I use an old battered Mossberg 500 for just about everything. The gun has NEVER let me down. The forestock rattles, the wood was cheap looking even before I sanded out the stock to fit my cheek and painted it up camo...I would never try that with a nice pretty shotgun! I've killed ducks, geese, turkeys, grouse, squirrel, rabbit, deer, coon, feral cats and pigeons with that gun. If your budget is tight you will be happy with the performance. An 870 is a fine shotgun and should never let you down either just stings the wallet a little harder. But then if you are only going to buy 1 shotgun every 10 years whats an extra couple bucks?