home defense shotgun ideas

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Addicted2Shooting

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I've currently got a remington 870 but im considering a simple home defense shotgun that i can keep beside the bed that both my girlfriend and i can quickly access and use if need be.

right now the 870 is a little big and heavy for the lady.

what do you all think of this little setup both for reliability and ease of use for a woman?

thanks
 
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No. Teach her how to shoot the 870 you have. Get one of them recoil reducing stocks or a smaller gun in size and/or caliber.


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don't get me wrong, i love my 870. but its the 18" barrel with full stock...its just big for a small framed girl. something like this one with the pistol grip might be easier for her to weild. 12 gauge is not the issue...length and weight of gun seems to be her problem.
 
+1 on a youth stock. I have never seen a use for a pistol grip only, on a 12 gauge. If she has a hard time with the 870 as it is...I can't imagine how much she will dislike the pistol grip.
 
I got to looking...what about a personal defense shotgun with stock

I think it might suit her better...but should I even consider mossberg?
 
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I got my DIL a Mossberg 20 gauge youth gun with 22" barrel. Told her the next time I saw it, there had better be some wear on the working parts from practice. That gun weighs about 2/3 what an 870 12 ga does and has 2-3" shorter stock. DIL is actually tall and long arms so they put a slip on rubber pad on it. A man can shoot it like a pistol if needed.
 
Gun fit is a critical element, and the average off the shelf shotgun is just not going to fit smaller shooters. My wife is fairly petite, but still handles a properly fitted (12.5" LOP stock, field length forearm) 12 ga. 870 with zero difficulties.

Still, a 20 gauge version of the same gun is what my niece chose when she came down for a session of Defensive Shotgun 101 a while back. Off a table loaded with various shotguns which she had a chance to handle and shoot, she chose a 20 ga. 870 Express Youth model (13" LOP, 21" VR barrel). Interestingly enough, there was a 12 ga. 870 Express Turkey gun on the table as well - 21" VR barrel, with a wood stock shortened to 12.5" LOP. My niece liked the 20 ga. better because she said it was easier for her to maneuver. So we gave it to her.

Weight in front of the support hand feels much heavier to the shooter. Thus no magazine extensions or other bolt-on stuff out there. A premium recoil pad is a big help. A field length forearm means the support hand doesn't have to be hyper-extended, making the gun hard to support and operate. And if the Youth version of the 870 Express is still too long, there's a Junior version with an adjustable LOP stock and an 18.5" VR barrel

Forget the pistol grip only stock...
 
I had a pistol grip on my winchester defender 12ga for about 2 shells. It was painful to shoot, and very hard to aim - mostly because I didn't want it anywhere near my face.
You could try one of those m4 style adjustable length stocks. It's not like there's a shortage of aftermarket solutions for the 870 you've already got.
 
I went into the gun store today to look around...ended up getting and adding a pistol grip stock to replace the regular stock on my 870. She loves it, and it ended up saving me some $$$ :)
 
Pistol grip, or pistol grip only? If PGO you did not take advantage of the good advice you were given and wasted money.
 
The youth model 20ga. would have been an excellent choice....and yes,you could have very well included Mossberg in your options.

Me thinks you mostly had your mind made up on a PG before you started this thread.

Going against the good advice on not getting the PG, Goodluck with your decision. Please post back as to how the PG made petite girlfriends wrist feel after a decent range session. ;)
 
Yes, please let us know after the range trip if the shotgun still has a PGO and if you still have the girlfriend.

Thanks.....
 
Time to take her to the range to try it out with some high brass 00BK
Click to expand...

Nope, time to go to a gun club and have her fire some soft, low-recoil TARGET loads with a stock that FITS

I shoot with some ladies who are retired, one is pushing 5' on a good day, and she can shoot a 9# K-80 - because..............wait for it.............her gun FITS...............;)
 
Cheap Reliable Ladies Shotgun

Pump is the only way to go for simplicity and reliability. I am a 870 fan, but H&R makes a nice defence pump for a great price, and I think they even have a youth you could modify. I've sold a few and they cycle good. Also your load, and choke will greatly effect the recoil. For close quarters a open bore and 2 3/4 buck shot or goose load would work great, and the recoil will be less than the same loads with modified or full chokes. It is great to get women shooting, but tough to find the right gun.
 
Oneounceload...I'm pretty sure you entirely missed my sarcasm font and $h!t eating grin from behind my computer screen. A pistol only grip is NOT going to be comfortable for her to shoot. :p
 
sorry if I was unclear.

I got a pistol grip/stock for my remington 870 tactical.
It originally just had a stock...now it has a nice comfortable pistol grip and adjustable/6 position stock with cushy buttpad :)

I had her firing it on our range this past weekend and she had a blast...
She normally will shoot a box or so and be done. Instead, we spent a few hours and 5 boxes later she asked how much more ammo we had :p
 
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