Home Defense Shotgun recommendations

[10P8TRIOT]

Do you have any respectable pawn shops near you? I'd be on the lookout for a used but reliable Winchester Defender 1300. They can sometimes be found in pawn shops for $250-300.

 

I have both the Winchester and the Remington 870 and it's my opinion that the Winchester is far superior. 7+1 and the action is like butter.

 

Check gun broker also. Here is one that needs some TLC but appears serviceable for only $175.

 

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=343890779

+1 on the Winchester Defender 1300. Very fast, smooth and reliable. I've had 2 friends that have traded their 870s for 1300s after shooting mine. Got mine like new on Gunbroker for $250 a couple years ago. Looks like prices are up some now, but there are currently 7 listed on Gunbroker.

[mk19]

Mossberg and Maverick are decent budget guns, however their actions are not as smooth as Remington 870 or Winchester 1300 Defender. IMO a home defense shotgun should have a smooth action and high capacity, so you can chamber rounds faster and when needed put more rounds down range. The 1300 defender speed pump is a great budget shotgun and fun to shoot, I think you get 8+1 and a fast pump. I have a custom 870 with a recoil reducing stock with a 10+1 capacity, I prefer shooting a Benelli M1, but prefer the reliability of a pump for home defense.

[RichardR]

I was born & raised in Indiana so I have been a "shotgunner" since the day I was old/big enough to be able to shoulder a .410 properly (the late 1970's), and to this day I still love shotguns & I am especially fond of pump-action shotguns for their reliability.

I currently own a Mossberg 590A1, two Mossberg 500's & a Remington 870, all of them chambered in 12g except for one of the 500's which is a youth model chambered in 20g.

As you can see I prefer the design of the Mossberg 590/500 action's over pretty much any other pump-action design, there are multiple reasons for this but I'm just going to skim over a couple of the more important reasons behind my preference for Mossberg.

1.) The most drastic & important is (IMHO) the design of the action itself, the "always open" design of the Mossberg's loading gate in particular.

This makes the Mossberg's quicker & easier to slank shells into than the Remington "always closed" design & also there is no "pinch-potential" to your thumb like with the Rem 870's.

There however a trade-off, Mossberg's always open loading gate design makes the Mossberg 590/500 series action's "feel clunky" when the action is cycled when compared to the Remington 870 design.

2.) Second most important difference is that the Mossberg 590/500 design has dual extractors, while the Remington 870's only have a single extractor, this is almost never a problem for the vast majority of shooters, but when/if it ever does become a problem it literally takes the Remington 870 "out of the fight" so to speak.

The single extracor on the Remington doesn't even have to break for this to be a potential problem, I'll give you an example, granted this is something that doesn't happen very often but has happened to me a couple times using my Remington 870 while shooting trap & skeet with it.

Anyway one of the times it happened was toward the end of a trap tournament, we had been at it all day & we were running our last few go arounds as quickly as possible trying to finish up so we could all go home.

So at this point the Remington 870 had no down-time between rounds so it was getting hot & dirty and this caused a hull seized up real nice and tight in the chamber, I knew the reason why the moment I yanked the pump back to cycle the action & it wouldn't budge.

The next yank on the pump was of course much more forceful & the action of my 870 opened but no empty hull came out, the single extractor of the 870 ripped the rim of the hull & now the chamber was obstructed & I of course had to forfit that go around to go fetch a cleaning rod in order to push out the stuck empty hull.

Like I said, it doesn't happen often but when it does happen it takes the Remington completely out of action, granted its an easy fix but in a fire-fight it could be the difference between surviving it or dying in it.

This has never been an issue with my Mossbergs, the dual extractors have always dislodged a stuck hull, no matter how hot &/or dirty the gun gets, even if I have to slam the pump in order to open/cycle it.

3.) Third most important difference is the ergonomics, just a couple of the more important to me ones are...

A.) the Mossberg's tang mounted location of the safety allows me to "thumb" the safety on/off without having to "break my grip" on the weapon, this is with traditional rifle stocked shotguns, if you are using pistol griped shotguns the cross-bolt design & location of the safety on the Remington 870 is more ergonomic.

B.) Next main ergonomic difference between the 590/500 & the 870's is the position of the action/slide lock release, on the Mossberg's it is behind the trigger guard which allows me to activate it without having to "break my grip" on the weapon, on the Remington's it is in front of the trigger guard & opn the opposite/wrong side, making me break my grip in order to activate/release it.

Don't get me wrong, I still like Remington 870's & wouldn't hesitate to use one in an "life or death emergency" &/or SHTF scenario, I just personally like the Mossberg 590/500 design a lot better.

I am not a fan of Winchester 1200/1300's, I had one years ago, used it a couple of times when the welds broke on the pump action arms, so the pump wouldn't work the action at all, it was a brand new shotgun too.

I asked around while looking for replacement parts & that seemed to be a common problem with those shotguns (at that time) I am not sure if Winchester ever corrected that problem or not, it was a sweet looking & it had a silky smooth feeling actioned shotgun though.

