Curious on peoples take about which shotguns they prefer and why.
Love the Mossberg 88 (pump) model, but I also love mag fed for conveniency.
Thank you for your time
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I have several pumps and a couple semiautos… I like my semis. They cater to my lazy side and are faster… but there’s something magical about a well worn in 870 super mag.
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I have a Mossberg plain jane pump 3", an old Savage model 57D cut down to 18 1/4" as a closet gun, a Remington 1100 2 3/4" made in the 70s. my best bird gun and my favorite an Ithaca Defender 7+1 up to 3" 6+1 20’ barrel all steel, a bit heavy but I love it. 
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All my shotguns are pumps, 2 Remington 870s and a Winchester model 12, and I love em. Nothing beats a reliable pump gun. Although semis are good and there are some real nice ones, they can be picky with ammo, doesn’t always want to cycle those light rounds. A pump, in my experience, will eat anything you feed it. If you have to use target loads cause that’s all have, you’ll be good to go
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I prefer pump shotguns for their Ammo reliability. Light 2 3/4 inch loads to 3 1/2 shoulder dislocaters. It will eat them all day long.
Semiauto shotguns are great for bid hunting/clay pigeon shooting.
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Plastic casings are prone to deformation and/or manufacturing tolerance differences. Semi autos can jam on a crushed shell whereas a pump feeding the out of spec cartridge can be man-handled.
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I have to go with the pump and agree with everybody that goes with pump.
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only one shotgun here, mossberg 500 “tactical persuader” pump. I like it, and what a hoot racking on the recoil (Paul Harrell vid iirc some years back). Seems failproof. Got enough mag fed semiautos, nice having something different. Shotgun mags are so freaking huge as well. A friend bought the Standard SKO, semi, then couldn’t find mags for it. If I was shooting clays, I’d like a semi;I’d probably need 10 rounds to hit the thing 
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Personally, I prefer the Biden option of fully automatic, 1,000 round magazine that expels 2,000 rounds per second, while being ghosted! However, if you really want to feel safe and not get caught with “high capacity” magazines, I would opt for belt fed!
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Everything has it’s pros and cons, you have to decide which one is most important to you.
Pump action
Pros: Insanely reliable. Will shoot pretty much anything. Very low cost, even for a quality brand/model. A good one will last almost forever.
Cons: Not uncommon to see a short-stroke malfunction under stress.
Semi-auto
Pros: No worries about short-stroke malfunctions. Significantly faster to shoot. Noticeably less recoil
Cons: Can be finicky on the types of ammo. Crazy May be more expensive.
Magazine Fed (there are pump and semi-auto mag fed variants, so those pros/cons still apply)
Pros: Can carry a lot more ammo on-board
Cons: Shells left in a magazine for extended amounts of time can deform and cause malfunctions. Mags are YUGE, so carrying them around and/or storing them can be a hassle.
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I was in the market for a cheap pump for clays but could not find one in stock anywhere with a 28” barrel. Ended up with a Girsan MC312 semi auto for $350. The reviews are very good and it has been flawless for me so far. Though I only have 50 shells through it. A mix of heavy turkey loads to break it in followed by light target loads.
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No love for break opens? 
I would love a sweet O/U if I had the spare cash for one. But not for the blatantly illegal Biden home defense plan!
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I want to slightly disagree here. My dad just bought a Stoeger M3000. 500 bucks out the door. It’s a pretty nice piece too. Shoots well. Had no problem with light game loads. It’s on the short list of my next gun purchase.
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Notice Joe didn’t endorse high cap break actions
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I have a Texas edition yildiz 12ga o/u that wasn’t rediculously priced. It’s no Citori by any means, but it nice and imo it dependable.
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I have the M3500. I like it and it is in the medium range. I believe it was around 700-750, something like that.
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I stand corrected! I edited my post above. I had not heard of the Girsan, but I had heard of (and forgot about) the Stoeger. I believe it was Nutnfancy said it was as good as a Benelli.
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