What pump shotgun are you buying if Mossberg and Remington (Rem Arms) are not an option?

Never liked Mossberg (Taurus of pump shotgun) and Rem Arms is dead to me. What NEW pump shotgun would you buy if those two brands were off the table? If you need a configuration to guide your advise I would be looking at a standard/general hunting configuration, 26-28 inch vent ribbed barrel, screw in choke tubes, standard magazine size, polymer furniture is desirable but not required, no camo though. 12 gauge, 3-inch chamber but I would not mind a 3.5 inch chamber.

I am not seriously going to buy but this question came to me Turkey hunting this weekend and I realized I was not even sure who was still making pump shotguns it has been so long since I bought one. I used the same pump gun I have been using for the past 20+ years.

 

Benelli Nova/SuperNova

 

Ithaca 37, I've used one of these for years. Great gun to walk the stubble fields with chasing pheasants.

 

Browning BPS for me.

I prefer the tang safety. They still have class. Perfectly ambidextrous if that matters. Available in Poly furniture. The poly furniture has nice sharp checkering. The matte bluing is not cheap crap like the old Remington “express” finish. Come in 3 1/2 chamber or 10 gauge even. It checks a lot of your boxes and still won’t utterly destroy your wallet like a new Ithaca would.

I also like the Benelli Nova but it is fugly and cheap feeling compared to a BPS for only a little more money.

I personally like Mossbergs but I can see why others don’t. That said, I don’t own a Mossberg presently and have had a BPS for 30 of my 39 years.

I am lefty so that may be part of my BPS and tang safety preference.

 

Just buy a used Remington Wingmaster - problem solved. There's only about 7 or 8 million of them out there.

 

Haha. And now that I look at the picture closer, you have a BPS.

 

The shotgun in my first post is my Browning BPS Stalker 3.5-inch 12 gauge. The finish is tough. That shotgun once slide out of the back of my truck (old truck tailgate latch failed) and hit the road doing about 15 mph in a cheap hard case. The hard case popped open and my BPS bounced across the road. Just a couple minor scratches mostly on the polymer furniture. That was nearly 20 years ago and its been a great shotgun despite the bumps.

 

I have a moss-berg 500 from the 70's. It's my hunting gun. It has always worked well. I have a Remington 31 from the 40's. Another reliable weapon. Same as my Ithaca 37 from the 30's. Only modern shotgun i have is a Stevens 320 security. It's my home defense gun. It hangs hidden behind a chest of drawers.

 

That is a good option but for the sake of the thread I was curious about NEW pump shotguns on the market. I grew up hunting with my fathers Remington 870 Wingmaster with a Poly-choke. Killed a lot of rabbits with that old Wingmaster.

 

I've owned and still own several Mossberg shotguns. To call them the Taurus of shotguns seems a bit harsh. Mine seem to be well built and have been absolutely reliable. A 590 sits by my bed and a Shockwave rides in the truck. I haven't owned a Winchester, but the ones I've seen in the LGS seem to be decent guns.

 

Newer guns purchased. It's a good idea to go over them. Check all screws for tightness and check roll pins too. Especially with today's work force. There is many new employees across manufacturing. And they are still learning the trade they are in.

 

Yeah I might have been a bit harsh. But my limited experience with Mossberg has not been good, though that is all second hand and borrowed guns I have never owned a Mossberg. I once saw the plastic fire control housing fall out of the bottom of a shooters Mossberg while shooting a round of five-stand.

But it was mostly a mental exercise, trying to figure out what other option are still on the market other than Mossberg, Remington and my BPS.

 

I feel outclassed here but I have a Mitchell 12 Gauge pump made in the Phillipine's. It works well with both buckshot and slugs. It has rifle sight and shoots fair groups with slugs ar 100 yards.

 

Other options come to mind...
Browning BPS if you don't mind it being a bit heavier.
Benelli if you can afford it is a decent choice.
Ithaca 37 - New ones are pricey, but that is a lighter pump gun option.
Winchester SXP (similar clone to the 1300) is a cheaper option, and I haven't seen one fail that I have owned.
Used is the best option in my mind if you do a little pawn shop looking and find what you want

 

The shotgun in my first post is a Browning BPS Stalker, and you're right its a bit heavy but you apricate that weight when you touch off a 2.25 oz 3.5-inch turkey load.

 

Well, I have 3 that I've used for turkey hunting. A Browning BPS, Mossberg 500, and a Remington 870 Turkey Express. Now, before I had a Benelli Nova. That kicked like a mule, even with 2 3/4 trap loads. I put in a 14oz mercury recoil reducer. No joy, and I'm usually pretty recoil insensitive. It did get the job done though. When I'd had enough punishment, I traded the Nova for the 870. I gave all of my chokes to a friend who absolutely loved his Nova. Go figure. Weatherby makes a decent shotgun. I use a 459 in 3 gun. Not a reason not to use it for turkey. Good luck.

 

Browning BPS or Benelli Nova, not the Super Nova.

 

As others said, the Browning BPS, Benelli Nova, and Ithaca 37 are very good choices. If you don't like the mossbergs I doubt you'd like the Winchester SXP shotguns, as the mossbergs seem to have a higher standard of quality and better customer service than Winchester on top of actually being made in the US and not China like the Winchester shotguns. One shotgun I haven't seen mentioned yet is the CZ 612 pump action shotgun. They retail at about $450 for a standard field model with walnut furniture. I haven't personally fired one but they seem to be very well made.

 

My only shotgun right now is a Maverick 88. A copy of the Mossberg 500. I still have hopes to find a Remington 870 Wingmaster, for novelty if nothing else. If both were off the table, I am not sure what I would go with. I have liked the Armscor shotguns for awhile so I may look into those more.

 

I have 20 or more 12 guage pumps. Everything from smith and Wesson, to Browning, to the Ithaca, to the old marlin and winchester hammer fired pumps. I started a pump shotgun picture thread a few year back.

I put the four pretty much tied. My first choice is the Mossberg. Second would be the Browning, and the benelli. Then the Remington. Mostly putting the remington last because i don't know about current quality. Either of the four would be fine to me.

Unless you want a pistol grip in which case the mossberg/bps safety sucks. On a Normal stock i prefer the tang.

Mossberg has fast and excellent customer service.

 

I have three pumps left in my shotgun battery and those are two of them. The third is a Winchester Model 1300. I think the best pump you can buy today is the Browning, with the Ithaca being a close second. Unless a person is looking for a special feature on a pump gun (i.e., bottom-ejection, chamber-length, tang-mounted safety, etc.), like new pickup trucks, it would be hard to find a bad one. Biggest caveat: pointing/handling characteristics trump everything else when deciding on any type of shotgun.

 

Browning BPS.

I had a Benelli Nova and sold it. Something about the way that it fit me pummeled my cheek pretty badly.

 

Ithaca 37. Might cost a bit more the the one I have now, though. The BPS is the only other one I'd consider.