- Thread starter Jarrett M
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I’ve had the misfortune of shooting a Nova a few times and absolutely despised Benelli’s bastardization of classic American pump design. They feel clunky and cheap to me.
Perhaps this is more opinion than performance feedback, but it’s damned hard to be better than a Wingmaster.
Perhaps this is more opinion than performance feedback, but it’s damned hard to be better than a Wingmaster.
Want a Carlson barrel and it's more comfortable
If you're clearing a house or a p-way I might agree. If you're swinging through on a fast moving, small target they kind of suck. Then again, I was born with one in my hand, and if you are new to shot gunning maybe a pistol grip doesn't feel as fucked up as it does to me.
I will however say unequivocally that you will not shoot one iota better with a Carlson barrel than you will with the Benelli or Remington barrel that comes on the gun. I would bet on a hundred pattern boards, with all three side by side, you can't tell the difference.
I will however say unequivocally that you will not shoot one iota better with a Carlson barrel than you will with the Benelli or Remington barrel that comes on the gun. I would bet on a hundred pattern boards, with all three side by side, you can't tell the difference.
I wonder how many people still know to pattern the loads they use or if they buy whatever they find or see in Guns and Ammo. And then, not knowing they have shitty patterns, say the barrel or gun sucks.
For the cost of tungsten I am hesitant to pattern those rounds. Both bismuth and tungsten seem to be a rare product. Hevi has the Bismuth but those aren't as good as Kent from what I can tell. I did find a bunch of Remington Wingmaster HD Tungsten in 3 1/2".
Just buy the super nova. Especially for getting wet and dirty in a duck blind, they're an unbeatable pump. 870s are great, but you won't have to worry about corrosion or anything else with a nova. Same can't be said about a new or old 870. I've got both and shoot the nova better. The slide going back over the action is nice too for smaller people, kids, or short arms. Gives you more room to be comfortable.
I'd say their bastardization of the classic american pump is more of small improvements, but maybe that's just me.
Don't bother changing the barrel.
I'd say their bastardization of the classic american pump is more of small improvements, but maybe that's just me.
Don't bother changing the barrel.
870 super mag gets my vote. I shot an express magnum for years before I moved on to berretta and eventually benelli autoloaders.
My duck hunting partner always shot a mossberg. First a 500 then an 835 and then a maverick88. He eventually went to benelli as well. After a brief stint with stoeger.
In the salt marsh conditions on the gulf coast where we hunted he often times had trouble with extracting spent hulls in his mossbergs. Shells would rust, the chamber would get cruddy and then he was digging at it with his pocket knife.
I had some hulls stick in my 870 also but I would just grab the fore end with both hands and mortar it and I was back in business. One time it ripped a chunk out of the rim on the case and that sucked but I got it out.
I saw more than one 835 have misfire troubles. You could half pump it to cock it again then it might go off it might not. There's an 835 in the bottom of live oak bayou because of it lol.
My duck hunting partner always shot a mossberg. First a 500 then an 835 and then a maverick88. He eventually went to benelli as well. After a brief stint with stoeger.
In the salt marsh conditions on the gulf coast where we hunted he often times had trouble with extracting spent hulls in his mossbergs. Shells would rust, the chamber would get cruddy and then he was digging at it with his pocket knife.
I had some hulls stick in my 870 also but I would just grab the fore end with both hands and mortar it and I was back in business. One time it ripped a chunk out of the rim on the case and that sucked but I got it out.
I saw more than one 835 have misfire troubles. You could half pump it to cock it again then it might go off it might not. There's an 835 in the bottom of live oak bayou because of it lol.
I have a 20ga Nova that I use for pheasants, quail, doves, ducks. As a utilitarian piece it's a good gun, very light and I dont worry about beating it up moving through brush like my O/U guns. The 12ga I am less of a fan of since it is not nearly as light as the 20, but they work just as well, just will more pellets/oomph.
Changing out the stock and barrel seems like extra money for negligible benefit, IMO.
Changing out the stock and barrel seems like extra money for negligible benefit, IMO.
^This. The old 870 Wingmasters are smooth as glass, OEM quality parts are easy to locate and economically priced if you ever have a problem, and they’re usually very attractive guns to boot (deep bluing and great wood). The older 870’s usually weren’t threaded for chokes, so make sure you check what choke barrel it is by marking. Full seems to be the most common choked barrels I see.
My buddy has a Nova pump. Feels cheap, and the action is the roughest I’ve ever felt on a pump shotgun. He likes it, but I think it’s very uncomfortable to run.
As stated above, you’ll get no benefit from an aftermarket barrel.
In reference to a pistol grip, it’s sounding like you might not have much experience with shotguns.
Don’t, for anything but a turkey gun.
Great for fast pointing, terrible for wing-shooting.
You won't be able to shoot steel through an old fixed full choke barrel. My dad called Remington the other day and they said not to shoot anything bigger than 4s through his fixed mod (I think it's a mod). You're giving up a lot of utility to get a nice blueing job and a 30 year old gun.
The action on my nova will eject a shell if I hold it vertical and hit the slide release. No pumping required. It is super smooth. I have probably 5000 rounds on it though.
Any pump you get now is going to feel cheap. That's why they are all $400. An old 870 is great for what it is, but not for a new duck/goose beater pump.
