Comparing the 1300/870/500-590 for defense.

[AcceptableUserName]

Got a little carried away in a thread on The Firing Line and began to compare the shotguns I've owned, sold and in some cases still own over the past two years. If you're deciding between one of the three guns, or have ever wondered, here's my mileage. Yours, as they say, may vary.

Remington :

Rem870 Express 7 shot "riot" model, 3 different ones. 2 with standard full synthetic stock, 1 w/ Folding Butler Creek protector, factory. Wasn't pleased with any of them, to be honest. They'd do the trick, but all possessed the rough chamber syndrome and the finish felt much cheaper than any Mossberg finish I've owned. Did like the action.

1975 Remington 870 Wingmaster, 2 3/4" only, turned "tacticool". Sold long barrel and furniture to a good home, added Hogue Tamer pistol grip and forend, Tacstar sidesaddle, Remington replacement barrel 18.5 and Choate 2 rnd extension. Sturdier than an Abrams tank, very smoothe action, lovely feel overall,...except it jammed. It locked up solid. Sold it. Coulda been fixed with TLC. I've never had a Mossberg lock up on me. If the price was nice, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another of these.

Winchester :

1300 Defender, 18.5" w/ wood stock and ribbed forend. 5+1 capacity. Loved it, but...action is definitely an acquired taste. Some clal the 1300 "glassy", personally if you're used to an 870 and especially a Mossberg, you'll find the action a bit...tough to get used to. Very reliable, highly pointable and good gun overall.

1300 Defender, 18.5" black matte 7+1 capacity. My ideal shotgun. No complaints or anything I'd change except adding a few accessories and the fact I wish I could add a metal trigger assembly and that the disassembly takes some getting used to.

Mossberg

Mossberg 500, pgo cruiser. Parkerized w/ mossberg pistol grip kit. Gun was terribly reliable and built like a tank. However, the Mossberg brand pgo kit is a piece of feces and the hard-as-a-rock feel will turn your hand into mush in seconds flat, even with birdshot! The ergonomics of it, as far as pistol grips go, is nice, because it allows you to use your thumb to activate the slide release. Others make that harder. Great gun, terrible grip.

Mossberg 590 security, 20" barrel, heat shield, 8+1 capacity. Owned 2. Hated them at first. They have a habit of having the mag tube spring bind up, for one reason or another. This is an easy fix, which I didn't know at the time. Replace that spring and you will have a beast of gun. Went bang each and every time. I could drain all 9 shots in around 4-5 seconds tops. Not a single jam/feed issue after mag spring was replaced. They get smoother with use. Would buy and own again, even in the "cheap" blued and plastic tirgger guard/safety button setup. Fantastic gun and offers insane firepower as far as shotguns go. I am 6'1" and around 290 pounds with hands like a basketball player and I feel the 20" 9 shot setup as it comes factory (re: without reduced LOP/"youth" stock) is beyond the comfort dimensions of smaller indvidiuals.


Mossberg 590 special purpose w/ Ghost rings and matte finish, 20" barrel. Same as above, except I didn't care for the ghost rings and I prefer a heat shield due to my reload methods.

Mossberg 500 Mariner, 20", 7+1. Apparently a discontinued model now. In some ways, my favorite Mossberg I've owned. Sturdy as hell, smoothest action I've had in a Mossberg, zero issues. Seemed to point and handle faster than my 590 special purpose Mariner discussed below. Needed funds and sold. Would buy in a hot second again if the price was right.

Mossberg 590 Mariner, 20" barrel, same as the above 590's except the finish and action were better. I believe the Marinecote really improves the action. If I don't get one of these or another 1300 as my next pump shotgun, it'll be a 590a1 Mariner 6-shot and I'll add an extension.

Mossberg 500 ATP, 18.5" heavy (I think) barrel, 5+1 capacity, rifle sights, old style flat stain wood stock and forend. Made the most beastly rack sound I've ever heard. Literally a Chik-CHAK every time. I believe due to the wood. Great gun all around, not my favorite Mossberg I've had but would trust my life to one provided it'd been gone over carefully and kept up. Age and use is a factor with these guns. I believe it was some kind of South American milcontract gun or something. Regret selling, in a way.

