870 rifled barrel for HD

The shotgun is pretty universally accepted as the ultimate home defense tool. And who fires 5 rounds of double aught buck into their wall to protect their home??? More likely you put one or two shots into a home invader's face or chest (then get the mop bucket).

There are plenty of techniques for tactical loading of a shotgun, check out a book like "The Home Defense Shotgun" by Louis Awerbuck or "Stressfire II: Advanced Shotgun Techniques" by Masaad Ayoob (I might be slightly wrong about those titles, but they are close enough to find the books I'm talking about). Or better still take a class at Gunsite Ranch or someplace similar.

Not trying to bash another member here, but anyone considering a shotgun for home defense isn't just on the right path, you are in the right camp! Don't hesitate for a heartbeat, stick with the street howitzer!
 
The 8" difference in barrel length seems like a significant factor interpreting those patterns.
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Not according to the tech guys at Remington. Nor my own indpendent pattern testing, for that matter.

Barrel length has no affect on pattern.
 
Until recently i had nothing but a rifled slug barrel on my Mossberg and yes it was also my h/d gun.I never used buck shot,only low recoil 2 3/4 winchester slugs.I now have a 18 1/2 inch smoth bore and use buck shot,i never felt comfortable shooting anything through my rifled slug barrel.

h/d is about layers not about shotgun vs handgun.I keep a shotgun as primary and my handgun as back up.
 
i don't care how good you are at reloading a shotgun, it will never be faster than a mag change. just think about it this way. if you're going to assault a building, what gun would you use? probably a rifle, secondary being a pistol. accurate, easy to reload, more maneuverability. you have other people to consider besides the bad guy. the shotgun is an area weapon. any family members in the immediate area? besides, even 2 rounds of whatever shotgun load you want will destroy your wall, as opposed to 2 rounds of any given pistol caliber. believe me i'm all about making shotgun soup, but i'd rather not remodel my house while i'm at it. shotguns: great weapons, i love them and you should definitely keep them in a fallback position if you wanna get crazy. but i just don't think they're very practical in a situation like that
 
The barrel length thing was tested by the NRA years ago. They took a long barreled "goose" gun and kept cutting it off and moving the choke back. It didn't change anything. If you take a full choke barrel and cut it off to the point where it is open choke it will change. Even bird shot will have a hole in the pattern at certain ranges, but varies from barrel to barrel. You have to experiment.
 
i don't care how good you are at reloading a shotgun, it will never be faster than a mag change.
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The probability of having to reload either in defending your home is miniscule. 00 buckshot, properly applied, trumps anything fired from a handgun in terms of probability of hitting your target* under stress and in terminal effectiveness.

* note that I'm not talking about pattern here as much as the ability of most people to score hits better with a shoulder fired weapon vs. a handgun.


just think about it this way. if you're going to assault a building, what gun would you use? probably a rifle, secondary being a pistol. accurate, easy to reload, more maneuverability.
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Most of us here have no intentions on doing so.


you have other people to consider besides the bad guy. the shotgun is an area weapon. any family members in the immediate area? besides, even 2 rounds of whatever shotgun load you want will destroy your wall, as opposed to 2 rounds of any given pistol caliber.
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Quite frankly, statements like this lead me to believe you've never taken a shotgun and a piece of cardboard to the range to test your thesis. Just got back from there myself with a new to me police trade in wingmaster. It hadn't been patterned yet. Did that today at 10 and 25 yds. with Federal LE12700 flite control wad shells. At 10 yds the pattern looked like a slug hit. At 25 I could cover it with my hand. Reading your statement above makes me wish I hadn't tossed the paper plates I use as targets as I was leaving the gun club.

At 50-100yds, yes buckshot is an area weapon. At HD ranges, not so much......
 
Wouldn't be my first choice to defend myself, but I also wouldn't want to stand in front of it.

Buckshot loads are 3 to 5 pellets of 00 or 000 typically. Muzzle velocity in the 1100-1250 range IIRC. Kinda like getting caught with 1/2 a 12 ga pattern.

Slugs are 1/4 to 1/5 oz. So you're talking between 87.5 and 110 or so grains of lead. Velocity ranging in the 1800 fps-1900 fps range. Now that translates into somewhere in the 700 ft/lbs range of energy at point blank range.

That's all assuming a shotgun barrel and not a handgun like the Taurus Judge. That all being said, Federal has some new .410 handgun ammo out that a buddy of mine tested for pattern and penetration and I was impressed.
 
Read the Box O' Truth!

As a previous poster said, this patterning has been done on the "Box O' Truth". Here is the link again: http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot43.htm

Of particular interest is the last picture on the first page. The pattern is 18" and basically a circle at 5 YARDS! That is only 15 feet, the distance across my living room. If I fired that pattern COM on an intruder at 5 yards in my house, I would likely have wounded an arm, shoulder, and abdomin but not hit any vitals, so the threat would still be there. With a smooth bore, the pattern is tight and would have hit vitals, stopping the threat. Also, the difference ammo makes is amazing.

I strongly recommend reading that article. You will see that at 30 feet you will likely miss completely if you fire 00 buck from a rifled barrel.

Remington barrels are under $200 and can be swapped quickly. I use a 28" Vented Rib barrel for sporting clays, and when I get home I take if off as part of my cleaning and I put the 18.5" tactical barrel in its place. The pictures below are of the same gun with only a barrel change:

28" barrel:
SPORT28.jpg


18.5" Barrel:
SPORT18.jpg


Then, a change of stock and:
HDSD18S.jpg


The HD shotgun ($350, bought as seen in the last picture), 28" Remington barrel with Mod Choke ($199), and standard Remington Synthetic stock ($30) cost a total of $589.
 
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