Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Which to get?

Going to be hunting ducks and some upland this fall/winter. The duck hunting is going to be wet and muddy, so, I'm thinking about synthetic stocks. I'm looking at a Benelli Nova, Mossburg 500, and Winchester 1300. The Winchester is the cheapest and I can get plastic stocks for it without breaking the bank. The mossburg has camo'd plastic already. All have tubes and shoot at least 3", the nova can do 3.5". They are all within $80 of each other. Which one to get?

I have had a Benelli Nova now for about 8 years and it is tough as nails, and very easy to break down and clean. It also swings well and is comes with interchangeable choke tubes. I like it much better than the Winchester 1300, which is a bit of a bear to take-down.

The Remington 887 is in that price range and many say its indestructible, I cant personally say though.

Many say it's not too good:

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=225049

Buy the one that fits you the best. Shoot em if you can too, but with scatter guns its all about fit.

Rather shoot a 100 dollar beater that fit me right than a 5000 dollar K-gun that did not.

Of your choices, I have experience with the Mossberg and Winchester. Both are actually pretty good at what they do, and are pretty much interchangeable in my mind.

No experience here with the Benelli. I'm no fan of their semi-autos, but have tended to think (at least in my mind) that the Nova is probably a pretty good design.

However, over any of them, I always fall back on the tried and true Rem 870.

Also, FWIW, I hunted ducks for many a year with a walnut stocked 870. It never hurt it. Dry it at the end of the day, show it some decent care, and they work fine. Yes, I have a synthetic 870 as well, but never felt too bad about taking the old walnut stocked Wingmaster out duck hunting.

I used to shoot in an informal trap league. One of the steady top finishers was a guy shooting an OLD patina'd Model 12 with duct tape built up on the comb. No rib at all, nothing "trap" about it. And he regularly ran with, or beat, the dedicated trap guns. Those that knew him respected him. Those that didn't lost a fair number of side bets.

It was fun to watch!

There's an old saying about 'beware the man that shoots but one gun - for he most likely shoots it very well'..

They will all work. I like the feel of both the Mossberg and Winchester better than the Nova. But, if I was doing wet and muddy on a regular basis, I'd probably pick the Benelli. It's already so ugly that no amount of mud will hurt it's appearance, and they seem to actually like being wet and dirty.

Check out Stoeger. You can get a 3" semi, it uses the Benelli Inertia Drive. Its the same as a Benelli at a third the price. Or you can check out the P350 pump.

http://www.stoegerindustries.com/firearms/stoeger_model_2000.php

http://www.stoegerindustries.com/firearms/stoeger_p350_pump.php

AndyG has a point. For the price the Stoeger 2000 in either blue/walnut or synthetic is an option if you want to consider a semi-auto. I am on my second 2000 after my buddy pestered me so bad to buy the synthetic 12g I had after I let him use it. Bought another 2000 in blue/walnut a couple months later, it works just fine, low maintenance, decent wood, and recoil is fairly tame.

Even with that said, I would go with the Winchester pump over the mossberg and NOVA. Sold my NOVA, recoil was brutal, even with recoil weight installed in the stock, it left you with bruises using trap loads.

My personal favorite is a Remington Wingmaster magnum (3" chamber) with a fixed full choke barrel. Tough as nails, nice weight, dependable, and they pattern very well.

I have a used a 1970 era Mossberg 500 that worked in brutal conditions for ducks. I have used a Winchester 1300 on doves that worked well too. The Winchester made me look better than I deserved as a shooter. The Benelli seems clumsy to me. I am sure is is a descent gun but it seems like a boat anchor in my hands.

The old Winchester 1200 is a stout option for a great price.
There are always a bunch on Gbroker for $200 or so. Just saw a few in a Virginia shop in great condition, no vent rib, fixed choke barrels.