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New Shotgun for home defense and fun

5K views 15 replies 12 participants last post by  G-ManBart 
#1 ·
I just started looking at shotguns and was wondering if you can buy a Remington 870 or a Mossberg 590 with a 18.5” barrel and also a longer barrel?



I would like to have the short barrel for home use and the longer barrel to be able to go out and have some fun with. I will probably be shooting it once a month while out with my fs40.



Has anyone had any good or bad experiences with either model and what I am trying to do?
 
#2 ·
Both models have a whole bunch of different barrels available. Mossburp sells them as combination packages. I don't recall if Remington does or not. The 870 is a superior gun in several ways: the pump stroke is shorter so the gun can be cycled faster, the receiver is steel instead of aluminum, which makes the gun a little heavier. That means its a little more pleasant to shoot with more weight to soak up some recoil. Mossburp is the cheap AK of the shotgun world. They're inexpensive, reliable, and sloppy .
 
#4 ·
You can buy a Mossy 500 Combo with both barrels for under $300. Cheap and reliable they do the job. I had one for years and shot the heck out of it and never had a hiccup. I just never realized how poorly it pointed (speed and accuracy on target) for trap shooting until I got a Benelli for my birthday. My scores doubled on day-1.




There is nothing wrong with a 590 but I'm not sure how many non-tactical accessories are available. For what you want I'd probably go with the 870.
 
#5 ·
I have a 21" barrel on my 870. It is short enough for indoor work and long enough to hunt or bust clays with. Just change the choke tube instead of the whole barrel. And you can put on a plus 3 or 4 mag extension on the 21 where the 18 will only let a plus 2 fit without hang out past the end of the barrel.
 
#6 ·
There are many many variants of both platforms.



I recently bought an 870 Express with a short barrel and mag extension already on it. I also bought a 28" barrel to go with it.



You could just as easily do it the other way around as was noted above....buy a long-barrel gun and buy the necessary HD accessories. Just crunch the numbers to see which is cheaper.
 
#7 ·
I've got a 12g, 870 Express Synthetic. It came from the factory with an 18 inch barrel and is, I believe, the shortest legal length in North Carolina. I also put a butt stock shell holder on and an extremely high lumen tac light by aimshot. I've put everything through it from No. 9 birdshot to 2 3/4 slugs. My home defense load is Remington 00 Managed Recoil Buck.



I've had zero problems with it and I don't expect any in the future. There's a reason why it's been around for so long. I was thinking about putting a Knoxx stock w/pistol grip on it for even less recoil but my girlfriend fires from the side/under arm so I'm not sure if it would allow her to do that still.



I have to tell you that I did have some issues with a particular tactical slug load. I really can't remember who made them though. Through a total of 25 rounds, I had two failure to ejects. Not sure what the problem was.



Anyway, here are some pictures of my night stand stand by...
 

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#9 ·
Are there any ca restrictions on barrel length or anything else i need to be worried about?
An 18" barrel is the minimum for modern arms and I could be wrong but I don't think cruisers (pistol grip only) are legal because of a minimum over-all length requirement. A combination Pistol grip and shoulder stock is fine. If you won't find prices much lower than Big 5 sale. They usually go on sale for about $350-375 or so for either the Mossy 590 or a Rem 870, under $300 for a Mossy 500.



Another that I would seriously consider is Benelli Nova pump.







Finally I'd look at the semiauto Stoeger 2000 Defense. The jury is still out on Stoeger but Stoeger is the budget priced division of Beretta and the 2000 line is based on the well regarded Benelli M1 - although parts are not interchangeable.



 
#11 ·
I purchased a Remington 870 from AI&P Tactical last year and can't say enough about the support J.D. can provide. He is a certified Remington Police Armorer. He'll honestly answer any question you ask (even if it costs him a sale or upgrade). You can find some of his guns on Gunbroker.com, or his web site: www.aiptactical.com



You can't go wrong here. All his guns are upgraded to LE specs, and he'll build to your specs, even if he disagrees with your choice of options. His prices for basic models are competitive with off the shelf models even with his upgrades. He is a Remington authorized retailer so all his guns & accessories carry full factory warranties. He offers Knoxx, Trijicon, SureFire, Speedfeed, Mesa Tactical, etc.



Chad
 
#13 ·
Haji, I know it was probably just spelled wrong, unless its used as a put down and I don't know about it. However, Mossburp, now thats just funny to me. Thanks for the laugh. For the OP, my dad just got a mossberg with 2 barrels, wood furniture, and a pistol grip for around $350.00. One barrel is I know 18" and the other one is probably a 28" ported barrel , but I don't know for sure. Hope this helps.
 
#14 ·
After boasting about the quality of J.D.'s guns I forgot to describe my gun. JD had one (they are very rare) left handed 20" barrel available (custom parkerized black & milled to accept 3" shells). He bead blasts the receivers, parkerizes them grey & engraves "AI&P". With the 20" barrel (w/iron sights) he installed a mag extention that holds 6+1 2-3/4" shells or 5+1 3" shells. He installed a Knoxx Special-Ops stock & Trijicon night sights. I also had him put on a Hogue foreend. His LE upgrades include a heavy duty extractor & upgraded follower dog spring. He can up the trigger pull to 10#, but he said that is for cops, since they cannot afford any misfires. If you are a civilian he'll leave the trigger pull stock (5# I think). Its awesome. I can launch 3" slugs with little recoil felt. Be careful with the Special-Ops stock, if you move your face forward towards the sights, you will get smacked in the cheek when the stock compresses under firing.



Chad
 
#15 ·
I've got an older all-steel Remington 870 Wingmaster 3" Magnum.



I have:

18.5" Cylinder/Brass Bead

20" FULL-CHOKE with rifle sights (1 of 20 made for the NY State Troopers in the 80's as a test barrel for buckshot loads 12" groups of 00 at 50yds)

26" Vent-Rib with Rem-Choke (variable choke tubes)

30" Extra-Full Turkey barrel.



You can get almost any barrel for an 870.



Keep your eyes open for a 1980's, or early 90's 870 Wingmaster... They're the best of the best.



Remington has produced just over 10,000,000 870s, last I heard... Pretty good.



JW
 
#16 ·
I've got an older all-steel Remington 870 Wingmaster 3" Magnum.



I have:

18.5" Cylinder/Brass Bead

20" FULL-CHOKE with rifle sights (1 of 20 made for the NY State Troopers in the 80's as a test barrel for buckshot loads 12" groups of 00 at 50yds)

26" Vent-Rib with Rem-Choke (variable choke tubes)

30" Extra-Full Turkey barrel.



You can get almost any barrel for an 870.



Keep your eyes open for a 1980's, or early 90's 870 Wingmaster... They're the best of the best.



Remington has produced just over 10,000,000 870s, last I heard... Pretty good.



JW


I've got a 14.5" modified choke barrel on my duty 870 (which makes it a short barrel shotgun, NFA item), and it'll put quite a few pellets on the target at 25yds, but I can't imagine even a full choke 20" barrel shooting a 12" group at 50yds. That would be something to see....although far less useful at common ranges. R,
 
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