Winchester Defender Opinions?

[Nomercy]

I' m looking to buy a new shotgun for Practical/tactical competitions, it' ll be my first time competing at more than local gun club fun day levels...I' ve owned a winchester 1300 defender, wooden stock version with a good deal of slicking up done for the officer that owned it, and I loved it, it had the factory (at the time) front bead, but ground to a wide peg, with a peep rear sight, plus a good deal of action wock, it was awesome, but I traded it, regrettably. BUT, I can buy one brand new from Winchester for $333 with a syn stock or $383 with both a full stock and a pistol grip, I haven' t seen many better deals than that on other guns with similar characteristics, so I figure this will be my best bet.

Anyone have any gripes or any better guns for the same or less money for a new one? I figure I won' t do any customizing at first, other than a shell saddle and maybe some slicking.

Thanks in advance.

[bigbulls]

I don' t know about their worth as far as competitions go but I have had a defender combo for 18 years and not once have I had a problem with it. IMO it' s a greqat gun for a great price.