So im thinking about making a shotgun purchase. its purpose is for almost everything. Trap/clay bird shooting, target shooting, and self defense. this is mostly for trap shooting though. I want a semi auto shotgun in particular. price is no issue. what r ur opinions?
You should search. You’ll get fast results, this topic has been almost done to death.
There are only SX3 (FNs are SX3s), Remington 11-87, Mossberg 930, and Benelli M1, M2, M3, M4.
With unlimited coin and trap as the goal, followed by self defense / hunting, I would look at a Purdy or Holland & Holland 20 gague with a matching set of .375 H&H barrels…
But thats just me, and YMMV…
B
my bad, i should have done a more thorough search and btw im lookin or a 12 guage, forgot to mention that.
For 3gun competition, the best bets would be the Winchester superX2 (aka FN SLP), the lower-price, non-interchangeable choke Mossberg, or the Benelli. Provided of course you want to shoot Tactical division. Open: there is only one option: a modified custom Siaga.
Take a look at the Beretta line, 391s. Honestly, one gun to do all is asking a lot. Shooting a 50 yard crossing clay target requires someting a little different to what you may want for self defense in your home. You will be making a compromise somewhere.
Why not two guns? Or at least consider two barrels.
No matter what ,buy a shotgun that ends with a vowel for your purpose.
HINT: Beretta or Benelli
I like your style. 
IMHO, and keep in mind I have and used all of these. I have a Beretta 391, Remington 870 & 1100. Like posted before you will be compromising on something by just going with one gun but if you can only choose one gun and don’t want to screw with more than one barrel I would choose a beretta. I have owned mine for several years and find it to be quite good for clay and very reliable (something you want in a self defense gun). However if price is not a problem then I would go with 2 guns one designated for clay and one for self/home defense. in this case baretta/benelli for the clays and for home/self defense go with a good quality pump Remington 870 or the Moss 500 cant go wrong with either of those but again just my opinion. I have owned my remingtons and beretta’s for several years now and can say 100% that they are good to go.
Hope this helps
Stay Safe
I have an 870 1187 sps and 1100 tac the 1100 is imo the do all gun. The other choices are great but for the money you cant beat an 1100
Have you look at Benelli or Beretta 1200?
Trap shooting is a bit of a specialized sport in that the guns are highly modified for that purpose and probably don’t cross over very well. You’ll definitely need at least two barrels and realistically probably two guns.
Sporting Clays and skeet lend themselves to more general purpose but again you’ll probably need at least two barrels since many clubs won’t let you shoot with anything less than a 22" barrel and most barrels are closer to about 28" which makes three-gun problematic.
The way I’m approaching this is a 12 gauge semi (probably Benelli) with two barrels (28" and 18") and then a dedicated skeet gun, 20 gauge o/u.
I second the suggestion on a Benelli. A Beretta would be my second choice.