New to shotguns, which one?

[eastbank]

no mossbergers for me, we had a man buy the top end trap mossberg several years ago and it didn,t last three seasons, just plumb wore out, i like my shotguns to be steel on steel. the model 12 has shot a uncountable amount of shells since it was new in 1928 with only the firing pin(22.00) being replaced. the left hand rem.870 mag has fired close to 3000 rounds thru it in the field and trap range with out a hicup over the years. i don,t know what the win model 12 cost new,but i was offered 600.00 for it and i don,t know what the rem 870 cost new,but i have a left hand friend who has offered 500.00 for it, you would be lucky to get half your money back on a mossberg. if you use a mossberg please be honest and post the amount of shells you have shot over the years, if you are just a hunter who shoots 2-3 boxs a year it will last a life time. try shooting 8-10 boxs a week, week in and week out and you will see what i mean. eastbank.

 

[amprecon]

For a little more $, there's a very affordable semi-auto option that I pounced on:
http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/mobile/product/76743/mossberg_930c_12_18cb28vr_accm_syn

 

[MCgunner]

No crappy 870s for me. I hate the ergos. Here's my 22 year old 500....

no mossbergers for me, we had a man buy the top end trap mossberg several years ago and it didn,t last three seasons, just plumb wore out,

Oh, GIVE me a break! I guess those poor marines in Iraq were SO ill armed with their 590s? I sold off a 60s built store branded 500 (revelation 310) when I got that camo 500, had hunted hard with it for 10 years myself shooting only heavy steel loads. I'd put a 100 dollar 500 barrel on it and it even fed 3" loads with the new barrel. That gun is still working for the guy I sold it to.

 

[MCgunner]

BTW, most folks that buy pump shotguns are hunters, I'm guessing. I don't think Perazzi builds a pump. I'm a non-typical in that, over the years, I've hunted ducks a LOT, it being affordable since there is public hunting down here. Now, I only burn maybe 15 rounds in a morning for a limit if I ain't hitting well, but 2 or 3 mornings a week it adds up. I don't know but a couple that even ever graced the trap or skeet range. One of the guys I do know tried to sell me a used Kreigoff single shot trap gun once and I nearly swallowed my tongue when he told me the price. I told him I had a "Mossberg budget". His son shot olympic trials with that gun, a 4 barreled set. Now, let's think about the REAL world. Not everyone CARES about clays since they don't cook up very well. But, my Mossies eat a lot of rounds and one day at the range ain't gonna kill one, I can grant you that! Too, heavy 3" steel shot loads have a little more wear potential than wimpy arsed trap loads.

 

[eastbank]

take a look at the 5th edition lyman reloading book, my wimpy arsed loads are over 1300 fps and the psi is between 10,800 and 11,400. the 3.5" with 1-1/2 oz steel shot are only 11,900- 13,000 psi at 1300fps. and the government takes the lowest bid as long as they meet a certain standard, maybe 2000-3000 rounds. a trap shooter may shoot that amount and many more in a year. i myself have over 3200 rounds thru one shotgun this year so far. if you understood and read my post, there is a big difference between a hunter and shooter. i am both and i prefer to use a shotgun that will handle both roles over the long haul. and the US services were using remington shotgun in wars long before mossberg made a pump shotgun and still have them in inventories. eastbank.

 

[MCgunner]

i myself have over 3200 rounds thru one shotgun this year so far

Well, hope you're in for a presidential citation or something. Congrats.

if you understood and read my post, there is a big difference between a hunter and shooter.

Yeah, whatever, could make a comment here, but I'll bite my tongue.

Still don't think cheap pumps, Brownings and Remingtons included, are meant for clay games. Never see 'em in the Olympics. And, Mossies work better than Remmies for me, so that's what i choose. Mine has held up well for me in some pretty tough usage.

 

[MotorCraft]

I am getting a Savage 320 speed pump (Winchester 1300 clone) soon.

