For Christmas, I recieved a total of $420 in gift cards to Cabelas...any hunters dream! Well I am planning on going to one of the stores and purchasing a shotgun. I need your guys help on what shotgun I should buy. I want a 12 gauge for everything but deer, I am talking clay shooting, turkey, waterfowl and upland game. Please help me decided on what you think, either pump or semi-auto. I realize some will say try the guns and see which you like best, I plan on that, but give me the guns you think would be good. Thanks for the help!

YOu have a choice of a used Remington 1100, new 870,Stoeger 2000, Benelli NOva and not sure what else in that price range. You can buy a new Browning BPS from CDNN .

How about a Stoeger 2000? I bought one last year at Cabelas on sale and with a $50 gift certificate if you spent over $300. Nice.

The Stoeger is a good shooter and the Benelliaction is a big plus. Ithas cycled flawlessly for me through box after box of ammo including dubious promo loads.I bought it specifically because I couldn't see continuing to pound hundreds of rounds of trap and 5 stand out of much more expensive shotguns. Also, I may take it sea duck hunting some time and there's no way on earth I'm taking $1000+ shotguns out in the salt.

Grouse

Personally, once you throw waterfowl in there, I'd go with Benelli/Stoeger. I have a Nova pump, which gives you a 3.5" option for waterfowl. It also takes down incredibly easy for cleaning, and the synthetic stock will take any abuse. The magnum receiver does make it a bit heavy though. It also came with 4 chokes. Cyl, IC, Mod, Full. I got the combo which also came with a cantilever rifled deer barrel. Ideally, I'd like the Benelli SBE II, but that would add about $1000.

Hwo bout Mossberg? You can get the 835 or 535 with the 3.5in chamber.

i was thinking a mossberg 835 semi auto in 3.5 just like retaks

Bigtim means the Mossberg 935. The 835 and 535 are pump guns and the 935 is a semi auto but im not sure how much one is. I think right around $500.

thanks for the correction i thought there was a 835 semi aswell

I really appreciate the help fellas, I have heard talk about the Stoeger 2000 but just wasnt sure if that gun was going to be reliable, but many have given it positive reviews. I do realize some guns may be built better then others, but I am a firm believer in that if you keep your gun clean and take care of it, it will last you a LONG time. So having said that, is the Stoeger 2000 an easy gun to clean?

The Stoger 2000.... Is it a good gun? All I'll say is that the two people that I know that has one, the trigger pin fell out while we were goose hunting two weeks ago and the other guy is lucky to be alive. The receiver literally dissentegrated and he will have metal in his hands for the rest of his life.

Think about it like this: Do you really want to go cheap when you're going to have 11,000 PSI+ exploding directly under your chin time and time again? Not me.