After thought- glad we are back to shotguns and finished with rubber bands?

Birds: Mossberg 500 w/20 inch barrel and various choke tubes. A longer barrel would be better, but why buy one.

Turkey: Mossberg 500 w/20 inch barrel and primos choke tube.

Deer: Mossberg 500 w/20 inch barrel and carlson's rifled choke tube.

Scope for Mossberg 500: Zeiss w/quick detach Leupold rings. I can use the scope for deer and/or turkey, remove it for everything else.

Squirrel and Rabbit: The same Mossberg 500....

Sorry for not playing by the rules, but one gun does it all for me.

Guess I'll throw in with the more advanced shotgun people who think they only need one shotgun. Having sold my entire gun collection because of whatever reason, I studied What I do and What I need for months. Since I only ever shoot once (who's in a hurry to end the hunt?), I began looking for single barrels for hunting. All the available Winchester '37s are too degraded, and parts are no longer being produced. The NEF's ain't making it for quality. An expert shotgunner proved to me that a 20 gauge is all anybody needs, and there is no need to take that recoil. So, for light weight, balance, easy handling, the total ergonomic package, and the ability to shoot blanks for dawg training, I chose the Benelli Youth Model Nova 20 gauge. I am convinced that it has no peer among pumps at any price. I always get the best. I've owned and shot Parkers and L.C. Smiths and everybody knows how good they are. But for pure functionality and light weight and handleability, Benelli has moved out into their own space.

Biggamecock -- I hope you are happy with your Xtrema2 -- I do believe it is a great waterfowl gun. I don't have one because they cost a lot, and because switching the safety to LH requires buying a whole new trigger group which also costs a lot. By the way, Beretta pulled that quote they used in their catalog from something I wrote and asked my permission to use it. I received nothing in return.

I'm partial to the 870. 3 inch chamber with a 28 inch barrel should handle about anything. Also, several barrel options are available for everything else.

Phil, I am happy that you included the 16 gauge in two of your bird-hunting categories!

I have to throw my vote of confidence in for the Benelli Nova... Just because I love mine!

Ducks and geese: S&W 1000 Super 12 Waterfowler
Upland birds: S&W 1000 Super 12 Waterfowler
Turkey and backup for everything: Remington 870
Trap: S&W 1000 Super 12 Waterfowler
Front door: Stevens 311 20 ga SxS

Waterfowl-Browning Citori 3.5 inch camo and ported.
Plains- A fine double 12
Brush - A fine double 28
Turkey/Deer/Defense - 3.5 inch 870

Boo and Hiss. Not mentioning a .410 once? Saying the 12 gauge will do it all come on. Yes it will, but what is the fun in using a 12 gauge for everything. Make it a challenge, that is part of the sport. Don't get me wrong 12 gauges are very good guns, but there is nothing a 12 gauge would do that a 16 wont do.

On the other hand, I applaud you for finally making one of these about shotguns. Also SKB 100 20 gauge. I feel like they are the most under appreciated type of shotgun around, and that the shotgun is the most under appreciated type of firearm.

After taking the latter into consideration I do think this deserves a thumbs up.

I'll go with the Mossberg 500 guy

28" VR Barrel for the field & Turkey
20" Smooth bore Slug Barrel for the big guys

Mosssberg Full, X Tra full and Modified chokes do the job.

No need to add any aftermarket chokes to a perfect system

Waterfowl: Beretta Xtrema II
Plains: Remington 870 wingmaster
Brush: Remington 870 wingmaster
Turkey: Beretta Xtrema II
Big Game: Browning A-bolt shotgun

Dear Phil Bourjaily;
Although we agree wholeheartedly, YOUR FIRED!

Sincerely,
Remington, Savage, Winchester, Kimber & other rifle
companies

I gotta agree with the smart crowd that says the Mossberg 500 can and will take everything. If I had to carry a second firearm it would be the trusty ole 30-06.

Upland - Merkel 147E 20 gauge, violated by adding Briley chokes.

Pheasant/shooting sports - Browning B-25, 12-gauge, again, with screw-in chokes

Turkey and backup - Benelli SBE - that's he older 12 gauge with wood stocks.

Just because I love them - Model 12s with the large corncob fore stocks in 12, 16, 20, and 28 gauges.

Over the years, I've owned a good many shotguns for various purposes. A Winchester Mod. 101 in 20 gauge with choke tubes and 26" barells is the best upland game gun I've ever hunted with. I have a Win. 101 in 12 ga. also but would give the nod to the 20 because it is lighter and points faster.

I use a Remington Mod.870 with a 26" Hastings barell and tubes for turkeys. 3" chamber. If I hunted waterfowl I would opt for a 28" or 30" barell with tubes on the 870.

Never have hunted deer with a shotgun so I can't say.

