new to shotguns

A3M0N said:

The wife and I are contemplating a Maverick 88 with the 28in barrel for sporting and an extra 18.5in barrel for home defense. My reasoning is after using it for clays/hunting it will need to be cleaned, I will then switch to the shorter barrel for handy storage. Sound like a decent idea?

Are you usually allowed to shoot shotguns at a rifle range so my wife can learn shoot? Are home defense shells loaded with less power?

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If you are going to leave the shotgun loaded at home as a home defense weapon, you will always want it to be the short barrel in the house. It is easier to maneuver if you must, and it is less of a handle for a bad guy to charge and wrest away from you and particularly from women.

I didn't see if you were contemplating a 12 gauge or 20 gauge. The 12 has plenty of "powered down" loads in the defense line. That doesn't necessarily mean less powder, but less projectile load (say 8 pieces of buckshot as opposed to 10). Think of the felt recoil (or kick) as the opposite of what is coming out the barrel. The less weight shot out the barrel the less punishment to your shoulder. The 20 gauge will usually have less felt recoil than the 12 gauge, depending on gun shape and weight.

EDIT: When I say you want the short barrel for use in the house, I do not mean a shotgun barrel that is fully rifled and intended to be used for slugs. I mean a smooth cylinder bore barrel meant to be used for defensive purposes.

Firearms for left handed people have a limited sale-resale population. Only other left handed folks are interested. A SxS or OU have both right handed and left handed sale-resale populations. A quality break action shotgun is going to cost some money, but there are many good Italian and Spanish shotguns that if taken care of will keep their value. The Franchi OU is NRA's shotgun of the year.
Just my opinion, but if you purchase an inexpensive shotgun and get the bug you will be buying a better quality shotgun before long anyway.
Disclaimer: I own and use SxS shotguns.

Hawkeye5 said:

Firearms for left handed people have a limited sale-resale population. Only other left handed folks are interested. A SxS or OU have both right handed and left handed sale-resale populations. A quality break action shotgun is going to cost some money, but there are many good Italian and Spanish shotguns that if taken care of will keep their value. The Franchi OU is NRA's shotgun of the year.
Just my opinion, but if you purchase an inexpensive shotgun and get the bug you will be buying a better quality shotgun before long anyway.
Disclaimer: I own and use SxS shotguns.

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I too use double barrels, mostly sxs but one o/u. At least two of my sxs models are made for right handed shooters. The face of the triggers are angled to feel comfortable for the buttstock to be gripped by the right hand. The can be shot left handed, but the trigger face presented to the left hand trigger finger has more of a sharp edge vs a nice wide, smooth surface presented to the right hand trigger finger. These are both French sliding breech sxs doubles, a Darne and a Charlin, not very common in the US. It has been a while since I have handled them, but I think my Parker, Husqvarna, and a Spanish sidelock are ok for either use. If you are going the double barrel route, do not go cheap, you will quickly regret it. Simpson's http://www.simpsonltd.com/ often has some quality used shotguns at good prices, I purchased a sxs Husqvarna sidelock hammer gun(Swedish) for about $300 a few years back, a British gun of similar quality would probably cost 5 times that and up.

A3mon,

I'm sure others have provided great suggestions, but you can not go wrong with the 870. PM me if you have any questions, and I'll be happy to offer my opinions.

I haven't made a purchase yet. I found a used Winchester 1400 at a local shop for $199. Anyone have experience or opinions on it?

A3M0N said:

I haven't made a purchase yet. I found a used Winchester 1400 at a local shop for $199. Anyone have experience or opinions on it?

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My ex brother in law had one and I tried it a couple of times, nothing fancy and I do not know how it would hold up to heavy long term use. I have the sister model, a pump action model 1200 I bought for my wife back in 1973 in a rod and gun club over in Izmir, Turkey. It has been a good little gun. They do have aluminum receivers, so the only rust prone areas are the barrel and probably the gas cylinder-piston area. in the case of the 1400.

My recommendation is to purchase the 870 Express Combo in left-handed setup. This is a shotgun you can grow with and will do it all, home-defense, hunting, clays, trap, and skeet. Once your skills are more developed and you have the budget you may want to pursue a nice over under.

The best time of year to buy the 870 Combo is in the fall. Remington typically offers a 50 dollar rebate staring in September or October of each year. Shop around and the combo package can be found for 325 - 350 range. Then you can claim the 50 dollar rebate.

The 870 Express Combo was my first shotgun and I used it for everything for many years before adding additional shotguns.

I agree with all the 870 guys on here. I have shot shotguns for years. I started shooting competition trap at 13. I don't compete anymore though. I would also see if you can find a Remington 1187. It is a little more dependable than the venerable 1100. It can cover all the bases you need, trap, hunting, skeet and sporting clays. Just a solid gun for the money. Also has a little lees recoil and easier to go shoot clays all day with. An 870 can beat you up a little after a day of shooting clays.

Thank y'all for the replies! A family member heard that I was looking for a gun and mentioned my wife's Grandmother has a collection of firearms that belonged to her late husband. She showed them to me and said that if her boys don't want them I'm welcome to have one or two. Among them are a Remington 1100 and a Remington O/U, as well as a few. 22 rifles and revolvers. And a nice pellet gun she has already said she wants my son to have when he's a bit older. We'll see what happens, I don't want to be a begging in law, but I'm excited about it. Those guns are in beautiful condition.

