Pump Shotgun advise

C

cw308

New member
Need your input on a 12 gauge combo. Will be used for bird hunting & deer, looking at the Rem. 870 express combo & Mossburg 500 combo. Or is it best to buy the shotgun & extra barrel. What pump would you advise.
 
I'm betting you'll end up with about a 50/50 response. Just have to consider the features on each gun and decide which are more important to you. For me the 870 is the better gun.
 
Wow this is a horrible question. Sure I'll say give me a mossberg and who cares about the remington but Both of these shotguns are great. With the mossberg being a 50 year old design and the remington 60.

Personally I would choose the Mossberg. I have two and they're great. Losts of parts available. Easy to customize. And one of the big sellers is the tang safety vs crossbolt.
 
I have owned both, got rid of the mossberg to get the remington 870..I think they are both good guns but the remington is just a bit smoother.
 
If side by side I would always pick up the Remington BUT the Remington cost a bit more to modify. I just recently bought a used 20ga 870 and made a slug gun out of it. The cantilever rifled barrel for the 870 was at least $100 more than the same barrel for the 500. My synthetic stocks were slightly higher with fewer choices to boot. I have owned two 870's and one 500 and I prefer the Remington for quality but honestly its marginal. Not a thing wrong with a 500
 
Check out the..

Winchester 1200, 1300 series, you can getfild barrels and slug barrel on the auction site.

Or the Ithaca m37, the new company in Upper Sandusky offers dual barrels outfits.
Slugs will rock you due to lightness of shotgun, slug barrel currently are rifled for sabot rounds.
 
I got a Mossberg 835 combo several years back. I tried the rifled barrel and was disappointed by the accuracy. I got a TC Encore rifled shotgun. Love it!!! Take your pick of the pumps for scattergun, but for rifled slug gun get a break action. If your budget won't allow the TC, look into HR handi. I almost got one but decided to try the flextech stock on the Encore.
 
For me, it came down to the controls between the two.

I really liked the safety location on the Mossberg and I think that it is easier to manipulate, especially if you are wearing gloves in cold weather. Also, the action release on the Mossberg felt more natural for me. I just move my middle finger slightly forward and I can engage it without interfering with my trigger finger placement at all. Basically, with the Mossberg, for me, it was much more ergonomically comfortable and I could manipulate all the controls without moving my shooting hand placement on the gun. For those reasons, I bought the Mossberg and it has been 100% reliable and accurate as well.

Both The Remington and Mossberg are good guns. Go handle both of them and manipulate the controls, see which feels better to you. You can't really make a bad decision between the two.
 
If it has twin action bars buy it. Having only one action bar operating its bolt opening & closings. >Hand it back to the counter sales person to sell to some other.
 
Ive got 12 and 20 in both brands .... the remingtons are a little smoother but I like the mossberg safety position better.

Hard to go wrong with either one .... Mossberg will be cheaper, new or used. Much cheaper used even. You can literally PU a used mossberg for $125-150 and spend another $75 on deer barrel for it and have a great gun.
 
Winchester 1200, 1300 series, you can get barrels and slug barrel on the auction site. Own two of them bought them off a police boat both are great and haven't had any problems. Truth is I thought they were 870's when I purchased them.
 
"...If it has twin action bars..." That'd be both of 'em.
However, you can safely buy on price. There's more aftermarket stuff for 870's, if that matters, but the two are very close to the same thing. A bird barrel with changeable chokes is best.
Like Waspinator says, go try 'em on for size and buy the one that feels right.
 
I like the old stuff better, myself. Like a model 12 Winchester. But what I'm really wondering is why this thread is in a rifle forum rather than the shotgun forum??
 
I've owned my Mossberg since 1977 and have had very good luck with it. The original stiff recoil pad was replaced with a Limb Saver unit. I hunt small game with the regular barrel and deer with the rifled slug barrel.

Remington 870 also has a very long history of good workmanship and time proven design.

I suggest flip a coin to choose the right one.

Jack
 
I have three Model 12s. Never had any problem with the single actuating bar in any of them.
Click to expand...
I hope you never do.
I did have a second hand Stevens /Springfield 12ga. In fact it was my very first pump shotgun. Could easily pull its (single) action bar out of its lock up in the heat of the moment. Got disgusted with pheasants cackling at me as they flew away while I was standing with a inoperable one shot piece of junk at my shoulder. Sold it to a local gunsmith for 20 bucks and bought a brand new vent rib 870 3". Every bird since. That I've pulled up and triggered on has seen its day light turn to darkness. Problem these days is finding local pheasants to hunt. Frankly: I always like the Winny 12s for there shot pattern and its noted single trigger pull that could empty its entire magazine if someone were wanting a quick follow up or two. But as luck would have it I was always too broke to buy a nice clean one when I had a chance too.
 
I've owned both Mossbergs and Remingtons. It really boils down to what you like and shoot well.

I am personally partial to Mossberg 500's. I just shoot them better than 870's for some reason. But both are fine, rugged pumps and should serve you well.

A lot of aficionados snub the Mossbergs, but they are well built, and very easy to find parts for and work on if the need arises. If you don't shoot a lot of skeet and trap, and just want something for defense, hunting, etc., a 500 will last you forever.
 
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