That Browning with the extra butt stock looks like a beautiful shotgun and excellent alternative. It's not as expensive as I thought. But, it's still nearly double what I have budgeted to spend. I'll bet they are not easy to find, either.

Well you might want to look at Mossberg 835 if they still make them. I and my son both have 835s. Yes it's heavier than my 500s which I have a couple of. I actually won the 835 as a turkey gun so it came with short barrel and turkey choke. I carried it the last two seasons in the duck marsh with modified choke to shoot ducks..
The main reason I like the Mossberg is the thumb safety. For me wing shoot it just becomes part of the flow. I always have cold hands so shoot a lot with gloves on. Thumb safety just works better for me. I've shot turkeys, ducks and geese with my 835 and if I was so inclined could probably shoot a deer. I'm fortunate to have a half dozen different choices for that.
I Shoot 23/4 for ducks and geese have used 31/2 for turkey.

Mac

26" vary the chokes as needed.

Doesn’t matter and neither do any other suggestions. Get that boy a gun!! A good shot is a good shot and chokes don’t matter, barrel length don’t matter. Eric Clapton is still a virtuoso on a $67 Wal Mart guitar. As a youngster I just wanted a gun!!

Why do you think buying him a gun that does not fit now and he won't be able to use well will get him excited.

Just let him use your full size 12 or his brother's some. He wants it because he has been lead to believe that full size 12 is a manly grown up thing and does not realize how it will negatively effect his preformance. I know because my young boys also do this. When they do I use it as a teaching moment
Not long after they come to me and say you know dad you were right about....

If you think they will not buy their own guns when they grow up then they would have no interest in it then. What makes you think they would not just sell then by them anyway.

If he insisted on a 12 get a semi auto compact. Many on the market come with spacers and will grow with him. Or you just spend 75$ and buy a full size stock when he out grows the short one if it was one without spacers. Semi auto will have less recoil also.

Give him some time wit full size gun and he will gravitate back to the youth guns that fit him and he actually hits with. Heck my youngest had options of many guns and gages. At first he wanted to be manly and shoot the big 12s then he went back to the 870 20 youth . After a few trips he was going to the h&r 20 single shot because it was lighter and he could out shoot Most he family with it . Few shops stock a lot of compacts. So finging the best fit is not easy.

weight is one factor , the new Mossberg's all come drilled and tapped is another factor , I can load the Mossberg faster than the 870 and I can do it with gloves on easier.

I teach 4-H shotgun and I get kids all the time that are left eye dominant and need to borrow a gun , the 500c 20ga works right or left handed and doesn't beat the kids up , we have a program 870 20ga youth also it works for the smaller of the kids but I only have one of those and it doesn't fit everyone.
we also have some program 500 12ga with the 24 inch ported barrel they offered for a while those are nice not sure that barrel is offered any more. those stocks were cut down to a more youth length I think about 12 1/2 to fit kids , most kids after a year or two have their own shotgun.

we have 500s , 870s , 37s , 1200s, pump shotgun's in the house

I find the top safety very fast with gloves I also run an oversize metal "tactical" safety on my 500 with the 20 inch barrel I can switch shoulders but seldom do outside of training that isn't normal shotgun stuff.

as for the smooth thing , the 500 has more surface area on the bolt to have oil get sticky and then you have a hitch in your gitty up sooner than the 870 , both have dual action bars.
regular cleaning or the use of Dry Lube alleviates this.
my 870 when I found it was just butter smooth , it had spent 25 years in a cruiser and shows the finish wear I got it for a good price from the police department that was selling it through an area dealer.
I just went and tried my 500 , my 870p and my sons 870express side by side dry fire cycle dry fire cycle dry fire cycle and i can't really tell the difference in action cycling them all are well broken in and cleaned with dry lube.

also Rem Arms is not Remington , Remington exists no more rem arms has the old Remington plant and tooling as I understand it but changes like the trigger group did change, Mossberg stuck around for it's customers and employees and has really been listening to the customer base in the last several years , the 940 JM and 940 tactical have really addressed what the people in that market are looking for. (those are semi auto guns)

the drilled and tapped is a big value added feature when you start shooting deer with slugs or turkey while in a sitting position you often can't get your eye where it needs to be , the red dot sights are very forgiving for this so you can get your aim even from awkward positions that are not natural shotgun shooting positions.

