Home Defense Question

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I dont have any personal experience with it but it sounds like a good choice. I use a SxS 12 ga with 00 buck...its all a matter of what you want..tacti-cool...workhorse...or whatever...if it is reliable and will fire then its good to go.
 
Mossbergs are very reliable. I love mine. I have an 8-shot persuader.

However reliable the gun is, the tacticool stuff however...may not be. I'd suggest trying one out first. The standard stocks feel more natural, in just about every position of holding and handling IMO.
 
I have a Mossberg 500 with a 18.5 barrel for my home def shotgun. I put a heat shield on it, took it off the next day because I got a better sight picture with it off, and since I shoot to kill you only need to fire 1-2 shots, a heat shield is just for looks at that point. Tactical stuff is fine and dandy but I actually prefer mine with just the plain stock. But thats just me and everyone and his brother and 2 sisters will probably have a different opinion.
 
I posted that and then clicked the link to look at the picture.....buyer beware on a 12ga with a CAR stock, its going to hurt like the dickens when you fire.
 
Why not go with the "Cruiser" version.....pistol grip only....

The Cruiser version holds 8 rounds...but is short enough to move around in tight quarters inside the house.

And you can save yourself about a hundred dollars or so.
 
Sigh....

OK, here we go again....

The wood stocked Mossberg is a fine weapon. Not my first choice but if it was what was at hand I'd be well armed.

The Military style stocks are less comfortable to shoot. That means most folks will not practice as much, if at all, and practice makes one effective in times of crisis, not bling.

Wood stocks can be easily adapted to the user. That includes drop, length, pitch and couple other dimensions. They can also take the newer after market pads that are a big boon to shotgunners.

A stockless shotgun is a clumsy, hard kicking handgun that's very hard to control and slows one down tremendously for followups.

Doubt that? I've had a challenge open for ten years to the folks that tout PGO shotguns on the Net. They pick the COF, range ammo and can use any accessory they choose. I'll use a fairly stock 870.

In ten years, not one PGO fan has seen fit to pick up the gauntlet.

Talk's cheap.....
 
I was going to say "Hey, somebody ought to do a write-up about this subject. It's an oft-asked question. Make it a sticky so it'll hang around and we won't be reliant on a barely useful search function. "

Then I looked up top and noticed there was such a sticky. Huh.



Also, Dave, I'd take you up on your challenge. Course, I don't own a PGO shotgun, no desire to. I don't handle shotguns much in any config right now, at that. And the biggie, your challenge doesn't mention paid airfare to MD. Or even you travelling to some other location. I'm guessing even if it did, though, you still wouldn't get any takers on your offer.
 
Note the (much vaunted, 'superior') top tang safety location on a Mossberg 500.

Now consider how, with your shooting hand in a firing grip on the Mossberg 500 with a pistol grip (either PGO or full stock with pistol grip), you are going to reach the safety without having to seriously compromise your firing grip. Note that this is not really a problem with the standard stock in place...

This is NOT a situation I would prefer to deal with, given a serious defensive shotgun. Yes, a safey is only a mechanical device, safeties can fail, and the real safety is between your ears. I know all that.

I also know that a shotgun with a loaded chamber, hammer cocked and the safety off needs only a touch on the trigger from any protruberance of clothing, gear or anything else to fire. IMHO people NEED an easily accessible, functional safety on a fighting firearm, and NEED to be in the rock solid habit of using it when appropriate. Otherwise they are an accident looking for a place to happen.

JMHO, YMMV,

lpl
 
KINGMAX advised to "Forget the shotgun,"
GLOCK 21 IN .45 acp


Sorry, been there, done that. Terminal effects of a buckshot load or 1oz slug beats hi-cap .45 Glock in my book. As Clint Smith has pointed out in his Ranging Shots articles about shotguns recently, the nominal length of a handgun held at full-extension, vs a full-size shotgun tucked into the shoulder is that, nominal. Back up a 12 w/ a .45, yea. Carry the .45 to get the 12/20 gauge, yea. But pass up the weapon with more going for it, and you, in a fight? Nah!
 
imho, the heat shield and pistol grip are crap, get you a strainhghtg stocked shotgun and call it a day, like a remington 870. or mossberg make the ones like i am describing too if you want to go that route.

Why not go with the "Cruiser" version.....pistol grip only....
Click to expand...
this is teh typical response of people that don't know the benifits and limitaions of a shotgun, these folks normally fall in line with the same people that say "you don't have to aim, just point and shoot"!

i just laugh.
 
The Mossberg is a good choice, But I'd suggest holding a conventional stocked unit to see if the protruding pistol grip is preferable or not. I personally chose a Remington 11-87 Police for my HD scattergun, and left the traditional stock. Pistol grips are great for AR's, but I found them to be less comfortable on a shotgun firing magnum buckshot loads or (especially) slugs.
 
