Pump or Semi?

[Thenewguy]

for shotgun, mostly waterfowl use but may take out for turkeys-deer. What have your guys' experiences been with semi's. Do they work well as trap guns?

[road.kill]

I own a semi, i like not having to pump but pump shotguns are good too. Ive killed birds with both, its all personal preference. If i was going to shoot slugs at deer I may buy a pump for that purpose but only because I dont want to shoot slugs through my expensive auto incase something stupid happens.

For me, I can keep on my target and switch birds easier with my semi auto, but at the same time I can find myself shooting all three shells quicker and sometimes less accurate when I get too excited. Just pulling the trigger and not hitting anything, whereas with a pump you have to focus a bit more it seems.

Both will work for trap guns. The only thing with using a semi on the trap line is you will eject your empties at the guy at the next stand and he may not like getting hit with hulls.  Some semi auto guns have an accessory that you clip on that will stop the empty

I know guys that swear by pumps and love them to death and same goes for guys who use semi autos

[Thenewguy]

Thats for the response, would buck shot through a semi give it issues?

Here is another question, has anyone used a 10 gauge? I see remington has one and it looks pretty sweet.

[Gutpile]

I may get a lashing but 10 gauges are over rated. look at a 3 1/2" 12 gauge and there is no real gain in velocity or payload by owning a 10.

I do have one and the ammo selection is poor and expensive, choke selection is limited.

Mine just stays in the safe. I may get it patterned for turkeys some time but IMO the 12 ga. 3 1/2 is the way to go.

 

[BLKBEARKLR]

I have owned both 11-87 remington and an 870.

I know own 3 870's and no 11-87 here is the reason why.

Might not happen here but while in Alaska stupid chicken hunting (Ptarmigan) You get in and out of the truck quite a bit. No dog so you drive to one spot hunt it and then get back in truck drive to next spot. Anyways with the cold and the moisture constantly from the gun warming up and getting cold  it froze up on me while I was out in the woods. Had to bring it back to the truck and let it warm up to get the action to slide back.

With a pump you grab it and pull back then things are moving. Just my  like already stated some people swear by them, I just now swear at them...

Joe

[road.kill]

Another thing is I would buy a good pump (870 or Nova or equivilant) before I bought a cheap semi auto. Thats just a personal preference of mine though. Like said above, with the pump you control the action and as long as its not too bad of a jam etc you should be able to finish out the hunt if its not too serious. It seems semi autos could have more internal parts that would put you SOL in a pinch.   

Once you narrow your decision down to a few different guns you can look up reviews on the internet, they are helpful and you get opinions from people who have used the gun.

As far as getting a 10 gauge.... do you really want reconstructive shoulder surgery?     All kidding aside the ammo selection just isnt there and it is more expensive. If one was available I would probably use it to smack some big geese but it might be overkill for some little teal

[Thenewguy]

i really appreciate the advice guys. i am thinking about a benneli but the new remington looks good as well

[270Shooter]

I want a benelli M2 lefty

Sadly I have no idea how I am gonna pay for it.

[Bofire]

I own both and like both, if I had to chose I'd take the pump, 870 dependable.
The question about 3.5 inch loads tho I think deserves attention.
In my opinion 3.5 inch loads in 12 guage are less than good. I am not talking about steelshot waterfowl, I dont hunt them or use that ammo, thus I know nothing about it,
 BUT in lead shot, hevi shot , I think the load is too large to force down a 12 guage. Turkey loads I have patterned MANY in my shot guns, I have yet to get a decent pattern from a 3.5 inch load. The shot is so deformed it flies irratically, I think.

I have an 11-87 that puts more pellets into a turkey head target at 50 yards with a 2.75 inch load of magnum #6, than with any 3"or 3.5 load I have tried. Botttom line, you MUST shoot your gun, with a few loads/chokes.
so if I were going to use 3.5 inch loads I would look strongly at a 10 gauge.
Carl

[Slider]

I use an over/under!!! 

[Thenewguy]

at the risk of being deemed "*censored*" I am going to ask what o/u does for a shot pattern...

[Gutpile]

Double barrel over and under shotgun. It does nothing for the shot pattern. It's just an alternative to the semi or pump.


 

[FALFire]

Double barrel over and under shotgun. It does nothing for the shot pattern. It's just an alternative to the semi or pump.


 

I agree 100%.

Now as far as the 3.5 inch guns. One of the reasons the 3.5" gun came about was due to the waterfowler, mainly Canada Geese. The steel shot simply does not have the needed density to bring down some of these geese and therefore the 3.5 gives you more room for steel to really belt them big suckers. I see no real reason for anyone to ever really need a 10ga. shotgun now that the ammo selection for 3.5's is so good. If you are just going after ducks and turkey, you will never need a 3.5 gun.

