This is sort of hard for me. I've shot a Remington 870 since I was 10 years old. I literally grew up on it. When I went to the police academy I was handed a Remington 870P. I have carried an 870 in my patrol car every day I have worked (even if I had an AR or another long gun) and it's typically the first thing I reach for even over a rifle. I own three 870's at the moment. Having said that, the 870 is not perfect and I feel it's time is waning. I want to play with an autoloader for police purposes and after verifying that it works the way I want I'll make a push to be able to carry it at work.
Some things I've learned over the years about shotgun personal preference:
- I hate ghost rings sights. I prefer a bead or better yet, a ribbed barrel with a bead or fiberoptic front.
- I can make the rifle sights work if they're setup "express" style.
- I hate pistol grip shotgun stocks. I'm ok with the MagPul stocks. I'm quite tall and long LOP doesn't bother me even with armor.
- I don't want extra crap attached to the gun. I ditched side saddles long ago.
- The only "need" accessories for me are:
a) A V-Tac sing
b) A Surefire Scout Light mounted close enough to the foregrip I can actuate it with my left thumb (I'm right handed)
- Reliability matters over everything including recoil reduction (should be a given)
- I don't clean my shotguns nearly as often as I clean my pistol or as often as I should (not sure why, but at least I admit it)
We have a few Benelli M4's at work. They're nice guns, but they're heavy and like I said, I don't care for pistol grip stocks or ghost ring sights.
I think I've narrowed down my choices to the following:
Benelli M2 21" barrel with Comfort-Grip Stock (SKU: 11026) Retails for around $1299
or
Beretta 1301 Comp 21" (SKU: J131C11N) Retails for around $1199
For whatever reason, I'm leaning towards the Benelli.
I have a Beretta 390 Trap and it's ok, but I prefer my 870 Trap and I think subconsciously it's because I don't care to clean the Beretta (as dumb as that sounds).
So what say the PF'ers that have experience with both?
Which one should I go with?
How should I mount the two things I need? (Light and sling) I'm guessing I'll need to add a Nordic or MOA precision tube and clamp to either anyway.