I had a buddy who had a pump and he had to dend it back because the firing pin was screwed up. My wife has a youth model, and she loves it. I've seen it take a few ducks down. The good thing about Charles Daly is it has an unlimited lifetime warranty as long as you own the gun. If you are going to by a cheap auto, by a mossberg or a stoeger. People will disagree with me about the stoeger, but I have had no problem with mine, and I prolly put 8,000 rounds through it in the past 2 yrs.
I really thought hard about a Stoeger after I gave away the Davey Crocket. I was told that stoeger has the same action and part as Benelli. I wanted to be sure that I didn't flush anymore money down the toilet so I bought the SBE II. That's just me. I would recommend shorting your learning curve and spend the money. But there again if your looking for something you can throw in the bottom of the boat, I'd go with the stoeger. I do have trouble throwing that SBE around in the boat and mud.
I've had a daly 20 guage auto for two duck seasons without any problems, and I've dropped it in the drink twice. That will happen when you wade through enough beaver ponds...
Borrowed one from my cuz- plastic trigger and all- limited out on turkeys in the last week but not after shucking a second or third shell in because the firing pin barely puts a ding in 'em. Thank GOD the turkeys stood there long enuff!