Now that I've (with your help) decided on a Rem 870...there seem to be a lot of variations of the 870. I plan on using it for everything, upland, waterfowl, varmints, everything that a shotgun gets used for....so I guess I need a new one with variable chokes and some sort of waterproof finish? Or is used one the way to go? Are the older used ones okay with steel?
Best shotgun?
- Thread starter Rob
- Start date
Peter Senyk
New member
- Location
- Winnipeg, MB
For an 870 most people would say to go with a wingmaster. I would also look into the benelli supernova.
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
Yes - The "finish" also applies to the internals, so you may have to deal with a chamber that sticks, and relatively weak ejection. Also, the metal finish is prone to rusting. All in all, these are manageable issues for most folk. I have both an Express and a Wingmaster. I generally use the Express in the field - I don't mind if it falls out of a canoe with me (as happened last year)...
Picked up a Remington 870 turkey-predator supermag blah blah blah... and it's friggin' excellent. In the two days after I got it I got two grouse and a beaver, so thig gun is my good luck piece now. But I also hear very good things about the Mossberg 500. I was gonna chime in with "The best shotgun is the one you got in your hands right now" 
I went to my local Canadian Junk to look at a few of these...The Benelli Nova was on sale but felt all wrong to me, bulky, unbalanced, etc...the Remington 870 Express felt cheap...the "laminated wood" with its impressed non-functional checkering did not impress...I'd rather have plastic or real wood...laminated stocks I don't like, heavy too...I sort of liked the plastic stocked "Maverick" made by Mossberg...light, seems functional, cheap price ($250.) I'm wondering if the earlier Remingtons, although they may have better fit and finish, can handle steel shot?..probably not. I have a table at the gun show this weekend (I have a few dozen rifles, just no shotgun) , maybe I'll find something. Thanks for the assistance.
gunsaholic
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Winnipeg, Manitoba
The earlier 870's will handle steel shot.
I started shooting in the mid 1950's. I have learned one thing. If you are going to be a hunter in North America, one day you are going to realize how dramatically important John M Browning was and is to the sport shooting community. The shotgun which owns the market, is the Browning over/under, either the Japanese Citori models which are so well proven, or their forbears, the Belgian made superposed, the first of which was patented in 1927 and released on the first batch delivered in 1931. The browning pump gun or BPS was a patent which Browning sold to Ithaca which they called their Model 37. For a few decades now Browning has been producing it. It is the most under rated and perhaps one of the best values on the market today. It has one unique feature, which is that it ejects out the bottom of the chamber, so when duck hunting, you are not slapping your empties onto the water, but rather on your boots where they can be easily retrieved and won't spook the ducks or contaminate the environment. The Browning A5 or Auto 5 is a legend. This semi auto is not a gas gun, and it is a dream to shoot. They were originally Belgian, and now are made in Japan for the most part. Later models have screw in chokes. So...take your choice....a Browning pump gun, a Browning auto 5 or a Browning over/under. In any of these situations, if yo take care of your gun, you will always be able to sell it for a good price when you want to move up some day, or trade gauges. Best of luck.
