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To the average "civilian" owner, there's no reason not to buy an aluminum receivered gun, unless you take into account the problem with getting it refinished if you wear the finish off.
Experienced clay bird shooters say most aluminum receivers will take upward at least 50,000 rounds before failing.
The Remington 870's steel receiver is reported to develop cracks somewhere around 250,000 rounds.
For whatever reason, whether it's the aluminum receiver or the lighter weight, cheaper internal parts, the Winchester 1300 and Mossberg 500 just didn't stand up in police use.
NO ONE is harder on a pump gun than a bunch of abusive street cops.
The guns are used by everyone, owned by no one, and like all things used by many people, they tend to get destroyed.
The 870 has a 50 year history of taking whatever the cops can dish out and still function, and last.
This is why Remington OWNS the police shotgun market with a 95% plus market share.
When Winchester dropped the all-steel Model 1912 and sold the police the new Model 1200, it failed badly.
When the police made it clear that they would buy no more Model 1200's, Winchester introduced the upgraded Model 1300.
It too failed, and today few, if any major police agencies will touch a Winchester shotgun.
Mossberg too tried to sell the police the aluminum Model 500 and it too fell apart, earning a bad reputation.
In an attempt to hold on, Mossberg introduced the upgraded, beefed-up Model 590-A1, which has managed to sell to a few departments, if only for the lower price.
Since the average home owner with a defense gun isn't going to shoot 50,000 rounds through his gun, aluminum works just fine.
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