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What’s the most economical, reliable gun for home defense purposes? Any thoughts on a weatherby pa-08? Saw one like new for 300.00

What are you willing to risk your life and your family's life with? Serious question.

Weatherby's these days are price point guns. They fail regularly. You see any police departments issue Weatherbys for their cops? Yeah, me neither....

VERY cheapest I would go is the Mossberg 500 (US Military had luck with them except the plastic safeties) but the Remington 870 would be my first choice. The older Police model trade-ins are where I would start.

I'd second a Remington 870. There are lots of them out there. You probably want an 18 inch cylinder barrel. The barrels are available from various after market sources. And you need to practice with them some, as they can be short stroked under stress.

3rd vote for an 870. 18-20 " barrel .

I have a Mossberg 590 A1 with ghost sights. Great shotgun for the house.

Good choice. The magazine on the 500 isn’t friendly concerning extra capacity.

Can't go wrong with an 870.

I utilize a 22" Winchester 1300 because I already had it. But, if buying new........ 870. Easy call.

Yeah, 870 has been my go to pump shotgun but just wanted to see if there was anything as good but cheaper. Not a weapon that will get lots of use but want it to work when it needs to. Thanks for the input

There are a lot of mechanically sound used 870s out there in used gun racks and gun shows. Been awhile since I looked for one, but used to be easy to find them for $300 or less., and the police turn-ins will have an 18-20" barrel already.

I stocked up a few years ago. The two on the left are 870s, the rest are assorted Ithacas:

I’ve seen a number of 870’s jam. Not sure if it’s design or operator induced. I’d hesitate to choose one for a primary defense gun.

Wingmasters or the express model?
Im not sure I ever had a jam on a wingmaster.
The express on the other hand……
I have been working on a 20ga express that my
daughter won at a DU dinner 20 years ago. It sat in the safe with less than 2 boxes of shells through it. Grandson started using it and it became impossible to pump. I have stoned the insides and found a lot of burr’s. Working pretty well now. A little polish and some shooting and hopefully it will be a good gun.
Ithaca 37’s and Win model 12’s and Rem 31’s woild be my choices afrer 870 wingmaster

Several Wingmasters that I can recall offhand for sure. Not sure which on a couple others.

I always cringe when I hear the old wive’s tale of scaring an intruder with the sound of racking a pump gun. That would be a great time for a jam!

To be fair, I’ve seen lots more malfunctions with autoloaders. Some of this would be expected as a numbers thing. In my world, autoloaders outnumber pumps probably 10:1.

I’d sure not be going cheap on a defense gun. But then, I’d only buy life insurance from a highly rated company, too.

REM 870, Mossberg 500, or Ithaca 37. All proven pump guns in the military and by untold police agencies. Any one of them will work well.

If an 870 jams it almost never the guns fault. 870 for HD but learn how to run the thing

Model 12's and 870's like standard American shells. Winchester, Remington, Federal. They often don't like the foreign imports that may have a different rim or length. My Model 12's hate Rio's. They will often extract hard or are too long for the port.

A hiccup would be the shells or operator fault and not the guns.

Most malfunctions with any of the good quality pump guns are operator errors.

Never had a reliability issue or short stroking an 870 while water fowling and if the gun goes submerged you just unload, empty the water out, check for bore obstructions and resume hunting. End of day remove the 2 pins for the trigger assembly and remove. Spray out the assembly with WD-40 or CLR, swab the barrel and coat the exterior with products previously mentioned. This model is easy to disassemble and maintain even in the field if you carry a multi tool and bore snake.

I HAVE short stroked a BPS 10 gauge when switching to geese, this model requires a long pull on the front end to fully eject out the bottom, pick up a new 3 1/2" shell and go boom. Several times I have heard a click when transitioning to this gun. This model is also more difficult to disassemble when adversity strikes.

I have a Maverick 88 20" 12ga and an older Mossberg 500 with an 18" barrel. Both work just fine.

Have seen an Express or two that would lock up on the cheap, "low brass" steel-head shells due to rough chambers—polishing the chambers cured the problem.

These days I would find a used police 870. I have had four over the years and they are remarkably reliable. I still have a couplevof 870's. One is a beautiful 2 3/4 in Wingmaster, another an Express and finaly,a LEO tradein..

With rifle sights, 21" IC or screw choke barrrel a light and side saddles I would think you would be set. If you get one with a short magaine ,it is easy to add to the tube if desired..

I also have had a fondness for Ithaca Deerslayers.We had them in Vietnam and I got some as soon as I got out. Again, very reliable. Not as available as when LAPD sold theris.

You indicated you wanted a budget gun. If you ever want to spend a bit more money, get a Beretta 1301T. I did. For defense I feel there is no comparison.