The action on my nova will eject a shell if I hold it vertical and hit the slide release. No pumping required. It is super smooth. I have probably 5000 rounds on it though.
Any pump you get now is going to feel cheap. That's why they are all $400. An old 870 is great for what it is, but not for a new duck/goose beater pump.
I had some extraction issues with my Mossy a while back, using 3" shells, which was max for the gun. I narrowed it down to the shell - it was Peters brand and it was just a tad longer than any other brand I had before. When I went to extract it would hang in the chamber and also wouldn't load from the mag, making it a single shot. The end of the hull as a result of the extra length was also going too far into the barrel and causing all sorts of the issues described. After I changed back to other ammo everything was fine, no feed issues. Those shells worked fine in 3.5" chambers obviously, but not in 3" as advertised. Don't know how common that problem is, but it can be damned irritating when the shots need to count.
I've had a Benelli nova since 2005 and that gun has well over 5000 waterfowl loads through it. I love it and have abused the fuck out of it to wear at sometimes I would pick it up out of the water dump the water out of the chamber and shot it within 2 or 3 seconds its always ran for me and has always been smooth. I did pick up a Benelli SBE2 in 2010 and have used that mostly for any cleaner hunts but if I'm going to be in the mud or water really bad ill take the nova. Also whenever I've barrowed 870 from people or had someone hunting with one it seams like they always get shells stuck in the chamber and the only way to get them out is to slam the gun on the buttstock and run the pump with the force but these have all been newer 870's so I always avoid them.
The newer bismuth should be good in the older shotguns and get you better than steel performance (still not as good as lead or tungsten).
like some others have said...nova
they may not feel the nicest but its water fowl not trap and skeet
ive had one for around 20 years
i beat the piss out of it, and it runs perfect
i mean toss it around, havnt cleaned it in a few years but it just runs
they may not feel the nicest but its water fowl not trap and skeet
ive had one for around 20 years
i beat the piss out of it, and it runs perfect
i mean toss it around, havnt cleaned it in a few years but it just runs
There is zero reason to buy a pump.
A quality gas semi is lighter, more reliable, has less recoil and much faster follow up shots.
And before some bevis goes "Muh pump ez more reliablez", its the user not the weapon. The vast majority of shooters are more likely to shortstroke than a quality gas system will choke.
Pump shotguns are pretty much pointless today. Any of the ones worth a shit (remington and mossberg suck ass, nova is a piece of shit and winchester is turkish garbage) such as the BPS, will cost as much as a good used semi or new A300. I have 2 old wingmasters in addition to the half a dozen 870s i owned over the years. They never get shot for a reason.
A quality gas semi is lighter, more reliable, has less recoil and much faster follow up shots.
And before some bevis goes "Muh pump ez more reliablez", its the user not the weapon. The vast majority of shooters are more likely to shortstroke than a quality gas system will choke.
Pump shotguns are pretty much pointless today. Any of the ones worth a shit (remington and mossberg suck ass, nova is a piece of shit and winchester is turkish garbage) such as the BPS, will cost as much as a good used semi or new A300. I have 2 old wingmasters in addition to the half a dozen 870s i owned over the years. They never get shot for a reason.
Obviously you are not a waterfowl hunter. This very morning at o’darkthirty I was doing a wade and shoot, and breaking inch thick ice using the recoil pad of my Citori to create open water. I should not have brought it. I should have brought a pump, but I thought we were going to be in a blind. Several times the whole stock went under. It could have frozen the trigger assembly of my gun (but it didn’t). It would have frozen up an automatic, and there would have been nothing you could do. A pump, on the other hand, you can muscle your way through ice and frost and make it fire. They’re just a tougher action and will take way more mud and ice than an auto.
Don’t get me wrong, they‘re superior as you state, but for some things you can’t beat a pump, so as usual it depends on what you’re doing.
Don’t get me wrong, they‘re superior as you state, but for some things you can’t beat a pump, so as usual it depends on what you’re doing.
This is fucking hilarious considering I live in the Waterfowl Capital of the US, grew up killing ducks like it was cool, and even had a decoy carving class in highschool.
We hunt alot of sea ducks and its cold as fuck with heavy chop in brackish waters.
The Citori is a clunky, bulky piece of shit, that has zero bearing on pump vs semis. I had a citori go down on me at the US open, and sold that piece of shit after and never looked back. I should have known better but I was young and dumb.
This is beretta and benelli land, who also have their US HQ not too far away. Shooting in sub zero temps with a foot of snow on the ground, they run fine.
Explain to me how a semi auto action will freeze up but the weak ass linkages in a pump would not..........
Finally!! This thread has the potential to get good.
All you bastards are wrong, myself included! A single shot 10ga NEF, that's where its at. Ugly, tough as nails and nobody is going to steal it. Kind of like your tatted up meth head girlfriend.
All you bastards are wrong, myself included! A single shot 10ga NEF, that's where its at. Ugly, tough as nails and nobody is going to steal it. Kind of like your tatted up meth head girlfriend.
I had an over under 10 gauge once…. I accidentally set off both barrels and decided I should prolly not use it. 32” barrel…. Was like shooting a damn roll of quarters
