After breaking 2 Mossberg 500s and helping a friend repair a third, I switched over to 870s. I am rather hard on shotguns. I live back in the woods and treat them like the farm implement they are. Got my first shotgun when I was 11. Traded my Atari for it, at school. I'm 41 now, and while not an expert by any means, I have shot them a lot. For fun, under duress, for food, and even a little competition back in the day. I prefer the older Wingmasters, and Police Magnums. One particular Police Magnum has been to heck and back with me. The mud and the blood and the beer and all that.
I have had 2 590s in the past couple of decades. Didn't break either one of those. Well, one came with an aftermarket Choate stock that I broke when firing 7 Brenke slugs in VERY rapid succession while sitting on the ground with my back to a tree. If I had been standing I might not have broken that stock. But I think my shoulder being on the tree was just more than she could bear. But, that was an aftermarket accessory, not having anything to do with the shotgun itself.
I also flat out destroyed one of those Knox recoil reducing stocks just by firing it. A lot. So did my brother-in-law. Customer service wasn't worth a crap in either case.
Even though I never technically broke a 590, I never really pushed them that hard either. I think if the only use your shotgun is gonna get is stashed in the bedroom for HD, or shooting at the range, most any of them will do, go with whatever fits you best.
But if you have any hopes for your shotgun lasting during some apocalyptic wasteland scenario, I'd err on the side of certain 870s, with a 590 being a close second in my mind.
And by the way, not trying to sound overly derogatory here, but once you get out of the suburbs/ city/ shooting range only use, and run the hell out of them, those AR-15 collapsible stock type deals on shotguns, yeah, they're gonna break. All of them.