So many excellent shotguns. I really enjoy the 20 finding it handles most of my work quiet well and the shells and gun aren't bulky. Last fall Gander Mountain had a very nice A-5 3" 20 Belgium w/two barrels that came home with me. Earlier in the year I found a Mod 12 Heavy Duck Gun in very nice shape and it came home with me. But what has proven good is a Browning Gold Hunter 12 w/26" I love it. The other is a CZ import Huglu 20 auto with 26" barrel. These last two have shot birds with ease. My Mossberg is for sale at the barber/gun shop. It is a 12 w/26" barrel. By the way the CZ knocked over a 10 point buck w/o any problem last fall.

My Winchester Model 12, 2&3/4in.,modified choke, has taken all of the game listed without a problem. For waterfowl over open water or fields you rely on calling them within effective range. As I aged I bought and collected many other shotguns for one or two specific purposes, but would shed all but the model 12 if it ever came doen to it. As for a knock around do most anything shotgun, I have a Rossi Overland, 20 ga. with hammers. When the LA sheriff's deputies came into that beer joint with their Rossi doubles and cocked those hammers, the place quieted down fast and the trouble makers decided to go peacefully.

There is not an animal in North America I could not efficiently hunt with my 870 3.5 supermag. I love mine. Not to mention most self defense experts promote the 12ga as the best all-around. As far as the 3' vs. 3.5' debate, I like how 'Gus McCrea' in 'Lonesome Dove' put it. "It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it."

I thought the 870 WAS the North American shotgun battery. Mine is a 3-1/2 turkey model with a 21 inch barrel and I've used it on deer, turkey, geese, grouse, quail, dove, duck, raccoon, possum, crow, armadillo and blackbirds. It also makes a helluva home defense weapon, although I have not officially tested it in that capacity. It's probably the deadliest gun I've ever owned. It's so deadly that I thought about nicknaming it "Smallpox" instead of "Old Betsy." It reliably shoots 2-3/4, 3 and 3-1/2 inch shells. I accidentally put a 16-gauge shell in it one time and it fired and cycled it even.

For ducks my go to gun is my SX2, grouse and pheasants Wingmaster 20 gauge trap my Model 12 pigeoin grade and if I can ever make up my mind I want to get a 410.

Thanks for asking Phil. I've always been partial to the 12 gauge when it comes to shotguns. This may change as I get older. My stockpile:

Waterfowl: Benelli SBE II in max-4
Pheasant/Quail: Beretta Silver Pigeon
Dove: Franchi I-12 in wood
Turkey: Remington 870 express
Deer: Ruger M77 30.06

I'm at a point of being content with this bunch, None have let me down.

I second dale, forget a Home Defense shotgun, anything that can kill a deer can also kill a burglar.

I'm with the one gun side, a smoothbore, pump, anything reliable that shoots 2 3/4 and 3 inch shells, for deer load I would carry (used to live in NJ, shotgun only hunting there) a Rottweil Brenekee Slug backed up by 3 inch OOO Buckshot. Figure the first shot can be aimed and then pump out the rest as fast as I can if it doesn't go down!

Easy. Waterfowl, SBE LH 3.5 mag. Gotta have a mag! Deer 870 12 gauge with a Nikon and fully rifled barrel. my Dad bought it for me for my 8th grade Graduation in 78. woods and upland Ruger Red label 12. For fun on bunnies, Lefeever 12 Side by side or 870 .410 with full choke. Can I get this .410 smithed to accept choke tubes? Does anyone know?

Turkey, ducks, geese, skittish pheasants and burglers get my Benelli SBE. Just about everything else Beretta Silver Pidgeon 28 guage. My other shotguns pretty much are safe queens. For deer it's a Mathews Z-7 or Kimber 25-06. The elk gun this fall will be a Mdl 700 Classic in 350 Rem. Mag that my chronograph says gets over 2900 FPS with a Barnes 200 grain TSX bullet and 64 grains of Ramshot TAC. I'm still amazed at that load. Factory 200 grain corelockt ammo is only 2750 fps.

Thanks guys, my wife's bad back (7 surgeries in 10 years and she's ten years younger than me) has been experiencing problems. Additionally my oldest daughter (26 years) put herself in alcohol rehab. My extra time has been limited for the last few months. I'll have to tell you all about my friend's trip to Mozambique, 29 animals including 2 cape buffalo, a leopard, a hippo, and all sorts of buks, boks, and whatever.

ishawooa;
I'm an alcoholic, also.
Do not give up on her.
its not a daily thang, it's hourly.
give her lots of tough love and she's in my prayers.

Thanks Dale F as our thoughts and prayers are with you as well.

