Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Home defense shotgun

Cabelas has Remington 870 express youth 20 gauge for $249.00

Well said.

Maverick 8-shot at my place. $209

And the 4-shot 20 gauge 11/87 for when I am menstruating.

Only shotgun we have accessible for things that go thump in the night is a Mossberg 500 Yut Model 20 ga. Loaded with 2 3/4" #3 buck 5 in the mag and 1 chambered. Carries a butt stock shell holder with 6 more of the same. We're i to do up my personal idea of Best I'd locate an A-5 Browning 20 ga in sad shape, cut the barrel to 18 or 20, have it threaded for chokes, shorten the butt stock an inch with a good pad. Would load the same shells as in the Mossberg and install either a full or modified choke. Looking for damage not shot spread.

bought one of my departments "old" remington pump 12 ga. put a +2 on it cuz it was lying around collecting dust. filled it with "old" or left over duty rounds. Gwen and I hammer pest with it all year round. i prefer lead #2 or BB but it all kills.

if we didnt have it, we'd have Ed too many letters rem youth pump 20 with a 21" barrel, tubes, and remington #3 buck

Does anyone use Buck and ball for their Home Defense Shotguns? It's buckshot, and a slug in the same shell.

After Clinton got elected in 1994, there was an increase at gun stores called Clintonomics.
One joke was that any $100 shotgun could have a couple inches sawed off the muzzle, painted black, and sold for $150.

The market has spoken: a shotgun should be short, open cylinder choke, and black......... no front sight needed.

If you can get a shorter barrel for any of your sporting shotguns that will work fine. That said, I have a Maverick 88 12ga with a 20" barrel and extended magazine. I got a Crimson Trace laser on sale and mounted it just in front of the fore end. I load #4 buckshot.

I agree that under pressure situations a semi will be "more reliable" than a pump for most people.

Most inertia semis are not the best in unusual situations where the gun is not going to be held against the shoulder, as they cannot cycle properly.

So, best for HD would be a gas semi, short barrel, slightly shorter buttstock, extended mag tube. The Beretta 1301 is where it's at currently, but they are expensive.

If buying new on a budget, the Mossberg SA20 tactical version is awfully nice but I don't know if there is a mag extension available. Mossberg SA20 tactical

In the end, a braced AR pistol would be the better gun for home defense.

Any shotgun that shoots where you look.

I love my Benelli M1 Super 90. Short barrel, light and low recoil as the action is recoil actuated. Semi-auto, rifle sights and 12 gauge.

Put a light on it so you can make sure you don’t kill the dog and to blind bad guys.

I've accumulated a few candidates. L to R: Rem 870 12ga, Rem 870 12ga, Ithaca Deerslayer 12ga, Ithaca Deerslayer 12ga, Ithaca Featherweight 16ga. SO...I'd probably recommend an old Remington 870 or Ithaca 37

I don't, but do have two Brenekke KO slugs out back last in case a bit of range is needed.

Nice brace of 'blue whistler' slingers Mike.

I'm needing a home defense shotgun next year. I'm thinking Beretta A400 Extreme Max 5. Nothing is too good to keep my family safe from ducks and geese. I live in Mayberry, we don't have crime.

I get the gist, but sometimes 'crime' travels through Mayberry.

Yep, those are two great choices. Only problem is that Remington isn't quite Remington anymore. Not like it was when those were made. So, today, it's a bit of a crap shoot if you go with a new Remington. Might be better off buying a mechanically nice used one from twenty or so years ago.

Ithaca is also a new company, i.e., another company bought the name and design and is manufacturing them at a different location. But I hear they are doing a great job of it.

Case in point:

Modified 12 gauge 870 with Magpul stock set, Volquartsen extractor, Burris SpeedBead (3moa dot), Meprolight night sights and an extended and ported choke (worked the best). I chuck it full of the Federal 1 3/4" "shorty" load that has 15 - #4 buck in it. And I can fit a whole bunch of them in the extended magazine!