Mossberg 590a1, 8 shot (thanks MAX100 for the great product), heavy barrel and mtl trigger assembly and safety button, 3 dot Glock sights. Um...the last word in a combat pump, in my opinion. Never selling. Only mod coming is a Mesa Tactical 6 rd sidesaddle and a replacement heavy barrel w/ bead sight as I prefer bead to any sight on a shotgun. May change out the Speedfeed set for a Riot Wood set.


Mossberg 500, 18.5", 5+1 with pistol grip Hogue Tamer set. My house gun. Rests against the wall next to my bed, almost out of sight, 5 in the tube "cruiser ready". Dead reliable and brutally fast due to the fact it's been well used and maintained, i.e. "smoothened out". I can empty a tube of standard power 2 3/4" 00 buck fairly accurately at 15 yards (within reason, it IS a PGO) in 3-4 seconds tops. Zero malfunctions, although my old style 6 3/4" forend is rubbing/contacting the barrel slightly. Only mods are a Tacstar sidesaddle, Mossberg brand heatshield, switching out the forend for the new longer style and adding a quality green laser at some point.


all in all, I'm surprised I'm not burn out on shotguns, pump especially. I attribute this to the old adage "you go with what you know". If I'd grown up shooting rifles, maybe I'd be an AR guy. I will say though, I am really wanting a nickel Stoeger sxs...

 

[batmann]

I'm going to add another--The Browning BPS with the extended mag. I own one and find it to be as reliable as it's hunting companion ( I own one of these too). They both will shoot anything I put in the magazine and have never faulted, no matter the weather or how cheap the Wally World shells I feed them. They have dual action bars, bottom eject and a tang safety, all of which I find much more 'user' friendly than a Remington and the quality is better than a Mossberg.
That said, finding 'extra's' is nearly impossible as the Browning BPS is not big in the tactical market and Remington, Mossberg stuff is everywhere. All of that aside, I will take slick action and dependablity everytime.

 

[Big Bill]

Acceptable:

I have a regular Remington 870 that I've been shooting for about 10 years. I also have a Mossberg Maverick 12 gage that has been handed down to my son who still lives here at home. I originally had two of them that I gave to my two older sons, and one of those sons handed it down to my youngest son. I also have a Winchester Defender (an older one) that I will never sell. And, I've also owned a Benelli Nova Pump Tactical that I sold right after my last heart attack. I really liked the Benelli. IMHO, it was the best of the bunch.

The Remington 870 is easier to field strip and clean and It runs and runs without fail. I can see why the military uses 870s.

The Mossberg is a pain to take down and clean. It's just not the quality of the 870, but it's a workhorse and if kept clean will last a long time.

The Winchester is a classic and mine is still tight and easy to use. I once shot a goose at long range with it.

Howeve, the Benelli Nova Tactical is tough as heck, a natural shooter, and easy to field strip and clean. I loved it and the ghost ring sighta and will be replacing it soon. Here's a couple of pictures.

 

[chevyforlife21]

nice write up guy, ive shot or owned many pumps, the 870 is ok i dont like the action release and safety spots though and only 4 shot mag.h and r pardner is better then the 870 in my book mine had over 600 rounds through it with no problems and a 5 +1 cap . my benelli nova tac was awesome i miss it the only downsides were the longer pump stroke then normal guns and the 4 shot mag. now i have a mossberg 500 with a few hundred shells through it, replaced the plastic safety with vang comp. i liked the safety spot and action release spot of the mossy most. i ended up with this one cause of the 7+1 shot capacity. it feels low quality but never given me problems nor the marines that used them. ive never shot a bps ,winchester, or Ithaca 37 yet. but of these choices i like benelli and mossy most then the pardner, then the remington (express model) the wingmaster is nice

 

[AcceptableUserName]

see, I think the 870 is a pain because you can't fully disassemble it withoutspecialized knowledge/tools. I WANT another Wingmaster or an 870 police, preferably both and keep the Wingmaster in field configuration. I just don't like the fact I can't fully take it apart. Then you have the mag tube issue. Big Bill, your Benelli looks COOL!