Price , you get a lo of value from a 500 combo they offer 28 inch barrel with chokes and 18 inch barrel or 28 inch bird barrel with chokes a slug barrel with rifle sights or cantilever scope mount.

so , weight, cost , versatility , availability

and Remington no longer offers the 21inch vent rib barrel on a gun and I really like my 20-21 inch barrels

like I said I have 870s my 870 police with 20 inch barrel I had threaded for choke tubes and now a mounted white light and red dot I had it drilled and tapped recently. is also one of my favorite guns , my son has an 870sps and 870 express the express is a 21 inch vent rib

after having the 870 drilled and tapped I took a look at the 500 and said I want it shorter also I had fallen on the ice 2 years ago and cracked the vent rib loose from the barrel at the back I used that as an excuse to order the 20 inch vent rib barrel for it

I wish we saw a bunch of 20-21 inch barrel drilled and tapped shotguns , we sort of do , they call them turkey guns and they are always in demand seldom seen on the used market because once people go to a shorter handier 20-21 inch they seldom go back.

I had a thread "shorter shotguns" a while back , the people here running shorter shotguns , use the heck out of those guns while long ones sit in the safe.

both the 870 and the 500 are solid guns , I have no experience with Rem-arms as of yet I expect they are mechanically 99.9% the same I know they changed the trigger group slightly but I think that is just cosmetic and plastic.

when you take a longer gun and make it a shorter gun it makes the added price of the shorter gun upfront look easier to take
the threading of the 870 20 inch barrel was around 250-275 and the barrel for the m500 was the same
the drill and tap was another 40 for the 870 so I have money in both guns I might not ever be able to get out of them I have around 500 in or a touch more in each one and I started with used guns at a good price on both
the Mossberg also has a Morgan pad on it to set my length of pull and put it in my shoulder better , grip tape on the forarm
good fit on a shotgun is huge. so I took the approach make it mine and never sell it and I am money ahead in enjoyment and I am enjoying the heck out of it.

500A 12ga
20 inch mossberg vent rib barrel double bead.
Carson's Buck shot choke extended full , it patterns very nice
rubberized grip tape on forearm
Morgan pad on butt to fit it to me so I get right behind that bead
sling , if you notice it is set up to be carried under slung barrel down it comes to about my knee another reason I like the 20 inch barrel

I am in and out of a lot of thick stuff , what you can't see in that picture is both arms are bleeding from the scratches form the briars , I have upgraded to some briar resistant clothing but it was hot that day we were hunting and it was in the 70s.
either 500 or 870 is good it comes down to pick one make it fit you perfectly and enjoy it , one may be better value for the $ depending on what features you wan or will use, the 500 comes ready to do more out of the box.


the weight difference is about a pound when both running original length mad tubes and that doesn't sound like much but it depend how many miles your carrying it in a day.
this is an older picture I had currently the 870 has a light , red dot and with mag tube holds 7+1 and is 8 pounds empty the 500 holds 5+1 and is 6.5 pounds empty they are just set up for different things right now but the 500 is always a weight savings just not as much when the 870 is leaned down to 4+1 and no optic.


870 police magnum mid 1980s production
mid 80s speed feed stock
sling
calrsons extended full SS choke

What holds true for rifles holds true for shotguns.

Heavy loads require slower burning powder and thus requires length to reach its full potential, while liter loads can use faster burning powder and thus less length is required.

Modern choke systems have come a long ways pattern wise so length isn't as critical in that area as it was before. It is easier to get good patterns with longer barrels, again imo.

This I agree!

Back in the day, we wanted to hunt with the men, we carried a mans gun. At 12, I carried a double barrel and didn't complain about weight!! lol

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1022978068?pid=793173 - I had one of these. Very nice shooting gun. A little lower recoil especially with lighter loads.

is he still a virtuoso yes , is he miffed that the strings buzz and he can hear it because the bridge isn't set how he likes and the fret board is flat

chokes matter when dollars matter , it costs a lot more to add chokes later and I have had fixed Modified chokes that were just Bad , the pattern was awful and your stuck with it, it costs more than the gun did to change it.

paying up front for a interchangeable choke system with available options like , Rem , accu, Invictor , and a few others is versatility you can shoot ducks near and far one day with steel and pheasants the next with lead , drop some coyotes with buckshot and send slugs at deer all with the same barrel and some choke options.

I will give you that nearly everything in this entire conversation is talking about the last 20% most any gun will get you 80% then you start paying by the ounce, the inch , and the fit.

since the question started with the most insignificant of all these choices 26 or 28 , then the details of all the other options value to $ mentioned are more valid than the original 2 inch in barrel length question.

it sounds like he wants to buy once cry once but still has a budget to work with.