which gun

[300rum]

Every (good) American should have at least one 870.

[JJD]

Know someone who owns a Nova. The guy hunts it a handful of times a year, for nearly 10 years. 
I don't know that he has ever done anything but run a patch down the barrel at the end of the season and evey now and again, shoots a blast of Rem-Lube into the action.
It has never jammed, failed to eject or feed.  Thats gotta be the toughest gun out there.

Hunted for years with a guy who had/has a wingmaster.  We kept a nail in the blind to push out the pin to drop the trigger assem down to unjam it.  Happened a least once a season. Kinda got the impression that the ejector never was quite right.  Don't really know what his maintenence habits were either. 
My old Moosberg 500 would only hang up when the ejecting hull would catch some brush on the blind keeping it from leaving the action properly.  Bought it in 1966, mail order from Herters w/$$ I made on my paper route.

[JJB11B]

Remington all the way. Best all around gun on the market IMHO

[Moose4545]

I have an 870 as well and it is a solid gun. Never any problems.

[JJB11B]

I have owned 2 novas. One of the old Model in Max-4HD and then a black Super Nova. I have had a remington 870 since i was about 12. I prefer an 870 any day.

[Bullkllr]

Every (good) American should have at least one 870.

I have a wingmaster that I bought for I think 88$ from the JC Penny at the Tacoma Mall. Yeah, its been awhile...

I really can't imagine a gun performing better under any and all circumstances imaginable than that gun has. I bought my son an Express. Not the same quality, but still decent. My other son has a Mossberg 500 -meh- feels like a cheaper made version of the 870.

The big advantage I would give the 870 over the Nova is the heft/feel/balance is way better in the Remington. And for my money, nothing is really more important in a shotgun than the feel when you're bringing it to your cheek/shoulder.

[Brad Harshman]

I've been abusing my 870 super magnum for the last 5yrs.  Great low budget entry level scatter gun.  You're question is fun to debate about but the reality is just get one and get out and hunt.  You probably wont fall in love with it and you'll always be wishing you could upgrade.  Which is fine, but at least you'll be hunting.   

[CP]

Every (good) American should have at least one 870.

I have a wingmaster that I bought for I think 88$ from the JC Penny at the Tacoma Mall. Yeah, its been awhile...

I really can't imagine a gun performing better under any and all circumstances imaginable than that gun has. I bought my son an Express. Not the same quality, but still decent. My other son has a Mossberg 500 -meh- feels like a cheaper made version of the 870.

The big advantage I would give the 870 over the Nova is the heft/feel/balance is way better in the Remington. And for my money, nothing is really more important in a shotgun than the feel when you're bringing it to your cheek/shoulder.

Nothing is more important except maybe actually working e.g. cycling ammo from the mag to the chamber and extracting spent cases, etc. ----  Reliably

I bought a new 870 express a few years ago and it could be counted on jam up every few rounds.  The spent shell would stick in the chamber and I’d need to find a stick to poke it out with.  Remington’s advice was not to use ammo X, or Y or Z in it.  Funny X, Y & Z works fine in all my other shotguns.

Maybe a got a lemon but when I’m shooting trap and someone in the squad gets a stuck case, almost every time that person is shooting an 870.  The trappers keep a stick handy and they tell me “it’s always an 870 that needs the stick”.

So I was once a “(good) American” but no more and never again.  At least not until Remington corrects their quality issues, polishes their chambers, deburs the edges of their stamped steel parts and puts some pride back in their products.

[CHUCK S]

NOVA!!!  I've got an 870 SuperMag that'll I'll trade for a nova if anyone wants one.  Heck I'll even throw in an extra $100 if it's in good shape??

[h2ofowlr]

I have the nova, super nova, 870 and 870 super mag.  I don't shoot any of them.  I did take some advise that everyone needs to have one.  I just don't shoot them.  I use the SBEII.   

[CP]

NOVA!!!  I've got an 870 SuperMag that'll I'll trade for a nova if anyone wants one.  Heck I'll even throw in an extra $100 if it's in good shape??

Jam much?

[Ben2Cold]

I have a 870 express that I have had for about 20 years the only problems have been about 5 failure to eject and the magazine cap( holds the slide forarm in place) comes loose after about 8-9 shots and in wet weather the stock has swelled so much that it was difficult to work the safety. Got a 870 wing master I can feel the quality difference its a huge difference.  The only thing I don't like about the nova is its a plastic stock, you cant cut it down and the sling attachments are molded in (I have seen two nova's with broken sling attachments). I have been using my SBEII(plastic stock and molded attachments) for 4 years now no issues but I don't abuse it and clean it after every trip.

[hillbilli]

I know there have been a couple people talk bad about the Mossbergs- but Its what i use. I've had 870's, and with the exception of an older 20guage they worked. I have a mossberg now, and its been my main shotgun for 10 years or more. I bought the camo version-and with all the things you expose a duck gun to I'm glad I did. When I was in Iraq in 09 all of our shotguns were mossbergs- both 590's and plain 500 Navy models, when i got there I dont think the guys we relieved knew how to clean them, some of them were pretty filthy, had been through dust storms- and still worked. The mossberg has an aluminum receiver, and is about a pound lighter to carry than an 870. People will talk about this as though it were a bad feature- but like an AR the bolt locks up into the steel barrel extension, not the aluminum reciever. 

[Bmcox86]

Nova!

[oneshotkill]

I got a Benelli Nova when I first started duck hunting 6 years ago and absolutely love it.  I have dropped it in the water, gotten it stuck in the mud, used it as a paddle, etc and have never had an issue with it. 

Last year a friend gave me a Remington 870 Super Mag as payment for work that I did for him.  I haven't had a chance to hunt with it yet but shooting it at the range I haven't had any issues with it yet.  I like how it shoots but because I am so used to my Nova it is still my go to duck gun.  My 2 best friends that I duck hunt with the most both shoot 870s and I have never seen them have any issues and their guns definitely take abuse!

My dad shoots a Mossberg 500 that I picked up for cheap when he decided he wanted to start hunting with me.  He has had it for about 5 years and absolutely loves it.  I have once again never seen it jam on him in all the time I have spent in the field with him.  He has shot both my Nova and 870 and doesn't like how they feel because he is so used to his 500. 

I don't think you can go wrong with any of them but I prefer my Nova primarily just because it is what I am used to.