PA shotguns

What about bottom loading and ejection with tang safety and super reliable. Handle well for most and smooth. Browning BPS
 
What about bottom loading and ejection with tang safety and super reliable. Handle well for most and smooth. Browning BPS

I was actually just looking at those, being left handed the bottom feed is pretty slick! Definitely an option to consider. They seem priced a bit higher than the 870 but then again… it’s a Browning lol
 
590a1 does look pretty bad ass! I was leaning towards the 870 for bird hunting… but looking like terminator while out for birds is kind of appealing too! Lol
You might want to go to your LGS and handle a few SGs see which works for you.
If you are considering buying a multi-purpose shotgun where you would consider buying another barrel, my advice would be to get a multi-barrel combo as you would save money and time vs trying to buy aftermarket barrels separately(870s aftermarket are cheaper and more available than others)
I have a 7-shot 18.5" barrel M590A1 with the factory Ghost Ring sights, but fixed cyl choke. Fun at the range but for hunting I have an older LH 870(and several choke tubes from skeet to turkey) that I would take.


edited to add, I would actually bring my Winchester LH SX4 hunting.
 
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For pumps I prefer the Mossberg 500 over the 870. I prefer the Ithaca 37 over the 500 and model 12 and bps. When I feel the need to take a pump I reach for my Beretta 151
 
Every M37 I ever tried kicked like a donkey reared up and planted both rear legs on your shoulder together.

I’ve never found them to be any worse than any other pump shotgun I’ve used but I can see with any thumper of a 2 3/4” shell that they would kick, they’re lighter overall than most due to the shorter length of the receiver. I wouldn’t want to shoot a lot of stout loads through one, though I’ll say that for any 12g and I’m pretty recoil intolerant.

Two things I try to avoid are 3” magnum 12g sabots out of any gun I own, or shooting old 3” magnum Imperial’s out of my single shot Cooey. That one really isn’t pleasant lol.
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

My first 870 was the 18” barrel , and came with orange Magpul furniture… rattle can O.D. Green a few weeks back.
My second was a TAC 14 that I bought already drilled and tapped, added the Hogue furniture.
The latest was the TAC 14 arm brace model. The brace/ butt stock, pistol grip, Magpul fore end and the +1 are factory installed. Had it drilled and tapped.
Almost have enough parts to build another… just on the hunt for a receiver…
 
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Most may scoff at this but I really like my Canuck regulator with the full stock. It's tighter tolerances than mossbergs and feels better in my hands than 870s. I quite like the 12.5" or 13" barrel it has and it reacts very well with Beretta Mobil chokes
 
I prefer mossberg, especially the action release location. Test a few out at your local gun store/range. As previously mentioned 590a1 was the only pump action to pass the mil-spec tests for US armed forces. The Remingtons work well with pistol grips due to the safety location (cross bolt instead of tang). No real world experience with Benelli pumps, but the 14 inch super nova I handled seemed nice enough.

100% agree. I always preferred Mossberg for the slide release being behind the trigger guard rather than in front. Now I shoot left handed, so I prefer the Mossberg that much more due to its tang safety.

I was actually just looking at those, being left handed the bottom feed is pretty slick! Definitely an option to consider. They seem priced a bit higher than the 870 but then again… it’s a Browning lol

With only one port for both feeding and ejecting I wonder about clearing issues? Seems like it would be easier to get something cleared with dedicated ejection and loading ports, but I've never played with a bottom eject shotgun so I dunno for sure...?

Everyone always says bottom eject is more LH friendly but as a southpaw I’d rather have a rh side eject like a 870 or 590, same with semi auto shotguns and rifles.

I also shoot left, and I also like having the ejection port on the right side. I feel like its easier to quickly load a round into the ejection port from that side, although I haven't messed with a LH shotgun so I can't really compare the two.
 
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100% agree. I always preferred Mossberg for the slide release being behind the trigger guard rather than in front. Now I shoot left handed, so I prefer the Mossberg that much more due to its tang safety.



With only one port for both feeding and ejecting I wonder about clearing issues? Seems like it would be easier to get something cleared with dedicated ejection and loading ports, but I've never played with a bottom eject shotgun so I dunno for sure...?



I also shoot left, and I also like having the ejection port on the right side. I feel like its easier to quickly load a round into the ejection port from that side, although I haven't messed with a LH shotgun so I can't really compare the two.

Another lefty here… although never having tried a left handed shotgun, owning one is on my bucket list…
 
Another lefty here… although never having tried a left handed shotgun, owning one is on my bucket list…

I'm very content with my Mossberg 500, but I could see a lefty semi auto in my future. If I can't get the safety reversed on the Turkish one I already have, gotta pull it apart one of these days and see...
 
For a pump action I am firmly in the Ithaca M37 and Remington M31 camp, preferably in 16 gauge. Very well made, well balanced. The only competition for me is the Browning Double Auto, while not a pump, and in 12 instead of my preferred 16, it filled the same niche and made me sell the Ithaca and Remington.
 
I also shoot left, and I also like having the ejection port on the right side. I feel like its easier to quickly load a round into the ejection port from that side, although I haven't messed with a LH shotgun so I can't really compare the two.

Agreed, there’s a couple pluses shooting LH and having the port on the right. It right there and easy to look into the action if you have to prove safe or have to clear a shell, port loading is easier than having to reach under or over.

Another lefty here… although never having tried a left handed shotgun, owning one is on my bucket list…

You’ll find there’s no real options for different length barrels and I would expect finding replacement parts that are left hand specific might be less prevalent. You see LH 870’s pop up on the ee but I can’t say I’ve ever seen any LH 14”,18.5” or slug barrels ever, only 28” vent rib LH barrels. Which is one of the huge pluses of an 870, the amount of barrel options alone is huge. I’ve seen a couple LH 870 trigger groups pop up and have been tempted to buy them, they have a proper LH safety which would be nice.
 
870. I've tried a lot of different shotguns over the years. The Winchester M12 I found butt-heavy, largely because of the receiver. I didn't care for the balance, so it went and I've never bought another. I had a Winchester 120 for a while; not sure now why I got rid of it, except for an itch to try different guns, but I had no real complaint against it. Mossberg 500; didn't care for the safety mounted on the back of the receiver or the ridiculously large grip.

My first exposure to 870's were my brother's shotguns, one a wingmaster and the other a field grade. Both as slick as rock snot and still working today, over 40 yrs later. The shape of the grip fits my hand perfectly, and I like having the safety where it's easy to access with my trigger finger. There are so many different styles of barrels available you can turn it into almost anything.

My second choice is an Ithaca 37. This is a late-comer, and I didn't get it until my duck hunting days were mostly over. Slick to feed, slick to function, safety's where it should be. My only real complaint is on mine, made in 1946 or 47, the barrels aren't interchangeable.
 
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