nonsense, cant beat a good semi auto at a pigeon shoot and by opening the breach people can see if they are safe, you can even go as far as to get one of those safety flags.
A hatsan escort would be around that price range and yes as stated they can struggle with 24g or lighter loads but anything 28g+ you wont have a problem with, at least i havn't.
I've even got a pump action, just got it for fun but i like that more than my semi auto.