

The common consensus for a semi was to look at the Benelli lineup(which Stoeger is a licensed copy of). The Beretta's got high marks for gas guns. The low end 3901 has gotten pretty good reviews and was on my list of guns to check out when I picked up the Stoeger.

[SHARP1983]

I've owned several Mossberg's and didn't care for any of them. Before anybody tries to jump on me they are damn good shotguns I just don't like the location of the safety. I have a 1187 and have owned a 1100 and a Beretta 390 and all 3 were very nice shotguns. The 1187 I have will do good on good shells. 1187's have a heavier spring due to shooting the 3" and 3.5" shells. It will jam on the cheap ass walmart shells. Now, my 1100 and 390 would eat anything I feed it. Me personally, I wouldn't use a auto for a tactical shotgun. I would be afraid with so many parts its more succeptable to go down in a time of need. I'd say get the 390 and make it worth skeet or general purpose gun. Use a 870 for a tactical.

[Gutshot John]

Yeah no thanks on pumps. I've got an 870 which is getting sold. There are enough reliable semi-auto shotguns out there that it's not too much of a stretch. The 870s I tried in the military were as close to "jam-o-matics" as anything else so a pump can be unreliable as well.

Honestly I'd rather chew glass than use a pump 12 gauge. I really don't want a whole bunch of different shotguns. The whole virtue of a shotgun is that it lends itself to doing a lot of different things fairly well. Basically my thinking is one 12 gauge and one 20. The former is a do-all (skeet, hunting and tactical) while the 20 is a dedicated skeet gun both my wife and I can use.

I shot a Beretta 391 12 gauge on a sporting clays range the other night and it was dead smooth. It was honestly the most pleasant 12 gauge I've ever shot and that includes a pump with a knoxx stock.

My only complaint with Beretta is the lack of tactical options but if someone knows something I don't I'd be curious to hear about it.

[BGREID]

Take a look at the FNH SLP. Very reliable shotgun.

[solidgun]

Everyone has said a lot of good things so far. I will add one more.

I personally like the Benelli M3. I really like the application of semi-auto shotguns because it is simply aim and pull the trigger like every other platform that I am training with. But I understand that not everything may feed through one design shotgun.
I have enough ammo stocked up, but not all ammo (just like guns) may not be my own when I am in the real world. So having the option to switch to pump shotgun makes more sense to me.

[OldState]

Do you think you will get serious about shooting clays? If so, I don't think you can really have a tactical/clays gun as they are designed conversely from one another. Its kinda like asking for a real fast car that handles well AND can also haul lumber and go off road.

For starters, most clays shooters like long barrels that are not very "tactical". As to your future desire to shoot 4 gauges with skeet, most people that do that have over/unders with barrel inserts. They shoot the 20 gauge for both the 12 gauge and 20 gauge matches.

http://www.briley.com/2009/fittedtubesets.html

Clay shooting is the most fun that can be had with a gun IMHO. If you really think you will be getting into it, I would strongly consider an 30" or 32"double barrel. What I read into your post is that you actually really want a clays gun.

I think after a couple month of shooting you will want one anyway. Plus you won't be "that guy" with the tacticool gun at the shotgun range

If you really want a semi, Benneli and Berreta are excellent choices. Because of the their design, Benneli's seem to be more reliable but kick harder. True gas operated shotguns are much softer. That being said, I hardly notice the recoil from target loads and I shoot a double gun.

I would read up a lot on clays shooting before you make this decision.....and not on M4carbine.net.

[Gutshot John]

The idea was less to have a true tactical gun, but a gun that can fill that role with a simple, quick mods like a barrel change. In order of priority the roles of the gun will be clays and duck hunting with 3-gun competition/tactical coming in a distant third. I'm not looking to be a serious competitor, only have some fun at the range.

In an ideal world 3 shotguns would be the best solution but it's not financially viable (even dedicated clays guns are a bit pricey for now) so some compromises will have to be made. This is why I spelled it out as a GP gun, jack of all trades n'at.

I've read quite a bit on dedicated shotgun forums and I've been picking the brains of old timers at the gun club. They don't really have much to offer on the tactical front so I thought I'd ask here to see what people had to say.

[Todd.K]

I'd recommend the M2 21" to start out with. The shorter barrel will be frowned upon by the gamers and hunters but you can add a longer barrel later if you stick with it long enough that the barrel length is holding you back. The down side to the Benelli is that as an imported shotgun you can't have more then a 5 round mag without adding US parts to satisfy 922r.

There are no shorter barrels that I know of for the Beretta, being gas with a complicated relief valve I would not be interested in chopping one to see if it runs.