r/canadaguns • u/Riversruinsandwoods • Mar 26 '26

Buy recommendations Help with choosing the right gun

Hey folks as I wait for my PAL to arrive in the mail. I’ve been constantly browsing online and doing lots of research into different firearms. I mostly would be using them to bring along when I go hiking out to a back lake for trout incase I come across any small game or birds. I also plan on doing a bit of turkey hunting.

I have access to a .22LR that I can borrow as well. I’ve been looking into something like a 20 gauge mossberg 500 figured it’s fairly versatile and would be a good starter until I inevitably buy more. If you guys have an suggestions on models, gauge etc I’d love to hear em and let me know what you think.

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u/NemrahG Mar 26 '26

A mossberg 500 would be a solid choice, they’re very reliable and affordable too.

20 gauge is a good round too, it works well with small game and turkeys, but I’ve always found it so similar to 12 gauge that personally I’d rather go with that since it has much more availability and options.

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u/Riversruinsandwoods Mar 26 '26

Yea I certainly my have been debating about just getting the 12 gauge but worry about damaging meat on small game. Do you think full choke on a 12 gauge would be satisfactory. I even debated a .410 but the cost of shells is a bit outrageous.

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u/NemrahG Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 26 '26

12 gauge is perfectly fine for small game as long as you use the right ammo. The choke really depends on how far you’re expecting to shoot, I usually just keep a modified choke in my shotgun because I find it works well out to 40ish meters.

One thing you could do it pattern the shotgun, shoot paper targets at varying distances to measure the spread. That way you can check what the spread for a given distance.

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u/Riversruinsandwoods Mar 26 '26

This is really good know. Thanks for tips especially on the patterning, guess that’s the only way your really going to know what works.