9mm,
Mossberg/cheap is a great example of an oxymoron
. Not being sarcastic but that's a fact. Now one might say they prefer the 870 over the 500 because they believe it's better quality but it would not logically conclude, by doing so, that the 870 was chosen because the 500 was "cheap" (IMO).
I have Remington Semis so I am a big-time Remington fan--Yet I have the 500 as well as a Maverick 88 (with over 3K fired for trap) and my Mossy's are great guns.