Remington 870 vs. Mossburg 500

[noslorob]

I have an 870 w/ Knoxx stock on it, and it does work well. I like it, but I'm not sure if it actually decreases felt recoil by as much as they advertise. I remember feeling a difference from shooting with the wooden stock and then changing to the Knoxx. But then I didn't use it for a while and took it to a shotgun course, damn thing still hurts your shoulder. But it looks cool.

[mactastic]

Well this Fella has to say the same. Both are excellent shotguns.

And in my opinion it comes down to which you prefer, the mossberg in my case. And that is only due to the location of the safety and breach release.

[Packman73]

I've got a bunch of Mossbergs running around.
I'd prefer to have 870Ps.
Educate me.

How would you like to be educated?
Would you like me to say how durable my Mossbergs have been? How I've never had a failure with either of the two I currently own (one of which is 20 years old)? Or would you like me to tell you that the 870 is so much better?

[Rob96]

I prefer the location of the controls on the Mossy. For me the Mossy also swings onto target better. For me the balance is better.

[StoneWall]

I love my 870, when shooting both I think the 870 feels so much better.

[DM-SC]

I like the Mossberg safety when using a standard stock. It becomes difficult to use when you go with a pistol grip/stock (not just a pistol grip).

Over all, I prefer (and own) a 870.

[austinN4]

As a newb here I freely admitted I know almost nothing about ARs and am leaning a lot from you guys. Thank you.

But shotguns, now that is something I know a little more about. The Remington vs Mossberg great debate will go on forever, just like Chevy vs Ford. Over in the Tactical section of Shotgun World where I have mainly posted so far, this debate comes up very couple of weeks and most of the time most of the posters who favor one or the other have only owned and shot one or the other. Brand loyalty, plain and simple.

I own and shoot a 20" Mossberg M590A1 (yes, the one with the heavy-walled barrel), an 18" Remington 870 and an 18" Winchester 1300 and like all three. IMO they all work just fine and do what they are supposed to, albeit with some differences in operation, mainly the location of the safety and slide release.

Yes, the action of an 870P (not Express) is smoother out of the box, but they all smooth out the more you use them. BTW, there is very little difference between the Express and 870P. They use the same receiver and action but the 870P is built with a handful of "stronger" parts that you can retrofit to an Express if you want to. And the 870P is built in a "special" area and some parts are more polished. They also get inspected more, too. And they are finished differently. That's about it. But you do get a huge price difference.

YMMV, but I prefer the location of the safety and slide release on the Mossberg as I find them easier to operate. And, I find the 590 easier to reload under stress as the shell lifter isn't in the way when the bolt is closed on a round in the chamber. Just my opinion and worth what you paid for it.

[Dave L.]

870...America's Pump. I'm a lefty and I choose reliability over placement of controls any day + you can flip the safety button around if it really means that much.

[austinN4]

870...America's Pump. I'm a lefty and I choose reliability over placement of controls any day + you can flip the safety button around if it really means that much.

I am a righty and I still like the Mossy safety better. Are you saying a Mossberg is unreliable? I certainly have not found that to be the case with my M590A1.

[Dave L.]

I am a righty and I still like the Mossy safety better. Are you saying a Mossberg is unreliable? I certainly have not found that to be the case with my M590A1.

No, I actually like the Mossy safety placement...but that alone wouldn't make me switch. I do however think that less 870's have turned out to be lemons. Our armory (USMC) had a pile of mossy pumps that wouldn't take the same abuse as our M870's and M1014's.