Help choosing a shotgun

[BigGoonTuna]

not a lot of "nice" pumps still offered besides the 870 wingmaster, ithaca 37, and browning BPS these days.  the only ones still made in the US are the 870, 37 and mossberg 500/535/835.

[WoodlandShooter]

Rem 870!!

and get the slug barrel !!!

got my last deer with mine!!!

[Bookworm007]

Can you change barrels on an 870 without having the headspacing addressed by a gunsmith?

[Bofire]

YES

[bobcat]

Switching barrels takes all of 30 seconds.

[Bullkllr]

i'm very fond of older 870 wingmasters, especially the ones made in the late 70s-early '80s.  they can be had very cheaply, the only drawback is that most have fixed barrels.  however, they are steel shot safe, something that you can't say about a model 12.  if you look around you can find screw in choke barrels, since most have been that way since the late '80s.

The price on nice older Wingmasters seems to be going up. I was rather shocked when I looked at a few a year or so ago. But I'd still get another one in a heartbeat.

not a lot of "nice" pumps still offered besides the 870 wingmaster, ithaca 37, and browning BPS these days.  the only ones still made in the US are the 870, 37 and mossberg 500/535/835.

Didn't they recently bring back the 37? Always liked those guns. BPS seems clunky in comparison.

[Bookworm007]

Well i searched and searched the gun show, but couldn't find anything that I had to walk out the door with. All the guns were either in too poor of condition to warrant the price or new guns that I could get a better deal on at bimart  Going to do one last sweep of local classifieds and gun stores. If nothing wins me over I will be bringing home a Weatherby PA-08. It fits me well, is the right price and come nicely optioned. I tried out the 870, it just didn't fit right. My dad did pull the trigger on an old winchester model 52 target rifle. Same kind he used on his high school target shooting team so that will be fun to play with! 

[Sportfury]

870's are nice because they're so easy to take completely apart to clean. That is needed more often if you hunt ducks with it. If not, it's not really a big issue.

The Browning BPS pretty much requires a gunsmith for a complete cleaning.

I like the Ithaca 37's, nice and light, good chukar/pheasant gun.

True that. My BPS is okay to take apart, but if you don't follow exactly how you took it apart when putting it together then it is going to suck for you. I found that out the first time and three hours later of trying and trying to get everything perfect.

[Jekemi]

Well I don't know how much you have to spend but there is a great review of the new Benelli Ethos in Shooting Times. I recommend you take a look at the article and the gun before you make a decision. I had a chance to hold one in my hands this week.  Beautiful AA Walnut, superb fit and finish, inertial drive, low recoil due to some amazing energy absorbing technology in the butt stock, fast cycling and silky smooth loading. The gun shoots thousands of rounds consecutively, of any size and load without failure. Cleaning is a breeze (very few moving parts). The SRP is $1,500 but the field tests predict this gun will last a lifetime. This will be the next shotgun I own and probably the last. It's the "all in one" gun.

[swalker]

Remington 870 wingmaster. You can get the extra barells for what ever you are hunting. The wingmaster is much smoother than the express.