Help find the right gun (newbie here)

R

Rotgut

Inactive
first post here. Moving to shady neighborhood and am looking into home defense. Due to the reviews and my price range I've decided on a mossberg. They just make so many models that I don't know where to start.

As I said I'm looking for home defense and to use at the shooting range once a week or so. Point me in the right direction at a reasonable price range.
 
A Maverick,made by Mossberg, is about the cheapest reliable shotgun with parts availability. For less than $200, you're equipped, though not ready.

To be ready takes practice and ammo expenditures. Get ready.

HTH....
 
The Maverick is a well made gun. If you look at the basic 500 and find you like the location of the safety on top of receiver, it will cost just a few dollars more. The safety location is the only major difference in a maverick and a regular 500. Buying a regular "field gun" with long barrel is easy and cheaper. Order a shorter barrel if you prefer (I like a short barrel) and sell the long one if you will never hunt. New mossberg short barrel is under 100 dollars and the long new unfired barrel will bring 75 or 80 bucks. Right now, the short "tactical" gun demand is high so they are selling for 300 or above.
Brent
 
the first choice there is the better of the 2. keep it just how it is with the stock, or if you have space issues like i do, get a folding stock. the second one is over priced, the heat shield is pointless for home defense, unless you live in a trench in the middle of a war zone.. i do like how the one on top also comes with a pistol grip, just because, although pointless for HD, its fun to shoot PGO guns on occasion.
 
a Mossberg is an excelent choice for a home defense gun! There are many websites out there with parts to customize to your personal perfrence! The only other gun i would consider is the Remington 870 which has as many options for customizing as the Ruger 10/22! Also I would think about going with a youth model (I know it sounds stupid but even being a 6 foot 1 220 pound man I feel this gun fits me like a glove) they have short barrels and very short lengths of pull which is very good for manuevers inside of the house! It may sound stupid but I have a youth model 870 in 20 gauge that I can't miss with!
 
Alright, going with the 500 persueder. Is the link I proveded a good one to go to and is that a good price? Also, what kind of ammo should I be looking into? I want to start going to the range to learn to handle it properly.

Thanks for dealing with my rookie questions
 
After you try it with the pistol grip, you will most likely put
the shoulder stock back on it. Practice with the cheap target
loads ( #7 or #8 shot). Then try a few 00 buckshot. The
00 buckshot is effective for self defense. Bird shot is effective
for birds and rabbits and such. The safety on the persuader
is in a much better position for use than the maverick one.
I own many rifles, handguns and shotguns. I depend on the
Mossberg 500 for the home defense weapon. For me, it gives
much more confidence. Be sure and practice with it. Good luck !
:D
 
I'm definitely not interested in the pistol grip. I want to shoot as accurately as possible. How's the recoil? I really haven't shot a 12 guage since I was hunting in my teens. I'm about 5'7 and 185, pretty stocky.
 
Pull it into your shoulder and you should be fine. The cheap target
loads don't kick too bad. If you have a problem with recoil, there
are two methods to reduce it's effects. I use the Knoxx stock since I
shoot slugs a lot. Also available is the Limbsaver (with which I no experience).
 
If the shotgun fits you well, that will do quite a bit to mitigate recoil.

It's possible to put a recoil pad on the shotgun. There are also recoil pads that strap onto your shoulder. You might be able to find reduced recoil loads as well.

It does help to pull the shotgun into your shoulder. When I was much younger, I'd fire a few rounds, and my shoulder would get beat up. Then, because it was sore, I'd just barely hold the shotgun to my shoulder while firing, which would only make things worse.

Practice also seems to help quite a bit.
 
Rotgut, Will you ever hunt? If their is a remote chance, than stick with a 5+1 as is the top option in your "able's" post. The 7+1 is limited severely in barrel options.
If it were me, I would buy a regular 500 at walmart for about $229 "max" and order a barrel for under a hundred from mossberg in an 18 to 22 inch length and either keep the 28 inch for hunting or sell it for 85 bucks on here or some other site. But that is just me... As for the two models you posted I would buy the top one and sell/trade the PGO for the value of 150 rounds ($35) of cheap ammo to practice with.
When you get the gun, I suggest this video to help you do the initial tear down for cleaning the factory gunk and shipping preservative out...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKbW...5E7D9A6C8&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2
Same for Mav 88 BTW...
Best o' luck to you and let us know when you have it and be sure to ask away about the gun, practice and training...
Brent
 
To be honest just due to location hunting is an improbability. Step dad has a small arsenol of hunting rifles back in Utah I'd probably use. This gun will strictly be for home defense.

