Looking for a new shotgun...

E

Echolmes

Inactive
I'm thinkin either the Remington 870 express or Mossberg 500. My local Walmart has both about the same price but the Mossberg comes with a rifled and a smooth barrel. Which would be the best and why?
 
What do you intend to use it for? If it's for home defense, a shorter smoothbore is the way to go. If you want to shoot clays or hunt, the combo from Mossberg sounds very convenient. Otherwise, it comes down to personal preference on the location of the controls. They're both excellent guns.
 
Rifled barrel is great for one thing - sabot slugs. If you aren't going to use them, it also makes a nice tomato stake.
As for HD, unless you are a commando bent on clearing your house, any barrel length will work for what most folks will really do - barricade themselves in a bedroom with the door locked, barrel pointed at the door and someone dialing 911.
 
If you do not plan to hunt with it using slugs, you do not need a rifled barrel.

Both are decent, pick the one that the controls are more intuitive to you.
 
I do plan on hunting small and big game so both barrels would be used but it will double as a HD gun. I was wondering more about the overall quality of one versus the other. Buying a slug barrel for the Remington wouldn't be an issue really.
 
I am not sure there is much difference between the two. I have an 870 express that is 27 years old and it works like it is supposed to. The Mossberg pump...same story. I also have an FNH P12 and a Benelli Nova...same story. Add in a Browning BPS and a Winchester SXP as also good choices. If I had to go buy one pump shotgun I am not sure I could tell you which one I would choose.

The SXP and P12 will run the Aguila mini-shells which the others won't. The Nova feels like it has the least recoil. The P12 is the most accurate with slugs. The BPS feels the smoothest.
 
This is a fight over two guns that do exactly the same thing well. It's going to come down to how much you care about the little things.

The mossberg has a tang safety where as the remington doesn't. This is a big feature for me. Takes seconds to rock from off to on and back again. The Remington has a crossbolt safety which takes a different finger action.

The next feature I believe is the mossberg receiver is made of aluminum and the remington of steel. It doesn't seem to matter in durability unless you're going to run it over with a truck or use it like a bat.

So do yourself a favor and go to the store and feel up both models.
 
Between an 870 Express and a 500, I would go with the Mossberg especially with the rifled barrel. Even if you don't plan on using it, you can sell it for a nice chunk of money to recoup some cost.

Now, if we were talking an 870 Wingmaster, that's a different story.
 
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