RE: firearms
 

I got an 870 in 1992, and I' ve fired thousands of rounds through it. It still works great. I have a friend that' s a cop, and he carries an 870 with him every day. That means something to me. If Remingtons were crap, I highly doubt he would depend on one.

RE: firearms
 

I' ve owned quite a few 870' s and Mossberg pumps over the years. I' d take an 870 over the Mossberg 500 series anyday. I' ve witnessed a much higher rate of problems with the Mossbergs.

RE: firearms
 

Plainsman- you sound like a blowhard that doesn' t have a clue as to what you are talking about. The Rem 870' s are absolutely bulletproof- I' ve been shooting them for 20 years and cannot remember a single malfunction of any kind, nor have I heard of a problem from any of my numerous friends who shoot them. I cannot say the same for the mossberg stuff. I have a friend who' s mossberg had the barrel attachment point break off at the front of the magazine- never heard of this happening with any other shotgun. Mossberg makes decent shotguns, but they are not even close to being in the same league as a good 870 wingmaster.

If you absolutely hate Remingtons for whatever reason- maybe your mother didn' t show you enough love when you were a kid, Go with the Browning, Ithaca, or Benelli pumps then.

RE: firearms
 

I too don' t understand your problems with Remington 870 shotguns or why you call them " jammingtons" . I learned to shoot shotguns with my dad' s 870 Wingmaster 20gauge, and I can NEVER remember even one time that it malfunctioned, other than by user error and even that was very rare as it was so smooth that it was very easy to operate. My dad purchased the gun new in 1967 and is still functions perfectly for me today, and it' ll get passed on to my son someday if I have anything to say about it. The only thing that has been changed since it was new was that the original non-ventilated bbl was replaced with a vent-rib barrel. Otherwise it has had no work done to it ever. This gun has also always been a working gun. My dad wasn' t much of a collector of special purpose guns, so he didn' t have one shotgun for each day of the week. His 870 was the only shotgun he has ever needed, and it' s been shot thousands of times with everything from 2 1/2" light game loads to rifled slugs without a hitch. Granted it' s gotten looser over time from normal wear, but that' s not necessarily a bad thing. It' s the only pump shotgun I' ve encountered that is smooth enough to be racked with one hand on the PISTOL GRIP ONLY. Try that with your Mossburg and see what happens. Not even my BPS is smooth enough to do that, and it' s definately a far cry nicer shotgun that ANY Mossberg will ever be.

I personally don' t understand your reverence for Mossbergs. They' ve always seemed cheap to me, and growing up it always seemed like the only people who owned a Mossberg were the ones who couldn' t afford anything better. Maybe they' ve gotten better, but they still have a long way to go to catch up to the 870.

There is a very good reason why the 870 is the best selling shotgun of all time, and that' s that it has a time tested and proven reputation for being an outstanding shotgun.

But, since you' re bent against the 870 for whatever reason than I' d suggest the Browning BPS. I absolutely love my BPS 12 Hunter and I can never forsee a time when I' d want to sell it. The Browning is the ONLY pump shotgun that rivals the 870 in my opinion, and not by much. If I were in the market for another pump gun the 870 would be second on the list.

Mike

RE: firearms
 

I have owned two 870' s an old wingmaster and a newer 870 express and neither has ever jammed or given me a problem.I have seen problems with a friends mossberg however.

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Probably because Mossberg was the lowest bidder.

Why do you think that a police dept. that has never driven anything but Crown Vics suddenly has a dozen Impalas on the road? I' ll give you a hint, it ain' t because the Impala is a better police car.

Why do you thing the military SRT and Spec Ops teams are replacing their worn out MP5' s with submachineguns based on a smaller version of the M4 carbine? It' s not that the MP5' s were poor or incapable of getting the job done, it' s mostly because the U.S. made Colt guns are cheaper (not debating the various plusses and minussed associated with the cartridges in question).

Just because the police or government uses it doesn' t mean it' s the best thing going. When I was in the Corps as an MP my company had a number of 870 combat shotguns that dated back to the Vietnam war, and most of them still worked great. There were only a couple that had any significant problems that could have been easily taken care of if our battallion' s armorers would' ve ever got off their butts to fix them.

Mike

RE: firearms
 

i currently own mossbergs and remingtons ,

my remington 870 wingmaster lightwieght magnum functions flawlessly. and is DEFINITELY NOT JUNK . and i' m planning on getting one in 16 gauge

my mossberg' s don' t feed too well and don' t seem too sturdily put together in the operation of the action bars and forend but , they' ve never let me down yet.

i' ve got an 835 and i really like it , however the reason i purchased a 835 is because remington didn' t offer a 3 1/2 " 12 gauge shotgun at that time. and the mossberg i didn' t mind getting a little wet and dirty as i look at it as a beater type gun because they are inexpensive and aren' t made with all of the glamour and glitz like high gloss walnut , or fancy roll engraved receivers ( i don' t have anything against glamour but , it' s not something i want with me when in a duck blind or trudging through some swampy marsh and having to risk a fall and getting it all mucky or damaged, and as most of us know , sometimes accidents happen to the most careful people ). but if you want an 835 , they' re good guns , as i' ve said , they' ve never let me down :D

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IMHO, you will like what you learned to shoot with.
I was at a bachelor party over the weekend. We started off shooting some informal trap(before the suds!). We even traded off guns to see how the other makes shot. The overwelming opinion was that Winchester shooters liked Winchesters, Remington guys liked the Remingtons(either autos or pumps), and the guy shooting a BAS even stood by his gun!
For me, Winchester pumps point the best. Model 12, 1200, and 1300 all come up the same. With both Remington and the BAS I had to adjust my head position before pulling the trigger. Winchesters were all right there.
I' d say try them all and take the one that comes up the best for you.
Brian

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well, it would seem I' ve stirred up a hornets nest of 870 fans. I' m not talking about the 870 you or your dad bought 20-30 years ago,I' m talking about whats on the gunrack today. almost every gunsmith I' ve talked to will admit the NEW 870' s ARE NOT their shotgun of choice anymore. In the last few years rem. has been lowering the quality of these once great performers. I don' t hate Rem. as some of you think, hell I own one, mod.6 in 30.06.it is the perfect all round hunting rifle as far as i' m conserned. HOWEVER,I' ve heard to much negative and not enough positive to be interested in a NEW870. As for the mossy,cold or warm, wet or dry, muck or dust the mossy ALWAYS performed.I' shot thousands of shells through my brothers 500 mossy and the same with my old win.1200.feel sloppy? somewhat. look fancey? NO. I' m talking about being reliable, no matter the conditions. As far as all-round shotguns I do think a mossy 835 has it pretty much covered.I' ve considered the nova and BPS also but have read quite a bit of bad reveiws on both.Next season is still a long way off, who knows?

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WTF?
Are you a mossberg salesman or something? The BPS is a great gun, a buddy of mine just bought a new one this year, and its identical in every way to the one I bought 7 years ago. The Nova? Never shot one, never held one, don' t really like its looks, but you would have to search long and far for something that was made by Benelli that can be considered junk.

Maybe it was never their shotgun of choice? I wonder how many 870' s are sold that are returned for costly repairs?