I have owned a Rem 870 for many years and love it. I recently bought the Benelli Nova. I haven't even taken it hunting yet but I do love it too. It feels good in my hands and "comes up" well. We have a snow storm coming to N. Idaho in the next couple days so I'm going out to get some geese.
I haven't weighed the two to compare weight difference but the Benelli feels lighter.
I have fired three shells through the Nova just to see if it kicked harder than the 870. They were 2 3/4", 3" and 3 1/2". It may have a little on the 2 3/4" and 3" but it still felt good.
The 3 1/2" did of course. I'd never fired one before either.
I'm not a "sky popper" for ducks and geese but now that I have the 3 1/2" Nova I know I can reach out farther on my last shot at escaping birds and feel confident about dropping one.
You can get some info at benelliusa.com
Happy shooting!

critch