Best Home Defense Shotty?

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Just an idea, how about an 870 with red dot sight, extended mag tube, and short rifled barrel for home defense? Too extreme?
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Go back and search discussions of home defense and a more often overlooked aspect is ease of maneuverability and avoidance of snagging when you need to access it quickly in the dark and in the confines of a closet, a space beneath the bed, or such. Also search red dot vs bead sights.
 
Slugs. From what I've seen they are awesome penetrators(punches thru bulletproof glass), and you can get rifled barrels for the 870 to fire slugs accurately, would an 870 shotgun with rifled barrel firing slugs no longer be considered a shotgun? But a large bore rifle? What kind of effective range would an 870 with the shortest legal rifled barrel and slugs have?

Just an idea, how about an 870 with red dot sight, extended mag tube, and short rifled barrel for home defense? Too extreme?
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Where have you seen slugs penetrate bullet-proof glass? They have a hard time with large-bore metallic centerfires doing that.

The shortest barrel will still have more effective range than what would be considered self defense in 99.9999% of the scenarios

Putting all that extra weight and getting the gun over 10 pounds in doing so makes it impractical, unwieldy, and more hassle than it is worth.

Do what you want, but try real hard not to wind up like this guy:

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[/URL][/IMG]....................;):D
 
I got a mossberg 20 ga deer and upland barrel for 250.00. The deer barrel is rifled so it can use sabots. That barrel is also bit shorter than the field barrel too.

Gun show could be your friend. Go, look, pick up, feel the weight, line up the sites. Dont get all wadded up over name brands and the absolute new thing. If you do shoot someone or something it wont matter the brand, just that you can hit the target.
 
For home defense you will not need 13+ rounds of 12 gauge ammunition. You need to get a conventional time proven pump action shotgun, such as a Mossberg 500 or Remington 870, with a barrel no longer that 20" and with a capacity of no less than 4+1. Put a flashlight on it. Don't fret over a bead sight, no ghost rings or tacticool electro targeting computer laser dot scope needed ;) Go out buy a couple 100 round value packs of field loads from wal-mart and shoot it, practice reloading, shoot it some more. Feed it some full power 2 3/4" 00 9 pellet buckshot. Make sure it functions. Leave the tube loaded with buckshot, with an empty chamber, with the safety OFF. All you have to do is pick up the shotgun and rack a round in the chamber and pull the trigger. If you have any kids around you shouldn't have ANY firearm out in the open anyway so you will have to get some kind of safe.

That buddy, is all you freaking need. Leave the space guns and Call of Duty tacticool crap to your fantasies.
 
Leave the tube loaded with buckshot, with an empty chamber, with the safety OFF. All you have to do is pick up the shotgun and rack a round in the chamber and pull the trigger.
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If it's an 870, you will have to press the action bar lock to chamber a round unless you drop the hammer on that empty chamber. What I do with mine is with the gun empty, both chamber and magazine, I pull the trigger to drop the hammer on the empty chamber and then load the magazine. Although we no longer have small children, I leave the safety on in case someone picks it up and racks a round before they realize what they know what they are doing. Just a preference of mine to leave the safety on.

Similar setup with the Mossberg 500.
 
Any 18" to 20" pump gun, new or used, from Remington, Mossberg, Winchester, Ithaca, Benelli, or Browning will get the job done.

This is my truck gun/trailer gun, 200 dollar gunbroker buy:
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This one, 600 bucks new, sits bedside:
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allaroundhunter said:
I honestly have never seen a 930 go through a full 3 gun match consisting of more than 40 rounds without a malfunction (and I have seen quite a few try). I then watch Benelli M2s, FN SLPs, and Remington VersaMaxs handle all of it without a problem.

Add to that the many QC problems that have been immediately evident upon unboxing Mossberg shotguns and I have little faith in the manufacturer.
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I picked up a Mossberg 930 with the short barrel, last year (got it new for $475). I've used it to shoot skeet multiple times, shooting 25 to 50 rounds of light 7.5 and 8 shot loads, and everyone fed and fired, without any issues. I also occasionally shoot buckshot out of it, from 2.75" reduced recoil 00 buckshot, to full bore 3" 00 buck loads, and all shot reliably.

And outside the military/police, who has shot up to 40 rounds in a single defense situation? With that said, I was going into combat with a shotgun, it would be a pump.

Oh and as to the QC problems, I would be more inclined to picked up new Mossberg over a new Remington. (I do have an old 870 that I love, and yes...if I had the money, I would consider looking at the VersaMax)

And just because I've seen Glocks jam or 1911s jam, means those are unreliable platforms.

OP - Get what fits you. If money is that tight, get a pump. Good luck with your quest.
 
Thank you all again, I've decided when it comes time to get a shotgun, I'm going to get a Remy 870 12 ga. smoothbore with buck shot. It's the only shotgun I've ever shot, affordable, and reliable.

My goal is to have a full-size pistol, a short shotgun, and short rifle/carbine for home-defense. I want to start a gun collection and a little bit of everything to pass down to my children someday.
 
Yes - very good decision Dragger34. If you can find some, try No. 1 buckshot - big enough to stop a bad guy but small enough to minimize the risk to people, e.g., relatives or friends, on the other side of a wall.
 
Dragger34 said:
Thank you all again, I've decided when it comes time to get a shotgun, I'm going to get a Remy 870 12 ga. smoothbore with buck shot. It's the only shotgun I've ever shot, affordable, and reliable.
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Good choice.

