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REM 870 or Moss 500?????

OLDCOP
Age old argument...which is the better gun for home defense and general use, the Remington 870 or the Mossberg 500? We'd be interested in any anecdotes or opinions. Thanks!
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Comments

15 comments

Date Votes
  • iwannausername
    Military chose the 590, which is just a 500 with longer mag tube.

    I have a 500 I got in the mid 80s, have shot the tar out of it, still going good.
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  • pietro75
    I have a 500 that belonged to my Grandfather it is stamped Sears &Roebuck CO. the pump is so smooth from all the years of service. Still operates flawlessly.

    I enjoy the 870 also. I guess I am no help in this topic
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  • tsr1965
    The Remington 870...hands down is the pump action of choice. The Mossy's used to be decent, but their quality has gone substandard in the last 10 years or so.
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  • Mobuck
    The main reason the government chose Mossburg was cost. Remember before that it was Stevens (not my first choice for anything).
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  • Mossbergboogie
    quote:Originally posted by tsr1965
    The Remington 870...hands down is the pump action of choice. The Mossy's used to be decent, but their quality has gone substandard in the last 10 years or so.


    I would say that is the the 870 and the 500 remains unchanged. Even so the choice is based on the user not on a bunch of biased people. I for one am biased towards the 500 which might not work for you.
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  • Horse Plains Drifter
    I have a Mossberg 500, but if I hadn't got it on a real good sale, I would have got a Remington. The Mossberg is fine except the reciever is aluminum while the Remington is steel.
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  • Nwcid
    I prefer the 500. My buddy got a 835 and 2 of his buddies got 870 (turkey guns). His buddies like the 835 better.

    IF you are ever planning on putting a pistol grip the 500 is not a good choice since the safety is on the top of the gun.
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  • partisan
    Both will do the job, but I would go with the 870. I realize the military chose the Mossburg, but remember, they also chose the 9mm!
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  • bama55
    Remember, military goes with low-bid contracts.
    I have used both. My opinion, I like the 870 better. Especially if you can get an older Wingmaster.
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  • beantownshootah
    Both are fine.

    The fact that the military chose the Mossberg certainly doesn't necessarily make it a BAD gun; to the contrary, the extensive testing done by the military probably means the gun is at least reasonably good. The only consideration is that it might not be the BEST gun.

    For Partisan, the reason our military went with the 9mm in the early 1980s was to standardize with the rest of NATO. The guns themselves were still put through some pretty rigorous testing before the Beretta was chosen. The *GUN* is pretty good, even if the 9mm round itself isn't optimal with ball ammo.

    I also understand that the US military (or at least the Marines) are using a Benelli designed Semi-automatic shotgun now.

    Getting back to the question, I think the Remington is the better gun overall, though probably 95% of shooters are never going to put enough shells through their nominal home defense gun to wear out a Mossberg or even notice the difference.

    If I *knew* I were going to be putting thousands of shells through it, I'd pick the Remington. Its (supposedly) more durable, and likely has a nicer action.

    On the other hand, if I knew this thing would be sitting in the closet 99% of the time, or banged around in my trunk, and only brought out once in a great while for practice or emergency use, I'd save a few pennies and pick the Mossberg.
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  • hrbie
    870 hands down is the best multi-purpose gun. Just my opinoin. From my experinces it will perform under some of the harshest conditions. On the other hand i have never shot nor owned a 500. But if it was me, id go with the 870.
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  • Jason.22
    I have a mossy 500 and love it. Cant say which is better. I am sure both are good guns so cant go wrong either way[;)]
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  • rdc5
    Had a Mossy-SOLD it and bought a Remmy. Way more after market stuff for the Remmy and way better quality[:D] GET THE 870![;)]
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  • hoosier
    The shop gets about 75 Mossberg 500's in for parts or repair, for every 1 Remington 870.

    Of course there is always the Ithaca Mode 37.
    Got 4 Ithacas from a Police dept wanting to upgrade, they got Mossberg 500's, 5 years later they switched to Remingtons. Told them we didn't want the Mossbergs in trade. Most had, broken safetys, trigerguards broken, action bars twisted.
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  • William81
    I own both...I like the 870 better.
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