I have 3 shotguns I regularly shoot.
My favorite is still my Remington 870. I've owned it nearly 25 years at this point, and have done everything with it. I have a 28" bird barrel, a 22" slug barrel, and an 18" defense barrel for it. It has been as reliable as a hammer and would be one of the last ones to go if I had to reduce my collection size.
Best memory I have with the 870 was showing up to a sporting clay shoot that was put on by my employer. We got put into groups of 4 to walk the course; I was paired with another machinist and two of our salesmen. One salesman had a beautiful higher grade Browning Citori, and the other a Kolar (if you don't know Kolar shotguns, think of the money you would spend on a Citori and quadruple it.) Both salesmen were upset that they had to shoot with "the poors" as the one put it, as my fellow machinist had an older Ithaca semi-auto and I had my trusty 870 Express. As we were waiting to get on the course they did nothing but talk about their shotguns and how much better they were in every aspect, and that we should really upgrade for "next years event." Citori guy was beginning to irritate me.
We got to the first station, which was 2 sets of report pairs, easy shots up and away to the left, and up and away to the right. Citori guy goes first, and manages to not take his safety off. He goes again, and misses both. He reloads, and manages to chip one. I was next in the rotation, and I got all 4. Kolar guy shoots, and gets a single on each pair. Machinist goes, and gets all 4.
By the 5th station, the trash talking had all but stopped. I recall my score for the day, 43 out of 50. The kolar guy came next (high 30's) followed by the other machinist, with the Citori toting salesman holding down the rear with a 19. There is something to be said for knowing how to manipulate the tools you own, and not worrying about cost or appearance. I outshot two men who had a combined $18k in their gear that day, with a shotgun I bought at Walmart for $249 on sale.
