Shotgun Choice?

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sailor723

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I posted this over on the Black and Green Shotguns forum but I thought I would copy it here as well in the hope of getting some 3 gun shooters to weigh in.

I'm thinking about buying my first black shotgun. Just for fun right now but I am also thinking I might give 3 gun a try someday. I'm looking for advice on what would be appropriate for a basic gun......say under 1K and preferably closer to the $500-700 range....is that a realistic price point?. Semi or pump? sights? barrel length? mag capacity? I don't know much about the rules for shotguns in 3 gun and wouldn't want to buy something that would put me in a open or some kind of upper level division. I'm not much of a tinkerer so I would want something that would work well out of the box.

I know very little about these guns as the sum of my shotgun experience is duck hunting with an old Browning Auto 5 30+years ago. Any help would be much appreciated

Thanks

edit

Oh, I should say I shoot lefthanded in case that makes a difference on any recommendations
 
For competitions, I've used a Hatsan semi, a Remington 870 pump and a Mossberg 590 pump...any will do if you are just looking to have fun. I like the mag capacity in the 590 (8+1) plus I find it the easiest to load under pressure. Whichever one you get, get it threaded for chokes if it doesn't come tapped from the factory.

If you are seriously looking to dominate then you are probably looking at a Benelli semi or Versamax which sorta blows the $1000 budget.
 
Chalk said:
Under 1000. I would say Benelli super nova. Hatsan is cheap junk. 870 and the mossberg are both decent but the Benelli puts them to shame.
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x2 on this, the super nova is chambered for 3.5" shells which makes the loading port HUGE compared to the 870...... get an extension to boost capacity to 10 rounds and your good to go, if you get the extension to make 10 rounds your best bet is the 26" vent rib model and then extension and barrel length will be similar plus with the 26" vr model you get replacable choke tubes.
 
So, in looking at a bunch of forum sponsors everything in inventory seems to be either tactical type with a 18.5' barrel or a hunting type with 28" plus barrels. Too short or too long? Also most of the tactical (if they mention choke at all) seem to be fixed cylinder. Do shotguns like you are describing for 3 gun usually need to be special ordered?
 
Here's another question. Do pumps have an advantage over semi's here in Canada due to mag capacity? I see a lot of US videos recommending semis like the Versa Max, Mossberg JM, Benelli M2 etc but they all talk about having 8-10 round mag tubes.
 
sailor723 said:
So, in looking at a bunch of forum sponsors everything in inventory seems to be either tactical type with a 18.5' barrel or a hunting type with 28" plus barrels. Too short or too long? Also most of the tactical (if they mention choke at all) seem to be fixed cylinder. Do shotguns like you are describing for 3 gun usually need to be special ordered?
Click to expand...

I made a comment on your post- ( Black/Green) forum.
 
sailor723 said:
Here's another question. Do pumps have an advantage over semi's here in Canada due to mag capacity? I see a lot of US videos recommending semis like the Versa Max, Mossberg JM, Benelli M2 etc but they all talk about having 8-10 round mag tubes.
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the versamax in canada gives only one round disadvantage to a pump gun, with 2.75 rounds the versamax holds 7+1 ghostloaded+ 1 in chamber for a total of 9 rounds......

now the biggest thing is what RULES and DIVISIONS of the group your going to be shooting with, for example the group i shoot with has a maximum of 10 round capacity for pump guns in all classes EXCEPT open class.....legally in open class you could run a 30" pumpgun with a 14-16 rounds in the gun (or a ksg type gun with dual magazines).

BUT in stock, prostock, heavy metal and pro heavy metal pumps are limited to 10 rounds total....

REMEMBER that by law in a 3.5" chambered SEMI AUTO the most your ever going to get legally of 2.75" shells will be 7 in the magazine.

also think of the design of courses of fire, our group for example either starts the cof with the gun loaded to capacity, or dead empty..... nothing in between unless there is a breaching door where they have started with just round in chamber.

so knowing which group and their rule set is important, some groups also restrict barrel length (which is funny because the 22" versamax tactical is identical LOA as a 870 26" VR gun)
 
My understanding, and I have one, is that the Versamax being a semi-auto is restricted to 5 rounds. Mine has a plug in the tube, which if I took it out would more hold rounds but that would be illegal. Therefore a pump has an advantage in loaded rounds in Canada.
 
Chas59 said:
My understanding, and I have one, is that the Versamax being a semi-auto is restricted to 5 rounds. Mine has a plug in the tube, which if I took it out would more hold rounds but that would be illegal. Therefore a pump has an advantage in loaded rounds in Canada.
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The pump might have a capacity advantage if it was competing against a semi, but because the two are in SEPERATE divisions.... They're not competing against each other.
Therefore.. No advantage.

Also... Capacity is a crutch.
If you can't shoot or reload fast it matters little how many rounds your tube can hold.
 
667 said:
The pump might have a capacity advantage if it was competing against a semi, but because the two are in SEPERATE divisions.... They're not competing against each other.
Therefore.. No advantage.

Also... Capacity is a crutch.
If you can't shoot or reload fast it matters little how many rounds your tube can hold.
Click to expand...

with the exception of heavy metal class, pumps and semiautos shoot in the same division in our league..... any advantage to speed that a semi "may" have can be mitigated by the pumps higher capacity..... and face it, it usually comes down to who can reload the fastest.

so be aware of what your local group has for divisions and know your local rule set..... we kept ours simple with only 5 divisions to cover everything

- stock
-pro stock
- heavy metal
- pro heavy metal
- open class
 
Chas59 said:
My understanding, and I have one, is that the Versamax being a semi-auto is restricted to 5 rounds. Mine has a plug in the tube, which if I took it out would more hold rounds but that would be illegal. Therefore a pump has an advantage in loaded rounds in Canada.
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5 3.5" this allows you 7 2 3/4 in the tube plus 1 in the chamber is what everyone i have talked to has said
 
Consider a Stoeger M3000 semi auto. $660. I picked up a mag tube extension for $110. Total $770. 6 rounds of 2.75 in the tube, 1 ghost loaded and 1 in the chamber for a total of 8 rounds.

This inertia driven shotgun has been utterly reliable ( and with a little dremel work on the loading port ) is easy to load fast as well. Barrel lengths come in 24", 26" and 28".
 
adamg said:
blues, why not the M3500? What is the price difference? I have seen the M3500 have trouble with light target 2.75" loads.
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I chose the M3000 over the M3500 simply because the M3500's seem to have a widely reported issue reliably cycling 2.75 inch target loads. My M3000 has been utterly reliable with light target loads. Reliability over one extra round was an easy choice for me. From what I have seen the M3500 was about $200 more.
 
Me also being left handed and coming from years of bird hunting experience as well..

I went with, and recommend a Browning BPS predator. It has a 20.5" barrel, you can get mag extensions from +1 to +6 (stock form is 5 rnds) it has removable chokes, and loading/ejection is from the bottom, with the safety on top, with nice fiber optic sight. This is a great/reliable gun for left hand shooters. If you are like me, you will be much faster handling the traditional feel of a "normal" hunting shotgun, as opposed to some of the kids running pistol grips and funky stocks/LOP's. They are also on sale now at wholesale sports! $80.00 off and a $75.00 off mail in rebate, plus the gun is priced at old dollar pricing, so getting a browning BPS with todays dollar for just over $600 is unreal!
 
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