Buddha, I am sitting here with my own 1300 right next to me. I own an 870 but I prefer the 1300 Defender w/ full synthetic stock to anything else. The action is slick as butter and it feeds anything without a hiccup- including aguila minishells. It is light and easy to carry, easy to clean, and points very well when shouldered quickly. If I had a choice of 1 shotgun to keep, it would be the 1300.
The people that don't like it, haven't tried it, or are too familiar with something else to switch. Yeah, I know the trigger guard is plastic- but just try and break it, and you can find metal ones if it worries you too much.
radioman