Gun enthusiasts: Mossberg 590A1 or Remington 870 series?

I plan on purchasing my first rifle for home defense and for hunting purposes. I've heard great things about both. I've done some research, but it's still not justified; to make it official, I need to hear from the OT Gun enthusiasts. I'm leaning more towards the 590A1 due to the fact that it's customizable and safety and slide release is easier to use, but then again, the 870 has a steel receiver. What do you guys think?

They're considered long-guns, not rifles.

OP, I have a Remington 870 Magnum for hunting. I love it.

the Remington can fire 3.5 inch shells, if that matters

I don't know anything about the Mossberg 590 but I've seen lots on the 500 being a cheap but good shotgun one can get cheap if they find the right time and place to buy one, like $200, with lots of customization options available, so you can get the gun first and worry about upgrading it when you got money.

Can't go wrong with either, comes down to personal preference, try them both and buy the one you like the best.

@Ackad I do know that there was a whole fiasco with Remington because of Marlin who made lever action repeater rifles, they got bought out by Remington, who was going to fire the staff at Marlin and take things over themselves, and after that transition there's rumor that the Marlin staff sabotaged the calibration of the equipment used to for the Marlin rifles, so there's videos of people upset with Remington over their Marlin models and just as upset about Remington trying to hide the issue and not doing much to help people who buy defective Marlin rifles.

I don't know, I don't have an 870, but I thought they were known to be pretty reliable. As long as you're not buying a Marlin lever action repeater you should be fine I think.

Also, I think the Mossberg should be a fine weapon to. When I said cheap I meant strictly affordable, from what I've seen I believe their pretty reliable too, but by cheap I meant economic. And again they sound great, do some YouTube searches to all the customization people do to their Mossberg 500s.

I tried the 7mm Magnum from remington and thought it was a fantastic rifle, here in Oz i dont think they sell the mossberg. But if you don't mind spending a bit. The steyr Scout .308 Win is the rifle i use primarily. its a fantastic rifle with accuracy that reaches 300m which is great for such a short barrel rifle. its got a built in bipod and rails for scope mounts.

I would go with the 870 but only because I've used it and like it.

I have had my 870 for years and love it.

I would go with the Mossberg. It's good enough for the Marine Corp it's good enough for me.

They're pretty much on par with each other, but the Remington will have better resale value if you ever end up selling it.

Oh man when you say rifle it generally means rifle, Shotguns are different lol... I was talking to you about rifles all that time LOL.

In Oz Pump actions are illegal we have O/U double barrels here. I have no experience with pump actions except when I used to have one 18 years ago when they were legal here.

If you are ever after a O/U for clay target shooting, the beretta 682x gold trap is not bad, but the best O/U I had was a Perazzi MX8 High rib. That gun was a beauty... Till this day i regret selling it.

My bad haha. I meant long barrel; pump-actions are legal in my state, but I was just curious as to what manufacturer and model I should purchase. Ah decisions from an indecisive person lmao!

That's true, but it's probably cheaper to get a hold of a Moss via an Army-Navy store.

id go with a Mossberg 500 loaded up with bird shot for home defense

Both good weapons, just a thought though - if you grab the Mossberg, skip the pistol grip option, it makes it a bitch to hit the safety (at least on the last one I used).

Happy shopping!

@Ackad - Personally I'd use bird shot over buck or slugs, because you're less likely to kill the guy busting into your house. I want to protect my family, but I'd prefer not to kill anyone doing it :)

with slug you would have to worry about over-penetration in your house. birdshot doesnt do that and would still be deadly if you were defending yourself 10-15 feet across the room

I roll with magnum slugs for mine. I personally would not trust my life with bird shot.