18.5 vs. 20 inch barrel ?

It will only take one shot to stop a BG with a shotgun if you hit what you shoot at.
A full on invasion of 6 or 7 BG's inside your house is pretty unlikely I would think.

A longer barrel & mag with more rounds will add weight to the gun you probably will never need and will slow you down a little.

On the otherhand, the only time you can have too much ammo is, if you are on fire, or drowning.

rc

Many folks will say the 20" is considerably more muzzle heavy, especially when fully loaded, but I don't find that much of a difference myself and would rather have the extra rounds.

Personal preference. I have both and see little if any difference.

I have the 20. I'd like to get an 18.5 one of these days, but I'm in no particular hurry. In other words, get what you want, there is no wrong answer to this question.

R

I find it hard to keep the 20" (8+1) gun level with one hand during loading when it's close to capacity. I think I'd get the 18.5" if I had to do it over again, but it still works fine.

Either or, that 1.5" won't matter a lot, but the extra ammo in the tube will make it heavier by the muzzle which might be useful for negating recoil, but I find they are not as handy to point. If you want a shorter LOP and a shorter gun overall, plus being able to easily find other barrels, the 5-shot mag tube 500A or Maverick 88 is the by-far easier Mossberg to find barrels for and will be lighter and shorter.

590's are great guns, but if you don't have other specific plans for the gun than HD, a 5-shot 500A is going to serve just as well with much less initial cost. If you want a 590 go ahead and get one, but honestly, for Home Defense duty, it's not necessary.

If you plan on using it for hunting, you might be limited to 2 rounds anyway depending on your state regs.

Call me old fashioned, but an 18.5" barrel M500 with a butt-cuff and 5 extra rounds on it suits me just fine. You are not planning to repulse an invasion, just eject a burglar. Odds are it won't ever be fired in anger!

RCmodel is correct. You can't see the wheelbarrow. Must weigh 10#s loaded. Has a total 10 shot extended tube. Went back to thee M12 Riot gun.

Youngster said:

Many folks will say the 20" is considerably more muzzle heavy, especially when fully loaded, but I don't find that much of a difference myself and would rather have the extra rounds.

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I agree with this. No difference for me in perceived weight/balance, so given the choice I'd take the 20"

That said, I have a 18.5" as when buying a Maverick, it's only that or 28"

I own both. I have no preference. When looking for a gun offered in both lengths I generally pick whichever I find first or whichever is cheaper.

1.5" is no difference. Maybe a magazine capacity of one more round, but you'll never make it to that round anyway.

I went the 20" longer mag tube route once and regreted it. It got replaced with a 18.5" 870 4+1 tube. Much easier to handle.

I have a 590A1 with the heavy wall barrel, actually I think all of them are heavy walled, but in any case it is really heavy with a full mag. This does not discommode me, but for HD I would probably use the shorter barrel just for handling convenience. The extra cartridge should not make a diference for HD, and if it does you are in world of hurt that any SG will not solve.

I've got a 20-inch 590A1. It works fine but if I had to do it over again, I'd go with the shorter barrel for better balance (try topping it several times off during a shotgun class) and because the ridiculous bayonet lug limits your light choices.

I think it was Massad Ayoob who said the home defense shotgun is 'heavy artillery to be used from a fixed position." In that role, the 20-inch is fine, but I think my preference has changed to 18.5 with a bead over ghost rings.

At work we have access to Mossberg 500 series shotguns with 18.5 inch barrels and synthetic stocks. At home I have a Remington 870 Wingmaster with a 20 inch barrel and wood stocks. Neither has magazine extensions. The 20" Remington has better balance for me. I'm not knocking the Mossbergs as they will get the job done but the balance is a little off for me.

My personal choice was a double with 18 1/2 inch barrels. If I can't stop an intruder with two shots from that, I'm getting out the back door.

Neither the person behind the shotgun pulling the trigger, nor the one in front of it will notice the difference between 18.5" and 20".

Arguably the only real rationale for the heavy barrel is if you are reeeeally going to use a bayonet. If not, it's probably excess weight in the wrong place.

I think if your only going o ue it once or twice in your life in your home.
The 18.5 is maybe a little hander but the extra heft and site radius and AMMO!!!
is my chioce!
I have a 590 20 inch with shield and bead and a 590a1 20inch hb with ghost sights
I never leave home with them when im in the woods
T MAUSER

Shorter is generally better in the home.
In fact if not for the NFA 12-14.5 inch barrels would probably be the ideal defense length with a 4-5 round capacity and much better maneuverability.
Many citizens thought so before the NFA, even many of the original coach guns being such lengths.
Various LEO still use shorter lengths for the same reason.

The forward weight issue is magnified with many modern synthetic stocks having little weight to them, making the gun more front heavy.
If you need to handle the gun with one hand to top off, open something, pick up something etc then the added forward weight can make a huge difference.