Also a semi auto does not have more parts to go wrong in it than does a pump. One of the best bangs for the buck going on right now is the Stoeger M2000 semi auto. Benelli owns the patten and company making it and it uses the old Benelli M1 inertia drive system, they are made in Turkey. The M2000 does a very good job at cycling everything in 3" ammo and most all of the 2-3/4" stuff.  The M2000 can be had for around 400 bucks and they come in camo if you need it.

For a pump, I would suggest a Benelli Super Nova, it is a 3.5" gun and has the Remington 870 beat all to hell. It patterns very well and cycles perfectly also comes in camo if you need it.

I shoot a Beretta Extrema II these days and it has never failed me to date. I use it for pheasant and goose hunting in extreme condions and that thing just flat sings in the field.
I still have a couple of 870's that never see the light of day and haven't for over 10 years. I sold my Stoeger to a good friend as he needed a good gun for pheasants and he fell in love with it on his first pheasant hunt last season. I have a Mossberg 935 that works perfectly but now with the Beretta, I never use it. I have sold two over and unders that only busted clays for a short time, I'm not an O/U guy and don't want another.

Everyone here has their favorite shotgun, they like certain features about them that attracts them to it. Not everyone here is going to agree which is best shotgun available that is why some drive chevys and some drive fords.

Go to the store and play with several shotguns, I did that before I purchased my Extrema II, took me over an hour to decide but the Beretta went home with me even over the Benelli SBE. Take your time, look at the features of each and feel the fit of each gun you want to consider, then if you can, go shoot some of them before making your decision.

Good luck in your selection.

[Thenewguy]

Falfire, thanks for the post! helped a ton

[Moose Eyes]

For a pump, I would suggest a Benelli Super Nova, it is a 3.5" gun and has the Remington 870 beat all to hell. It patterns very well and cycles perfectly also comes in camo if you need it.

But it sure is ugly! 

[Bofire]

 :)Thats why Gary likes it, the Nova is so ugly it makes Gary look good!!!!
Carl

[FALFire]

Carl,
I need all the help I can get brother, all the help I can get 

Plus ugly guns kill birds better. If ya can't hit'em, just the mere sight of an ugly gun scares'em to death

[Intruder]

I may get a lashing but 10 gauges are over rated. look at a 3 1/2" 12 gauge and there is no real gain in velocity or payload by owning a 10.
I do have one and the ammo selection is poor and expensive, choke selection is limited.
Mine just stays in the safe. I may get it patterned for turkeys some time but IMO the 12 ga. 3 1/2 is the way to go.
 

I have a Rem Mag 10 and it's really only practical as a waterfowl gun.  The 10 tends to pattern way better than a 12g 3 1/2" loads.  You can get far better performace w/ a 10g if you are willing to reload.  The 10g factory stuff is notorioulsy under loaded in respect to speed.... I believe because of the number of old 10 g guns out on the market   The faster loads produce more pressure than the old guns can handle.  Funny though, less pressure than the 3 1/2" 12s loads.  But the 12g 3 1/2" guns are all modern guns made to higher pressure tolerances. 

I've shot 3 1/2" 12 in my Mossberg turkey gun.  My buddies and I have patterned 3 differenct 3 1/2" waterful guns.  I tend to feel the 3 1/2 12g is a bit of a gimmick.  One thing you really noticed is the best patterns often come with the lower shot charges... say 2oz vs. 2 1/4oz for lead or 1 1/4oz vs 1 1/2oz in steel.  Also, when you start to look at bigger shot, like for waterfowl 1s, 2s in steel for instance, the patterns in the 12g 3 1/2" seem really inconsistant.  I've noticed similiar things in 3" 20g loads.  My only explanation is that the actual bore can only efficiently choke so much shot.  I tend to think with the new tungsten shots a 3" 12 is about all a guy needs anymore.  One other thing about the 3 1/2" shells in a 12... depending on your gun they will flat punish with recoil.  My Mossberg is absolutely brutal to shoot with 3 1/2" shells.

I tend to agree with advice others have given.  The 870 or Nova are going to be hard to beat.  Don't waste your $ on a cheap autoloader.  I will give some props to the higher end autoloaders.  They do tend to operate more reliably and the gas guns really do make a noticeable difference in recoil.

[Thenewguy]

Thanks, What does barrel length effect? right now i am pretty set on a benelli super nova in realtree camo. Also, can i shoot slugs from this gun without changing barrels? what about use as a turkey gun, just change the choke?

[woodswalker]

Pump.

I personally have a pile of 870s (tho I have 2 Auto-5s and 5 R-11s too), the 870s are what goes hunting.

[Thenewguy]

can anyone tell me what the different barrel lengths accomplish?

[Curly]

The longer barrel gives you a longer sighting plane which should help with long shots.  A short barrel is faster to get on target, thus making it good for upland game when you need to get on the bird quickly.