IMightBeWrong
New member
***To avoid the wall of text, scroll down to the bottom paragraph. Read all if you want to know the whole story.***
I've been rolling around the idea of picking up another home defense style shotgun lately. I picked up a Remington 870 about a year ago with a friend of mine who bought a similar model at the same time. We had both read nothing but good things about them and were both in the market for a home defense style platform, so we bit the bullet. Both of us also ended up having nothing but problems with them. Both guns would get jammed up every few rounds. The weapon would discharge and the pump wouldn't budge afterward. We both had to hold the pump and smack the buttstock on the ground fairly hard to get them to cycle.
He did some reading on the issue and said a common fix for the problem was to polish up the action and offered to do it on mine when he polished his. He spent hours polishing them both up and the actions were as smooth as anything I'd ever felt when he was all done. Felt fantastic and we were sure the problem had been fixed. But it wasn't, they still had the issue after putting rounds through them.
To top things off, my particular shotgun also had magazine issues. It would hold 5+1, but for some reason the magazine would get to 4 and then not let me add the last round. So I cycle out all the shells and reload and it would take all 5. And then it would do the same thing again every few times I loaded it up. Made sure the magazine tube was clean. It was. Still had the same issue. And the issues didn't stop there, both of us also had regular failures to eject. In the long run, neither of us were satisfied at all.
He went out of his way to swap out part after part to get his running reliably which took him about a month and a couple hundred dollars he shouldn't have needed to spend. Then he sold it at a loss. I had another friend looking to buy a shotgun to play around with and customize, so I sold him my 870 at a huge loss. He got it running after some pretty serious work and customizing and then ended up selling it off again as well.
So as you guys can plainly see, I've had a pretty bad experience with the 870 line in spite of it's awesome reputation. I guess a year or two ago their quality slipped.
I've been considering another shotgun lately, though. Since then I had a bad taste in my mouth from shotguns, but I'm finally getting the bug again. I thought "hell, I'll just get a Mossberg 500. They're supposedly the best alternative in the price range". So I've been out fondling them and comparing their features to the Remington. The problem, though, is that they just don't feel as nice. I actually love the lighter weight from the alloy receiver and I sort of like the location of the safety as well. But the action feels rough to me compared to the Remington and the finish looks cheaper as well.
***To put things in a nutshell: I had a HORRIBLE experience with the 870 in the past, but I'm not sure I'm crazy about the Mossberg either. I've looked at other options, but I still feel these two are at the top of their price range for a pump action home defense style shotgun. Should I give Remington another chance? Have they gotten their shizzle together? Or should I give them the hoss and grab a Mossberg?***
I've been rolling around the idea of picking up another home defense style shotgun lately. I picked up a Remington 870 about a year ago with a friend of mine who bought a similar model at the same time. We had both read nothing but good things about them and were both in the market for a home defense style platform, so we bit the bullet. Both of us also ended up having nothing but problems with them. Both guns would get jammed up every few rounds. The weapon would discharge and the pump wouldn't budge afterward. We both had to hold the pump and smack the buttstock on the ground fairly hard to get them to cycle.
He did some reading on the issue and said a common fix for the problem was to polish up the action and offered to do it on mine when he polished his. He spent hours polishing them both up and the actions were as smooth as anything I'd ever felt when he was all done. Felt fantastic and we were sure the problem had been fixed. But it wasn't, they still had the issue after putting rounds through them.
To top things off, my particular shotgun also had magazine issues. It would hold 5+1, but for some reason the magazine would get to 4 and then not let me add the last round. So I cycle out all the shells and reload and it would take all 5. And then it would do the same thing again every few times I loaded it up. Made sure the magazine tube was clean. It was. Still had the same issue. And the issues didn't stop there, both of us also had regular failures to eject. In the long run, neither of us were satisfied at all.
He went out of his way to swap out part after part to get his running reliably which took him about a month and a couple hundred dollars he shouldn't have needed to spend. Then he sold it at a loss. I had another friend looking to buy a shotgun to play around with and customize, so I sold him my 870 at a huge loss. He got it running after some pretty serious work and customizing and then ended up selling it off again as well.
So as you guys can plainly see, I've had a pretty bad experience with the 870 line in spite of it's awesome reputation. I guess a year or two ago their quality slipped.
I've been considering another shotgun lately, though. Since then I had a bad taste in my mouth from shotguns, but I'm finally getting the bug again. I thought "hell, I'll just get a Mossberg 500. They're supposedly the best alternative in the price range". So I've been out fondling them and comparing their features to the Remington. The problem, though, is that they just don't feel as nice. I actually love the lighter weight from the alloy receiver and I sort of like the location of the safety as well. But the action feels rough to me compared to the Remington and the finish looks cheaper as well.
***To put things in a nutshell: I had a HORRIBLE experience with the 870 in the past, but I'm not sure I'm crazy about the Mossberg either. I've looked at other options, but I still feel these two are at the top of their price range for a pump action home defense style shotgun. Should I give Remington another chance? Have they gotten their shizzle together? Or should I give them the hoss and grab a Mossberg?***