 

[eastbank]

did you ever hear of the man who shot 100 straight doubles with a 870 rem in 1950? oh by the way he did it again with the same cheap 870 in 1982 and he,s the only one who ever did it( rudy etchen) . no medals needed, but i know i,ll still have a working shotgun after shooting many thousands of rounds. why limit your shooting to a few months out of the year hunting,when you can hunt and still enjoy shooting your shotgun at the clay game sharpening your shooting skills for the hunt. eastbank.

 

[Armored farmer]

870 for me.
I like the safety location, it is in the same place on all my Remington guns.
870s
1100s
552 Speedmaster

My old quail hunting buddy had a gun with a tang safety.(Like a Mossberg) He didn't like it because he would sometimes accidently knock it off safe when carrying the gun over his shoulder.
(I didn't care for that too much either)

 

[MCgunner]

did you ever hear of the man who shot 100 straight doubles with a 870 rem in 1950? oh by the way he did it again with the same cheap 870 in 1982 and he,s the only one who ever did it( rudy etchen) . no medals needed, but i know i,ll still have a working shotgun after shooting many thousands of rounds. why limit your shooting to a few months out of the year hunting,when you can hunt and still enjoy shooting your shotgun at the clay game sharpening your shooting skills for the hunt. eastbank.

I shoot in my front yard now and then, cheap trap, but not hand thrown, but I practice with my handguns on my back yard range, mostly, more serious purposes. I have competed with handguns in in IDPA and, quite a different regimen, IHMSA. Never got excited about shotgun competition. I've done some country doubles with the club, but that's about it. I'm good enough with a shotgun to shoot 50 percent now and then on doves and I don't figure if someone tries to get into my house, he'll be able to walk back out under his own power standing vertical.

Back to the subject, if you actually LIKE the ergos of an 870 (I can't imagine why, they suck), then go for it. I just don't care for the safety, the shell elevator, the slide release location. I don't REALLY even care for the safety on the left hand model. It's a good gun, just impeded by poor ergos, especially for a left hand shooter if it's a right hand gun. I've got tang safeties on both my doubles, on my Mossies, and I cock the hammers of my two single shots with the thumb. I'm quite used to reaching for the safety on the way up with the gun. By the time it hits my shoulder, either the safety is off or the hammer is cocked.

Never had a tang safety disengage itself. I never load up until the deeks are out and I'm sitting on my marsh chair waiting for shootin' time, anyway. But, I carry my doubles a lot in the field, never had one of them disengage, either.

 

[MCgunner]

I have to say, I don't dislike any of the currently available pumps with which I have any experience. That would be, Stevens, Ithaca, Browning, Remington, Mossberg, and Winchester. The one I like the least is the 870. Safety location is only one reason. I don't make brash statements that 870s are CRAP in that they'll fall apart on the first shot. I've actually never seen a shotgun wear out, let alone in one session...ridiculous statement. It could BREAK something, sure! Anything can break something, but wear out in a few boxes fired? That's just the statement of a hater, a basher of a brand, or someone that wants a shotgun to show off, not just a tool, perhaps, and looks down his nose at anything a common man might like as a tool. Well, there are lots of commoners out here, not all lords, 'cause the 500 is the best selling pump gun of all time.

 

[Tony k]

The wooden forend on my Mossberg 535 broke after seven years of shooting turkeys, upland birds, and clays.

Eastbank wants disclosure of rounds fired in 500 series mossbergs for comparison purposes. here's mine: I've probably shot 50 rounds of 3.5" turkey loads, at least 250 rounds of Kent fastlead upland game loads (that's a 1 3/8 oz load at a claimed 1465 fps), and at least 2000 target loads for informal clay shooting fun. Other than the wooden forend cracking in half, the rest of the gun is solid. I'm not going to say that it will or will not last longer than an 870, but it's not a "throw away" shot gun.

I used to have an 870 express. good gun. As a lefty, the safety was a little ackward IIRC, but the slide action seemed more robust than the mossberg. I like the tang safety of the mossberg, and I also like being able to shoot 3.5" shells out of the 535.

If it's a tossup between the 500 and the 870 and I was a right handed shooter, I'd probably lean a little more toward the 870, just because I like the feel of the slide a little better. of course, a primary consideration should be which one fits best.

