Buy used, the options open up immensely, especially if one looks at fixed choke guns. I've seen several fixed choke guns for well under $1000 offered in various shops in the last year alone. Most were fixed choke guns but two Beretta Essentials in that price range followed me home.
Models from Browning, Beretta, Weatherby/SKB (Japanese made), Charles Daly/Miroku (Japanese made), Winchester 101, Franchi (Italian), Remington 3200, H&K, Nikko, and a host of others come to mind. In this era grouping one needs to be aware that some Italian and Spanish guns had a reputation similar to the Turkish guns of the last decade or so. I would steer well clear of them.