A3M0N said:

Thank y'all for the replies! A family member heard that I was looking for a gun and mentioned my wife's Grandmother has a collection of firearms that belonged to her late husband. She showed them to me and said that if her boys don't want them I'm welcome to have one or two. Among them are a Remington 1100 and a Remington O/U, as well as a few. 22 rifles and revolvers. And a nice pellet gun she has already said she wants my son to have when he's a bit older. We'll see what happens, I don't want to be a begging in law, but I'm excited about it. Those guns are in beautiful condition.

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I recommend you adopt a backup plan.

If you are going to shoot sporting clays, you will regret a pump action, like the 870. I shoot sporting clays every week, and recommend an autoloader.

I started out a year ago with a Beretta a400, and though I would like an O/U just for the variety, I really don't need one. My club doesn't make you pick up your hulls either.

Nobody shoots sporting clays with a pump action unless it's their second gun and they just want a change of pace, or they just shoot once in a while for kicks and sporting clays really isn't their thing. I cannot think of any reason to not buy an autoloader.

Neognosis said:

I cannot think of any reason to not buy an autoloader.

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I agree with you on this subject as far as a semi versus a pump. However, for someone just getting into the sport, a single shot, or an O/U break open would be my recommendation for a novice. Semi-auto's teach poor habits for most, the "one shot, make it count" theory will make them a better shooter IMO. Once you have some experience, then you should switch to the semi. Obviously you could counteract this by only loading one shell in your semi, but the temptation to "fire at will" usually wins out. A good example of this is in any state on opening morning of deer season, at first light, and for half an hour later, you can hear some idiot firing at a running deer with the allotted 5 rounds restricted by the local Fish and Game Management. Usually you hear more than 5.

Crixus said:

I recommend you adopt a backup plan.

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Oh I do!

It depends on what they use it for. As far as what the op is looking for, he wants a jack of all trades to get started with. I think for what he is looking for, a semi-auto fits the bill nicely. The op is a military individual with at least a basic background with fire arms and should be fine with a semi. Also with semi's, they may not create as bad of habits as you think as far as shotguns are concerned. A single shot or O/U tend to have more recoil which can lead to flinching.

Argonaut said:

I agree with you on this subject as far as a semi versus a pump. However, for someone just getting into the sport, a single shot, or an O/U break open would be my recommendation for a novice. Semi-auto's teach poor habits for most, the "one shot, make it count" theory will make them a better shooter IMO. Once you have some experience, then you should switch to the semi. Obviously you could counteract this by only loading one shell in your semi, but the temptation to "fire at will" usually wins out. A good example of this is in any state on opening morning of deer season, at first light, and for half an hour later, you can hear some idiot firing at a running deer with the allotted 5 rounds restricted by the local Fish and Game Management. Usually you hear more than 5.

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Neognosis said:

If you are going to shoot sporting clays, you will regret a pump action, like the 870. I shoot sporting clays every week, and recommend an autoloader.

I started out a year ago with a Beretta a400, and though I would like an O/U just for the variety, I really don't need one. My club doesn't make you pick up your hulls either.

Nobody shoots sporting clays with a pump action unless it's their second gun and they just want a change of pace, or they just shoot once in a while for kicks and sporting clays really isn't their thing. I cannot think of any reason to not buy an autoloader.

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I'll shoot sporting clays with my 870 for giggles, but my score decreases dramatically. I do shoot occasionally with a guy that uses his 870 for sporting clays. Rarely does he score below 45/50. He's a freak of nature however.

I agree with you on this subject as far as a semi versus a pump. However, for someone just getting into the sport, a single shot, or an O/U break open would be my recommendation for a novice.

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The OP mentioned sporting clays, where nearly every station throws two birds, either on report or following or a true pair. A single shot would not work there, and an O/U is not only a bit of a kicker (as mentioned by the person following my post), they are expensive for something that will last.

Just my opinion. I'm pretty happy with my beretta, so I'm biased, for sure.

I do shoot occasionally with a guy that uses his 870 for sporting clays. Rarely does he score below 45/50. He's a freak of nature however.

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Sure, I have a 20 gauge pump that I've had for 25 years. It was my birthday present when I was 14. I shoot sporting clays with that occasionally, but only for the novelty of it, to use it, and just for fun. My score, of course, goes down. No doubt due to the fact that it is a 20g, and a pump.

Being a weekly shooter of sporting clays, I know that I would be regretting it if I had bought a pump action, and would be buying either an automatic or O/U now.

As it is, I'm contemplating an O/U, but not because the automatic is in any way deficient... I just want something fancy just to have it.

An advantage of automatics over O/Us for your first gun is that most automatics are adjustable for cast and drop to some extent. You just put in various spacers that either come with the gun or are available from the manufacturer. Until you have been shooting a while and you understand where your point of impact is, and you have a consistent and correct mount, and therefore understand how you like your sight picture, I would stay away from an O/U. O/Us can be adjusted, but it involves bending the stock, or adding ugly spacers or a sliding plate to adjust drop, or shaving or building up the comb. These things are much more expensive than adding in the spacers that come with most modern automatics.

I know that I was shooting 60-65, and then I took my automatic to a gunfitter who measured me and my gun and added in one of the spacers that came with my gun, and my scores improved, and the gun feels much more natural. To do that with an O/U would have taken a week or more and cost me a good chunk of change. Plus, like I said, it takes time to develop a consistent mount and sight picture, so I would recommend not committing to a fit until you know how you like to see the target and you have a good mount.