Best Semi-Auto Shotguns of 2023

Best Semi-Auto Shotguns of 2023: We’re counting down our list of the best semi-auto shotguns of 2023! We’ve broke the list down to categories for the best for upland, best for clays, best for waterfowl, best all-purpose, most innovative, biggest surprise, and fastest shotgun. We’ve included a wide range of prices, gauges, and operating systems to complete this comprehensive shotgun list. Let us know what picks you agree or disagree with! Thank you for tuning in and helping to make 2023 a great success for TFL. We appreciate it!

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Steve Gould

0:00 Intro
1:48 Best Shotgun for Clay Shooting
4:46 Best Shotgun for Waterfowl Hunting
8:35 Best Shotgun for Upland Hunting
12:00 Best All-Purpose Shotgun
15:56 Most Innovative Shotgun
17:32 Biggest Surprise Shotgun
18:18 Fastest Shotgun of 2023

Hello everyone and welcome to Target Focus life it’s that time of year again where we share our top picks for semi-auto shotguns now these shotguns aren’t just shotguns that we’ve looked up and picked from online these are guns that we have reviewed put lots of rounds

Through and we’re going to share our top picks you ready let’s Go so if you’re going to choose the best suato of shotguns how do you do it well it’s a little bit of a challenge because well depends what discipline are you shooting ducks you shooting clays depends how much money you’re willing to spend so we’re going to try to cover the

Map here with four discipline related categories clay shooting water foul Upland and then just best allpurpose right for the people that like to shoot Clays they like to shoot ducks Upland they’re just doing a little bit of everything with their shotgun and then within each C category we’re going to

Have guns that fall from budget line value to some pretty expensive guns but then after that we have three General categories most Innovative most surprising and then fastest of course we got to have fastest cuz I love to go fast what shotgun do you think that is

These guns are only guns that we have reviewed we’ve not reviewed every gun on the market there’s guns out there we’ still like to review but we really believe it’s important that we give our opinion based on our experience guns that we’ve tested that we’ve shot a lot

Of rounds through and that we’ve fully reviewed so with that said if there’s any guns in this list that you think I would like to learn more about that we have a full review video on YouTube or a Blog at Target focus. lifee that you can check out and learn more all right

Without further Ado let’s jump into the list let’s kick things off with the best clay shooting semi-auto shotguns at number three we have the CZ 712 G3 target shotgun the 712 G3 Target com comes in at 8 lb has an adjustable comb it’s well balanced and has a pretty

Decent trigger that’s under 6 lb we really like the controls on this shotgun as well as the excellent recoil management and coming in at a price point of $800 MSRP that makes the 712 G3 a very affordable reliable target shotgun at number two on the list we have the SKB

Rs300 target shotgun now this gun is great because it’s so highly adjustable from length of pull to drop you can really customize this gun to make it fit you it comes in at 7 lb 14 oz it’s a pretty decent overall gun what’s really interesting about this gun is that I

Would say it’s just average there’s nothing overly fancy about it the controls are adequate the ergonomics are adequate but it’s so highly adjustable a reliable gun and it comes in at a price point of $1,176 so you can get a semi-auto target shotgun that you can fully customize and

Fit to you the shooter for just over $11,000 that’s why it deserves the number two spot on our list rounding out the list with the number one spot of semi-auto Clay Target Guns is the beta a400 Excel multi-target this gun is phenomenal tipping the scales at 7 lb 11

Oz the a400 Xcel multi-target has oversized controls a raised rib that is adjustable for different points of impact as you change different clay disciplines it has an impressive gas system that is extremely quick reliable and light on recoil the adjustable comb lets you get just the right amount of

Drop on your shotgun and it has a pretty nice trigger under 6 lb ergonomics are great I loved shooting this shotgun over the past year you used it from shooting five stand and ski trap a little bit absolutely loved it the price point is maybe what’s not to love at an MSRP of

Just over $3,000 but if you scratch out price this was the samato shotgun that I’ve enjoyed shooting more than any other when it comes to clay shooting and that’s why it gets the number one spot now as we go through this list I would love to hear

