My first shotgun was 20 ga 1100 and second one was 12 ga 1100 ( not very reliable, need cleaning every outing). Got tired of it because of all the malfunction so got Wingmaster 870 with 30" tube works like charm through mud, salt water, snow, boat paddle...long story short engine on punt died and no oars. Fast forward steelshot era need a steelshot shotgun and it was excused to buy a new toy got Peerless 12 ga. Got bored with over and under so now I used Xtrema 3.5 only clean once when the season is over.
"Nothing kills a Deere faster than Magnum .....CaseIH."
could not agree more....get yourself an A5 and never look back. i own 6 of them
as far as shooting better with an auto definately you will. First thing is less recoil never a bad thing, secondly less movement ie no pumping ...with every pump your head has the opportunity to lift less movement while swinging will lend itself to consistant smooth leads and follow thrus while keeping your head on the stock where it needs to be. this may seem over simplified but its my opinion and what I have seen and experienced. got into a peein match with someone on gun nutzs once over the my opinion that shotgunning is shotgunning regardless of what you are doing and when my experience level was questioned I was called a liar ....needless to say i have some experience in the matter. Now regardless of what shotgun you shoot be it a piece of pipe on a 2x4 or a 6000 dollar kriegoff you arent going to hit anything if you ignore the basics. like the others have said find a gun that you like and the rest will fall into place.