Cessna Flyer

When I was looking for a new shotgun, I have owned a Mossberg 835 for over 13 years and love it, and it has never failed me, I also owned a model 500 in 20 gauge and it was a very good and reliable gun, I got rid of it as I quit shooting it, wish I still had it.Mossberg Pumps Crap, I think not. Ask the military why they have/had them.

This year when I went looking I looked at 3 shotguns, The 870 Super mag, The Mossberg Gold reserve over/under and the Mossberg 935 semi auto. I have a friend that has and shoots the reserve and it is a nice shooting gun. I cose the 870 as I wanted 3 shots, my primary upland gun is my Stoger Condor over/under in 20 gauge.

Kanes28

I have a 20 gauge Mossberg Silver Reserve OU - Ive used it hard both at the trap house and in the field. In my opinion its a decent shooter that comes up nice. I havent had any mechanical issues with it.Cosmetics if a different story, the finish is wearing off the wood in several spots. Mostly on the bottom where I rest the gun between shots while shooting trap. But it doesnt bother me much as I dont have much money in it.

sproulman

no kidding

thats neat.

if you are hunting like WOODCOCK,i would like to use a 20 ga shell low brass.

or rabbits

BetterBirddogs

It's pretty slick how they work. I think you can get a pair for around 40 but I'm not sure.

crenshaw

Try going to a gun show if you have them near you. That way you can look at alot of different guns and see if you can find any deals. I got really lucky this weekend and picked up a brand new citori in the box, never been fired. Granted it cost more then your limit but i got it for less then what a normal citori goes for.

birddog3412

Cessna flier, i was in the army. The US Military (all branches) use the mossberg 590, which mechanically is the same as the 500. But mossberg was made to upgrade most of the internal and some of the external parts (because mossberg was making the 500 with cheaper parts that were not reliable)before the contract was first agreed on.

Also I would not choose to own anything for the lone reason that the military uses it, because the government probably bought it from the lowest bidder.

Cessna Flyer

I agree with you on this, but most folks that I have talked to that say Mossberg are junk never had one or shot one, I used to be that myself, Until I owned one.

mustad

I bought a Ruger Red Label a couple years ago for $ 900. It was a 12 gauge and I thought it was a bit heavy to lug around for the whole day so I sold it... but the 20 gauge is lighter, and you should be able to find one for your price point.

Good luck

gselkhunter

Been watching thisthread for a while and I will add two key points.
1 You get what you pay for. 2 A company that has been making O/U for a short time is buying a crap shoot.
I own 2 SKBs, both in 20ga, 1-505 and 1-585 and never had a problem with either. My guess is I have hunted them harder than most.
I also own a Ruger Red Label in 28ga, this has become my go to gun for most things.
If you hunt over pointing dogs and let them do their joba 12 or 16ga gun isn't needed!
There are two types of firing systems for O/Us, inertia and mechanical.
Inertia requires recoil to change barrels, mechanical doesn't. Does it matter which you have, no.I own both [SKB/inertia, RRL/mechanical] and they both work well, but they are made differently.
If I had to buy a gun as my only gun right now, I would find a SKB 505 in 20ga. Cost isn't bad and it would last.
As much as I like my Ruger in 28ga, I hate them in 12 and 20ga.
But more important than all the stuff said, if it doesn't fit you won't shoot it well.
I have two friends that love their Berettas and I couldn't shoot them if I had to. Great gun, bad fit, not worth my money. Can't shoot Brownings either the high profile messes me up. I like a low profile gun, SKB, Ruger. Take your time and shoulder a lot of guns and find a good match.
Gselkhunter

Hurricanespg

birddog3412; The US Militarydid not require changing out most of the internals on the 500. They only required changing the trigger guard to metal, and that was to satisfy a requirement for the US Army's Mil-Spec 3443E test, which the 500 had already passed before they implemented the metal trigger guard requirement. Besides if you dont want to use something that the armed forces uses dont buy an 870, or Winchester 1200, 1300, or a Benelli M4, Ithaca 37, etc etc.

To the original poster....for $800 you should be able to find quite a few used higher end shotguns. If you look you should be able to find a nice used Ruger Red Label, Browning Citori, or SKB. I do believe that quite a few people have had pretty good reviews on some of the Veronas as well.
If you are going to be shooting many sporting clays/trap etc.I would highly recommend going with one of the higher end models just because they are built more for volume shooting.