Things You'll Need:
- Patience
- Lack of ego
- $300-400 capital
- State and or Federal required licenses
- Lock for shotgun
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Step 1
The first questions, is: What are you using this for? You don’t use a chain saw to carve a turkey, so you need to understand your personal needs. Are you going to use this for strictly clay pigeons or skeet, or are you going for game and fowl? Are you a hunter or someone who is going to use this weapon as a mean of relaxation around a shooting course, much in the way a golfer will while away the hours, golfing? Once this is established, we can move forward. The good news is that you can take any shotgun out on a shooting range. However, what you take into the field with you has more perimeters. Like tools, shotguns have individual purposes. However if you can only afford one gun, then you can get versatility at a modest price in a 12-gauge shotgun. No other shotgun is as effective for shooting waterfowl, such as geese and duck. They are also excellent for turkey and peasant. For smaller birds, like doves and quail, a 12 gauge is too excessive and for many hunters and the recoil too aggressive when hunting for the upland birds. Most hunters keep it simple and use big guns for the big birds, smaller guns for the small birds
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Step 2
Price may be no object for you, but to most of us, it is. Especially since it is your first gun, you are not going to want to drop an outrageous amount of money on something you may lose interest in. By the same token, should you decide you want to resell your shotgun; you will want a weapon that can yield a good market price for used goods. Therefore you are going to look for the most versatile shotgun for the least amount of money. If you can only afford one gun, do you need a $2400 12-gauge double barrel Beretta shotgun with finely ornate hand crafted engravings to hunt water fowl? Your ego may say yes, but when you drop that house payment into the salt water marsh early one morning while getting your overfed kiester out of your john boat, you may think differently. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Beretta shotguns. My father owns one and it is stunning. But he does not take it into a water positioned duck blind with him when his Ithaca does just as well. So, be honest with yourself. What are you going to do with this weapon? If you are just going to show off to your buddies, go ahead, drop a few grand into the art piece, get a glass case and put a nice light above it in your den, sip some whiskey and pretend you are a fine hunter. Otherwise practicality will have to rule out over your ego. For the most part, a first timer, with budget considerations, should aim towards purchasing a single barrel, pump-action shotgun, much like the Remington 870, which retails for under $400 or the Mossberg 930 which also lands in that price range. These are fine weapons for the money and will retain it’s value should you want to resell it. For myself, I purchased a Benelli Nova pump action 12 gauge 28 inch barrel black carbon model for around $350. Why did I go this route as my first gun you may ask? Good question and here is the answer.
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Step 3
When choosing your first gun, go with someone who has more knowledge than you. Ego has no place in choosing a weapon, I do not give a flying rat’s tail how many times you saw Rambo, if this is your first time, you don’t know anything, so go with a pro. In this case, I chose my father. Not only was it an excellent bonding experience, but I learned much that did not take when he used to take me hunting when I was an impatient and petulant youngster. In addition to purpose and price, the thing my father taught was to trust your instincts. It has to feel right in your hands. If the gun is too heavy, the chances of your patience being tested in the field would be weighed very quickly and you could become discouraged. Likewise if the gun is too light, then the lack of control can be a frustrating experience for the novice hunter who is still trying to find his true aim. So after a few trips to various gun shops, the Benelli seemed like model. Also, when it fires, does the recoil knock you into the next county? Hopefully not. The shop owners assured me that the Benelli had a negligible recoil, so although that seemed settled, I needed to know for myself. The price? Wow! An affordable $350 plus tax. In addition, even straight out of the box, they are much sought after and will fetch an excellent resell price, should I find that this is really not for me. However, there were two factors that were holding me up on choosing this particular shotgun. One: I never shot one and was not sure how it would handle. Two: The stock is made of black carbon fiber and I had it in my mind to go for a more traditional wood stock gun.
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Step 4
Both of these issues were immediately rectified when I took my father’s advice and try a few brands of shotgun at a local shooting range. Fortunately, they had the Benelli Novo. I am not going to deny that although the gun is handsome, the black carbon makes the weapon look more like a SWAT unit piece than your grandad's shotgun. But, once I got past that, and tried the Benelli, I was hooked. The carbon stock just felt right. Not too heavy, not too light and the recoil was, as stated, shockingly negligible. The length of the barrel was determined by the fact that a 28-inch barrel is not apt to get caught up in the cornstalks during hunting. After going through a box of shells and many missed clay pigeons, this became the choice for my first shotgun. The weapon fit all of the criteria. It is versatile, affordable, has excellent resell potential, felt instinctively good and had great balance. And to show you that my hypocrisies are has blatant as the next guy's. It is a handsome gun and received many compliments when I was shooting it.
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Step 5
Finally, and this cannot be stressed enough, follow all the necessary federal and state passed laws safety precautions. After all this is a weapon and if misused could cause irreparable damage or kill someone. If the law requires you to lock it up. Do it. The laws are there to protect the law-abiding citizen. Also, don't be a macho fool, use the proper eye and ear protection. These can be purchased along with the proper cleaning kit, manuals and other accessories where you purchased your shot gun.
