my first gun was a mossberg 500 w/ 30 inch barrel fixed full choke. its an absolute great gun and is about 20 years old. nothing fell apart and has a few scratches and extra barrels cost less than remington and u can also buy a muzzleloader barrel for about $100. stick to the mossberg. get a 24 or 28 inch barrl. its really easy to swing and is always dependable. i have accidentaly dry fired it probably aroun 300 times and the pin still hits as hard as when i first got it. didn't have to replace anythign soo far