A lot of people want to put an aluminum trigger group on a Remington 870, thinking it's stronger or better.
When they hear that the 870 aluminum guard is actually made of compressed powdered aluminum, they have second thoughts.
I suspect that Mossberg's guard is too.
Truth is, a plastic shotgun trigger group is probably just as good as aluminum and in many ways, better.
Plastic will flex and return to shape after a blow that will break or bend an aluminum guard.
Plastic is self-lubricating and non-corroding.
Plastic has no finish to wear off and look ratty.
On one of the gun forums a few years ago we had a post for people to report broken plastic shotgun parts.
Other than a couple of Remington plastic magazine followers, there wasn't much.
I've only seen one broken plastic trigger group and that was after an accident that pretty much destroyed the gun. Even a steel guard would have failed.
However even with all that, I still prefer the aluminum trigger group. Old habits die hard.