New to shotguns, have questions.

[TonyInVa]

I am new to shotguns. I want to get into shooting skeet. I am interested in a Remington 1100 Tac 4. It holds 8+1. If I decide to hunt water fowl, can I use it. I believe 3 rounds is a max to legally hunt water fowl. What would I have to do to make it legal to hunt water fowl with it.

[grumpyMSG]

The bigger issue, than how many rounds it holds, for you will be a choke. To put it in simple terms, the choke is how the shotgun controls the spread of the pellets. most tactical shotguns aren't choked at all, so the shot will spread relatively quickly in a short distance. For duck and goose hunting, you will be shooting at longer ranges, so you want a choke to help control the spread of the pellets. Think of it as trying to keep most of your pellets in a 2-3 foot circle at 50 yards instead of a 5-6 foot circle. getting pellet density is on your target is critical. I don't want to rain on your parade but a tactical shotgun might be a good choice for slugs or buckshot on deer, but not the best on waterfowl or other game birds. Since you are new to Shotguns, I would suggest going with either a Remington 870 or a Mossberg 500, there are millions of them out there and both are very reliable weapons. The advantage to both is easy to change barrels. you can keep a short barrel for home defense and change it and go bird hunting with the same gun. I would suggest looking at:
http://www.remington.com/product-famili ... l-870.aspx
or
http://www.mossberg.com/products/defaul ... play=specs

The one I would look at in particular from Remington is the:
http://www.remington.com/products/firea ... 8inch.aspx
The Mossberg I would chooseis the:
http://www.mossberg.com/images/Mossberg ... /56420.jpg
I realize the Remington is more of a Tactical/ Home Defense model and the Mossberg a hunting gun, but if you went for the shorter barreled Tactical/ Home Defense shotgun, it is more expensive. In either case buy one shotgun and one additional barrel and you will be pretty happy.

[Jakeiscrazy]

The bigger issue, than how many rounds it holds, for you will be a choke. To put it in simple terms, the choke is how the shotgun controls the spread of the pellets. most tactical shotguns aren't choked at all, so the shot will spread relatively quickly in a short distance. For duck and goose hunting, you will be shooting at longer ranges, so you want a choke to help control the spread of the pellets. Think of it as trying to keep most of your pellets in a 2-3 foot circle at 50 yards instead of a 5-6 foot circle. getting pellet density is on your target is critical. I don't want to rain on your parade but a tactical shotgun might be a good choice for slugs or buckshot on deer, but not the best on waterfowl or other game birds. Since you are new to Shotguns, I would suggest going with either a Remington 870 or a Mossberg 500, there are millions of them out there and both are very reliable weapons. The advantage to both is easy to change barrels. you can keep a short barrel for home defense and change it and go bird hunting with the same gun. I would suggest looking at:
http://www.remington.com/product-famili ... l-870.aspx
or
http://www.mossberg.com/products/defaul ... play=specs

The one I would look at in particular from Remington is the:
http://www.remington.com/products/firea ... 8inch.aspx
The Mossberg I would chooseis the:
http://www.mossberg.com/images/Mossberg ... /56420.jpg
I realize the Remington is more of a Tactical/ Home Defense model and the Mossberg a hunting gun, but if you went for the shorter barreled Tactical/ Home Defense shotgun, it is more expensive. In either case buy one shotgun and one additional barrel and you will be pretty happy.

Or you can buy a RemChoked(interchangeable chokes) barrel for about $230. I believe the Tac 4 has a removable extension tube for the magazine. Remove that and replace the mag spring with a 1100 spring. Then add a shotgun plug. Now at this point you have spent a lot of cash so it may just be better to get a second gun as suggested above.Pluse that way you don't have to keep changing them out. But the choice is yours. Here are links to the parts I was talking about:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Remingto ... oductChart
http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/sid=2659 ... ine_Spring
http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=1232 ... AZINE_PLUG
add S&H to the overall cost.

[gunderwood]

A simple wooden rod cut to the right length will work too.

[Yarddawg]

I've used a pencil on more than one occasion as a plug.

[gunderwood]

It should be noted that a Remington 1100 Tac 4 is a home defense shotgun. It is not a good choice for skeet. The barrel swap may work.

[TonyInVa]

Originally I was interested in a shotgun for skeet. I thought I could kill two birds with one stone and combine a gun good for skeet, and one that would be good for home defense as well. I thought buying a Remington Tac 4 would do that. I thought this would save me some money as well. I have decided to buy two different shot guns. I figure if I buy used the two guns would cost me about what I would have paid for a new Tac 4. I believe I will stick with the Remington 1100 for skeet. Not sure which one. My guess is this will depend on what I can find used. I will likely go with a Remington 870 for home defense.

I would like to thank everyone for the input. I will keep my eyes open for these two shotguns.

[meadmkr]

Given a choice and funding I'd pick up a 2nd shotgun for skeet/hunting and keep the tactical for its primary purpose.

Why? Ergonomics/balance for one. What I mean by this is that an 18" barrel simply doesn't swing onto and through a bird as well as a 26" or 28" barrel, regardless of choke. While you might do 'ok' in a format like wobble trap with the 18"/20" barrel, simply try a round of sporting clays or trap and you'll see what I mean. You might also find that the 1100 simply won't cycle lighter loads.

The other thing is that more often than not (IMHO] a shotgun labeled 'tactical' isn't significantly any more useful for home defense than say the Mossberg 500 or Remington 870 with an 18" barrel and typically costs more. Maybe if I were a LEO needing backup to my sidearm but I prefer a pump model (like the 870) for HD . Cheap, easy to operate, not picky about the loads and readily available. I've seen the 870 new for under $350 and the Mossberg 2-barrel combo for under $400.

The ONLY thing I might buy a TAC shotgun would be for a 3-gun comp if I got back into competition due to its higher capacity and 3rd party addons.

Cheers
Chris

[grumpyMSG]

You seem to be focused on the Remington line of shotguns, so I will stick to talking about them. The 1100 is a semi-automatic shotgun, which although not very tempermental, is ammunition sensitive. Some of the lighter loads that are common for use on clay pigeons do not cycle the shotgun or the shotgun must be tuned to fire them. List prices for the 1100s vary from $945 to $1692, not exactly beginner's prices. If you absolutely have to have a semi-automatic shotgun, take a good look at the 11-87 Sportsman $772 in synthetic stock, $879 in synthetic with camo or $845 with wood furniture.

If you look at the 870s you can pick up an 870 Express with a wood stock for $383, an 870 Express Synthetic 18" for $372 or an 870 Express Turkey Camo for $472. The turkey gun would actually be the closest thing to a single shotgun doing what you want. It comes with a 21 inch barrel and the Rem Choke system. If you opted for one shotgun and two barrels, 18 inch barrels (Remington # 24620) run from about $100 to $150 at various websites,the 26" (26312) and 28" (26314) barrels run from about $150 to $200.

[Vahunter]

If you are not against owning a mossberg, the 935 turkey/waterfowel combo may be just what you need. Comes with a 24" barrel and 28" barrel. 3" and 3 1/2" shells. Mine will cycle high power 2 3/4" loads and Iv'e heard once they get good and broken in they will cycle dove loads but that remains to be seen since I only use mine for turkey and predator hunting in thickets.

[Jakeiscrazy]

Their's a Remington rebate for $30 on 870s. I have seen them $270-$330 lately. I think it ends the 31 of Dec so you may want to act soon.