Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Best pump ever made ??

Tried and true Model 12 or 870 ?.. Ithica 37 or BPS ?..Maybe the (?) LET THE OPIONATED have the floor !!! (yes i'm bored)

Mossberg 500

really, the old mossie 500. It has kept that company going more than any other, so I guess that is for longevity.

I too love the model 12 and the 37

The 870 for most sales, i would think

Remington 870. Easy as that. I trust my life on it at work, and I use it to kill coyotes, bobcat and fox all the time. Trust my life on a 870.

If the ones I've used - Remington Model 31. 870, Nova, Nobel and M 12 were my comparisons. I'll stick with the 31.

Ithaca 37

I'd like to own one of all models mentioned....I like pump shotguns! But the one I own is an 870....Wingmaster.

+1 for the 870 wingmasters

Winchester model 12-----easily.

12s are nice....never owned one, but always admired them.

I currently own a couple 870's (and have had another half dozen easily), an old Model 12 trap gun (and had probably three or four others), and a couple Ithaca 37 Deerslayers.

I've killed a truckload of deer with a Deerslayer (I'm *very* comfortable in the deer woods with one in my hands), missed a bunch of clay targets with the Model 12 ( ), and have hunted everything from rabbits to doves to geese and turkeys with an 870 (along with some clays tossed in for fun).

Of all of them, if I could only keep one, it would have to be an 870.

The others are solid reliable guns that do everything that they're supposed to, and have never not functioned as intended for me, but as an all-around do-everything package, I'd have to put my money on the 870.

As Casey said about trusting his life to an 870... I too used one now and then in an "official" capacity, for about 10 years. I absolutely cringed the day they told me that we were trading them in for Mossberg 500s. As an armorer and instructor, I got to know both platforms rather well. The Mossberg couldn't hold a candle to the Remington.

I use 870's more, but when you get down to how they're made and what they're made out of the Model 12 wins hands down.

There is nothing that comes close to an Ithaca 37.

Ithaca 37 gets my vote; especially in 20ga.

Win 97, Win 12, Ithaca 37, Mossberg 500/590's or Rem 870, out of those I would pick the 870 hands down!!!

yep

All the previous guns mentioned are O.K. if you live in Arkansas, but the rest of the world is better suited with the Burgess, which predates all of those guns by decades, other than the '97 Winchester, and it still beat that design by a few years...









Death on grouse...

Darned , if I do say.

Still, would it rapid slam-fire like a 97??? Hmmmmm???

I thought not.

I always liked the BPS design, and SKB had a very good pump out for a short while years ago.

Not so fast there, you need to research this gun and find out just how fast it cycled. It was reputed to be semi-auto.

Look up a Burgess folding shotgun, you will be surprised...

I hear that Burgess shotguns are very predominant in the homosexual community.

Really? Chuckle...where'd you hear that?

Nifty shotgun Shrapnel! Can you get MV to write an article on it? Or maybe one yourself?

I like my 37's too, have a newer one in 16 gauge and have had a Sid Bell edition in 20 gauge and a Supreme model in 12, both of which I wish I had back.

I have one of each; Win M12 / 16 ga ; Rem 870 / 12 ga.

the model 12 has been passed around in family for 75 years now,
and looks like it. However... it still always goes bang !

I'm partial to a model 120 magnum, Marlin, myself. Bought it new in 1971.

IMHO. Hands down...Model 12.

Winchester Model 42

The Model 12 Winchester is the gold standard in pump shotguns (I'd also include the Model 42 here also, though they are different, the 42 is a more boutique gun).

My friend Bradford O'Connor will disagree (he's an 870 guy), but I find that none of the Model 12's competition comes close to the Model 12 "feel".

The huge majority of people whose knee-jerk response is the Model 12 have likely never handled a Remington Model 31. Most of those minds would be changed if they shot a 31. All of them would be changed if they disassembled a Model 31 to see how it works. I can't think of another repeating firearm with such an elegantly perfect (perfectly elegant?) design. And it pumps real slick too!

My point was about the failure of the 97, not any failings of the Burgess.

I've seen more than one 97 that slam-fired.

I've always coveted your Burgess.

My late father would agree. I still have his 31 and use it once every season...just because.



1957 Nevada chuckar opener...

Very cool gun, but what I want to know is have you ever caught the web of your hand in the action, and if so how loud did you yell?

870 rules the pump action crowd.

Done that!

870--More than proven, still being made, more aftermarket parts than all others combined and probably more made than all others combined??

Only someone that shot one of these would bring that up, You musta' done that...

Never seen one in the flesh, but I'll take that as a "Yes".

There was a reason they called them the gun with the ball bearing action.

Amazing shotgun.

I borrowed my b-i-l. The first I unloaded it, strait bock into my web of my hand. Never again though!

3 way tie IMO, M-12, 870 and the 31.

Agree that the Model 31 is a jewel, but I still hold by the Model 12. The Winchester just feels better in my hands. Agree that it's too close to call on the mechanics.

I will be found in the 870 camp.
I do like a model 12 but like the 870 better. I also like the 37's but then again not too many shotguns I don't like.

