Mossberg 500 would be my suggestion as well. It has served me well, with no issues at all for about 20 years so far (iirc) and has interchangeable barrels. Rifled for sabots, smooth for shot or foster slugs, and more barrels available. Mine was new in the $500.00 range.
If recoil was the issue, a Browning A5 is hard to beat, but not recommended for a new shotgunner.

An unemployed Jester, is nobody's Fool.

the only real difference between a good tracker and a bad tracker, is observation. all the same data is present for both. The rest, is understanding what you're seeing.

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