Everyone has their own ideas as to what is best. My personal opinion however for your situation, the cheapest, most reliable shotgun out there is the good ole, tried and true, Remington 870. Very cheap at under $400, and very very reliable, and can be bought at a walmart even (or you used to be able to anyway). The shotgun I use the most is a Benelli Super Black Eagle 2. Can shoot 3 and half inch shells, and always works as well, mine was the "american" model. Basically meaning that it does not have the "recoil package", which I didnt care about since its a semi-auto with the inertia system, you dont feel much recoil at all, and that made it much cheaper, around $800 vs. 1200-1400 for nicer packages. Some of my upland buddies have friends that almost look down on me for using a semi-auto, they look down on me with their $2200 over and under guns, and I give no craps whatsoever. I have never cared about status or branding, im all about functionality and practicality, just my two cents.