Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Home defense shotgun recommendations

When you live in a small 2 bedroom farm house (682 sq ft upstairs), there is limited guess work involved as to your location.

If the bad guy will retreat, and I don't have to shoot, that's great, I don't have to make a mess in the house.

Yeah, racking the slide is just a silly idea…..

Just pull the trigger and find out how your life will change.

For sure, but not as much as the bad guy’s will!

I have a short barrelled 7 shot Maverick. It cycles reliably and fires when you pull the trigger.

I’ve been pleased with my A300 Patrol.
It cycles reliably on reduced recoil Hornady & Federal Flight control buck shot and slugs

https://youtube.com/shorts/xzCeZwW50J0?si=kv0GHSPBro8Mfaeo

Mossberg Maverick 88 is a solid 18” pump shotgun that won’t break the bank.

My mom keeps my short barreled, pistol grip 870 next to the bed ready to rock and roll once the Airedale lets her know there's danger present.

It sounds like youve been through concealed carry training and know the legal ramifications of deadly force. It may be the most expensive round you ever fire....

My handiest gun around the house is a Marlin 1895 lever .410. I use it to dispatch snakes, skunks and other chicken raiders and keep it handy for home defense.

I might suggest a bull pup design for inside the house. Going thru doorways and narrow hallways with a shouldered long gun even with an 18 inch barrel can be problematic. The bull pup can really help this. Check out the KSG from Kel tec. 600$ at palmetto sometimes. Something too ponder.

Probably nothing wrong with the Weatherby PA-08 you found. I don't have any experience with one, but haven't heard anything bad about that pump gun. It is better than no gun.

limabean;
Good morning, I trust all is as it should be down in your part of Alabama.

Since you're familiar with the 870, you're aware of some of it's quirks such as the slide being firmly forward to load the mag tube.

Being at that I'm a Canuck, pump shotguns and lever guns are a couple of the things we'll see in the back country due to our idiotic restrictions on handguns.

There's a company in Ontario that makes Hi-Vis Delrin followers that go into all the "serious social bear repellant" that I work on.

https://sjhardware.com/product/powerfeed-no-jam-combat-shotgun-follower-type-3-hivis-green/

The Delrin of course is self lubricating, the clean out grooves are a nice touch and with them it's easier to get a tactile feel if the mag tube is empty without actually looking at it - say for instance in the dark.

Another addition I like to add is the TruGLo Fat Bead Dual Color Fiber Optic bead which this semi-old guy's eye can pick up much faster in low light, but not in the dark of course.

Hope that was useful to you or someone out there.

All the best.

Dwayne

I have an 870 Remington Express Turkey shotgun in 12gauge with screw in chokes. Had an extra full in turkey mode. The barrel is 21” long. I use mine for home defense also but with improved cylinder choke. Have sling swivels on it for hunting. Sometimes you can find these in pawn shops for sale. It has
3” magnum chamber but you can shoot 2.75” shells too

Those were very good ole HD type shotguns.
That would be my second choice after a Remington 1970’s era 870 Police Model I keep by the back door.

My third choice would be the reliable ole Ithaca Model 37 Police Guns.

Or find a an old Ithaca 37 in a pawn shop with a 30” full choke barrel for a bargain and cut it down to a 20” barrel.

For those that said they had an 870 Wingmaster jam, they obviously don’t know how to run a pump gun.
I’ve owned a ton of them over the years and never had one “jam” or “miss feed”. 🤪

Mossberg Maverick 88 Security
20 inch barrel 7+1 Capacity
$270.00 Retail Can often be found for $225.00

https://www.mossberg.com/maverick-88-security-31048.html


https://www.hogueinc.com/tamer-shotgun-pistol-grip-for-mossberg-500 and 88 Maverick

A little more practice to shoot well but with this Hogue Pistol grip overall length is less than 31 inches.

Only 4 inches Longer than a Shockwave because of the difference in length of the Hogue Pistol grip and the birdshead grip on the Shockwave.

I personally Like the crossbolt safety better on the 88 Maverick than the Tang safety on the 500 series.

And the Hogue Rubber overmolded grip is more comfortable to shoot than a run of the mill Hard Plastic pistol grip.

There have been several good suggestions in this thread. I've been a huge Beretta 1301 fan for years and think it can't be beat. However, I gave my 1301 to my son. While looking for another, the A300 Ultima intrigued me so I bought one. I would call it "near 1301" in my opinion. It has a great operating system, although not BLINK. The 1301 is supposedly faster. I'll buy that. However, that's like trying to decide which grain of salt you are holding is heavier than the other. For the money, it's tough to beat the A300 Ultima. Even the bare 1301 tactical starts out $4-500 more. If you take in to consideration the costs involved in getting accessories for the 1301 to where you are at the level of the A300 Ultima, I would go the A300 Ultima route. I say that while asserting that I prefer the 1301 to all others in the tactical/home defense realm up to and including the Benelli M4 which I've used extensively both in and out of the military.