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About the only issue on alloy receivers vs steel - is they tend to scratch a little easier. With today's technology / its hard to make an argument that a steel receiver is stronger than an alloy / or that an alloy receiver won't last as long as a steel receiver. Shotguns are meant to be used ...but not abused either ../so I think you'll find it'll hold up pretty well.
But one issue - is weight. The heavier the gun / the less recoil you will get. Increasing the weight of a shotgun about 1 lb will reduce recoil around 20% ( depending on the load, etc ) ...but its a factor. Of course the heavier a gun is, the tougher it is to carry all day too ...so its a trade off.
Browning silver - depending on model you might pick is around 7 1/2 lbs ...so its heavy enough. In terms of swing characteristics ...really light guns, under 7 lbs especially, tend to be realy "whippy" vs "smooth swinging guns" ....so each of us has a preference in terms of weight. I like my field guns around 8 or 8 1/2 lbs ...
I would certainly stay with a choice that has screw in changeable chokes...and all of the guns you're looking at, or new guns anyway, will have that. I think for around $ 800 - $900 the Browning silver gives you a lot of gun for the money / but if you find a Browning gold in a 12ga at a good price I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as well. I know a buddy of one of my son's found a new in box Browning gold 12ga a few months ago for around
$ 700 so there are still a few out there. I would also stay with a 28" barrel on most any semi-auto / unless it gets down to around 7 lbs ...then I tend to go for a 30" barrel on it, if its available.
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