A modern semi-auto is one of the most versatile guns on the planet. The gas action is dependable and does a great job of reducing felt recoil. You can switch between 2.75" 1oz 1150fps skeet shells and 3.5" 1.5oz 1450fps goose shells without any drop off in reliability. You can take the plug out of the gun and carry 5+ shots for pheasant and geese, you can swap to a rifled barrel and shoot slugs at big northern deer. If/when they do break, almost all the parts are easy to find and even easier to swap out yourself. They are typically better foul weather guns than most O/Us. As WildcatAg mentioned, they are much much easier to fit to the shooter thanks to shims and you get more bang for your buck. A $700 A-300 is a better quality gun than any $700 o/u you might find. Budget O/Us have a big following and rightly so, they fill a niche that the consumer market obviously wanted. Across the whole line, budget O/Us will break down more often than a similarly priced semi-auto because O/Us are harder to make on a budget. There is a reason that Ruger has twice failed to sell an American made O/U with a price point of $1000 or less, so badly that they won't even warranty parts for the older ones. There are a lot of guys who swear by there budget O/Us, and they have no reason to doubt other wise. If you are going to shoot 3 or 4 hundred shells a year through it, it will last more than a few years before it needs parts. However a normal Saturday at the range for me and most clay shooters is somewhere between 250 and 500 shells, they won't hold up to that kind of beating long term, but the semi-auto will. However there are exceptions to every rule, on both sides of the argument.
Semi-autos do have some downsides. Over their lifetime you will need to replace more parts than if you bought a quality o/u, you will need to clean them more often, some models have little quirks to get them completely broken down, they typically don't balance as well and thus don't swing/point as well, I would argue that most don't shoulder as well either.
If you already had a semi-auto and were looking for a more clay sports focused gun then I would absolutely recommend you get a decent O/U, but as a 1st shotgun, the semi is always my recommendation.
You are the only one that can decide what is right for your needs, if you decide that you really want a dedicated clays gun then give me shout and I am happy to lead you down a rabbit trail that ends with you filling out credit check paperwork and being put on a payment plan for a freaking shotgun.
I will get down off my soap box but that is my two cents. You might want a refund.
Thanks for the kind words Bender.
