[BFaubion]

Hello Firing Line Forums,

Two years ago I bought myself a Benelli Nova Pump 12 gauge shotgun. I love this shotgun, but thankfully I was born left-handed. So after getting over the fact that I got caught up and made a very uninformed decision in buying an excellent right handed gun, I have decided it is time to go back and try this one again.

I am looking at selling the Nova and purchasing a left-handed Remington 870 Express. I realize that the Remington can't chamber 3 1/2 shells, which as far as I can tell are not really necessary. The Remington looks to be the best choice for me because I would like a 12 gauge pump shotgun that I will not break if I beat it up a little bit. I will be mainly skeet shooting with this gun, having gone many times since I got the Benelli. I also need a gun that I can take duck and deer hunting as well. I realize that many left handed shooters shoot right handed shotguns, but I still want a left-handed shotgun. The main reason for this being that safeties are a hassle when using a right-handed left-handed gun, second being the 1 in 20 chance of a spent shell smacking me in the face. I do not know of any other left handed options except the Browning BPS, which ejects to the bottom. I would like to be able to sell me Benelli Nova and put maybe one or two hundred into my next gun. Hopefully any insight you all have on this will help me for the better.

A second question I have is how often do people use say 24" barrels on shotguns. My current Nova fits great, just the 28" barrel on it feels like it is a mile long. What I am asking I guess is how short can I get a barrel before I look stupid, i.e the 20" ones on the HD shotguns. I think the 24" range would probably be my best bet being a 5' 9" 160 lbs 16 year old ( I still will be able to grow into the larger 28" barrel that comes on the 870).

Thank you in advance for any insight on my questions.