Didn't want to highjack the "12g pump req" thread so I am adding my own.

I had the opportunity to hunt pretty regularly from 10-18/19yo but haven't been in quite awhile. I always enjoyed dove/bird hunting more than rifle (deer/hog). Recently found myself with invite to a dove hunt to open the season with the opportunity to become a min 2-3 times per season for the next several year. If I am going to take advantage, I need a gun.

Currently I own a single shot 410 that I used quite a bit in my youth and was very comfortable with but this is not ideal for a grown man to hunt doves. I also would likely have access to my Dad's 12g slide action (do not know the brand) as he really can't use it anymore. However, for a number of reasons, I am leaning heavily towards getting my own gun rather than using my Dad's. I have used single shot, slide action & semi auto in the past, but I tend to feel most comfortable when using single shot & semi auto. There is something about slide action that I just don't care for. Ideally I don't want to spend a ton in case I only go a couple times. I can always upgrade later if I go enough to justify.

So my question...... What reliable budget options (<$750?) would be available and is there an advantage to double barrel (side by side or over under) vs semi auto other than the number of shells than can be loaded?

I second the a300. In the $750 price range for a semi, that would be my first recommendation. Given your affinity for the single shot, you might prefer an O/U, but i would skip the Zildiz and go with a CZ for the lower budget O/U. The Zildiz is fine, but i think the fit and finish is so much better on the CZ that its worth it.

Above all that, if you can stretch the budget, a silver pigeon or citori is always a good answer

So that's another good question worth bringing up. I have been planning to go with 12g but should I be focusing on 20g instead? I would be using this for dove and maybe the occasional clays?

20 gauge Beretta A300 is a sweet shooting gun. My brother bought one last year and shot ducks with it all season. He says he is hanging up his old 12 gauge 391 (which is blaspheme...).

I have shoot sporting clays and still prefer my Browning Golden Clays 12ga. that has been my go to gun for many years. My wife shoots the same gun. Use it for sporting clays and 5-Stand.
We shoot lighter loads so as comfortable as a 20 gauge imho.

I don't shoot much at all.... couple cases a year. With everything. Wish it was much more. Hoping for more dove hunt invites or clay shoot get togethers. Im always looking to go.....

Doves are just not that hard to kill and you get plenty of shop opportunities. I could care less about shooting a limit in less than a box. I shoot em up.

Haven't really shot much clays. Kind of a new hobby. I shoot about 18-23 or so. And shoot in the 80s on sporting clays. Far from an expert and my eyesight is starting to go south....

I just hate a 12gauage. Lol

And for resale look at 12ga vs 20ga resale in the 870s.... the 20ga go for double.

Here is a pretty good read and good info on the 870 and all its variants and models. Collectability and values/worth are basically dependent on total numbers of production.
.28 gauge and .410 870's will always bring a premium as there just wasn't as many of them produced as compared to 12 gauge. At one time 16 gauge 870's were more popular than 20 gauge. The more rare the production the more valuable the gun.
https://www.remingtonsociety.org/collecting-870-shotguns/

I have a camo Beretta a350 xtrema I would be willing to sell at your price point. Great gun. Barely used except for a snake or two. If you are interested, email is in my profile.

Gunny456 said:

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Here is a pretty good read and good info on the 870 and all its variants and models. Collectability and values/worth are basically dependent on total numbers of production.
.28 gauge and .410 870's will always bring a premium as there just wasn't as many of them produced as compared to 12 gauge. At one time 16 gauge 870's were more popular than 20 gauge. The more rare the production the more valuable the gun.
https://www.remingtonsociety.org/collecting-870-shotguns/

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Love me some 870s!!!
Some of mine are super duper rare cuz I build some from specific parts for how I want them. All 20ga with a coupld 28s. Several fancy wingmasters with very very nice stocks glossy and satin finishes. I have a couple set up for turkey with 18" barrels and Shurshot stocks and sights. Numerous duracoated for duck hunting w 28" barrels and synthetic stocks. A couple for home defense with 18" barrels and extended mags. Etc... I had a couple of fully rifled cantilever scope mounts for deer hunting public lands.... but those public land areas now allow straight wall cartridge so I sold the slug guns.....well to be honest I sold the barrels.

SGrem said:

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Gunny456 said:

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Here is a pretty good read and good info on the 870 and all its variants and models. Collectability and values/worth are basically dependent on total numbers of production.
.28 gauge and .410 870's will always bring a premium as there just wasn't as many of them produced as compared to 12 gauge. At one time 16 gauge 870's were more popular than 20 gauge. The more rare the production the more valuable the gun.
https://www.remingtonsociety.org/collecting-870-shotguns/

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Love me some 870s!!!
Some of mine are super duper rare cuz I build some from specific parts for how I want them. All 20ga with a coupld 28s. Several fancy wingmasters with very very nice stocks glossy and satin finishes. I have a couple set up for turkey with 18" barrels and Shurshot stocks and sights. Numerous duracoated for duck hunting w 28" barrels and synthetic stocks. A couple for home defense with 18" barrels and extended mags. Etc... I had a couple of fully rifled cantilever scope mounts for deer hunting public lands.... but those public land areas now allow straight wall cartridge so I sold the slug guns.....well to be honest I sold the barrels.

