A good home defense shotgun is easily the most important choice you can make and probably the easiest. Most any shotgun can be made to do the job if the right ammo is used. A few important rules. The barrel must be at least 18 inches long and the gun must be at least 26 inches from the tip of the barrel to the back of the butt. Having said that you could use any shotgun for this purpose. I prefer a 12 gauge but a 20 gauge or even a 410 will get the job done. You do have to fit the ammo to the job. Lots of people use buckshot or slugs sometimes mixed together one then the other. I prefer 6 shot all the way through. It will cut a man in half at close distance but won't go through walls and doors and then kill somebody on the other side. Keep in mind that buck shot is a several 38 caliber balls going down range. Lots of penetration. I don't want penetration, see ammo. I want lots of knock down and minimum penetration. I don't desire to go through walls, brick, doors or people and have the projectile still carrying a lethal load.
Getting down to specific shotguns designed for home defense there are several. I will mention a few in the order I would put them. All will be adequate for the job. First is the Winchester Defender 1300 pump action shotgun. Available in 12 and 20 gauge in 18 1/2 inch barrels hold 8 shots and the smoothest action of the bunch. My first choice in a factory out of the box home defense shotgun. It is very well suited for this purpose. I recommend a 20 gauge if you are going to train your children or spouse with it. You are not giving up much shot and the recoil is considerably less. It comes in a pistol grip configuration or a regular full length stock configuration. You might want to get the combo grip gun and train your family with the full stock and then switch them to the pistol grip. The pistol grip configuration can be hard on the wrist if not held properly. This gun is all black.
The next is the Remington express shotgun in the 18 1/2 inch barrel. This gun holds 6 shots in the magazine tube. Two less than the Winchester. The action is a little stiff by comparison but the action release bar is in front of the trigger guard instead of behind the trigger on the left side as it is on the Winchester and all of the other models I am recommending here. Having the pump slide release in front of the trigger housing is a big plus. However the two extra shots and the smoother slide outweighs that for me. This gun is very popular with the Police with some add ons. Depending on your skills the release on the Remington may be more important than a couple extra rounds.
I want to mention is the Mossberg 500. This model is very acceptable and holds 8 shots in the home defense model and nine shots in the tactical model. The slide is not as smooth as the other two but that is not a big deal for experienced users. The Mosssberg run $50 to $100 less and they will get the job done.
There are many more acceptable shotguns for defensive use. If you want save some money and don't care that it is made in China there is a knock off of the Remington 870 that is very good. It is much less expensive and they are all steal and hold 8 shots, two more than the actual 870. Also there is a Charles Daily home defense gun that is inexpensive and works quite well.
To see pictures of these guns click here.
I strongly urge you to add a tactical flash light to the barrel of your Home Defense Shotgun. This is a specially made light, very bright, and it requires only that you press the pressure on pad with the hand you have on the forearm of the shotgun to activate the light. This type of light is a must for clearing the home, office or outdoors at night. If the power goes out and you are broken into you will really be glad you had the light attached to your shotgun.
Weapons Light System 2000 features a xenon lamp powered by two 3-volt lithium batteries (included) and delivers up to 6,000 candlepower light output. The nose-cone adjusts the beam from spot to flood and the aluminum reflector is specially coated for optimum light reflection. A pressure sensitive on/off switch is
located at the end of an expandable curly cord for convenient placement on the firearm allowing for light activation without moving your grip. Two precision machined mounts are included that fit firearms from .22 caliber to 12 gauge. The larger diameter mount also fits extended magazines and scopes. Made in the U.S.A. from 6061 T6 aluminum, it is shock resistant under recoil, water resistant with O ring seals and corrosion resistant with a quality black anodized finish. Specifications: 4.5" length, 1" body diameter, 5.7 ounces weight.
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