The Best Pump Action Shotgun In The World
- Thread starter 870P
- Start date
People ##### and whine about the mossberg not having a steel receiver yet I've never heard of anyone who ever had a situation when it failed where a steel receiver wouldn't have.
It's a made up problem.
I think I have one of those somewhere in a safe. I vaguely remember that they were manufactured without serial numbers on them, if I'm correct
I have several Mossbergs and Remingtons. What you say is 100% true, there's nothing wrong with the Mossberg receivers material from a resilience perspective. It's plenty strong, but it is aluminum which is not preferable in my humble opinion, at least not preferable to steel.
Steel takes bluing, the Wingmaster receiver and barrels are the same finish which looks better. The steel receiver on the Wingmaster is thinner and finished (dehorned) better than the Mossberg. While I haven't cut myself, when loading a Mossberg it does feel like "sticking your thumb in a box of razor blades". A common, and I believe valid, criticism of Mossberg receivers.
Of the two, the Wingmaster is preferable which isn't to say the other is deficient...just not as good.
I agree mossbergs are usually a bit more rough and very utilitarian but materials and finishing aside I think the design is better.
For me the ideal shotgun would probably be a 500 series but finished with the same care and attention as a wingmaster.
In my opinion that would be the Remington model 31, the ball bearing action. Slickest pump ever but very expensive to manufacture with too much hand fitting. That's why it was replaced by the 870. The feeding system of the Mossberg 500 is pretty much copied directly from the Remington 31 as well as the 31 lightweight pump had an aluminum receiver same as the Mossberg. Not struck on the Winchester model 12, owned a few. The Ithaca 37 is fantastic as is the Winchester 97..
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