[GusBreacher]

Okay, make that 50 rounds. I’d rather have more shotgun than shells. Sorry.

[omega4179]

The brands to look at are Benelli, Beretta and Remington.

[do the dhue]

Check this out:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=srVsZd9xe_E

[Mogwai]

Well, this one won’t have any snob appeal, but I like my Saiga (Russian) semi-auto 12 gauge. The feature of five-round detachable magazines is mighty useful. Also cheap and very reliable.

[Robbin]

Here is a link to winchester SX3 12 shots in 1.44 seconds. Amazing.
http://www.winchesterguns.com/services/press/detail.asp?id=45

[do the dhue]

The first link I sent is the a-12. check out the aa-12

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=hhstuvzMiB0&feature=channel_page

[Stevenc131]

Benelli makes some very fine autoloaders, as do Beretta and Browning. It’s important to get one that fits you, and that feels good to you. I’ll put in a recommendation for the Benelli Montefeltro, which I own. Very reliable, not too heavy, points well, just an all around fine gun.

[Milhous]

A Benelli M4 works for me. But dealers tell me that a recent run on tactical weapons left warehouses empty until about March.

M4

When the U.S. Marine Corps went shopping for a combat shotgun, they bought a Benelli. That’s because a combat shotgun has to function the first time, every time. The Benelli M4 does it for the U.S. military, and now can be the centerpiece of your own home defense plan.

[kbennkc]

I have not seen an auto loader I like better than my old Browning A-5 .

[woofer2425]

Saiga-12....research it. Semi-auto, box magazine or 20-round drum fed. Check out the Tromix website or Saiga-12 com. It’s an AK -47 shot gun. Nothing better for home protection!

[piytar]

I understand the desire for a semi auto, but for practial application, a nice pump works just fine. You can get a decent one plus the extras for well under $300, and for less than a full scale military op, it will serve you just as well.

Bonus: That sound of loading a round is truly chilling to a perp. They will run away just from hearing it. Trust me on this, I’ve been there.

[hamburglar]

Kel tec RFB Carbine 308 bullpup

Mossberg 590A1 shotgun

Mossberg bullpup shotgun

and if you can find one :

Remington 300 Automatic Shotgun

[NVDave]

In a non-tactical shotgun, the Berette A390 or A391 is VERY difficult to beat. It is a gas-operated gun, but the gas system is pud-easy to clean. There are four parts, and they’re all big. Price should be $700 or thereabouts new. 3 shot mag, one in the pipe is plenty for most hunting purposes. They’re utterly reliable.

Benelli recoil-operated shotguns impress me, especially their most recent models. No gas system means that you can mount a mag extension tube on them. These are going to set you back about $1100 new, so look around pawnshops and gun dealers for used ones.

Both of these Italian scatterguns can take 3” magnum rounds. You don’t need 3.5” mags any more with the newer heavy non-lead shot when hunting.

Browning gas-operated semi’s have lots of fiddly little springs and valving balls in their gas system. Don’t like them.

I have several friends with Charles Daly guns; these are simply no reliable and they need a lot of TLC and cleaning. Give these a miss.

The older Remington and Winchester semi-autos are OK, and rather inexpensive, but they require more cleaning and TLC than the Italian guns.

[yarddog]

I think any of the ones made by the major manufacturers would be good.

I personally would not recommend the Benelli. I had an M1 Super 90 which was beautifully made and looked really wicked. The problem was it was the worst kicking shotgun I have ever fired, even worse than a lightweight single barrel. They are incredibly reliable tho.

For some reason that short recoil system seems to magnify recoil. The advantage is it is incredibly clean, since no gas is bled off to operate the action.

[Pistolshot]

Remington 1187 Police.

[SVTCobra03]

Mossberg 930 SPX.

[wendy1946]

The Benelli semi-autos have what they call an 'inertial' action which means a more sophisticated sort of a blow-back mechanism which actually locks, but it cannot shoot the lighter kinds of skeet shells reliably. My own preference is the Beretta Xtrema-II which involves a very sophisticated gas mechanism with a heavy spring, a bypass valve, and a piston RING if you can believe that; they claim it's self cleaning and it isn't much of a lie: cleaning the piston and the chamber it moves in is a ten second deal and you still have to clean the barrel. It's ungodly strong and can shoot 3.5" shells if you want to.

On Gunbroker

[wendy1946]

including sight...

You don't use sights on a shotgun. Nobody does. Using shotguns properly is a pure hand-eye deal like tennis or baseball: if you ever tried to watch any part of a tennis racquet or baseball bat while using it you'd never hit anything with it. With shotguns, you watch the target 100% and the gun zero percent.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=8939162

Saiga AK-47 12 Gauge 19” BBL Semi Auto Carbine $595 new

[wrench]

What is the intended use of the gun?

The Benelli is the top of the heap right now. It benifits from improvements in materials and design over many of the other offerings available today.

But, even though the Benelli’s design is 100 years newer than the Browning A5, it is doubtful you could tell a difference in the operation and handling of the two guns.

Very few autoloader shotties have the speed-feed feature found on the A5. I am not sure the Benellis will do it, and that would be a deal breaker for me.