My Stoeger 3500 never jammed. I can grantee you that a high brass duck load isn’t going to jam in nearly any gun.

870 is the 30 30 of duck hunting

If I was going to buy an 870 or a BPS I'd go on Gunbroker and buy an Older One in good shape...,particularly from the 70's.

The 870 or BPS. I’ve had both for duck hunting and to me theyre prob the best 2 reliable guns on the market for bird hunting.

Stoeger is a good gun, now. When they 1st came out they were junk. I seen for myself on a dove hunt 3 guys at a time walking back to the truck cussing because they couldn’t get 3 shots out.

She should have him save up and pay for half if he really wants a Benelli

Dunn’s has a Benelli monefeltro 20 ga for $799. They is a little over his budget. Far as the 870. I am a fan but I’ve seen some and own one in past 15 or so years that have gave some trouble. Most of them were newer guns. The gun wouldn’t eject the shell. You would almost have to hit the butt on the gun on the ground to get it to eject. Tried different types of shells.

I have a duck slaying buddy that always shot an 870. wore it out. bought a newer one that has given him some issues. I have noticed he now shoots a Benelli M2. I don't like the newer 870's composite trigger assembly, so if I was in the market I'd look for an older one.

Also I saw a beretta a300 outlander black. That I think was in his price range the other day. I just can’t remember where. I want to say Scotts outdoors in Jay Fl. Those are good guns also.

A friend of mine bought a stoeger 3500 2 weeks ago, and while we were hunting this last weekend, it was doing some crazy schit.

It would just click when he pulled the trigger at least three times that I’m aware of. It was loaded when it just clicked too. Firing pin wouldn’t hit the primer.

Then, it jammed on the riser. Fed two shells from the magazine and wouldn’t put one in the chamber. The gun wasn’t dirty. That’s just what I witnessed on Saturday and Sunday morning. It cost us 4 or 5 birds and I was about ready to toss it in the pond for him. Another friend of mine bought one last year and has complained about the same problems with his.

I had a stoeger m2000. And had the same issue with the firing pin. I had a family member that had the same issue with his m2000. I thought they had fixed that issue with the m3***’s
Other than that issue. It was a good gun. You can have issues with any of them. I have a benelli m2. I had a issue with it after a 1000 rounds or so. I replaced the recoil spring with a wolf +25% spring “$13”. Its had a few thousand rounds through it since it no issues except for letting it get way too dirty once or twice. Can’t blame the gun for that.

An 870 or BPS will hold it's own in any duck blind. Seen plenty of people with $1500 shotguns that couldn't water swat a duck at 20 yards. The only problem is if you get into those days were you kill 50 ducks your shoulder will be black and blue the following day.

Between the two I like the BPS. When 3.5 inch magnum shells came out I bought one and I still own it. Been a great shotgun.

My Stoeger 3500 was a great gun...I originally bought it to use for ducks, but never got into duck hunting. I did dove hunt with it though and it would eat up just about whatever you fed it, including low-brass dove loads. The only thing it wouldn't cycle reliably was the cheap Federal blue box light game shells.....it'd FTE 1 out of maybe 10. But man, Remington Heavy Dove ran like a CHAMP in that gun.

The trick is, before you ever shoot it, disassemble it and clean it thoroughly and get that heavy grease out of it that they put in them from the factory, then oil it properly. Also, remove the "recoil reducer" from the stock....it isn't really necessary unless you're shooting mostly heavy 3.5's.

Beretta A300's can be found for around $600 when on sale. That would be my recommendation. I bought one a year or so ago because I have had chitty luck with M2's and SBE's jamming all the time so I opted for a cheaper gun and it hasn't let me down yet. As to why the M2's and SBE's jam I don't know because my 20ga Montefeltro is very reliable.

Your damn shop is too congested when I get off work. If you'll just bring the damn thing home, I'll stop by and get it. Hell, I pass your house going to and coming home from work every day!!

Ungrateful Bastard!!!

Nope, coming thru your area tonight.

After shooting several hundred rounds of that old Estate ammo...my BPS locked up tighter than dicks hat band! Amazing how it functioned after i got it cleaned!!

870, 870 ,870. To wit....Three years ago in a pit in Arkansas with 3 others. one guys Benelli goes down on the first volley. A few later the Beretta goes down. We have the flip lid laid forward and my circa 1970 2 3/4" 870 is laying there. one of the guys says I used to have a gun like that. #4 chimes "you mean one that kills when it shoots or just one that shoots at all"!
True Wingmasters are the gold standard for 870 guns. The Express Super Magnums from the early 90's are solid also.

Super x2 as no one has mentioned. I ran thousands of rounds through one and the only time it failed was when it rained like hell on Saturday, put up in truck box and temp dropped 30+ degrees that night. Firing pin was froze solid. Two benelli’s beside me fired but would not eject. Another gun would be a browning silver hunter stalker.

But, they all can’t hold a fire to a franchi 612 or 912, just sayin.

No love for the Mossberg 835?
I'm an 870 guy myself, but my brother, who is a 5-6 weekend AR hunter, along with another 6-8 days closer to his home in Mississippi, uses Citoris, Superposeds, BPS 10 and 12, etc, but ends up carrying the 835 as much as everything else put together.

870 Wingmaster Magnum or a Beretta A300. Can pick one of those up at Cabela's on sale for $600. Solid gun for the money.