Shotgun newb

[moooooo]

I am in the market rite now for a shotgun I will be shooting birds mostly pigeons and I also enjoy shooting trap. I would like to keep the price under 450$

I have had my eye on the mossberg 500 , Remington 870 and 887. Any suggestions or advise will be greatly appreciated

[DzBrain]

I personally prefer the benelli nova, which can be found for 450 out the door. Having recently gone through your shotgun pain, I found that it really does not matter. These three, the 500, 870, or nova all have their pluses and minuses. If you could, I would at least handle each to see how it feels to you, but see if you can, shoot them.

The 870 is really light and kicks a lot more. It and the 500 have a lot of aftermarket parts to customize it to your tastes later.

I chose the nova because it felt the best to me and I thought it looked cooler!

At least with the 870, if you get it, check the forums for extractor issues. Aside from that, all of the these guns are reportedly highly reliable. They each have their fan base, so try them out and see what you like!

[royrapoport]

I've got an 870 and two 590s; when I found out to my surprise that my wife's sole exception to "I hate guns" was sporting clays -- coupled with a new shooting group at work that goes sporting clays every other month or thereabouts -- I initially thought I'd retask one of my pumps for clay shooting.

I quickly found out that while using a pump was tolerable for me, my wife hated it (it felt complicated to her), and I didn't like it nearly as much as I liked shooting an over/under (O/U). I didn't know how committed my wife was to the sport, so I didn't want to spend the $1000+ on something nice, like a Citori.

I ended up getting her, for Valentine's Day 2012, a Maverick O/U from Big 5. It was on sale for $329, and is usually $359, I believe.

She's only shot it at 3-4 outings, and loves it a lot. I've taken it out probably about 10 times, and I really enjoy it. Light, extremely pointable, tons of fun.

In the end, of course, it comes down to taste and feel. If you only want to shoot clay and small birds (remember, I've got my 590s and 870 for the more meaty sorts of targets), you owe it to yourself to try shooting an O/U.

-roy

[HKchucksta]

Go to a gun range/store and hold each one, get whichever one feels the best to you.

Try shooting it if it's allowed, but the recoil should be pretty similar across any 12 gauge.

In my opinion, the 887 feels cheaper than the 870 because there's so much plastic on it, the fore grip wiggles a lot, etc. but I'm sure it shoots fine.

[moooooo]

I personally prefer the benelli nova, which can be found for 450 out the door. Having recently gone through your shotgun pain, I found that it really does not matter. These three, the 500, 870, or nova all have their pluses and minuses. If you could, I would at least handle each to see how it feels to you, but see if you can, shoot them.

The 870 is really light and kicks a lot more. It and the 500 have a lot of aftermarket parts to customize it to your tastes later.

I chose the nova because it felt the best to me and I thought it looked cooler!

At least with the 870, if you get it, check the forums for extractor issues. Aside from that, all of the these guns are reportedly highly reliable. They each have their fan base, so try them out and see what you like!

just did some research on the nova and i think i am in love

[NapalmCheese]

I own a Nova, it's my duck gun. The barrel finish generally sucks and I ended up painting it to keep it from rusting while I was hunkered down in the bushes in my local salt marsh.

I own an 870 Express, the finish on it also has issues. Instead of painting it I just coated it with Casey Birchwood Barricade, that seems to keep it nice.

My buddy has a Mossberg 835, I've shot it and been around while he was cleaning it.

I held an 887 in the gun store.

Of the four the 870 feels better to me, I like the thin wrist compared to the Nova, but he Nova points better for me. The Nova is easier to clean than anything else as far as I can tell, though I've never taken apart an 887. The 887 felt bulky and weird and I didn't care for it. The 835 seems bulky as well.