time and many folks damn it while other heap praise upon it … some- where in between is the truth. That should be based on fact and personal practice to gain gun-savvy knowl- edge. Of all guns, the shotgun will, at the correct range and with the cor- rect ammunition, often remove bones or meat — which is a good thing in a fight. Although not pleasant to con- sider, the thought of a family member or myself being injured or killed does a lot to put my mind at ease if I shoot someone with a shotgun, or any gun in self-defense. Probably the two biggest flaws with
shotguns are first a lack of aware- ness as to what the shotgun actually does within potential ranges inside the home, hence why you practice. Most folks don’t know what the shot- gun pattern or spread is, and often the pattern size the shotgun projects is smaller than people think inside their house. The shooter using a shot- gun for home defense would be wise to replicate the distances they might have to shoot inside their house and then practice them at the range so they know what the pattern will be and all speculation is then eliminated. Often the small patterns are comparable to using a rifle inside the house, which requires that the shotgun be aimed at the target. The second flaw today is that often,
less than worthless “stuff” is mounted on the shotguns. The shotgun, as far as a defensive-shooting tool, may be a prime example of the saying “less is better” … because it is. As in most firearms, the addition of anything that solves a problem is the best way to go. So then extra ammunition on the gun, a white light for identification of po- tential threats and a sling to allow for hands-free movement while having the gun stay within hands reach, may all be useful tools. Sight systems are often a personal preference and in fighting shotguns, I would personally prefer a non-screw-in, choke-type barrel … one less thing to maintain and possi- bly come off in an untimely manner.
A Pump Gun Here the affordable part throws me
a bit; it appears that the Remington 870 and Mossberg 500 shotguns are darn close to being in the same price range for the defense and home-pro- tection versions. I have owned Moss- bergs, but do not own one now, yet my past experience with them was good and I think the gun is better today than it was a couple of decades ago. That said, I own two Remington 870s with the new one being 25 years old and the old one coming in at around 30 years
WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM
Very good home-defense package: Remington 870, Colt AR-15, Glock 17 pistol, first aid kit, fire extinguisher, com- munication and white lights.
of age. They have never given me a bit of trouble, other than I split the stock on the old gun not long ago — so up front, I like the 870. Cutting to the chase, the 870s are more dependable than many of the other shotguns on the market. The twin-action bars and smooth action make the 870 just flat dependable. A clue would be to look at what the custom shotgun makers
generally use as the basic platform for their shotguns. They take an already good gun, the 870 — many also work and build on the Mossberg — and then modify it to what they think a fighting shotgun should be. The only problem here is often some of these builders have never used a shotgun in a fight, so there is a tendency get a butt load of stuff stuck on the gun that
(Top to bottom) Vang, Robar and Wilson shotguns all have extra ammo mounted and a white-light mounting system.
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