I guess my main points to this are I'm not a fan of 870 expresses, the Win 1300 is my single favorite defense pump shotgun, and Mossberg's the company I prefer.


All 3 are great guns. If you have an Express you love, that's cool. They have the makings of a great gun. I think they just come from the factory needing a little work and convincing.

as for your ithaca 37, bps's, etc...not for me. Awesome guns I'n sure, but I like complete familiarity over my gun. The BPS and 37 seem much more difficult to deal with. I've shot Nova's in waterfowl setup and didn't like the overall feel. I had no real problems in fact the gun was nice...but you know how when a gun just doesn't fit you? Yeah. Maybe the Tactical would feel different to me, who knows. Although I wouldn't mind learning to work on a 37 or BPS, I feel the three guns I speak of offer the most all around as far as defense guns go, and do it in the easiest way possible.

next pumpshotgun purchase is preferably an older Nickel or newer stainless 1300 Defender or Mossberg 590a1 or 500a 7+1 Mariner, But I have a new pistol and a Saiga 12 before that I think. Also tempted to snag up a High Standard Riot if I see one around here on the cheap. I need to hit a pumpguns anonymous meeting I think. The weirdest thing of all is I keep buying defense oriented guns. I'm still using a cheap ol' break barrel H and R 12 from for EVERYTHING else - from hillbilly targets to clays on up to ducks, that's ALL I use, and I'm okay with it for some reason. Truth be told if I could mount a scope on it and I didn't have my pre-64 .30-30, I'd probably go after deer with it too!

 

[ishida]

Funnily enough Big Bill, the military uses MOSSBERG. The 590. Or, more accurately, they use the Benelli M4 Super 90 now, but used the 500 and 590 before it.

 

[throdgrain]

600 rounds through it? And thats a recommendation for reliability?

I shoot that many a month.

 

[Youngster]

I like the solid tightness and easy of disassembly of the 870, and i can live with the ergos, but I hate the weight and balance.

For some reason to me they just seem a lot heavier than their curb weight suggests, that's great if I have a lot of heavy loads to shoot but it makes for a disadvantage everywhere else IMO.

 

[Big Bill]

I deleted the second picture because some of you were thinking it was mine. But it wasn't. I had sold my Benelli earlier this year.

This afternoon I was at my gun shop and they had a new Remington 870 Express with a two round extention tube for $315. So, I snapped it up. My wife's giving it to me for Christmas.

BTW, I am an 870 fan. But, I love my old Winchester Defender. However, I think my go-to HD gun from now on will be my new Remington. Here's what old Winchester looks like:

 

[Gary A]

I really liked the Winchester 1300s but eventually decided in favor of the 870 Police for my own purposes. Heavier and less capacity but very solid. Never have owned a Mossberg but many think very highly of them. Of course, I like single-shot shotguns the best of all, so my recommendations may be suspect...

 

[BMF500]

If the action of a 1300 "is definitely an acquired taste" call me a connoisseur.

 

[CDW4ME]

Interesting

I just bought a pistol grip 500 "Persuader" also bought a pistol grip fore end. Have not shot it, yet.

 

[AcceptableUserName]

Give it time and compare with and without the pistol grip forend....

 

[Zach S]

Mossberg 590 special purpose w/ Ghost rings and matte finish, 20" barrel. Same as above, except I didn't care for the ghost rings and I prefer a heat shield due to my reload methods.

On a side note, the heat shield will fit shotguns with GRS. Mossberg's instructions for removal/installation say to slide it onto the front of the bbl, which you cant do with the silver soldered GRS up front. However, you can open the tangs up so that you can install the front from the top, its just kind of a PITA to get them closed up enough to get the screws in.

I've heard they they'll fit the HBARs with enough effort, grunting, and optional four letter words, but haven't seen it myself.