Gas-operated shotgun for HD

In my opinion real Home Defense, Tactical, and 3 Gun are not all the same thing, at all. Most home defense suggestions I see fall in the area of massive overkill.
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I think the idea with 3-gun comments is that one of the important parts of the game is reliability. If you have to deal with a jam you lose time = lost points = lost match. If the semi-auto is reliable enough to be used for 3-gun, it should be reliable enough for home defense use.

The only real negative is that the gas guns with shorter barrels aren't as reliable with lighter loads. If you're going to use one with a sub 26" barrel you may have issues with lighter field loads.
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That's not true with most modern gas-operated semi-autos. I have an FN SLP and have shot trap with 1oz loads and an 18-inch barrel with the light gas piston. The gun cycled just fine. It will cycle 1-1/8 shells with the heavy gas piston and an 18-inch barrel.

For my uses, I simply leave the heavy gas piston in the gun as 1oz loads are really a specialty load for clay games. With the heavy gas piston the gun will reliably work with anything from 1-1/8 oz loads to buckshot and slugs.

Price being of no concern, which one would get your vote?
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I don't think it matters. The quality "tactical" shotguns all work reliably and it's your choice as to ergonomics, features, and favorite manufacturer. The three I would look at in a gas gun would be (in alphabetical order).

Benelli m4
Beretta 1301
FN SLP

The 1301 is allegedly the fastest of the three because of its cross tube gas system - if that makes a difference to you. I can tell you that with my FN SLP I have had 5 empty hulls in the air simultaneously. I can't pull the trigger any faster than that - so for me, the gun being faster than my SLP would be of no benefit.

For an inertia driven semi-auto:
Benelli M2.
 
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Fn SLP Tactical. It is ruling 3 gun at the moment and is fast becoming a favorite of L.E. The Mossberg 930 is no slouch.
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Are you nuts?!? The 930 is about the least reliable and the FN SLP is almost unseen in 3Gun anymore. It had a few years of success, but then we wore them out at about 10K and the FTF became way too frequent without a total overhaul and machining the receiver for steel inserts.
 
"...For those not used to a pump it's fairly easy to jam the gun..." Dry fire practice makes that go away. Doesn't jam it either. You can short stroke though if you're not familiar/used to a particular model. Not all pump guns have the same length of stroke.
Got bit by a Benelli once. Too light. It'd do though. However, since money isn't an object(I'll just assume legalities aren't either), I'll have an Atchisson AA-12. 32-round drum magazines, thank you.
 
atchisson aa-12 are full auto. Can you really own one in Canada? All in all most posters here would not spend over $400 for a shot gun.
 
why is it that a ruger 10/22 or remington 7400, or even a psa .223 is just fine for self defense, but in the shotgun world it must be the most expensive semiauto or close to it? I noticed there is a lack of interest in the Mossberg 930. I realize this was a price is no object thread.... just wondering....
 
...but then we wore them out at about 10K and the FTF became way too frequent without a total overhaul and machining the receiver for steel inserts.
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Anecdotal information, and not applicable to a home defense shotgun. Most people will never shoot 10K rounds through a home defense shotgun.
 
"...Can you really own one in Canada?..." Not unless you had one registered prior to 1 Jan. 1978. That's why I was assuming legalities didn't count if money didn't. snicker.
Didn't pay over $315Cdn. for my 870. Including the taxes.
 
I am currently testing a prototype inertia shotgun that is in the $500 range...it is not the price point, but the operating system and reliability of such that is the issue.

Shotguns that do not release the shell from the magazine tube on the trigger pull are less reliable when we have more than about 4 shells of tube capacity. Shell surge is real, and it must be finely tuned on most autos with increased capacity, and even then, the operating window is small.

ARGO and Inertia guns are more reliable with larger capacity in the tubes. The 1301 and the Predator are gas guns that the designers understood this issue and went to a trigger release of the shell instead of one that releases the shell with the bolt in motion.

An 1100 will run well over 100K rounds with 2 or 3 shells in the tube. Take it to 8+ and the reliability and longevity is greatly reduced. Same general thing with the 930.
 
Anecdotal information, and not applicable to a home defense shotgun. Most people will never shoot 10K rounds through a home defense shotgun.
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Not anecdotal at all. Granted, 10K is a lot of rounds for a shotgun sitting in a closet, but it is not as reliable as other operating systems at the same price point.

Shotguns attempt to put a flat faced round into a cylinder and as such are less reliable than the round or pointed noses of single projectile firearms. In being present (and shooting myself) in classes and matches with 100s of thousands of rounds of shotguns shells over the years, the buckshot rounds (as a group) have the highest rate of malfunctions regardless of shotgun type, and more so with some of the gas operated shotguns. I literally can not tell you how many people ask me not to put buckshot in matches because they have malfunctions with it.
 
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The only real negative is that the gas guns with shorter barrels aren't as reliable with lighter loads. If you're going to use one with a sub 26" barrel you may have issues with lighter field loads.

That's not true with most modern gas-operated semi-autos. I have an FN SLP and have shot trap with 1oz loads and an 18-inch barrel with the light gas piston. The gun cycled just fine. It will cycle 1-1/8 shells with the heavy gas piston and an 18-inch barrel.
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That would be correct. It's more true for the older less efficient designs. Gas designs from Browning/Winchester, Beretta, and Franchi all don't have this issue. Models like the Benelli M4 and Remington Versamax/V3 have their ports close to the chamber.
 
Shotguns attempt to put a flat faced round into a cylinder and as such are less reliable than the round or pointed noses of single projectile firearms.
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With almost 15,000 through my A400 after two years with zero malfunctions, I'll respectfully disagree. I have had more issues with a few 9mm and 45acp pistols.
 
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