Thanks for the info so far. I'm going to let this run for a few days but talked to grandson and will add a bit. I like the 870 features but he is wary of recent era Remingtons. A friend of his bought a Remington pump last year and it doesn't fire sometimes, and a few other times has apparently fired on its own if pumped hard.
The Benelli Nova is a new one to me and I like it. I assumed that all Benelli's were a lot more expensive. Will also check out the Mossberg 500. I recommended a synthetic stock to him. He lives near salt water on the Olympic Peninsula, wettest place in the lower 48.
