At the risk of being redundant, the Mossberg 500 “Persuader/Cruiser” is one of the best values on the market. It’s not fancy, but it’s economical, and very reliable.
Since we’re having fun here, this is the Remington I would choose:
http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/shotguns/model_870/model_870_express_synthetic_7-round_specs.asp