Double Duty Shotie

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alistair

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I want a shotgun for home defense , but want to be able to shoot some sporting clays and trap aswell. I pretty new to this. Question is is there a relatively cheap shotgun that will serve for both of these purposes.
I am looking at the Mossberg 500 combo which Includes 28" vent-rib barrel and 18.5" cylinder-bore barrel. Is this a good combo ?


http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shoot...3Bcat104803380
 
What you are looking at is ideal.

I have a Mossberg 500 with a 28" barrel for birds/skeet, 24" for turkeys, and an 18" for defense. You can even buy a muzzleloader barrel for them!

Lots of parts, upgrades and accessories for the Mossberg. Parts are relatively cheap and the design makes it easy to repair if needed (extractors, etc.).

They are not elegant, refined weapons, but they work, and lots of people love them. Including me. It's one of those guns you can't ever get rid of because it will do so many things.
 
It's a great combo. That's probably why I have one in 12 and 20 gauge. You can even buy a pistol grip for something like $12 if you want to go that way.
 
I want a shotgun for home defense , but want to be able to shoot some sporting clays and trap aswell.
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Most any pump or semi with a relatively short barrel and interchangable chokes will work for multitasking

It's just a matter of practicing

I'm partial to Remington pumps and Benelli autos
 
Any shotgun with readily interchangeable barrels will do. I have two Mossberg 500s that I like because the 500 has a top tang safety, 3" chambers and is very inexpensive to buy. One is a sporting model that came with a 28" VR barrel and then I bought a plain 18" barrel for it so it could be a home defense gun. Takes less than a minute to swap them.

Later I sold the 28" tube and bought a 24" VR barrel. I just like a shorter barrel. Wanted the 20" VR barrel but they had quit making them and they were hard to find used. Then some time later I saw one on ebay and paid way too much for it to outbid a couple other guys (I guess everybody wanted one). With this barrel in place I guess it would serve for both sport and defense.


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At some point (likely around 1990) I saw a 20" long magazine (8 round capacity) security model Mossberg 500 in a shop. Has rifle sights that fold down and sling swivels. Came from some police department or security company (no markings) and was well used. But I thought it was cool and bought it. I keep it loaded with 8 rounds of 3" 00 Buck and the butt cuff carries 5 rounds of 3" slugs. I figure it will kill most anything I would need to kill.


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If you're just shooting clay targets casually ...not in competition...then a pump gun is ok to start with...but it is a handicap over a semi-auto or an Over Under...unless you are very accomplished with the pump gun ( meaning you have to be able to operate the pump smoothly between shots - with the gun maintaining in contact with your shoulder -- not dropping it down to cycle it or you'll be late on the 2nd shot )....

Of all the pump guns on the market, I think the Browning BPS is the best value ..not the cheapest / but its a solid long term gun.

Shotguns for home defense are often debated on this forum ....in my opinion, a pump with a 28" barrel is fine for defense...but not optimal as a "fighting shotgun"...but its defense that you want.
 
If you read his initial post he wants to break into trying these things. If for some reason he catches the bug hard and feels that the mossberg 500 is a handicap I'm sure he will upgrade to a double of some sort.

I don't think it's a handicap and when I shoot trap, sporting clays or pheasants the mossberg 500 works great.

Sure I also use a Savage Fox double too but the mossberg made me even better with a double.
 
If you read his initial post he wants to break into trying these things. If for some reason he catches the bug hard and feels that the mossberg 500 is a handicap I'm sure he will upgrade to a double of some sort.
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I agree with this thought process. While a Browning BPS is a more refined gun, it still wouldn't be be ideal for sporting purposes and, in my opinion, it would be worse for home defense--clumsier in confined space, less shell capacity (by 1), fewer aftermarket options in regard to light mounts, sights, stocks, etc.

Why spend $600 for a pump that's not ideal for any of the purposes the OP listed? Spending about half that for a Mossberg combo will get you a better HD gun, let you get a taste of some sporting games, and leave more money in your pocket to put toward a semi-auto or double down the road if you want to get more serious about sport shooting.

If I were to spend $600 from the get-go, I'd consider something like this:
http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?i=722543

You still get barrels for each purpose, but in a reputable semi-auto format.
 
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I got the 18.5” and 28” combo Mossberg for exactly the reasons you are looking at and have been very happy with it. I went with a polymer stock instead of wood just because I figured it would hold up to abuse better.
 
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