Home defense semi auto shotgun

Hey all,

I’m currently in the market for a home defense shotgun. I would like for it to be a reliable semi auto in 12 gauge of course.

I was thinking just a base model of the mossberg 930. Heard they were pretty reliable for the price.

I also want to be able to have the option to put it in a foldable stock of some sort. I plan on putting a flash light, a sling and a front glow sight on it.

Would love to keep it under $800. Any suggestions?

 

We "built" our own based on used Remington 1100s. Sold the barrels, stocks and forends and bought new barrels and magazine extensions as well as Hogue stocks. Less money than the Mossberg. Used guns have been pretty cheap and there is a ready market for the older barrels and the wood.

That said, if I had it to do over I would have spent the extra money for two Beretta 1301 tacticals. They are truly a superior tactical shotgun.

 

Yes, the 1301s seem the gun of choice nowadays. Also, my continuing mantra is that if you go for a SD shotgun, try to find a good course and/or run it in competitions. Got to evaluate what you load it with, how you handle repeated shots, malfunctions, blah, blah. Same old advice.

 

For the OP, I'm unaware of anything from the major manufacturers of Benelli, Beretta, Mossberg, and Remarms in a home-defense/tactical semiauto shotgun under $800.

For the shotgun to be reliable, I suspect all will get through 50 to 100 rounds without a failure, but any individual shooter and whchever gun will need to be periodically verified. Choose a shotgun; test fire/practice monthly, quarterly, 2x/year, once/year, as time & budget allows. Most folks should do this anyway to be familiar with the shotgun.

 

IMHO, you don't need a glowing front sight. Or a foldable stock. Put that money into a top-notch light.

 

And if you still want that "folding stock" please try to find one and shoot it with that stock first.... and make sure to bring a few band-aids for your face afterwards. In police work I saw the results at the range whenever anyone tried to use a folding metal stock on a riot gun. Those stocks look neat - but anyone actually using one could be identified by his (or her) bloody nose afterwards...

 

I use a Benelli M1S90, that I've run in a couple defensive shotgun classes and a few 3gun matches before I transitioned to Stoeger M3X for 3Gun.

Honestly, for an HD gun:

Skip the folding stock, transportability isn't an issue for HD. A collapsible stock, like an M4 might be handy IF you've got shooters with smaller stature that might use it.
Skip the tritium front, I had one, it's completely negated by the use of white light. It came in handy for shooting beavers on my 9 acre pond, but that's it.
Get a solid LED weapon light. Shotguns generate some recoil that kill lesser lights
Sights...personal thing. My Benelli has ghost rings, that come in handy for slugs and turkey's. My 3gun rig has a straight raised rib, with big honking fiber optic front. I'm faster with the 3gun rig. I have zero issues keeping slugs on a silhouette out to 50yds with the rib and FO front. For HD I'd probably just go with a bead, or FO front.

I like the pg stock (like an AR15) like found on the Benellis, I can use it to hold the gun while opening doors etc. with it I can even fire the gun one handed. Some don't like that feature.

Take a class, figure out what you need VS want and what works for you.

 

I have had good luck with both of my inertia driven shotguns over the years, a Benelli M1S90 field gun as an all around shotgun and a Beretta 1201FP for home defense. If I were looking for a budget home defense shotgun today I would take a look at the Stoeger M3000 Freedom Series Defense Shotgun with the pistol grip. They are part of the https://www.berettaholding.com/en/brands. It has a lot of features for an MSRP of $669.


https://www.stoegerindustries.com/shotguns

 

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/ did some tests on cheap Turkish semi and pump guns. They would be ok for a few rounds but then failed. I would tend to avoid them unless it is the under the bed, fired 5 times at the range gun. However, this is a life style I don't recommend. I know guys with a pistol grip twelve gauge in the underwear for twenty years. Also, complained that he couldn't get his wife to shoot it. Wonder why.

 

I Couldn't find the article that you are referencing in that link of 992 pages. I tried to search. Link to article?

I know Turkey builds a lot of junk with many different private label names on them, but I did find this.

https://www.outdoorlife.com/guns/best-turkish-shotguns/

 

This right here^^^^.

