My son is a lefty and I figure he would like a semi-auto home defense SG of some sort. No high-dollar stuff though. I can live with my 870 pump shotgun ive had for fifty years.
Savage Stevens Security 350, Bottom Feed, Bottom Eject, damn nice running shotgat, needs a little hand fitting to get them really smooth, but they are super slick and reliable! Outside of that, your looking at an extremely spendy and rare Remington Mod-17, Browning BPS, or an Ithica Mod-37! No semi autos I know of that are Bottom Eject!
your son really needs to re-learn shooting - not at all good that he's dependent on a single shotgun that might & might not be available to him ....
Back pre-96 I had a pair of M37s. An 8 round PS and an Asian Contract model that came out of Vietnam in the 90s. Both great handling guns and favourites of mine. I have also, professionally, taught a metric shyte tonne of folks to happily run 870s both right and left handed. Most non- gun folk in the later years.
I'm 100% 870, as well. That's despite having an absolutely awesome running Saiga 12. My grandpa and I shot my 870 so much over the years the bolt got hammer hardened and broke in half. The Remington people at the SHOT show that year were so amazed that in exchange for the broken bolt they sent me a new bolt, a full respring kit, two coupons to send in for free new barrels of my choice, and a bunch of cool merchandise. They wanted the whole gun to compare wear and offered a sweeter deal but I declined. Sorry for the hijack...
I have always been an 870 fan, both Professionally and personally, I find them slightly better then the insanely awesome Mossberg 500 series! Having ran both for nearly 45 years, both run flawlessly, HOWEVER, I found the ONE weakness of the Mossberg and that's the take down/barrel removal to access the bolt, the Mossberg has the two slide rail guides that fit loosely and will fall out each and every time you take it apart, the Remington has the exact same parts, but they are captured so you don't risk loosing them! I started out with a Rare Remington870 T/C comp gun, an ultra light trap gun that was an absolute gem of a shotgun, she ran flawlessly and I could win 9 times out of 10 in international Trap, Skeet, and Sporting Clays, and she made a very fine upland game bird hunting gun! I needed a waterfowling shotgun BAD, so I stopped in to my local shop the very day the Remington Factory Reps were visiting, and they handed me a Brand spanking new 870 Super Magnum Waterfowl gun for the insane price of Free, with the only caveat that I email then once a month or more with performance data! I ran that shotgun all through the first season, and it was amazing, EXCEPT the bore had been broached lopsided, so I sent the gun back with details and photos and they promptly sent me another one in Mossy Oak Duck Blind and a gift card for a couple cases of Remington Brand shot shells of my choice! I still have that shotgun to this day, nearly 30 years on, and she is my goto for any and all needs and has been tricked out as much as you can, really improving upon what is arguably perfection! First, I back bored the chamber so it will feed anything I shove in it, and more importantly, it ejects everything super slick, this is super important with hand loads which tend to get a little chunky and hard to feed. second was a serious port job right behind the choke threads, using a three stage hole pattern, it really takes the kick out of those 3 inch and 3 1/2 super magnums, especially in an all day murder fest on Duskies and big dumb mallards! and lastly, a serious polishing of the bolt and slide/rails and trigger sear and hammer, and tuned springs, this gun will run in any conditions with zero failures, and I have abused it mightly, and she still comes back for more! I also have a Mossberg 835 Super magnum, which has had all the same tricks done as the 870, and while they both run flawlessly, the 835 is nearly 1/2 pound heavier and the balance is further forward, both have the factory synthetic stocks, so the differences are quite noticeable, the mossy is fast, but the Remmy is that much faster and seems quicker on point from rest to ready! I also run a couple of Old Winchester 1897 Shotguns, for completely different reasons, mostly for HD, though they are tough and reliable enough for hunting, they suffer two major flaws, ONE, they are too finely machined and tight to be all that reliable in field conditions, and two, mostly a gripe, you cannot ghost load them, nor most other shotguns, so it's not that big a deal, yet it is! I got into a pretty good argument with a State game Warden, he had never seen or even heard of ghost loading, and I got caught with my 870 super with it ghost loaded, even though I had the waterfowl plug in the gun, I had the extra shell in it