by The Outdoor Channel’s Gun Stories returns to discuss the Remington 870 pump shotgun. It is the best selling shotgun in history with over 10 million sold.
In the battle over which modern pump shotgun is better, I am torn between the 870 and the Mossberg 500/590. With its twin rails, the 870 is smoother and probably more reliable. However, I find the tang safety on the Mossberg more user friendly. My first shotgun, a 12-gauge full choked shotgun made by Savage for a hardware chain, had the tang safety and it could be I just got used to that.
UPDATE: I can’t get the embedded video to play and I’m working on that.
You may not care to consider politics in your gun selection, but my mind was made up by the special edition Mossberg 500 commemorating fallen DEA agents.
That little episode of poor taste wouldn't be enough to make me shun a clearly superior firearm, but when Remington offers a nearly identical shotgun, I'm inclined to go with the folks who don't glorify militarized government agencies.
My first shotgun, a 12-gauge full choked shotgun made by Savage for a hardware chain, had the tang safety and it could be I just got used to that.
You may have a point. My first was an 870 so it's "perfect" for me, but I have absolutely no trouble using a tang safety; I would suspect it's ergonomically superior. Also ambidextrous, which is very important to my left handed father and therefore not long after that I got exposed to tang and other safeties (e.g. the Garand style inside the trigger guard, which was a least minimally popular in the civilian market in the '50s).
The Ithaca Model 37 and Browning BPS both have bottom ejection which should suit lefties well. The BPS also has a tang safety.
I've been looking for the segment on this Outdoor Channel episode where Ted Nugent talks about the man who, while calling police on 911, told them something like "I'm gonna have to stop them", racked his 870 and hung up. I'm looking for that man's name so I can google the story details. Anyone know his name? I haven't been able to find the full show online.
Nevermind, just found out it's Joe Horn from Texas.
I think that infographic which shows differences between Remington 870 and Mossberg 500 will be interesting for you.