Depends on intention of use in my opinion. I have a Mossberg 88 for home defense, but I hunt using a Remington 1100. Rather risk a malfunction duck hunting rather than protecting my home.
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I’m still looking for a semi auto magazine fed mini shell shotgun.
The discs in my neck do not enjoy 12 gauge anymore.
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just with my pellet rifles 
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There are advantages and disadvantages to everything. I have several pumps and several breaks. I kept a Stoeger 20 gauge coach gun in my motorhome. Could be left unloaded with a selection of ammo for crossing state lines. Fast to load and unload with a choice of loads. With adapters I can shoot several center fire and rimfire rounds. The 12 gauge Mossberg 500 pump will put out more rounds faster and with an Opsol adapter I can load mini shells which almost double the capacity. I only paid $100 for one of the 500’s so if I am forced to use it I wont miss it if it gets confiscated for evidence.
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Hey @Harvey
Would you expand on your below point here please? Not debating your comment, I’m curious as I just bought a Beretta 1301 and will be buying some ammo shortly.
I was going to approach it similar to a handgun and find buckshot that fed consistently and just buy the one brand, thinking Hornady Critical or Black / Federal Power-Shok. Again, curious on your feedback. Thanks!
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.CrazyMay be more expensive.
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I would love a coach shotgun just to have. For Self defense not so much.
I cut my teeth on a 20ga 870 and should I ever be limited to just a single long gun my 1970’s 12ga 870 Wingmaster with its 3 barrels would be my choice. That said I own all the standard shotguns, doubles, o/u, semi-auto, pump. There is little more intimidating than the muzzle of a 12 bore. However, I’ve known pheasants that cackle in laughter as they fly away from one.
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Yeah buddy, it is great to have Biden as president: pro 2A, tactical genius, and a firearms expert.
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Your Beretta 1301 wil be just fine. I just meant there are some brands/models that you have to be mindful of what you put in it and test.
As an example, Benelli’s M2 comes to mind as a quality semi-auto but it needs sufficient power in the shell to cycle (inertia vs gas cycling) and if you put too much mass on the firearm (lights, slings, optics) that can also impact cycling. Meaning, if you have a lot of stuff on it, and shoot weak birdshot you might have some issues.
Your 1301, Benelli’s M4 (used by the LEO/MIL a lot), and I’m many others I’m forgetting are known to “eat anything”. You just have to do a little research on any model you are considering to see if there are any gotchas.
TFBTV has had a lot of fun with that 1301 recently…
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Sweet gun and great choice.
Insightful as always, thank you sir.
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I was at a shop the other day to buy some ammo and I saw it there, so I made the mistake of handling it a bit. Order it an hour later. LOL.
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Been there…went to check a dpms one day, but an M1a Scout was next to it…and 60 seconds of me mumbling responses later, the store owner realized I wasn’t letting it go.
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I have an old H&R Pardner. It’s an Asian made bare bones 12ga pump that does the job. I just put a top rail on it to mount a pair of pop up sights. I also got a laser bore sighter to adjust them with. The sights are dead on the laser. Now I’ll have to punch some paper to see if all of this is worth it
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Pardon my shotgun ignorance (I just bought my first one for sporting clays earlier this year) but what is the advantage of the short sight radius flip up sights over using the bead at the end of the barrel?
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If you want to shoot slugs you need a better sighting system. I have an Ithaca Defender with a bead sight and it shot rather high and to the left with no way to adjust it, I had to add a side mount
Weaver rail and a red dot sight. 
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I’m going to find out shortly. I have a stinking feeling that I’ll be going back to the bead. Lol
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I have a Winchester Defender. Got it in the 1980s, fired it once and after getting the snot beat out of me by the recoil, put it in storage.
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I like the red dot idea for slugs. I’ve only tried birdshot and target loads through mine at mostly shorter ranges so haven’t needed long range precision.
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