Which gun picks do you totally agree with and which ones do you think I got flat out wrong cuz I know there’s going to be some picks you’re like no I don’t think so Steve put it down in the comments below and if you have any of

These guns on the list please share with us what your results have been how you’ve liked the gun how it’s held up over time because when you share we all get better all right moving on to those duck and Goose Hunters we have the best water file semi-auto shotguns at number

Three this was a challenging spot there’s a couple guns that came to my mind the mosberg 940 Pro is a gun that really impressed me I think it’s a great duck hunting gun they’ve done so many things right with this shotgun great gas System Light recoil just over $1,000 for

Their water fou version absolutely love it but then there was another gun that came to mind I didn’t think this would make the list before I reviewed it but then I reviewed it and thought holy smokes this gun has a lot of things done well and that was the Remington V3

Waterfoul Pro this gun was extremely reliable very light on recoil great gas operated system a little beefy in my hands but when I got shooting that thing I love the way it swung ergonomics were pretty decent controls were great so when it comes down to the number three spot for waterfoul

Shotguns oh I got to just say it’s a tossup between the Remington V3 waterfall Pro and the mbberg 940 Pro waterfall they’re both about the same price point both gas operated systems both have a lot of great features I would be happy to shoot either one in

The Duck Blind moving on to number two on our list and slightly up in price point it is the Franky Affinity 3 waterfoul Elite this gun over and over has impressed me from the light recoil to the reliability the ergonomics are great and it’s at a relatively decent

Price point for inertia operated shotgun I know some water followers love inertia guns they’re simpler not as many moving pieces they say you don’t have to clean them as often although that’s debatable we’ll talk about that later the Franky Affinity 3 we put through a freeze test

And it Rose to the top my son shoots it in exhibitions it’s extremely reliable it’s got a great trigger at 5.2 lb in our testing and comes in at a weight of 6 lb 14 oz all of this out of the Franky Affinity 3 for just around $1,200 MSRP

Making this gun a great bang for the buck in fact in a recent Showdown video I put it against the SX4 which I had been shooting for many years and even surprising to me the Franky Affinity 3 beat the SX4 in our shotgun Showdown that’s why it has the number two spot

Earning the coveted number one spot coveted by who all the gun manufacturers I suppose is the Beretta a400 Extreme Plus now this gun is a little bit chunky in the hands for my preferences comes in at 8 lbs it is a bit of a tank but if

You’re in the Duck Blind this gun is phenomenal from the rubber grips to the light recoil great swing it’s got a really nice trigger about 5 lb 1.8 o in our average test the gas system is simple I love how this gun breaks apart it runs relatively clean has light

Recoil it’s one of those guns where you pick it up at least for me and I thought H it’s okay but the the more I shot it I was just consistent with it was hitting lots of stuff it’s like the betta a400 multi-target at first I didn’t think it

Was anything special but the more I shot it the more I shot it the more it just Rose to the top the Beretta a400 Extreme Plus is a tank of a gun and if you’re out water foul hunting and don’t want the punishment of a hard inertia

Operating recoil gun this is the gun for you now I do got to mention that this gun is pushing $1900 MSRP you are are going to pay for it but if money’s not the factor here the bread a400 Extreme Plus is in the number one spot let’s move on to those

Upland shotguns now when I’m looking at Upland shotguns I want a gun that’s fairly light there’s a lot of great shooting shotguns but they’re kind of beefy tanks a little on the heavier side that’s definitely not a gun I want to carry all day I just got back from a

Pheasant hunting trip putting on 8 to 10 mes a day you notice a difference of 6 to 8 oz like it makes a dramatic difference in gun weight so when we look at Upland shotguns the number three spot goes to the Winchester SX4 Upland the Winchester SX4 Upland comes in at 6 lb

14 oz in a 20 gauge it’s nice looking easy to handle great controls and it’s extremely light on recoil in fact this is the gun that my wife hunted with most recently and she actually was able to shoot her first sharptail grous it’s a gun that is just just phenomenal in a

Lot of different ways and it has the number three spot but as we move to the number two spot this one surprised me it’s a gun we reviewed just recently it is the retay gordian I carried the retay this past weekend on a bird hunt and I