 

[MCgunner]

Fit can be changed. Mossberg even offers a shim kit. The 870, out of the box, fits a lot better than the 500 for ME (depends on build), but I shimmed both my 500 and my 535 for perfect fit. My Winchester auto is tougher to shim the way the stock fits it, but it didn't need it. I seem to have Winchester/Browning measurements. The gun fit perfect out of the box.

But, yes, fit is important.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/89...rop-adjustment-spacer-system-mossberg-500-835

 

[oneounceload]

Quote:
i myself have over 3200 rounds thru one shotgun this year so far

I'll shoot that in 3 months or less
I stopped shooting ducks when they outlawed lead
Some of my target loads will run 1350, but in my gas gun they are easily handled
I have a 500, but it gets very little use; it sits in a closet. The gas gun gets used several times a week
I'd tKe a good gas gun over a pump every day of the week

 

[eastbank]

being a lefty myself, when i am raising the rem to fire at game, i push the right hand safety off with my middle finger on my left hand as i put my trigger finger in the trigger guard. try it,its not slow at all and the safety is off way before the shotgun is shouldered to fire at the game. all my pump shotguns and pump rifles still have right hand safetys. win model 12,s are a little slower for me to use with the safety in front of the trigger guard. you can tell the auto loader users at the club house after shooting several rounds of singles trap by their dirty fingers from plucking the empty case from the shell catcher, they head right for the rest room to wash their hands. clay games has been a on going sport, single barrel,double barrel,pump,auto,over-unders and o/u,s are the rulers now on the field. i own four and like them. eastbank.

 

[Armored farmer]

When my oldest son (left-eye dominant) was 13, I stumbled into a left-handed 870 Wingmaster with full and imp cyl barrels.
That makes three generations of Wingmaster shooters in our family.

 

[MCgunner]

I can't shoot a right hand 870 at all. My fat trigger finger will inevitably engage the safety if not when I first address the trigger, then on recoil. Not every time, now, but enough it bothers me and costs me a shot from time to time. They make left hand safeties, but I prefer a tang safety, anyway, more natural to me, just like my SxSs.

I agree with Oneounce, though, on gas guns, FAR more desirable to me. I've been checking the pawn shops for an 1100 in 20 gauge. I love my Spartan 20 on doves, shoot well with it, but after 4 or 5 boxes in a 3 or 4 day hunt, my middle finger starts swelling. Now, it's much better since I bought one of those rubber bumper pads from Connecticut Arms that Oneounce linked for me a few years back (love their brochures for the eye candy) on a post about this, but a gas gun would be easier on me. The little 20 isn't tough on me other than that middle finger, but still, I like gas guns. There is a left hand safety available, or so I've been told, for the 1100, and that would be required. I could get a Mossberg 930 if I wanted to buy new, I guess, if they make one in 20 gauge, really haven't looked. My only gas gun is a sweet shooting Winchester 1400 with a left hand converted safety (80 bucks, but worth every penny), but it's a 12. It's sweet shooting, but not light enough for doves over the mojo or over a tank. I find it rather slow after hunting with my 20. I'm spoiled.

 

[MCgunner]

Of course, addendum to the above, if i wanted to spend the money....uh....if I HAD the money, I'd buy a nice 20 gauge O/U with a single selective trigger to save my middle finger. THAT would make a nicer dove gun IMHO than the gas gun. Nice having that choke choice. I guess I'd have to get used to flipping the barrel selector, but I would eventually.

But, this thread is about the lowly pump gun choices so I shut up now.

 

[Banshee09]

I have an 870 wingmaster and a 500. The 500 has had more rounds cycled through it than I can count, everything from target rounds to turkey loads and slugs. Other than having to tighten the safety once in a while that gun has never failed me. I will grab the 500 every time but that's my preference for a pump.

 

[Panzerschwein]

+1

Really, I think the Mossberg is just a little more user friendly and is a GREAT shotgun. Buy it with confidence OP.

 

[GojuBrian]

Mossberg 500 or Rem 870, both have sold well over 10 million shotguns.

I prefer mossberg for various reasons, YMMV.