The Remington 870

There's a lot of said about the legacy of a gun... Particularly, it's history of reliability. I often look at guns as tools and typically tools get used and beat up. Sure, I can appreciate a beautiful gun (i.e. a mint condition Browning Superposed) but what I appreciate even more is if it shoots every time it's suppose to.

As with just about every purchase I make I like reading reviews and of course doing research on the product. Even more so when it comes to buying a gun. Which to some, particularly those well versed in firearms, would almost think it kind of silly to do so much research in looking into a pump shotgun. If you asked someone familiar in the topic they probably would spout out any of the following for a good entry level shotgun: Mossberg 500, Browning BPS, Benelli Nova and Remington 870.

To me all these are great options as I have shot all of these models of shotgun. As I was in the market for an entry level shotgun for upland bird hunting starting this summer my choice had to based on what's best for me. As for specifications I was looking for they were pretty basic. It had to fit and feel right in my shoulder and I had a budget (I'm getting married in September so I was actually lucky to even have ANY budget to buy a gun).

Well, the Benelli and Browning were both at the top of my budget so I automatically already was leaning away from those choices. Plus, for fit neither shotgun quite felt right resting in my shoulder.

Now, down to 2 choices between the Mossberg 500 & the Remington 870. Both very similarly priced and both very popular models that are time tested. Both felt good in my shoulder but I probably wouldn't have minded a slightly shorter length of pull on both. Both came with 3 chokes and both came in synthetic furniture (other criteria I was looking for).

At this point it was pretty much a coin flip between the two as I really had no particular brand loyalty. The Remington 870 it was...

A big thing I did learn from this experience is finding what works for you. A BIG emphasis on "YOU". For me this choice made sense cost wise and it fit for what I was going to use it for. Another factor I did considered was availability of aftermarket parts thus giving more options to make my choice fit me even better (literally & figuratively).

So, with that said, after all my internal debate I'm pretty happy with my purchase and I can't wait to get some quail...

**UPDATE 6/18/2012** After shooting about 100 rounds trap shot in the new 870 I noticed I periodically had failures to extract. After taking a closer look I found a rather large burr inside my chamber that very well could be the culprit. Apparently, with newer 870 Expresses people have been seeing a few finish issues such as burrs which can obviously cause your shotgun to not function properly. The remedy I've been reading online is polish out the burrs and get it smooth... A little disappointing Remington, a little disappointing...