Gun choice

Question
Hi Paul.
I am new to guns and hunting, but I am interested in the sport.  I have interest in hunting a lot of things including pheasants, ducks, and turkey and do skeet shooting.  I also have a friend who owns deer hunting land.  I was wondering what kind of shotgun would be the best all around gun for that? Also, how would I change my gun (ie. new sight) to better suit it for deer hunting.  What kind of action should I look for?

Answer
There are many semi-auto and pump 12 gauge shotguns that would fit the bill. Basically you need a slug barrel for deer with rifle sights or a scope, a 28 inch barrel vent rib barrel with screw in choke tubes for bird hunting. For turkey you would need a turkey choke.
For Skeet you would want a shorter barrel  say 26" or 24" with screw in chokes. You will need skeet choke but
improved cylinder could be used.
The best value to do all this is the Mossberg 500 pump.
New and used barrels are easiliy available at a resonable cost. Havlin Sales or Numrich Arms Gun Parts Corp.  in West Hurly NY.
You could get a New Model 500 28" barrel and a used slug barrel and used shorter barrel for under $400 if you shop around.
You could do the same thing with a Remington 870 pump, or 1100 semi auto. But it would cost a lot more.