Hey, Lynn,
I saw that you were looking at sporting clays guns.
Check out shotgunreport.com for some great info.
You want the gun to fit differently than for other types of shooting.
Give me a call or pm if you want some more info, since this is a hobby of mine.

Since you say you are a novice, you would probably do best with a Beretta Autoloader (sporting clays model) in 12 guage. Very reliable and popular and many major championships won with that gun. Also relatively inexpensive.
See the shotgunreport.com Report Pairs article to see why you would probably want the Beretta rather than some other autos.

The most popular over under would be a Browning - probably best bang for the buck.

O/U are a lot more expensive to fit - the Beretta auto comes with shims to adjust the cast off. O/U has to be bent or wood inlet.

If you haven't shot a round of sporting clays, do it - a blast.

Bob