My first was a pump Winchester 1300 12 gauge because it was the only general purpose bird hunting shotgun that the tiny Canadian Tire near my high school sold! A few years later I traded it for a 1981 Mustang four-banger that leaked every fluid you can imagine. Last fall I went on a moose hunt with the guy I made the trade with and he told me that he still uses it for turkeys! 26 years goes by pretty quick.
My second was chosen because I wanted a double barrel and the only one I could afford was a stoeger.
Then I met a guy who had a beretta and introduced me to pheasant hunting. I got my first gun dog from him and soon thereafter a used beretta ultralight on the EE here. Kicked like a mule and didn’t swing nicely, so again on the EE I picked up a 687 silver pigeon II, which I took with me on a road trip and had it steam bent to fit my by a Alain Combes in Montreal. That was eight years ago. It shoots where I point it, so unless I screw up my lead, gun goes up and roosters generally come down. Although I have a fancy Camo beretta for waterfowl hunting, in all the the muddiest conditions I prefer the OU. Just feels right.
So for the OPs question, your new friend should sell those combat/zombie shotguns and put the money into something that suits his current needs for clays and birds. And ‘feels right’.
Dave