Hi Everybody,

I'm willing to buy a pump-action shotgun for home defence. Any suggestions? I was actually thinking of a Mossberg Tactical... :confused:

Iowaloha BlackMamba. Nice to meet ya. Mossberg is a good choice. The "tactical" part of the name is likley designed to sell shotguns.

In my mind (or lack there of), "tactical" implies an offencive rather than defencive firearm?

If you like the features of the gun, and it suits your needs, buy it! Pass on the hype!

Cheezywan

It depends. I would probably shop the used gun racks for a Remington 870 or an Ithaca Model 37 pump and shorten the barrel to legal length. I did that and it cost me $100 for the 870 and $125 for the Ithaca. All the best...
Gil

I would say that most of the main name shotguns would work for you. You will want a shorter barrel to maneuver inside a home.

As far as ammo, buckshot always works, but at the distances you are likely to use the shotgun you can even use bird shot. If you're only shooting accross a room an ounce of shot is an ounce of shot.

Thanks guys!
By the way, has anyone of you seen the Serbu Shorty Forty in action? 't seems quite amazing! :cool:

Welcome to the forum BlackMamba. Rules are simple, be nice and join in.

Lots of good inexpensive shotguns on the market. Used can be as good as new and less expensive. I have a Remington 870 youth in 20 gauge. Got it for $219 at Walmart and it came with a 21 inch barrel that takes Remington's choke tubes. Good buy an a very short quick gun for home defense.

I have a Mossberg 835 and they make very good guns also. About any good pump shotgun will work, just be sure and get a short barrel for quick handling. Nothing on earth scarier than hearing that pump shotgun having a shell racked into the chamber. Most any crook won't stick around to hear what's next.

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Also, what size shot would be practical for home defense ?

Also, what size shot would be practical for home defense ?

There TONS of threads regarding which is better, Birdshot or Buckshot, I don't think you'll convince anybody to change their mind about which is better, or why...

IMO, I like #4 Buckshot, it's small enough that it won't over penetrate (as much) as 00 Buck, but it's still large enough to make some pretty decent holes (0.25") in a BG.

That being said, at hallway and room distances, I'd hate to be on the receiving end of a load of #8 target shot....

Smitty

One thing many fail to mention is the sound a pump action makes. I worked in Texas prisons for 15 years and many escape attempts were thwarted due to the sound of a shel being pumped into the 870P shotguns we used on the pickets. My opinion is get a pump shotgun with a LOUD action.
On one occasion, my teenage niece was visiting her grandpa. Grandpa had gone to the store and my niece heard someone trying to break in the back door. She could only find a pump shotgun (without the barrel). She racked the slide and told the intruder she was armed and not afraid to shoot him. The intruder left. Once again, my opinion is get a pump shotgun with a LOUD action.

One thing many fail to mention is the sound a pump action makes. I worked in Texas prisons for 15 years and many escape attempts were thwarted due to the sound of a shel being pumped into the 870P shotguns we used on the pickets. My opinion is get a pump shotgun with a LOUD action.
On one occasion, my teenage niece was visiting her grandpa. Grandpa had gone to the store and my niece heard someone trying to break in the back door. She could only find a pump shotgun (without the barrel). She racked the slide and told the intruder she was armed and not afraid to shoot him. The intruder left. Once again, my opinion is get a pump shotgun with a LOUD action.

I completely agree with you. Surprising a thief trying to get into your house, or already in, with such a sound will get even the worst to flee...and if he's mad enough to stay, there will be little left of him!

I have the Remington 870 - 12g/18". Nothing fancy regular synthetic stock. Very solid and reliable. I have fired it at the range many times, the action is smooth and quick to get off more than one shot in a reasonable amount of time if needed. The kick is a little rough, but with practice you can deal with the kick, rack it, and get back on target pretty quick. Whatever you do get, be sure to PRACTICE, PRACTICE. And like anything else, take a lesson in shotgun defense so you don't end up practicing a bunch of bad techniques.

