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about to purchase 1st shotgun - what would you get if you were me?

2223 Views 22 Replies 1 Participant Last post by  ShotgunPro, 
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Today at the range I shot a shotgun for the first time. It was a Remington 887 and winded up having some ejection issues. I liked it but have read some real negative things about it, and exerienced some today. I realized though, my next purchase will be some sort of "tactical" home defense shotgun. I know absolutely nothing about them, which ones are proven reliable etc. I know I do want something I can mod with a aftermarket buttstock, pistol grip, rails, etc. If you were me, and could spend up to $600 for a shotgun, which would you chose that is known to be reliable and offers good aftermarket parts to "tactical" it up?

BTW...im fully aware of the Keltec KSG, but dont want to wait that long right now for it to come out, plus I figured ill give it a year for the kinks to get worked out and the price to drop. Im also aware of the SAIGA 12, but dont want to deal with converting it, and buying all sorts of parts for it to run right
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mossberg 500.
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Remington 870....
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remington 870 tactical with the 18 inch barrel and extended mag tube. easy to mod, very common, very effective, and VERY reliable....


i sure love mine... :cool:
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Another vote for the 870.

Randy
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Mossberg 590, or maybe a Benelli Nova (H20 - 20090).
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My 870 and XD. The 870 Tactical is pretty bad ass. Don't get the camo painted ones though. The ones I've seen look like ****.
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Remmy 870 or Mossy 500 both are very affordable and have tons of aftermarket support.
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AA-12.


Jk a Remington 870! :)
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I was all excited about the 887 myself but after handling it at a gun show yesterday I didn't care for it that much. I think I wanted to love it cause of the rail on top, fiber optic sight, extension, and front clamp/rail already included...but the rest of it just felt cheap to me and at about $400 (probably a good price find) it's not like it's a super discount priced gun.

I'm sure some people have no problems and like them and I'd like to shoot it and all that, but that is pretty hard to do all the time when evaluating guns. My first impression just picking it up was I don't like this, hitting the slide release and pumping it felt clunky and when I pick up a firearm (especially mine) I want to think "this thing feels sweet/quality" not, "eh...accessories already included are cool at least".

That said I think the benelli supernova tactical (non-pistol grip) may be more what I want. I saw a nova there and it felt much better just on feel alone. I can't figure out though if the ghost ring sights would be the way to go or not. I only plan on some type of small extension and clamp for a flashlight so not having a receiver top rail doesn't matter to me. You might not want one though if you are looking for a huge slew of aftermarket parts availability.
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I just bought a used Mossberg 500 for $175. That gives you $425 for ammo and you're still within budget.

For self-defense ammo you want Federal Personal Defense PD132 00 with the FliteControl Wad. It shoots 1" patterns at 10 yards.
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Mossberg 500 is affordable and does the job :)
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Yep, the standards are pretty much the Mossberg 500-series and the Remington 870s. Can't really go wrong with either.

I was recently in this situation myself, and was lucky that a friend was looking to let go of his barely-shot 870. :)

The 887 had also been on my RADAR, but I dropped it from consideration after some reading - don't get me wrong, I pretty much take everything with a grain of salt, but there was just too much written about it that wasn't exactly positive, and since this was going to be my one and only shotgun for a while, I figured I should go with something that had been more favorably reviewed - particularly after I learned about the Benelli Super Nova Tactical.

I'd been trying to find a Super Nova Tactical locally, with little success, and my friend just happened to be floating his 870, so I bit.
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Mossberg 590, Rem 870, Winchester 1300D. All are great choices, all are going to do what you want them to do.

Personally, I prefer the Winchester and Mossberg, but I since I also have an 870...they're all good.

However, I'd leave all the tacticool crap off it and learn how to run a shotgun first, then find out if you actually need all that junk hanging off your shotgun (hint: you don't).
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Mossberg 500, love mine
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One thing to keep in mind is that if you intend to add a pistol grip to it, you might want to pass on the Mossy 500's since it would make actuating the safety on the top rear of the receiver a bit more difficult in a pinch.

So another vote for the Remington 870. I have had mine for about a year and haven't regretted buying it for a second. Plus the fact that I would be willing to trust my life and the life of my family on it has to say something about my faith in it's dependability.
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Remington 870
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So, the Surefire 618LM forend and the Mesa 6-round sidesaddle I ordered both got to me today. I took down the 870, to "get-er done!" :D I could not believe how simple the thing is.

I'm going to be seeing which of the "reflex" sights I have for it is most appropriate (the Mesa saddle allows the bead to be witnessed below, as a backup), but aside from that, I'm done fooling around with the thing.

I'm going out to the range, and going to start taking some shotgunning classes. :) Time to learn how to really run this thing.
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+1 on the 870.. I've had one of mine over 10 years, and my dad had it almost ten years before that, literally thousands of shells have gone through this one of my 4different configurations of 870's. I have the all original 870, the tactical model, a rifled slug model for deer, and a camoflauge one for turkey.. all of them function flawlessly... Even a Mossberg 500 or 585 is a good gun..
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Pump guns are lighter and less expensive that their auto cousins.

Mossberg 500. Safety on the back of the receiver. Absolutely where the safety should be. Can be bought at a real good price.

Owned a rem 870 seemed like it kicked real hard, couldn't get used to safety either.
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