Ok, so I own two shotguns, the Beretta A400 xplor unico and the Mossberg 590A1. The 590A1 was a splurge buy as I have no "real" use for it. With that said, it's not going anywhere as I don't allow myself many splurge options and a tactical shotgun has always had a spot reserved in the safe. The A400 fills all the rest of my essential needs; bird, waterfowl, trap, skeet etc... However, I've recently been debating between either picking up another shotgun or threading the 590A1 to fill some holes, here are my reasons:
1) Backup hunting shotgun: I work a lot, have a young family and an old house that needs a lot of work. When I get out hunting, it's rare, and I don't want to get stuck on the sidelines trying to fix a problem or running to a shop to get things taken care of. I would like something that could serve me as a backup in the event that something fails with the A400. I had this happen once with my bow and it ruined the majority of the trip, I'm not going to have that happen again.
2) Down in the mud and sludge gun: The A400 is a purdy gun and although I have no doubt it will perform just fine in adverse conditions I'd prefer a beater I can take on those muddy, wet and generally rough hunting trips. I don't mind the odd dent or ding but I'd prefer a beater to toss in the boat or back of the truck on those rougher trips.
3) Trap/skeet loaner: A few times a year at our family gatherings on my dad's farm we do some backyard skeet shooting, nothing fancy. There are about a 1/2 dozen of us but only a couple with our own guns (most don't have their PALs). So the shotguns get passed around. Although they are good guys I'd prefer a lower end loaner for them to share.
So I find myself debating between picking up a third shotgun or maybe threading the barrel on the 590A1 to make it a more versatile backup option. Now I know the popular choice is to always jump on any excuse to pick up another gun, but in this case money I don't commit to this can be committed to another gun instead. So if threading the 590A1 works just fine I'd probably prefer pursing that option and spending the extra cash on something else later down the road. What do you guys think? If the best option is a third shotgun, what recommendations do you guys suggest?
1) Backup hunting shotgun: I work a lot, have a young family and an old house that needs a lot of work. When I get out hunting, it's rare, and I don't want to get stuck on the sidelines trying to fix a problem or running to a shop to get things taken care of. I would like something that could serve me as a backup in the event that something fails with the A400. I had this happen once with my bow and it ruined the majority of the trip, I'm not going to have that happen again.
2) Down in the mud and sludge gun: The A400 is a purdy gun and although I have no doubt it will perform just fine in adverse conditions I'd prefer a beater I can take on those muddy, wet and generally rough hunting trips. I don't mind the odd dent or ding but I'd prefer a beater to toss in the boat or back of the truck on those rougher trips.
3) Trap/skeet loaner: A few times a year at our family gatherings on my dad's farm we do some backyard skeet shooting, nothing fancy. There are about a 1/2 dozen of us but only a couple with our own guns (most don't have their PALs). So the shotguns get passed around. Although they are good guys I'd prefer a lower end loaner for them to share.
So I find myself debating between picking up a third shotgun or maybe threading the barrel on the 590A1 to make it a more versatile backup option. Now I know the popular choice is to always jump on any excuse to pick up another gun, but in this case money I don't commit to this can be committed to another gun instead. So if threading the 590A1 works just fine I'd probably prefer pursing that option and spending the extra cash on something else later down the road. What do you guys think? If the best option is a third shotgun, what recommendations do you guys suggest?
