I know this has been discussed 1000's of times and I have searched the forum for answers and have gotten some very useful info. However I am going to buy a new turkey gun and it is between the mossberg 835 turkey and the remington 870 sps turkey. Please comment on your choice. Thank you everyone for your help.
Remington 870 :icon_thumright:
Sit both of them side by side, shoulder the guns, see which one fits best. Both will exceed your expectations with the right shell/choke combo.
Personally I'd get the 835. Mossy quality has been on the rise for years in my opinion. The 835 is over bored and it's easy to get it to pattern. Mossy customer service is GREAT. Remingtons (lately) seem to be lacking the quality they had a few years ago. Some will agree others will disagree. Best of luck in your decision!!! :icon_thumright:
My buddy has the 870sps, I have the 835 Ulti-mag and both of us have JellyHead chokes. His has the .660 and mine has the .665. Both are really great shooters. You couldn't go wrong with either!
Mossberg 835 without a doubt
Thank you everyone for the replys. Just curious people that said 835. What is the reasoning. I am really on the fence. Is it because they pattern better due to over bore. Are the mossberg built as well as remington and have the mossbergs cleaned up their product problems. FYI I am really leaning towards the mossberg. I have held both but shot neither.
JMO, but if I was to buy another shotgun specifically for turkey hunting it would be a Browning BPS. I have a 10 ga. BPS, and as far as the action and smoothness of operation goes, they are hard to beat. The BPS also has the back bored barrel like the Win. SX2 I have, which I have no problems getting good patterns from (check out some of my 3 1/2" #4 Win LB pattern pics in the Pattern section). I know the Browning cost more, but sometimes you get what you pay for.
Back to your original question, I would have to go with the Rem. 870. I have had two 835s (and only kept them for a short time). The 835 seems to have too long of a LOP to suit me and I have always had problems with them wanting to eject shells. Plus, maybe I am a weenie, but the recoil was almost intolerable. When I added the Limbsaver recoil pad the recoil was reduced, but the LOP was made longer. Definitely not something I needed with those guns.
moss 835 overbored great patterns with less effort, and I wouldn't trade my 835 for 3 of those heavy rems who have let their pr and quality fall way off. this is just my opinion :popcorn:
870 here.
I have both! Both are good guns. Both have plenty of options when it comes to choke tubes. But after the last few patterning sessions I'm seriously thinking of dropping back to 3" shells in the 835.
One good point.... an aftermarket limbaver pad for the mossy is a necessity!!! (I have one on my 835 and it's worth EVERY penny) if you shoot 3.5" shells the mossy can pretty tuff on the shoulder...If you're shooting 3" shells not big deal!
I would never purchase another "Express" so out of those 2 i would take the mossberg.
Everyone here knows that I am a Remington man but the "new" Remys especially the Express is JUNK and I mean JUNK; the Old Remingtons are pure art in its purest form; you need to take your time and find either an old Remington 870 wingmaster (70's or 80's) and build you a turkey gun or find an older Special Purpose 870 or 1100 or 1187 and you have a already made Turkey gun;
If you are wanting to buy now, and never thought I say this to anyone, if you have narrowed it down to either Mossberg or Remington, Mossberg 835! whew, that hurts a Remington man of 40 plus years!! but Mossberg is the better between the 2 choices;.......ouch..... :OGturkeyhead:
Gotta have both!
I was a die hard mossberg fan. My go to gun now though is a sps-t supermag. My 835 will always be in the stable though.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
Thank you everyone for your responses. It was a lot of help. Think I am going to go with the moss 835 ulti mag.
You made a good choice, but before you buy look at a BPS...heck of a turkey gun and patterns great.
Remmys seem to get trashed a lot lately, but they are fine guns. I've personally seen more issues with Mossbergs than 870's. Usually stupid little things like sights falling off and such, but both are fine guns and the only thing that should rule one out over the other is how the gun fits you. I recently bought a police Magnum that is the equal of any 870 I have ever owned or shot in the last 50 years. I used both in over 35 years as a cop and would use either if my life depended on it, but now that I am retired, the gun I would grab if I had to protect myself now is that police 870.