Was blown away tipping the scale at 6 lb 2 oz it’s extremely light to carry carried it all day felt great in the hands well balanced nice swing I just love loved this gun the ergonomics the feel in the hands that makes a big difference especially when you’re

Carrying a gun all day when I was shooting the heavier pheasant loads I didn’t notice anything with recoil it functioned flawlessly now if you go back and watch the review video you’ll see early on shooting target loads we did have some issues it wasn’t cycling reliably but as that video went on and

Off camera we shot more and more rounds the gun seemed to break in and we never had any issues going forward so once it started operating reliably after a decent Breakin period really no issues at all and I tell you what this is a sharp looking gun too now at an MSRP of

Only $999 for an extremely light gun that handles that well that looks that great that is why it’s at the number two spot in our Upland shotgun list moving to the number one spot of our best upin semi-auto shotguns and moving way up in price we have the Benelli ethos Cordoba

V it’s a gun so good that it has four names this gun blew us away when we reviewed it the ethos tips the scale at 5 lb 14 oz in the 20 gauge version making it an extremely light shotgun when we tested this gun it was incredibly fast it swung great we love

The ergonomics and it had a pretty decent trigger at 6 lb 10 oz now actually compared to the rest of the guns on this list it has one of the your trigger pulls but regardless this gun blew us away in our reviews and if you’re willing to spring for it we think

You’ll be impressed with this gun it has an MSRP of about $2400 and a big part of that is the best coating it’s anti- corrosive coating so basically you never have to clean your gun and it will always work flawlessly I don’t think benelli’s actually said that

But that’s kind of the marketing around it really amazing gun and that’s why it’s at our number one spot for upin shotguns all right we’ve come to the best all-purpose shotguns these guns are for the folks that I do a little bit of everything and that’s kind of me

Honestly I have the luxury of having many guns for many different disciplines or Pursuits some people don’t so if you’re going to have one shotgun maybe you’re going to do a little clay shooting you’re going to hunt a few different things that type of stuff

What’s one gun that can do a lot of things pretty darn well at number three on our list this was a tough one there was two guns that really came to mind it was the CZ 1012 and the weatherbe element the CZ 1012 is a very affordable gun

$749 there was a lot to like about this gun the ergonomics the controls it shot really well for us few things we didn’t love were the trigger on that gun but at $749 if you’re hypercritical you’re going to find something but overall just an allaround very good shotgun for the

Money when it came to the weatherbe element this was a gun that blew us away we didn’t have high expectations going in but as we got to shoot this gun we really enjoyed it some of the things that stood out were the rubber inlays the ergonomics it was Ultra reliable

Again like the CZ the trigger was not fantastic but it was definitely manageable the other thing on the element that we didn’t really love the back of the butt end of the stock was kind of proprietary meaning you couldn’t just go put like a falcon strike or an

Aftermarket pad on there if you wanted to it’s as far as these two guns we’re going to call it a tossup on our number three spot for best allpurpose shotguns moving to our number two spot is the mosberg 940 Pro this is a gun I’ve been shooting over the last couple years

First reviewed it with Jerry Mitchell put it through some other testing videos and every time we did there was more and more to like about this shotgun it’s a great all-around shotgun you could do a little bit of everything with it very efficient and reliable gas system that’s

Fairly easy to clean break apart pretty decent ergonomics the trigger is good although on some of my shotguns I’ve changed the Sears spring to make it even a little bit better but out of the box mosberg has thought about a lot of details with this gun like adjustability

It comes with shim kits and spacers so you can make this gun fit you the controls are really nice the loading Port is miled out and easy to load a lot of great functionality overall just a great shotgun and that is why it has the number two spot on our best all All

Purpose shotguns all right we have arrived what is number one best allpurpose put your comments down below if you had to choose one best allpurpose shotgun and imagine you’ve shot you know 60 or so guns over the last couple years and reviewed them what would you put

Down below but in case you’re wondering here’s what we put we put the Benelli ethos Cordoba best this is really intended to be a Upland like a dove hunting or an Upland shotgun extremely light fast great great ergonomics we’ve already mentioned all that but it was