Am enjoying all (well, almost all) of the comments. There is a Model 12, 12 gauge field model, corn shucker forend, at the local gun shop. It makes me drool, and it feels great. But, it is not cheap.

I'm a Wingmaster man. Drooled after one for years, owned two, still have one. But, as I've said, I like pump shotguns. I even like Mossberg 500s....and I know their shortcomings. The fore-end kept breaking loose on the Coast-to-Coast Model 880 (really a 500) I once owned. But it and I shared some fond memories.

Lotsa good pump guns, but my long-time and continuing favorite remains the Winchester Model 12.

Being left handed, I vote for the Ithaca 37 for several reasons. First it is bottom ejection, so the spent case is right in front of me and not in the bushes somewhere to the side. Second, I have never had another shotgun point as well for me as the 37. Third, it is lighter and handier to carry. And fourth, a left hand safety makes it a truly left hand shotgun.

My pumps are:
BPS-12 great gun, solid but a little heavy and bulky.
Ithaca 37-12MAG great gun
Ithaca 37-16 great bird gun light, easy to carry and shoot
Mossberg 500-12 great utility gun
Rem 870-20MAG greta gun in all respects

Ithaca's have tendency to crack where buttstock meets metal.
BPS is my favorite duck blind gun
Mossberg is good for a CHEAPIE gun. Not exactly a cadillac.

Rem 870 IMO is THE all around do anything last forever pump gun.

My safe has a 20 guage 870 youth, an Ithaca 37 20 guage, an Ithaca 37 16 guage, a BPS 20 guage, and my wife's grandpas old High Standard 12 I think it is. Formerly had a pair of 870 12 guages, Express and Wingmaster.

To me, the Ithaca 37 20 guage is the Holy Grail of all day walks. It kills wild Kansas roosters just fine as well.

I have two 870 WingMasters in my safe..12 and 16 ga.Both are in pristine condition, but have been shot quite a bit. I really like them. That being said, if some one was to offer to trade me straight up for Model 12s in same condition, The 870s would be gone. Not because of the monetary value difference, because the Model 12 is the smoothest pump ever made. and the ones I have been lucky enough to handle and shoot have all pointed very naturally for me.I did have a field grade Remington 31 many moons ago that was a joy to shoot. Best pump gun ever?...I'm just happy we have so many to debate over

I agree : Winchester M-12, Ithaca 37, and Remington 870. I used a borrowed 20ga M-12 for a number of years and loved it. I never was able to afford one. I have owned numerous 870s and presently have 2: a 12 ga with English style buttstock, and a Turkey Express with the 21 " barrel. I have a an Ithaca 37 Bicentennial
model with all the bluing gone that I bought 3 decades ago for $60.00. It fits me perfectly. I just wish it had screw in chokes
like the 870. Look up Rudy Etchen (?)not sure of the last name spelling. He set all his records with the same 870. An ungodly number of registered shots all through the same 870. It's a workhorse. It really holds up under MS Delta duckhunting conditions (gumbo mud).

And his daddy led the U.S. Olympic trap team to gold in 1920...shooting a Model 12.

Win. 97 far and away best rabbit and quail gun .

The first one, the one your father/uncle/grandfather gave to you.

Model 31 Remington, then 870, then a model 37 Ithaca, then a model 97 and finally a model 12 and BPS...I owned them all and use each, but that is my order of favorites....

Remington 31,
Win Model 12 finally Ithaca 37 in that order.

Wingmaster or model 12

Model 12, specifically the old 16ga. I think it was on a 20ga frame. Few balance better and that includes some expensive high end shotguns. Reliability is a given.

weatherby pa 08 best pump gun i own and i have a 870 887 and a moss 835

Spot on...mine is a plain Jane 16 w/ 28" modified choke barrel that weighs right at 6 1/2#, perfect chukar gun.

Ithaca 37, by far.

Remington 31, no doubt. The Model 12 feels clunky.

One of these:

Model 12
Ithaca 37
Rem 870

Mossturds suck nuts

Newest Model 12 in the house in 20 Ga. Not the real deal but a Browing repo. If I didn't know I would think it was an original. Had a feeding hiccup, but the brother of a friend who knows Model 12s fixed it. Should be a great Grouse gun.

Construction, 870.

Ergo's, M12.

For life preserving/house gun: modded 870 Wingmaster w/ 18" barrel and mag extension.

For a snappy field gun: Ithaca M37 Featherweight

For nostalgia: the too damn heavy Win M12 and Rem M31

Never used the Win 97 or Burgess so can't have a reliable opinion.

I have a 870 made in the 60's love that gun

37 ala Bottom Eject, Shizzle.

870 > M12, AKA dual action Bar.

M12, anything <, akin 2X4ishisk.

Subjective...

Battue had it right. Model 12 in 16 gauge. I have owned Remington 870's, Ithaca, and Browning. I would go with the Winchester, but any of them will work OK.

Ithaca model 37.

I'll echo a couple prior comments and vote for the one my granddad gave me...a 16 ga Model 12. It does swing and mount for me really well. Seems to shoot itself. And there's something poetic about a one ounce load in a 16 ga barrel.

Browning BPS's are pretty good guns for the money. Idk about best of all time.