12 guage recommendation

[Kurts86]

The Beretta A300 is the best option under $1k from my experience. If you bump up your budget to $1200 the Benelli M2 enters the picture.

 

[RockAndSage]

If semi-auto, focus on determining a selection of guns that meet your reliability requirements first - and from there, go to a couple of well-stocked gun stores and lift them, swing them, etc. The one that lifts the most naturally with you looking right down the center of the rib, with the bead centered, is the one you're most likely to hit the best with.

I did this, looking at Berettas, SX4s, Benellis, Mossbergs, and a few others.

Went with a Franchi Affinity 3.5 - and it has been an absolute hammer on waterfowl and upland game. Significant hit-rate improvement over my prior gun. Because of how well it fits my body. As long as the gun is broadly considered reliable, fit is far more important than anything else for getting the job done with a shotgun, and that's fairly unique to each person. But there's a lot of great guns out there to choose from.

 

[roosterdown]

Affinity.

 

[MarkOrtiz]

I’ve been shooting an 870 for the past 8 years and decided to switch to a semi auto. I narrowed it down to the SX4 and Franchi Affinity 3. The Franchi fit me better at the store so I went that way.