If you can try and find a range that lets you rent guns. Then you can get a feel for them before you make a decision.
I like tang safeties and the Mossberg 500 works great for me. I had the standard plastic safety and upgraded to one with a spur on it which was easier to trip on cold days wearing gloves.
Here's the safety I got but I paid a lot less for it.
http://www.brownells.com/shotgun-par...426-53906.aspx
The 500 has been around for 50 years now and is a great gun and if you look hard enough and aren't in a hurry they can pop up for as low as $120. Some are branded with other names like Coast to Coast but still the same.
Obviously the Rem 870 is also a great gun and has been around for 60 years. I don't like the safety but both of these guns have been used by the military and police so they stand up to what you throw at them. And they make a lot of extra stuff for them so they're totally customizable.
Oh yeah all you need is a punch or thin stick and you can totally disassemble and clean the mossberg 500 in the field. Sure I can't say enough. It's the first gun I bought new and it has never failed me. Last season I shot 14 pheasants with it and back in the 90's the first 9 shots fired through it killed 9 geese with I believe the modified choke.