I own an 870 Police Magnum and a 590A1.
I used to own an 870 Express.
While my Express was a very reliable and sturdily built gun, the finish was not very nice. But what can you ask for in a 400 dollar gun that was built in New York, paying American wages, health care, pensions, R&D, etc.? Remington felt they had to cut costs, which is really unfortunate because now the Express has a bad reputation among gun forums. I hope they can repair that image.
The Mossberg 590A1 I have is a hefty SOB, attributed to its heavy barrel. The receiver itself is machined aluminum-alloy whereas the 870's is steel. Does it matter? Besides the feel of the gun, not really (unless it somehow fires out of battery). The Benelli M4 is alloy too.
The base 500 feels cheaper in different areas, including the cheaper safety. The 590A1 has a great park'd finish and a metal safety, and mine has ghost ring sights.
If you want to use a pistol grip, the 870 is a better choice because of the safety.
My advice to you, if you can somehow stretch your budget (buy once, cry once) is to get an 870 Police or a 590A1. If you do that though, the 870 will still accept longer barrels whereas the 590 will not, but the 500 will.
The 590A1 is cheaper to get a better gun than the 870 Police is. A 590A1 will run around 540$ whereas a 870P will be 650-700.
The 870 is slightly easier to field strip but while i am no mechanical guru, I had little problem with the 590 except a hangup here and there, and if you're not careful you can bend the cartridge stop and whatnot apparently.
I used to own an 870 Express.
While my Express was a very reliable and sturdily built gun, the finish was not very nice. But what can you ask for in a 400 dollar gun that was built in New York, paying American wages, health care, pensions, R&D, etc.? Remington felt they had to cut costs, which is really unfortunate because now the Express has a bad reputation among gun forums. I hope they can repair that image.
The Mossberg 590A1 I have is a hefty SOB, attributed to its heavy barrel. The receiver itself is machined aluminum-alloy whereas the 870's is steel. Does it matter? Besides the feel of the gun, not really (unless it somehow fires out of battery). The Benelli M4 is alloy too.
The base 500 feels cheaper in different areas, including the cheaper safety. The 590A1 has a great park'd finish and a metal safety, and mine has ghost ring sights.
If you want to use a pistol grip, the 870 is a better choice because of the safety.
My advice to you, if you can somehow stretch your budget (buy once, cry once) is to get an 870 Police or a 590A1. If you do that though, the 870 will still accept longer barrels whereas the 590 will not, but the 500 will.
The 590A1 is cheaper to get a better gun than the 870 Police is. A 590A1 will run around 540$ whereas a 870P will be 650-700.
The 870 is slightly easier to field strip but while i am no mechanical guru, I had little problem with the 590 except a hangup here and there, and if you're not careful you can bend the cartridge stop and whatnot apparently.
