870 is anything but JUNK
Whitetailcrazy, I have to respond to your comment that the Remington 870 is "junk".
My father and I ran a duck/goose hunting guiding business at Reelfoot Lake in NW Tennessee that dates to the 1960s (we rarely guide anymore).Over the couse of 40+ yearshe and I haveguided clients using virtuallyevery popular shotgun made and have been able to assess how they perform in a variety of field conditions. Any gun will shoot reliably in nice weather - butone finds out whichguns really work when huntingin a hard freezing rain or when temperatures fall to single digits. Without question, the gun that most consistantly performs shot after shot, day after day, in any weather, is the Remington 870. Talk to any guideor "everyday" hunter in our area and ask them what shotgun is the most reliable and I promise you that 9 out of 10 will say "that's easy, Remington 870".
In the pre-steel shot days weused Belgium Brownings because they werepleasant to shoot andcould hold up to the rough use and volume of shooting we did in thoseyears. Unfortunately the barrels are too soft for steel shot and the guns needed to be kept impeccably clean to function reliably. I bought an 870 Express the first year they came out in the early to mid 80s. That gunhas been my primary shotgun for everything, mostly waterfowl and turkey, for the past 20 years. Indecentduck seasonsI probably shot 20-30 boxes of shells per year through it. In that entire time it has failed to fire only once, and that was because so much ice built up behind the trigger one morning that the trigger itself becameblocked with iceandcouldn't move. After knocking the ice out with a stick it went right back to shooting every time I pulled the trigger.
As a turkey gun it has been perfect - 27 for 27. Some of the longer shots required a follow-up, but that was my fault for taking a long shot in the first place - not the gun.
All this from a gun that my some told me wasn't as good as the Wingmaster because ithas stamped rather than machined parts. Yeah, right.
Another point - unless it got wet or really dirty I only clean this gun thoroughly twice a year (after duck and turkey season). That's it. It is such a simple design that anyone can easlily learn how to disassemble and and put it back together. I can tear it down, clean all the parts and put it back together in less than 5 minutes. My 10-year old son can take down his 870 youthgun by himself and put it back together in only slightly more time. The elegant simplicity of its design is the key to this kind of reliability.
Your experience may be different and I don't doubt your word. My experiencereveals to methat people who have problems with an 870 (or other pump guns for that matter) are "short-stroking" it - in other words they don't pull the forearm all the way back after the shot and fail to eject the spent sheel and properly cycle the action. This is even more of a problem with the 870 super magnum because the longer 3.5 inch shell (about 4 inches after being fired) requires a longer stroke to eject the hull and cycle the next shot. Basically this is true for any 3.5" gun, 10 or 12 gauge. I have a Browning BPS 10 ga.and I short-stroke itoccasionally when hunting in cold weather and wearing a lot of clothes - I've never done it with my standard 3" 870 express.
In fairness I should tell you that I own a Mossberg 835 that was given to me by someformer clients (now good friends)from Wisconsin. They bought it in a pawn shop for $125 on their way down to duck hunt with us last year and ithas become my primary turkey gun.With a ported barrel, ported Star Dot choke and a limbsaver pad it is a kittycat to shoot - less kick thanmy 3-inch 870 even with 3.5" loads. I used it last season with excellent results on two gobblers using Hevi-13 loads. I think it a great turkey gun, but I would never use it as an "everyday" shotgun because I don't think it will hold up. The parts fit loosely and it shakes and rattles, but for a one-shot deal like turkey hunting I thinkthe 835 ishard to beat.
Just my humble opinion