Question about buying online. When I order online and it's shipped through an authorized dealer what is their cut? Because option 1 seems like a great deal at $270. If it's not too high then that will be my final decision.

Thanks again for being so helpful and not treating me like an idiot. Gotta start somewhere.
 
I would suggest calling around to a few local shops and ask what they charge for long gun transfers. If you support one store frequently and theyre good guys but, for the sake of explaining, they charge 60$ for a long gun transfer rather than the other 2 stores that charge $45...Id suggest going with the credible store, even if its a little bit more expensive. But thats just me.

After you make a decision on which shop, call them and tell them your going to order a gun and your gonna need them to fax their FFL license to the seller with your auction copy etc etc...pretty much just gives them a heads up. They appreciate it.

Good luck with everything.
 
I want to shoot as accurately as possible. How's the recoil? I really haven't shot a 12 guage since I was hunting in my teens. I'm about 5'7 and 185, pretty stocky.
Click to expand...

How the gun "fits" and how you weild it should have more of an affect on perceived recoil vs the ammo used. Frankly, I think the "recoil" of a 12 ga. is a bit overrated. After shooting a .44 Mag (using "hot" loads), the 12 ga. seems tame to me. :)

BTW- The Mossberg you have chosen should serve you well indeed. However, if you seek a bit more one day, might I suggest the Mossberg 590A1 (8+1). You could probably snag a new one for $450-480 or so.
 
HD shotty

rotgut,

if you are looking for a mossy 500, depending on where you are, you shouldn't have to shop online, Most Big 5 sporting goods carry the 500 and 590 and if you aren't somewhere that has Big 5, the 500/590 is a pretty popular choice for hd shotty and should be pretty abundant. of course, you may be somewhere that doesn't have many gun shops/sporting goods stores.
pawn shops are also a popular place for 500s/590s/870s/HD shottys

the extra cost of shipping and transfer fees while, not that much can increase the cost basis of the gun you want.

check out your local ranges, chances are they will have either a mossberg 500/590 or remington 870 for rent, try them out before buying.

IMO both the 870 and 590 are great HD guns, the 590 being my preferred for strictly HD, if you ever plan on shooting trap/skeet/hunting, the 870 is a better choice. both have a ton of aftermarket accessories.

stay away from pistol grip only. they may look cool and seem like a good idea, they are not (imo).

while practicing at the range shooting at paper is fun, if you want real practice, take your gun to the trap range. shooting at a moving target will give you the confidence and experience needed to get a decent handle of your new gun. shooting at moving targets will also reinforce proper technique and develop muscle memory that is essential proper use. using your short barrel will be more difficult than using a 30 inch barrel, and the old timers might rib you a bit for shooting a tactical on the trap line, but the way I see it, you need to practice with the gun you intend to (hopefully never have to) use. I shoot my tactical at the trap range quite often for practice.

while recoil isn't that bad with proper shouldering of the gun and game loads, slugs and buckshot can pack quite a punch. get the proper technique down before moving up to higher power rounds.

many will tell you that buckshot is the way to go for HD, which is probably true, but really, if you hit a BG with a round of game load at an "in your house" distance (read less than 10 yds) it will mess them up, bad.

good (safe) shooting

porrpk
 
Remington 870 12 Ga, 18 to 24 in barrel, ramline pistol grip stock, light ramp, laser sight. You can usually pick up used Remingtons reasonable, their actions are very smooth, and accessories can be added as time and funds permit.
 
Apparently my name is offensive on this site... BUT I love my 590 with a PG. It'd prolly offend even more folks if they watched how good I am with it! JK around! ;) If you shop around, they have a 500 with a 20'' barrel and heat shroud, 8 round capacity and PG for like $250 ish depending on where you go. buy a speedfeed stock and put on and you got a nice HD gun for pretty cheap, IMHO:cool:
 
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