when he came sneaking up on us and got super pissed when he asked me to empty the gun and 5 shells came out instead of the three plus one he was expecting, he then tried to load the five shells back into the gun and couldn't figure out how I had gotten five in it! After I made him swear on pain of death not to arrest me or give me a ticket, I showed him! He was blown away and told me not to worry about it! LOL The Savage 350 I have ran for years and years, never really an issue, other then some of the machining could have been finished a little better, or they could have taken the time to file down some of the sharp edges and corners, but for function and reliability, they are damn good, equal to the Ithica and Browning or Winchesters! For Semi autos, I'm a Remington 1100/1187 guy, having ran ALL the common and even a few uncommon ones, my 1187 Super is hands down the most reliable and slickest shooting and handling of them all, and thats really saying something as I really love the Winchester SX3 and the Benelli Super Black Eagle II and the even slicker Super Vincie, as well as the Remmy Versa-Max, I still choose the old 1187 Super, they are the only ones I have been able to run under combat conditions as well as the worst waterfowl conditions, and they flat out run when all others have locked up or otherwise failed! The only semi auto that ever came close to keeping up was the Winchester SX3, and I would have no problem running one in the duck boat or blind in the worst conditions imaginable, That's saying something! If you have a Remmy 1100 or 1187, lemme know, there are must know tricks to keeping them running in top top shape in the very worst conditions you need to know, I am more then happy to share the good stuff! Same with the 870 and Mossy 500's! NO, you will NOT find me with a Benelli Nova or a Super 90, having seen several serious failures, including a 90 that had several shells back to back go off in the feed position, and i'm really not a fan of Beretta's semi autos, you pay an awful lot for a name, and it's just a rebranded Franchi, its's self not all that great, but some folks swear by them, I hate them! If I had someone else's money to spend, the Benelli Super Vinci would be a super slick shotgun to own, they shoot amazing and the recoil is nothing, but I ain't spending two 1187's worth for one!
He can shoot my 870, he just isn't crazy about how the shells eject. Considering what can be done with a shotgun I think they are a good choice.
Personally, I have been looking at the Mossberg 590A1 and the Kel-Tec KS7. One gives me the reliable and durability that I always demand of my firearms and the other gives me maneuverability that would be handy sitting bedside. "...the Mossberg has the two slide rail guides that fit loosely and will fall out each and every time you take it apart..." I will have to look into this, see what can be done to eliminate if possible. This is one of the reasons I love this website, the knowledge here is incredible. Thanks, Ura-ki!
Unfortunately, there is NO fix for the Mossy slide guides falling out, it's just how they were designed. What I always tell folks: take extra care when stripping the weapon for service and cleaning and make sure you learn and understand how those parts fit in the weapon, and for God's sakes, don't loose them! The 590-A1 are fantastic shotguns, I ran them professionally for many years and had zero issues with them! I wish Remington had the tang safety that Mossberg has, would sure beat pinning the safety of the Remmy's!
I think a lot has changed over the years, quality-wise. I had the top tang safety fail on a Mossberg 835, and a buddy had the same thing happen while we were duck hunting.
…..the actual safety slide or another part ? I have some vague recollection that the .mil 590s had a metal part not plastic that is on the civ models. My last testing of a 590 for .gov was around 90 and while adopted in limited form they were replaced within a few years by 870s.
I am a southpaw and mostly shoot M500s and 870s. Never having shot a semiauto shotgun, I have no idea whether a southpaw would get an expended hull in the face or not. It has never happened to me with a rifle though. Pumps are fast enough for me anyway. I run an 870 with the safety off, round in the chamber, and bolt slid back about an inch for tactical shooting. I only have to slide the bolt forward, insert finger into the trigger guard as the barrel comes up and fire when on target. Jim
My old High Standard 18-7 some called a “Riot Gun” has served me well. They were very common with Police and in Prisons. The 870 became a more standard LEO shotgun after High Standard ran into issues in the late 60s, which is a shame, they made some fine .22 pistols. High Standard made some of Sears JC Higgins shotguns.
