99% of my experience is with Remington, but I've had enough exposure to Mossbergs to see the merit in those. My main "fun" gun is an 870P, and as much as I like it...I feel it's overpriced for what it is. Maybe I'm just cheap.

I pretty much never run 3" (or more) through it, so I might have been better-served by an old Wingmaster with a rifle-sight barrel. The parkerized finish is slick though.
I inherited a 16ga. model 37 last year and that gun has been an eye-opener. Light, fast handling, shoulders/points extremely well. I blame the cost of the shells for not using it much..but part of the reason is actually being afraid of liking it more than my 870s. lol If/when I find some free time this fall...it will be my go-to grouse gun.
Mossbergs~I got a chance to use a model 500 recently, a full mag-tube version...looked like a parkerized finish but maybe just satin blued? (does anyone here know?) Anyhow, the fellow who owns it used to have a 590 but it was too heavy to be enjoyable for him..and after a few hundred rounds, the front sight rattled loose and fell off. (never found it) He FAR prefers the 500 and I was surprised I liked it as much as I did.
I like the 870P and have 3 barrels for it...2 stock sets...2 mag extensions~I can set that thing up for any one of a number of applications. Mostly, it wears it's synthetic butt stock, a grippy black Hogue pump, and a 28" RemChoke barrel from an Express for clays and crows. Fun platform, and 100% feeding/shooting/extracting reliability.
The right answer for the OP is to get both of course.