My first gun ever was a cheap Rossi 12. I used it on rabbits for a few years and I loved it. A year ago I started turkey hunting and needed something with choke tubes. I splurged and got a combo 870 20 gauge with a rifled barrel and a field barrel. I have done a lot of reading about turkey guns and I was a little leery about being under gunned for turkey. I was pleasantly surprised that, even at 34-40 yards, the 20 killed that turkey as dead as dead gets.
I WOULD have to rant a little now about using a shotgun for a deer rifle. I was pretty excited to used this gun as my brush gun, until I tried to actually buy ammo for it. Because it is rifled, I need to use sabot ammo with it. Has anyone else been mortified by the price of sabot rifled slugs?? At 14 dollars for five rounds (ON SALE), it is roughly 3 dollars a round. Some brands went up as high as 5 dollars a round. That is 5 dollars for a single round or ammo! I can by 50bmg ammo for that. At that price it took me almost the price of the gun just to get the feel for the thing. Especially because at that price I wanted to make sure I had the right set up. I wanted my nephew to try this gun for his first year of hunting but when it came time to let him try it out I could feel the dollar bills falling out of my pocket as he missed the target. I couldn't take it. I will keep the 10 rounds I have left as a reminder of what they look like but they are going in my museum and I will continue to use my 30-06 which, by the way, I can get ammo for around 50 cents a round when it goes on sale. So I can take my 06 to the range and shoot it 6 to 10 times for every single shot of the shot gun. If I ever want to hunt in a shotgun only area I will use my muzzleloader instead or my handgun instead.

I have never shot sabot slugs through my Remington barrel, (not rifled), so I can't comment on them. However, it will shoot 2" or 2 1/2" groups with plain old conventional slugs at 100 yds. I can only suppose that a rifled barrel would improve on this. Why not just shoot conventional slugs? I would prefer to use a rifle on deer at any distance, but some areas that I might hunt have that pesky "shotgun only" rule.

My Ideal 5 gun shotgun battery- Some of these guns I have but some I don't.

Waterfowl- Browning BPS 10 GA with a wood stock matte blue finish and 30 inch barrel with choke tubes as I see more geese than ducks.

Plains/Prarie birds- Remington 870 express 12 ga. with 28 inch barrel with matte blue finish with chokes tubes.(back up waterfowl gun)

Forrest birds-Ithaca 37 20 ga with a 26 inch barrel with choke tubes.(back up plains gun)

Turkey-Not a turkey hunter but I would pick a remington 870 supermag with a good load and choke combo with fiber optic rifle sights. (can also be used as a back up deer and HD gun with a choke tube change)

Deer-Ithaca 37 20 ga with a deer slayer barrel and rifle sights. Just shoot old school foster style 3 in. mags that group well and set your stand or blind up for a reasonable shot. A slug gun is not a rifle; it never has been and never will be. However it is very effective if you know its limits and can shoot it accurately.

Can anyone help me ?
Does the .223 fmj, start tumbling on contact ?

yep im a big shotgun fan...but im partial to pumps by far and away my favorite... as of right now ive got 3 single shots 2 semi autos 1 double 1 lever action and 5 pumps my favorite would either be the mosberg 500 in 12 guage or the ithica in 20 gauge... just depends on the situation i guess

-Browning Gold 10 ga 26" barrel Pattermaster chokes
-SBE 2 LH 28" barrel Patternmaster chokes
-Browning BPS 12 ga 3.5" 26" barrell Patternmaster chokes= Backup
-Browning BPS 16 ga Upland 26" barrel mod
-Browning 425 20 ga 26" barrel ic/mod
-Tar Hunt lh 870 12 ga dedicated slug gun
As a lefty I've been thru more than a few shotguns before finding the right ones that fit, point and aren't boat anchors. The Gold 10ga points like a 12 and kills like a punt gun, geese hate it and it's 1+lbs lighter than the remington sp10. I'm on my second SBE, it's lite, it's lefty and it's your only choice if you want a left handed auto that fires all the time, everytime. It's a perfect goose/duck combo hunt gun.
The BPS is a solid back up, I never leave the house w/ just one gun, super slick action and has a slug barrel. The 16 ga BPS is a fine upland hunter and points great, can't find a decent px'd 16 ga o/u that feels as good as the 425 20 ga.I won't drag a 12ga around the field/woods all day and the 16ga has never killed pheasants/chukar etc any less dead than the 12's and i have a mess of brenneke slugs for the odd hog or coyote. The Browning 425 20 ga feels like it was custom made for me and it's as civilized a firearm as i ever want to own, I wouldn't sell or trade it for a brace of Holland & Holland's. After tracking my last buckshot shot whitetail for longer than I care to admit I went home and ordered a Tar Hunt 870....we'll see. I've owned mossberg's, nova's,870's, 1100's, Franchis o/u and semi, 3 model 12's 2x12ga 1x 16ga, all gone now with now regrets. anyway what fun is it to own one gun that does it all? I mean how many types of wrenches do you own? Find the rite tool for each individual job.