I pretty much don't respond to these posts anymore. Dave, you have the patience of Job.

Mossberg88, there are a few folks here that will give you topnotch advice born of many years of real world experience, and there are others that will give you a lot of opinions based on nothing other than what they overheard at the range, or the gun store. Both types are posted here.

Dave McCracken, Lee Lapin, SM, and others will give you solid advice based on real world experience, and lots of it.

Choose what you give credence to carefully.
 
I no expert here. And I find the posts helpful...and even perhaps, one day, lifesaving.

I actually bought a "Cruiser" version (pistol grip only) Mossberg 500. (My line of thinking was that it would be easier to transport without drawing as much attention. You know...from house to car...) (I was also thinking on the lines that if I had to defend myself at home, the BG would probably be at room distance....about 20 feet or less. "Sighting" the SG would probably not be an issue. More like point and shoot.)

But...from the replies...it got me thinking that I should consider another shotgun configuration. Maybe my "just point and shoot" assumption is wrong.

1. I am supposing that it is possible to change the pistol grip back to a regular stock?

2. Since the Mossy 500 pistol grip-only configuration is sold...and it seems to have many drawbacks....I would like to know if there are tactical situations where such guns are more useful than the full stock version.
 
If you are the guy assigned to use the "Door Breacher" or "Lock Breaker" loads in your shotgun, yeah probably OK there.

Otherwise, give me the shotgun with the standard type stock on it every time.

My ONE experience with the PGO was not good. Or, 'How I got to be known as Rocky Raccoon for a couple of weeks'
 
psyprofessor,

Fishermen eventually learn that more fishing lures are intended to catch fishermen's dollars, than to catch fish.

Firearms often enough work the same way.

Now that I've politely told you there's a hook in your jaw... :D

YES, you can take off the pistol grip and replace it with a conventional stock. And, if you want to consistently be able to hit anything with that shotgun without a disproportionately large amount of training and practice, you will do precisely that. Mossberg will be happy to sell you a conventional stock for it, and you can change it out with ordinary household tools.

On some rare occasions pistol grip only (PGO) shotguns are useful. Breachers who carry them as 'master keys' have employed cut-down PGO shotguns for years to blow open doors. They are employed by at least one armored car company I have heard of for use from inside the vehicle where space is limited. Outfitted with a laser and given lots of frequent practice on the part of the user, they can be practical for defensive purposes in the home.

But there is insufficient disadvantage to a full conventional stock on a shotgun in 99% of situations I am familiar with to give a PGO shotgun enough of an advantage to make it a worthwhile tradeoff. Proper training is a must with any defensive firearm, no less so a shotgun; proper home defense training is equally necessary to avoid potentially fatal mistakes.

The idea that creeeeeping ninja-like through your house in search of that elusive bump in the night is a proper course of action is as popular as it is misguided. The idea that such things cannot be done with a full stocked shotgun if absolutely necessary is equally misguided, though less popular.

Please get yourself a copy of Louis Awerbuck's The Combat Shotgun ( http://www.paladinpress.com/product/40/25 ) and consider taking the NRA's Personal Protection In The Home class (instructor locator at http://www.nrahq.org/education/training/basictraining.asp ). If there isn't a class near you, the video is available at http://materials.nrahq.org/go/product.aspx?productid=ES 26840 .

This stuff is NOT instinctive for most humans- it requires education, training, practice. Please get some before you need it...

lpl
 
I am supposing that it is possible to change the pistol grip back to a regular stock?
Click to expand...

Yes. There's also folding stocks, these still give up some performance and comfort to a fixed stock but they're vastly better than going PGO.
 
psyprof, Mossberg and some aftermarket suppliers will sell you wood or synthetic stocks that will turn your "Persuader" into one of the better defensive tools ever fashioned.

I prefer wood. It's easy to modify as needed.

What's then needed, at a minimum, is ammo and range time. Some instruction from a fecally cognizant instructor is a very good idea.

If you're close to central MD, stop by PGC some Friday morn. I'll get you off on the correct foot.

And as a Professor, you should know the benefits of research. The Archives here have oodles of info. Happy reading.....
 
I'm fascinated by this type of thread, and would love to know if anybody here has ever fired multiple shotgun rounds in their home, for any reason?
 
The wife and I have a 500a tactical...took it to the desert last Monday with the 870 (also a tactical) and our Saiga 12.Fieed all kinds of loads,00 buck..slugs...and to mention the tacticals have a pretty heavy recoil!I noticed,however,they were fairly accurate as we were shooting up some targets we placed about,hte wife being of a small stature was able,with proper stance to shoot the CAR stock OK,but prefers the S12.

I have always been of an opinion that a good recoil should represent that the shotgun IS working as it should.I like the CAR stock,but think a different stock would be better as my bruised shoulder shows.
 
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