Went down to Flaherty's in Toronto (I randomly passed by it and had some free time).
Looked at a LOT of stuff. Narrowed my first purchase hunt down to a shotgun and almost got the Winchester semi-auto SX4, but last second was shown this SXP Pump. I told them my plans are to develop my skills on targets and clay, then eventually hunt.
I've always liked pumps and when I saw the price difference, I was shocked. The SX4 was undoubtedly better built, but I gotta say, for a complete noob, this SXP is really comfortable and the action is really smooth and fast.
Plus, I enjoy the savings because the SXP can handle pretty much any loads; I grabbed various boxes of birdshot and slugs in different sizes, plus a cleaning kit. I'm already planning my next purchase of a nice rifle.
Anyhow, my last post I got a ton of advice and really appreciated the community of the group, so thought I'd share!
I also was bent on a vintage, wood shotgun with all the nice carving, and they had a Remington 1100 from the 60's for $550 and I'm still thinking about it, 🤣. Hopefully I made the right call here.
Oh, ignore the cable lock. It came with multiple chokes and this dingey little lock I slapped on to test it. Was too excited to remove it before taking a pic.