|
All of the Remington 870's are pump guns / not semi-autos. The 870 is a time tested pump gun / there are inexpensive versions like the express all the way up to the Wingmaster. Mossberg / Browning BPS are competitors - good pump guns as well. My personal preference on a pump gun is the Browning BPS. You get a lot of gun for the money, bottom ejection good for left or right handers, stocks are usually cast neutral (so lefties and right handed shooters ) have no issues. A 28" or 30" barrel is my preference for general hunting and clay target games if you go with a pump gun.
Semi-autos... Browning owns Winchester ( for last 5 years or so ) so the Winchester X3 and the Browning Silver series are virtually identical to my eye. There may be some internal differences that I'm not aware of. I think you'll find them both to be good guns. Remington and Beretta also make good gas guns - and they are competitors with Browning / Winchester. My personal preference in semi-autos is Benelli - the inertia system shoots cleaner than any of the gas guns, it cycles quicker - and if you buy a gun with their comfort tech recoil system in it, I think its a very soft shooting gun. Lots of choices out there - in a semi-auto I like a 28 or 30" barrel.
In general, the lighter the gun, the longer barrel I want on it - ( at least up to 30" ) - so it swings smoother and follows thru a little better. Because of the receiver length on a pump/semi-auto a 28" barrel on either type gun / gives you the same overall length as a 30" barrel on an O/U. A 30" barrel on a semi-auto or pump gives me a little longer sight plane - which also helps me on my follow thru a little / but I'm 6'5" and 290 lbs with fairly long arms. If a 30" barrel feels too long / then go with a 28" barrel.
|