I prefer the layout of the Mossberg. The safety and action release are all well placed, you don't have to move your grip much. Other guns have safety or action release at front of trigger gaurd, you have to release your grip and reach for them.
The main complaint of the Mossberg is the rattle. The only time I notice the rattle is when I am trying to make it rattle by twisting it in a way that will likely never happen while actually in use. I pump that biatch so fast and hard, I never notice the rattle.
Winchester SXP is my second favorite of my current shotguns. It has a nice layout as well.
My 870 is long gone, never liked it. I found it picky on what shells it liked. They have been known to rust, among other things I can't recall. I was happy to trade for a Savage rimfire.
I also like working on my own guns, the 870 has its ejector riveted in, the action bars are staked in. A Mossberg you can change the ejector by removing a screw, the action bars come out when you remove the trigger, that way you can easily tweak them if needed. Not a huge deal, it's not like ejectors go bad often, but I think of what may go wrong down the road. Rather fix it myself than send it away. The Mossberg also has dual extractors, compared to the 870s single extractor.
All in all I will take a little rattle over all the things I don't like about the 870. Remington isn't what it once was.
Before anyone chimes in and says "oh ya, that's the Express. The Wingmaster is a great gun" Look at the price of a Wingmaster, not a fair comparison. Second argument will be to get a used Wingmaster. If you want a 40 year old gun with fixed full choke, that is definitely an option.