One of those guns that as we shot clays with it too we really saw that it was just an allaround superb shotgun again it comes with the price point and if you noticed as we went through these lists generally started with a little bit more of a value gun and we generally worked

Up in price point because more expensive guns generally are a little bit better that’s just a fact but bang for the buck there’s definitely a lot of options out there so Topp in the list Benelli ethos Cordoba best at 20 399 MSRP but I do got

To mention before we get to our general categories there was one gun that had a higher spot on the list but a lower price and that was the retake gordian it came in the number two spot of the Upland shotguns but it was actually at a lower price point than the number three

Spot meaning that’s a great value shutgun and maybe it’s just cuz I got back from my trip but I got to give a shout out to retay on what a phenomenal job they’ve done on the gordian moving on to the general categories we have the most Innovative shotgun for the most

Innovative shotgun we’re just looking for something unique something different and I know not a ton changes in the market for shotguns but the one gun that really stood out to us was the ret Masai Mara a few features really stood out one was the push button removable trigger

Group we struggled to get this right away but I think things loosened up that trigger started to pop out we thought that was an incredibly neat feature another couple things on that gun were the the inertia plus bolt inertia shotguns if you’re familiar if you

Lightly open up the bolt and close it it often doesn’t fully go back into battery or if you’re walking through the field maybe it catches on the bolt handle opens the bolt a little bit it will not fully go back into battery that’s a pretty big problem well ret actually

Worked on their inertia plus bolt and made it so it pretty much always goes back into battery in our testing we would open it slightly let it close we never had an issue we were really impressed with the reliability of this inertia plus bolt one other cool feature

That I found on this shotgun was that if you take the bolt release and actually pull it out towards you you can eject the shell out of the magazine tube I thought that was an incredibly clever feature and I think it’s one that would be really handy in the field having just

Got back from this pheasant hunt you realize as you go in and out of trucks and vehicles and you want to pop some shells out that’s pretty nice to be able to do very very quickly very efficiently so most Innovative The Rite Masai Mara now for the shotgun that was the biggest

Surprise you might find this as a surprise because we found it as a surprise hence the name of the category it is the mosberg sa 410 now I had never shot an sa and I took this gun out to review it this year I didn’t have high

Expectations it’s not a gun you hear a lot about and a sub gauge semi-auto shotgun they’re not always the most reliable especially in a four 10 but as I got out and started shooting this gun it was incredibly fun to shoot and it was packed full of value ergonomics were

Decent but if you’ve never shot a 410 semi-auto they are a blast in fact it was so much fun that I put the sa 410 in the Christmas Tree video that we just shot down a little while back absolutely surprised me and now to a category that

Manufacturers like to break about and I love to put to the test but maybe some people don’t even really care about we’ve shot a lot of guns and I always speed test a shotgun to see how fast it will cycle how reliable it will cycle

This year top in the list is the mosberg 940 Pro I took it out and spent quite a bit of time speed shooting it now I did give it a little bit more time than a standard review because this is the gun that I shoot in exhibitions it works

Flawlessly for me there but I want to see how fast could I really run the mosberg 940 Pro and after putting it to the test I had a goal of shooting a 0.90 that is hear the buzzer throw three Clays Mount the gun and shoot three

Clays in .9 seconds that’s less than a second that’s incredibly fast for all that to happen set out to do it and I did it in fact I shot a0 87 we think I maybe threw a hair early after reviewing the footage but even if I shot. 3

Seconds early or through. 3 seconds early I achieved a 0.90 fastest shotgun that we’ve ever tested now we’ll continue to test this more and more see if we can find one that’s faster but the mosberg 940 continues to impress in a lot of different ways and speed is

Definitely one of them well guys that’s our list for best shotguns of 20203 well guys that’s our list of best samato shotguns of 2023 now again these are all based on guns that we’ve reviewed but we’d love to hear in the comments number one what samato shotgun do we need to review in

2024 and number two do you agree with our different picks put it in the comments down below below if you agree with certain picks and number three if you disagree we still want to hear from you cuz we still love you put it down in the comments thanks so much for watching

Guys hope you enjoyed this video remember whether you’re in the field or in life you’re only going to hit those shots you’re laser focused on so live target focused see You