I am starting to look for a turkey gun for next season. (I need that much time to save money). Anyway i have it narrowed down to three. Benelli Nova in APG hd MSRP 485. This gun is there "turkey version." Next we have the Mossberg 835. Hear good things about it but i have also heard that it kicks like a mule all the time and i don't want to invest tons of money in recoil pads. MSRP 487. And lastly a Remington 870 Super Mag Express (Black in color). I have never heard anything bad about remingtons. MSRP 435. Now that you have gun info for the total package i would like to be in the neighborhood of 600 or under. If you own any of these guns please post what you like about them or if you have shot them and hate them write that too.

Here are a couple of reasons why I shoot an Mossberg 835.... I'm trying to consolidate all my pictures into one big folder.... this gun has laid plenty of 'em down.

More important is probably the patterns.....

As to the recoil... a lot of that depends on you (your tolerence), the shell (for example, Winchester Extended Range kicks like a mule... the 3.5" Hevi-13 shells I shoot now actually kick less than my old 870 with 3" 2oz loads did), and also whether you will be using it as just a turkey gun or for other things too. Mine is just a turkey gun.... you won't feel it when you shoot a turkey....






40 yards with Hevi-13




30 yards with Extended Range





20 yards with Extended Range (thats over 400 pellets inside that 10" circle)

They have sold over 5 million 870s for a reason, I think it is the standard for all pump action shotguns, everyone else is playing for second place. I know the mossbergs are popular on here and a lot of people have them but i have never liked the feel of them. I'm pretty biased though, I grew up shooting remingtons so anything else feels "weird". I bought the remington 870 express turkey shotgun a couple years ago (3" mag, plain old wood and blued steel) and it shot like a champ right out of the box. I would encourage you to check it out unless you really have your heart set on a black one with the 3.5" chamber. I think I paid like $260 for mine and it comes with the remington super full which throws a pretty wicked pattern for a factory choke. That will have you ready to hunt at well under your $600 limit.

I love my Mossberg 835, I use Winchester Suprems HV, 3.5", #5, does it kick like a mule? My mind is on a turkey so I don't feel it, but I do feel it while pattering the shotgun/ The 835 was made for turkey and/or waterfowl, the shotgun is a proven turkey slayer, but that 870 has stood on top for many, many years. The 870 is heavier then the 835. Goto your local gun shop and handle both, see which one you like, and take it from there

Well spoken words about the 870.

I'll be the first one to admit that for an all around shotgun the 870 takes the cake. Notice that my 835 is STRICTLY a turkey gun..... I'm not swinging it so gun fit is really a non-issue, really the only time the action ever gets worked is when I'm unloading or cleaning it. For strictly a turkey gun, it does everything I want it to do. But if I was going to use a shotgun for anything else... it'd be an 870 or a BPS.

PS: I just had a waterfowlers pow-wow at Gander Mountain and picked up one of the new 870 SPS turkeys with the half thumbhole/half pistol grip. I really like the thing for one big reason... Remington finally clued in and recessed the forend slide so that you can have something other than receiver or mag tube balancing on your knee. What I hate about it is that they put a vent rib and a bead on it rather than the Williams sights they have used up to this point. WHY!!!!! Remington can't get it totally right these days! [:@] But I've shot my share of birds with the old brass bead and you can put sights or a scope on the thing if you like. Its a sweet rig.

I use the new 11-87 turkey super mag, but if you don't want to spend the $$ then I would say the 870. Just can't go wrong with one.. I have owned the 835 and sold it.. I used to use a browning bps also and it was ok..

But my vote is for your870, good luck...