Where are you finding these 870's for $260? They're around $370 at Academy in Houston right now.
This is regarding the Mossberg only. This only convinces me that if I want to buy several shotguns, one for use and several for replacement parts or loaded all at once, it's going to be the 870.
I'll check at other stores that carry the Mossbergs to be sure it's not an isolated case, but I checked the display model of the 500, and I found that the slide seemed to rattle and be pretty loose. AND the screwed tapped in on top of the receiver were not tapped in straight and two front screws stuck out above the sight ribbing. I'm like, "WHAT?" I asked to look at a new gun in a box. I saw the slide to be the same and a variation of the tapped screws not being put in correctly. What happened? It's made me consider holding off buying that one, and having to wait until tax day to walk out with two 870's, if America is still around, and these guns are still available under $400, given inflation (not just money supply creation but credit creation accounted for, too).
I will admit that the Pardner's screws are set in properly, and the slide is not so loose. Yes, the finish is starting to wear in places, but it seems to be a solid gun. I have 500 rounds through this gun, and so far it works.
I know I'm going to get staked on this, but you know, I don't care. I'm a lady who makes far less that the median income of even my own city, and I look at the money structure in American companies, and the reason they can't compete is because of salaries at the top levels of all companies that sell/buy from gun manufacturers, the side industries, you know. I'm talking all the way from the top down to middle-level managers at the least. I believe that if you want to benefit from society, you have to contribute to it. People are ALWAYS looking for a way to make something from nothing. You CANNOT do that without manufacturing, building society, making things possible that weren't before, and making the world a better place to live. You CANNOT do it when most people are merely pushing paper around for many multiples of what the person actually making the products earns in a year, and when people expect to retire and have people pay for their lavish lifestyles. The old, valid way that you can enjoy "retirement," if you will, is that you will have worked and saved your money/built it up smartly. That way, you enjoy your lifestyle without being a burden on anyone if you are not contributing in a money-earning capacity (maybe you want to work at Cabela's or REI part-time, be a trail crew maintenance member, serve in Meals-On-Wells, whatever). Given my situation, it's a given that I will NEVER retire, and I'll always be saving my money for a rainy day. Part of the problem is those company's obligations towards retirement pensions and healthcare costs. What are you going to do when you have 5,000 employees and the company is structured to provide for 401K or whatever retirement program for, say 3,000 employees who retired within a 20-year span. 10 years from now? Maybe 3,500-4,000 employees. Where's the money going to come from?
I have this dream that former assembly-line workers and other former staff will come together and build a new company, starting from scratch without the HR baggage that has beset places like GM and Ford. Look at Kel-Tec or Hi-Point. Granted, I'm not crazy about their products, but these products are in the process of improving, and it seems their overhead is much smaller compared to say, Remington. I keep telling store staff that they had better tell Remington to restructure their costs or they'll lose out; it'll be their fault, not ours. Why should I coddle the CEO's with money for his 3 vacation houses, 5 cars, millions in stock options? Ugh, it's sick! But it's something I have to think about when I decide to pay for higher-priced products.