Nothing more effective than a 12g for home defense. The mere sound of the "racking" will discolor any intruder's shorts.

For people who feel that a shotgun is a good home defense weapon then get a 20 gauge (less recoil than a 12)

Personally I would suggest that most people who have never shot people should forget the TV and movie shows - and realize that they have never shot another human being in their lives - and train themselves to do so - if need be. They can start by examining themselves -and determining that they can shoot TO KILL without a second's hesitation if they have to. (The time to say to yourself when the intruder is in front of you:"Gee, should I shoot?" is already too late. The intruder, being a criminal, was always willing to shoot) This is why experienced police officers are not keen on "home defense". It is not because they don't want people to be able to defend themselves. It is because most people don'tr know how to prepare themselves psychologically to KILL -if needed - and a criminal might shoot just because he sees a gun in someone's hands. Get a good dog - and make sure the local State Police know exactly how to get to your place.

I am going to admit to getting careless one day in my younger days... I had a Mossberg 500 discharge in the house. The load was 1 1/4 ounce of #4 lead shot. This load and the wad all went through a wall in one large hole. Guess what, I saw enough to know that the load is not spent on the other side. It will be dangerous in another room. Drywall, picture frames and steel siding just doesn't stop the shot. I once knew a fellow who had a 45 go of in the house. He had a load called Glacier slugs (I think) They were supposed to fragment in a wall. The bullet went through the arm of a couch and into a wall and stopped. Something to think about if you live with other family members across the house or apartments.

Pretty much nothing is going to come to a complete stop in the first wall it hits. In my academy they showed us photos of a round of #8 that had been fired in a house. As PONDOROLMS mentioned, through the first wall the shot cup and everything went through in a nice big hole. The second wall had a nice spread of shot in it, but they had slowed down enough to stop in that wall.

So I wouldn't believe that anything will stop in the first wall you hit, but you can choose those rounds that are likely to penetrate less.

I think most people would agree that any type of shot will penetrate less that a slug, and I would expect smaller shot to penetrate less than larger shot as it looses energy faster.

Hi Everybody,

I'm willing to buy a pump-action shotgun for home defence. Any suggestions? I was actually thinking of a Mossberg Tactical... :confused:

My advice:

(1) Pistol grips are useless, so don't feel pressured to get a package that comes with one. A conventional shoulder stock or a shoulder stock WITH a pistol grip is the way to go.

(2) The short barrel does make the gun point more easily, plus it's harder for someone to grab hold of.

(3) Low-recoil 00buckshot is SWEET. Holy crap dude, go shoot some of that and you'll know exactly what you want to have around the house come burglar time. The kind I used was by Federal, and I'm tellin' you, it was impressive performance that was soooo forgiving to my shoulder. I wish I had some more myself; I'm all out so I've got my Mossy 500 loaded with Remington 2 3/4" 00Bk.

If you want more advice on loads and such--more advice than one person can handle, probably--check out my thread called "12-ga loads for home defense." There are several important links concerning performance tests of various types of shot, most importantly.

And like the guys are saying here, a home defense gun doesn't need to be fancy or have "SWAT" or "Tactical" or some other buzzword in the name. A new or used youth or sporter model from Remington or Mossberg or whomever will do you fine, and an 18.5-in. barrel won't set you back more that twenty bucks, probably. There's no real need for high-tech furniture or a magazine that holds a gazillion rounds, either. I think there was a study that found that the average number of rounds fired in a civilian shootout was just three, and any pump gun will have a magazine THAT big.

Good luck choosing, and let us know!

Also, as one kind and wise forum use pointed out, shotguns made for general use are very versatile. Get a Mossberg 500 with the sporter barrel and regular furniture and you can shoot skeet, hunt, plink, whatever. Buy a short barrel, you've got a home defense gun. Buy a rifled deer barrel, you've got something that'll make really big holes in deer. Etc. etc. etc.

Unfortunately, there probably aren't as many barrels available for "tactical" guns since they have unusual magazine sizes and since they're already sort of customized. Just one more thing to consider.