Anyway G'luck, everyone should own at least one shotgun, they are super-versitle w/regards to hunting & extremely effective for CQB, especially if loaded with 00 buck.














Out of the pump-action shotguns that I currently own the 590A1 is easily my favorite out of the bunch, especially for HD/SHTF purposes, capacity is 8+1, with an extra +4 more shells in it's Speedfeed stock, it also has GRS (ghost ring sights)

[Dolomite_supafly]

As I understand it, most everything fits it except 870 barrels.

 

- OS

From what I witnessed with mine the SAE bolts do not work. I assume that the bolt holes in the Pardner pump are metric. Finding metric bolts are easy enough at Home Depot or Lowes.

[Joseg]

Go to Academy, pick up a H&R Pardener Pump, I think they are 210 out the door (that's what I paid in Dec.). Yes it's a chinese knock off, 870 parts minus barrel fit it. If not decided on 870 or 500 and call it a day. Just keep in mind the Newer Remington 870s are being reported as having issues with them, Maverick's I think are now made in Mexico. 

[tartanphantom]

Go to Academy, pick up a H&R Pardener Pump, I think they are 210 out the door (that's what I paid in Dec.). Yes it's a chinese knock off, 870 parts minus barrel fit it. If not decided on 870 or 500 and call it a day. Just keep in mind the Newer Remington 870s are being reported as having issues with them, Maverick's I think are now made in Mexico. 

 

Most Maverick components are made in Mexico, but the firearms are all assembled in Texas.

Edited May 28, 2013 by tartanphantom

[jbravo]

Go to Academy, pick up a H&R Pardener Pump, I think they are 210 out the door (that's what I paid in Dec.). Yes it's a chinese knock off, 870 parts minus barrel fit it. If not decided on 870 or 500 and call it a day. Just keep in mind the Newer Remington 870s are being reported as having issues with them, Maverick's I think are now made in Mexico. 

The Pardener Pump is manufactured by the same company as the Hawk 982, Norinco. Basically they are the same gun.

[RichardR]

The Pardener Pump is manufactured by the same company as the Hawk 982, Norinco. Basically they are the same gun.

I don't have any first hand experience with any of the above mentioned "knock off" clone shotguns but I have owned a lot of other Norinco/Polytech manufactured firearms, all of which have been very serviceable weapons.

Budget wise however I'm not sure if there is enough of a price difference to recommend going the "clone shotgun" route unless the buyer simply cannot swing the difference & doesn't want to buy a used Mossberg or Remington.

[jbravo]

I don't have any first hand experience with any of the above mentioned "knock off" clone shotguns but I have owned a lot of other Norinco/Polytech manufactured firearms, all of which have been very serviceable weapons.

Budget wise however I'm not sure if there is enough of a price difference to recommend going the "clone shotgun" route unless the buyer simply cannot swing the difference & doesn't want to buy a used Mossberg or Remington.

Can't speak to the Mossberg, but I do know that the Remington 870 Express is nowhere near the quality of the 982. I have both. And also here is a comparison of the 2 guns and I'll let the OP make his own decision. http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=82794

 

I know its an old forum post but it is pretty accurate for the two shotguns.

[Oh Shoot]

Most Maverick components are made in Mexico, but the firearms are all assembled in Texas.

 

Barely. Eagle Pass. :)

 

- OS

[JAB]

I have a Maverick Security 88.  Mine is the model with a 20 inch barrel and the factory mag tube on it holds seven 2 3/4 inch shells.  I also recently bought a Savage/Stevens 320 (like the one at the link below) at Academy.  The 88 is my HD shotgun and I bought the Savage mostly as a 'fun' gun - but now I am considering making the Savage my HD shotgun and maybe putting a pistol only grip on the Maverick for fun (after vetting the Savage a little more.)  Both run well.  The Maverick seems more 'solid' - not that the Savage isn't solid - but the action on the Savage was butter smooth right out of the box.  As mentioned in previous posts, the Maverick 88 is, basically, Mossberg's 'budget' version of the 500.  In fact, the Mavericks that I have seen in stores recently have had a stick-on label on the buttstock that has 'Mossberg Maverick" printed on it.

 

The Savage is more or less a Winchester 1300 'clone' (although I don't know if aftermarket parts are interchangeable or not) has 'only' a five shell capacity but, honestly, is that really all that big a deal?  I mean, sure, more is better but I have to wonder what kinds of wars or gangland conflicts you fellahs expect to be involved in where even four rounds of 00 Buckshot won't stop the threat.  Heck, even a single shot 12 or 20 gauge with spare ammo in an elastic butt cuff isn't exactly a pea shooter.

Edited May 29, 2013 by JAB

[Garufa]

Barely. Eagle Pass. :)

 

- OS

 

Barely is right.  Factory is about 1000 yards from the border, if that.

[tartanphantom]

Barely is right.  Factory is about 1000 yards from the border, if that.

 

You mean to tell me that there's actually a border?

Would you mind passing that info on to "Big Sis", please? I'm not too sure that DHS got the memo on this. :rofl:

Edited May 29, 2013 by tartanphantom