Yesterday we ran a few suggestions of rifles 18 to 20-year-olds might consider buying now that their gun rights are under attack in various states. But the proposed age limits don’t just apply to rifles, they would prevent these adults — Americans who can vote and serve in the military – from buying shotguns, too. Good times.
So as a service to our younger readers who have reached the age of majority, but can’t yet legally bend an elbow at the local bar, here are five scatterguns you might want to consider spending your money on before your representatives decide you’re not yet worthy of exercising all of your civil rights as a citizen.
Every home should have a reliable, versatile pump gun. You can use it from everything from home defense to busting clays to downing ducks and bagging turkeys. The venerable 870 — which you can still buy for about $350 for the base model — has been gracing Americans’ gun safes for almost 70 years and has just about as many customization and aftermarket options available for it as an AR-15.
Pump guns are great, but especially if you plan on spending time in duck blinds or hunting upland birds, the speed and reduced recoil of a semi-auto shotgun are big advantages. Stoeger’s M3500 is about the least expensive inertia-driven shotgun you can buy which means lighter weight and easier cleaning, all for about $600.
If recoil management is your number one consideration, a gas-powered semi-auto is the way to go. A gas gun will reduce recoil even more than an inertia-driven auto-loader, keeping you more comfortable over a long day of shooting high brass loads at geese and other waterfowl. Winchester’s SX4 is an affordable, reliable semi-automatic that will leave enough in your wallet to let you stock up on ammo.
If you have a few extra Benjamins to spend and love the look of wood and steel the Beretta A300 is a great way to get a classic, design that will serve you well on the skeet field or trudging across the fields of South Dakota in pursuit of pheasant. And you can bring one home for well under a grand.
If you want one scattergun to do it all, it’s hard to beat the ultra-configurable Mossberg 500 FLEX. You can start out with a basic pump gun and then customize it — without tools — adding and swapping out stocks, fore ends, pistol grips, barrels and more. That means you can easily convert your tactical home defense gun into a slug-slinging, deer killing machine if that’s what floats your boat.