First time gun buyer looking for suggestions

[SuskyDude]

I know plenty of you guys hunt/shoot and I've been thinking about buying a gun and I could use help. Let me start by saying I've shot a .22 maybe three times in my life, and I'm pretty much clueless about guns in general, so talk to me like I'm 5!

I've been talking to a few buddies who hunt and I guess what I want is a shotgun. Something I can shoot at targets, birds, and maybe deer if I ever get the hankerin' to (which I didn't even know shotguns could do until the other day. "You mean with a different barrel it can shoot solid chunks of lead too? neat-O!" ;D).

I'm not in any hurry to buy, so I want to check out alot of guns before I do and I'm willing to wait for a deal.

The gun must be:

Around $300-$400

Durable

Easy to maintain, clean, etc.

Badass lookin (like I mean business,even though I don't ;D)

Don't care if it's the most accurate, powerful, smoothest, sweetest, most features, whatever. As long as it's not crap.

Are synthetic stocks more durable than wood? They look cool anyway.

So what do you guys recommend?

[firefightn15]

Remington 870 combo w/ either a modified choke or interchangeable chokes for the shot barrel.  this will also come with a slug barrel for shooting little chunks of lead. 

Tried and true  8-)

[bowfish12]

Remington 870- I have the super magnum model that shoots up to 3 1/2" shells.

I use it for dove, duck, and goose hunting. It's easy to take apart and clean and very durable.

If you are going to use it for deer I would suggest buying a rifled barrel for it- it will make it a lot more accurate.

[Wayne P.]

The Rem 870 is a good choice.

As far as "looking bad" the hole that the projectile exits is quite large and is a good deterrant if the need arises.

[NewAngler]

ANother vote for the 870 for what you're looking to do.

Ever shoot a shotgun at your hip though? Pretty badass gun in the Mossberg 500. The only thing it is really used for is home defense. And to chalk up you baddass-meter 2 notches.

[Catt]

870 

[SDoolittle]

Remington 870! I had one for many years. It may not be the perfect gun for any one thing, but it's pretty darn good for everything!

[Pitchinkid]

870.  ;D

[bmadd]

The Remington 870 is probably the most reliable shotgun available. It is fairly cheap and probably every gunsmith around will have parts available and know how to work on the gun if a problem ever arises. My first gun was an 870 youth model and I still have and shoot it.

[Fishing Doug]

Benelli Nova or Super Nova.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Either an 870 or the Mossberg 500.

Both will work for your purposes and both have a ridiculous amount of aftermarket stuff to make them look badass, if you so choose.

[Siebert Outdoors]

870 combo gun.  It will do anything you need it to.

[Triton21]

I have owned a lot of shotguns both cheap ones and high dollar ones.  870 Rem. was the first gun that came to mind for a new hunter.  +2 on the rifled slug barrel.

Kelley

[Micro]

I'd go with an 870, or even a Mossberg.  The Benelli is a great gun.  I have a Super Nova Tactical.  The trick with the Benelli, though, is to buy it in exactly the configuration you want it in at the beginning.  The reason is because barrels for Benellis are friggin expensive - 75-80% of the cost of the gun itself.  It's almost as chealp to buy another whole shotgun as it is to buy another barrel for a Benelli.  But if you can find a Benelli in a configuration you like, it's as a good, and soft a shooting gun as you will find.   

[South FLA]

At that price range there are not many choices, but the 870 is a great all around gun.  As far as Synthetic stocks I personally like them.  I have them on my Browning BPS Stalker, Benelli M2, and my Beretta 391. I started hunting with an 870 and used it for years.

You may want to consider a used gun from Gunbroker.com (Have bought several guns through them) or your local dealer some other good choices are:

1. Browning BPS (Synthetic Stalker)

2. Browning Gold Hunter (SemiAuto)

3. Benelli Nova or Super Nova 

4. Beretta 390 (This a bit more, than $400, but sometimes you find good deals on them for about $500-600, its a great semi auto and worth the extra over the others)

5. Winchester Super X2 (Great gun semiauto, think Browning Gold with Winchester label)

Regardless of what others may say please follow this advice avoid, lower end Mossberg and Charles Daly branded shotguns.

