I have a mossberg 500 in 20ga and the maverick 88 in 12 ga.
The maverick is a little rougher, but i expect it to smooth out a bit more as i use it more. It's not really pretty, it doesn't have all the bell and whistles, and i don't care much for the cross bolt safety, but it works, no issues so far concerning reliability. The trigger group is plastic rather then metal, but it seems solid enough, and based on reviews i've read, they don't have any issues there.
The 500 i have is wood, so it looks a lot nicer, worked a lot smoother right out of the box, the trigger group is metal, and i much prefer the tang safety i can reach with my thumb. The only downside i find of the 500 vs the maverick is the fore grip is a little noisier, it can rattle back and forth a bit and make more noise then the mavrick, but if you aren't worried about the noise, then it's not an issue.
I haven't tried any stevens shotgun, so i can't comment there, but either the mossberg or maverick will do the job, it's all in the details you want to have.