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I've got 3 870s in my safe. The first gun my dad bought me when I was about 4 (or so he said) was a 20ga 870 Lightweight. Full size gun but thin tapered barrel and only shoots 2 3/4 I believe. Great gun. My 2nd is a 12ga 870 TA Trap which has none of the outward markings of a target gun, but has a very straight comb a heavy wall over-bored barrel and an extra full fixed choke with lengthened forcing cone. That was the first gun I bought myself, with lawn mowing money in about 5th grade. And to round out the trio, I have my dad's very old 12ga wingmaster magnum that he slayed many ducks and geese with. None of these get shot anymore and they are in the back reaches of the safe. If I was going to shoot one again it would probably be the 20ga, but they are all "priceless" collectors to me because of the time I spent with them in my hands with my dad by my side.

I shot an inherited Ithaca 37 for several years when I got serious into dove hunting. I eventually won a Browning Silver at a shoot, which all of my buddies were sad about since they couldn't make fun of my 37 which 25% bluing left and a Lyman external choke but that gun just for and it killed everything I pointed at. Eventually got an Ithaca O/U with an English stock and a Benelli legacy. My point is, as you shoot you'll develop preferences and those will shape your likes. For S.A. I love my Benelli in a 12ga 28" but for my over under I like English stocks and 20ga with 26" barrels. They are sweet and smooth. You'll need to find out what you like.

I'd start with a 70's vintage Wingmaster or a Browning BPS, or an Ithaca Model 37 and go from there. None of these guns will be "starters" or "throwaways" which I think Is good. They can be passed down. Zero need to spend 1000+ for your purposes….yet.

In your price range are Beretta and Franchi mentioned above. And you can pick between black or Camo.
You need to shoulder both to see which one fits better. Beretta semis do not fit me but Franchi/ Benelli do.

Ithaca 37's are nice shotguns. FIL had one and loved it.

The Beretta A300 is the best option for a semi-auto in or around your price range.

You could look at something like a Stoeger for a more affordable option but then you're switching to an inertia driven system and you'll need to break it in and then be very careful about 1oz loads and even certain brands light loads - which is what you'll see at sporting clay tournaments with ammo provided.

I get the appeal of shooting a 20 over a 12 and have a couple of them, but with a gas recoil system, the 12 is incredibly manageable.

Yep...I am a collector of sorts, but not so much anything in particular. When any firearm ends up with me, unless it is one I personally bought from a store or a random person, it does not leave. Family firearms are cataloged and a value assigned to them, and they are only to be passed, sold, moved about to no one or family members only. I'm a bit of a respository of sorts. LOL. My Uncle had a couple of nice firearms, but he was a 'nice guy' and when he set up his will, he made a loser family member the sole beneficiary because he "figured she'll do the right thing and give everyone what they should have". Nope. He died, she took all of his stuff, distributed it to herself and her deadbeat brothers. I had asked for his Beretta O/U and the Ithaca O/U. I was not allowed both by her. So I had to choose. Probably the Beretta may have been worth more, but the Ithaca I took was the English Stock Ithaca SKB 680 20 gauge. It's absolutely gorgeous and the stock lines up with my shooting perfectly. So, that's what I took. Still wish I could have gotten both. Highly advise everyone to have a will with explicit direction, BTW. I try to catalog and note mine so that when I die, the family can sell my "Model 70 I bought from a guy in a parking lot because he was there" and NOT sell "Paw Paw's favorite shotgun".

I like the Ithaca 680 so much that I would like to have another one like it or even one in 12ga. Ithaca, like Model 70's, kinda has become 'my thing'.

Exactly!

Proud Ithaca Model 37 Deerslayer in 20 gauge owner here! While in college I was at a sporting goods store and looking thru their "bargain barrel" barrels and lo and behold there was a 37 in 20g with a fixed full choke. I bought that sucker for $20 and dad sent it to Briley for tubes to be cut.

It'll be my sons gun one day.

Hijack alert:

All you shotgun and clays enthusiasts should come join us for the TexAgs Big Shot clay shoot!

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/3551567

SanAntoneAg said:

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Have you ever stepped out in the alley with it?

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This would require a single shot 410

Road goes on forever

As usual a great post and some very sound advice on the 12ga.

Someone said the Winchester SX4 is currently on sale, putting it in your price range. If so then I'd highly, highly recommend giving it a look.