[skunked_again]

Either an 870 or the Mossberg 500.

Both will work for your purposes and both have a ridiculous amount of aftermarket stuff to make them look badass, if you so choose.

X2

the Mossberg 500 is a very solid gun with a lot of options.

[burleytog]

The 870 is this generation's Model 12.

[retiredbosn]

If you are looking new, which I would suggest as you are a newbie to the gun world, the you can't go wrong with the Remington 870, you would want the express instead of the wingmaster, big difference in price.  Remington has had some quality control issues but they have since resolved them.  There is nothing wrong with the Mossberg 500, they even beat out Remington for a short run for military and police issue shotguns.  Another option would be the Benelli Nova, I refuse to shoot a Benelli though, IMO overpriced, and underperformer, I know I will get hammered for that comment, but oh well.  If you want a mean looking gun, personally I don't think there is anything more intimidating that looking down the business end of a SXS shotgun, but that will be way out of your price range, good luck

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Regardless of what others may say please follow this advice avoid, lower end Mossberg and Charles Daly branded shotguns.

Regardless of what others say? That's an arse hole statement if I have ever heard one...

I have used my "lower end" Mossberg, trouble free, for over a decade.

[Gatorbassman]

I have yet to see a low end shotgun that was junk just because it was less expensive than the high end stuff. And I have had my hands on some pretty expensive one. I played with one a few weeks ago that was worth more than many people's houses. But I wouldn't give up my old reliable for anything.

Get what you can afford. Shotguns..... or should I say most shotguns are pretty straight forward. I've had a Winchester 1300 for nearly 18 years and I use the crap out of it. I got a slug barrel for it a few years back so I could travel to states where deer hunting was done with slug guns only. It has served me well. If you want a good all around shotgun make sure it has a few simple things.

1. Pre-tapped holes for a scope mount. Because you never know if you are going to need one down the road.

2. An after market selection of barrels like a slug barrel

3. Make sure the chokes are easy to find.

[Aaron]

+1 on the 870.  I have two of them (Express SuperMags) and I love them.

I have a rifled slug barrel with cantilever scope mount, the 26" vent rib barrel with removable choke tubes, and a 20" cylinder bore barrel with rifle sights.  So with the one gun I can do everything from shoot clays, hunt small game, hunt waterfowl and turkey, deer hunt, and use the 20" barrel for a tactical/home defense setup.

Anytime a friend of mine is looking for their first gun I point them to the 870.

[TopDog]

I recommend a good Gun safety course first.

[South FLA]

Did not mean to offend, but from experience and use I have been through 1 Mossberg 500 hundred with the plastic trigger guard breaking 2x (replaced by factory), the safety engaging upon firing, and the action rail becoming unwelded (also replaced by factory with new gun)!!! My duck hunting partner had his Mossberg safety break and the had to replace his weak magazine spring. Guess what, they lasted one season for mine and two season for his issues and my rail welding before having problems! So yes I stand behind my statement of what others say because maybe if only one gun had issues then it might have been a FLUKE, but 2 guns and 1 that was fixed at the factory, give me a break, JUNK!

If you do your research and ask around you'll see that Mossbergs tend to have safety and spring problems often.I am not bashing inexpensive guns for the record just Mossberg and Charles Daly that happen to be inexpensive. If you read my post carefully, you noticed I praised the Remington 870 an INEXPENSIVE gun, that is world's better than the Mossberg in my OPINION. Lastly, don't get me started on Daly been there done that when I was broke and in college.

Another good CHEAP gun that the poster may want to consider is the Ithaca. Its bottom ejecting like the BPS, but are TANKS.

DISCLAIMER the Mossberg Military/Police Issue gun, I believe its the 580 or 590, is a different animal altogether it actually has STEEL PARTS!

So who is the arse now SPEEDBEAD? (Don't take me too serious)

[Hooked_On_Bass]

Remington 870.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

So who is the arse now SPEEDBEAD? (Don't take me too serious)

Still, you.   ;D

Like I said, I go off my experience with the gun. Obviously, my experience was far different from yours.  No big deal.