I noticed some discussion about putting a red dot sight on it earlier in the thread. A cheaper alternative might be some of the magnetic "hi-viz" sights or something similar. I use them for duck hunting, and shooting hours start 1/2 hour before sunrise here. Shooting in total blackness is a bad idea, but those sights work well for me, even 1/2 hour before sunrise out in the woods.
 
I'd actually had that desire, too (although it was pistol, shotgun, and .45 carbine). Although, with all the options, I was concerned I'd be so busy deciding which one best fit the situation, I'd lose precious seconds if I was ever in a situation.

Now, I just rely on my pistol as my primary option. No decision-same option every time. Once it's in hand, I can determine if I need to get my AR (although, I'd expect it's a rare day indeed I'll need more than a few pistol rounds, to be honest).

However, I wouldn't fault a guy who wanted 3 different guns in every room of his house. Although, I also probably wouldn't park my car on his street if his neighborhood was bad enough he felt he needed that level of options...
 
There's one thing all neighborhoods, from the gated communities to the ghetto's, have in common...they are all bad when 'you' happen to be the 'victim of choice' on a particular night.

My pistol is my security to get me to either my preferred shotgun or M1 carbine. All the while hoping the dogs are keeping the 'dirtbag (s)' at bay buying wife/me the time we need.

Never have based my families security needs on where I was living. Burglars love to find that 'special home' in an upper class neighborhood where residents have mindsets "that crime just doesn't happen around here" and secure their homes accordingly.
 
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I'm walking down this same road myself - have been looking into home defense shotguns for over a year now narrowing down my choices to a select few.

I've had a Winchester 1400 since the early 90's and it serves very well for trap and in the field but I want something shorter with actual sights for home defense with buck and slugs. I've been looking real hard at the 930 SPX straight stocked model - have seen and held several at various gunshops - but have held back from purchasing each time because of things I have heard about them on the forums I frequent. Most reviews have been mixed at best so I have held back and continued to save my pennies.

Enough time has passed now for me to have saved enough to have many more choices than before. Of course not being able to find and purchase pistol ammo has had the side effect of allowing my gun fund to increase much more quickly than before! I'm currently researching the Benelli M2 Comfortech, the M4 (can you say sticker shock!), and the FN SLP. I've actually found a local range about an hour away that has the SLP available as a range rental and plan on going there this weekend to run a few boxes of 00 buck thru it to see how it fits and the controls work for me.

Yes, I have considered the 590 and the 870 Police model but I held one (870P) recently that was brand new production and it did not seem nearly as well put together as the older ones I used to shoot in the 90's. If I could find a nice 10 or 20 year old 870P locally I would be inclined to pick it up but have not seen any on the market.

Been some good observations in this thread but in the end you need to find what works best for you. My suggestion would be to find some different models of shotguns to try at the range before you plunk down your hard earned cash. Might be friends or family that can let you try theirs out. Many ranges let you rent firearms and that rental is much cheaper than owning something that doesn't work for you.
 
My input....

Im not; "Mr Room-Broom" but I've done a bit of research on the topic.
In short, Id look at the Remington 887 pump(tactical) or the basic 870 Express 12ga. The Mossberg 12ga 500 or 590. The new Ithaca Defender model(wood or synthetic) with the 8rd magazine. The Penn Arms Street-Sweeper(which has a new company name Im not 100% sure of). The Stoger O/U or side x side 12ga defense shotgun.
Many shotgun/armed professionals like the 887 Nitro's robust design & well engineered protective coating. The Remington 870 & Mossberg 500 lend themselves well to after market work & custom parts(stocks slings sights etc).
Sworn LE officer & tactics instructor; Massad Ayoob suggests the pistol grip stock type 12ga shotguns for "wounded" or "one handed" shooting methods which is a smart move for a home defense or protective service shotgun.
The Ithaca Defender line is well made & has a long history of police/military service.
Wilson Combat is well known for after market 12ga services & many shotgun owners get the weapon treated with Robar NP3+, Black-T, Metalife SS C, DuraCoat. White-lights like Surefire or EO-Tech are a good add-on to prevent mishaps.
Clyde
PS; Id suggest taking a defense shotgun class if possible or watching a few training videos. See: www.gunvideo.com www.deltapress.com www.paladin-press.com .
 
I've actually found a local range about an hour away that has the SLP available as a range rental and plan on going there this weekend to run a few boxes of 00 buck thru it to see how it fits and the controls work for me.
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I've had an SLP for 3 years and it just runs. The weak point in the design is the gas pistons. There's a spring in the piston that can break after 10K+ rounds. What happens is the gun will only cycle heavy loads if the spring breaks. It can be easily replaced, but the best answer is to send the pistons to SRM Performance in Meridian, ID and have them modify the pistons.

They will remove the springs and install a custom part that they make. With the SRM modified pistons, I run the "heavy" piston for loads from 1-1/8 oz birdshot through buckshot and slugs.

SRM can also install their SureCycle recoil system and do a performance / reliability tune-up - highly recommended. The SureCycle system will reduce recoil by about 10%, making an already soft shooting shotgun even easier to shoot. The reliability tune-up includes lapping the bolt and receiver, replacing the magazine spring and follower, trigger work and a few other tweaks. A lot of the 3-gun shooters send their shotguns to SRM.

The performance difference is subtle but can be noticed in handling - easier because there is less recoil; and the gun will put 6 hulls in the air before the first one hits the ground. Previous to the tune-up and SureCycle system, it would put 5 hulls in the air before the first one hit the ground.
 
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