I used Remingtons for 25 years at work (1100's the first couple of years, then they switched to 1187P's), and have had personal 1100 and 1187P's for HD work since @'93. I recently bought a 1301T, and this is the gun I should have bought several years ago.

Having put thousands of shells through the Remingtons during training and quals and being intimately familiar and comfortable with them, I always thought, "Meh...how much better could it be?" when reading all the praise for the Beretta. After the first 10 rounds, I knew it was all deserved.

 

Attend a 3Gun match sometime and you'll be astounded by the number of Stoeger M3Xs and M3000s, you'll see per squad. I put a sticker on mine just so I could tell it apart when on the rack. Average match is about 100rds birdshot and a couple slugs. I'd estimate that the abuse a shotgun takes during a stage far exceeds anything seen in a normal HD scenario or hunting as far as firing goes. Not uncommon at all to go through 18rds in under a minute depending on the stage design.

The design of the inertia system in my M3K (Stoeger is owned by Berretta BTW, who last time I checked owns Benelli) is actually somewhat neater/cleaner than my M1S90 or SBE.

 

I'm kinda partial to the Benelli M2s and have both SD and field versions set up, but they're a bit out of the price range (NIB). I am sold on the parallel comb insert and long LOP recoil pad - both changeable in less than a minute to fit other shooters.

 

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog...76-semi-auto-12-gauge-shotgun-is-it-bad-ep-1/

 

While inexpensive, I would avoid the Turkish import semi-auto shotguns. I have seen too many torture test videos where one says its great and another says its a lemon that broke within a hundred rounds. When it comes to HD, you don't want to be rolling that dice. That being said, going semi auto you either have to go expensive or stick with pump. Personally, I prefer pump shotguns in almost every regard. Sure, you have to pump the action. But you don't have to worry about if the shell has enough energy to cycle the action. You just have to worry about your hand short stroking it. Which is a chief malfunction cause on pumps, especially under stress.

As far as accessories, simpler is better. Collapsable stock helps to maneuver around your house without busting up your face like a pistol-grip only shotgun. White light you can easily turn on. And a fiber optic front sight. The FO front sight will work with or without the light and gives your eye something to pickup quick. It is not a precise aiming point, but works well at HD distance.

 

Anyone know where Mossberg makes their shotguns?

https://khanarms.com/products/tactical-series-semi-auto-a-tac

Many big name companies are currently using manufacturers in Turkey to make all or part of their guns. It's kind of like China and if the company has a good quality control in place with the manufacturing facility they can produce what you want. They can also cut corners and build inexpensive as well for those markets.

 

That said, if I had it to do over I would have spent the extra money for two Beretta 1301 tacticals. They are truly a superior tactical shotgun.[/QUOTE]

In the past I have always used a tricked out Mossberg 500 , but recently decided I wanted a semi.
I ended up spending the money and getting the Langdon tatical 1301 . I looked at putting the same gun together myself and in our current plandemic situation I would be lucky to find all the parts within the next year unless I was willing to pay above retail for them . And even at retail it was cheaper just to buy the gun from Langdon . I put a set of sling swivel attachments ,briley match saver which attaches in the forearm mlock slots , light and a holosun rmr on it . It’s a great shotgun and to me worth the $$$ . And seeing how the gen 2 has screw in chokes it’s my new turkey gun “at least that’s what I told my wife”

The gun is a pleasure to shoot and has been reliable with everything I’ve put through it , my 1oz 1200fps sporting clays reloads run great in it , so if it will cycle those I can’t see it having problems with buckshot or slugs . So far I’ve put factory federal, fiocchi and Winchester through it
The older I’ve got the more I’ve started going with the buy once cry once approach , and it’s not too often I’ve regretted it
BTW the gen 1 had some feeding issues and no screw in chokes. Just something to be aware of if you go shopping

 

The Beretta 1301 seems to be at the top for the last couple years for a home defense shotgun, but it also has a MSRP of $1400+ when the OP wants to be under $800. It would be a great choice if he wanted to spend a little more.

BTW, my Beretta 1201FP that I bought new in 1994? was approx. $650. Prices have sure gone up on shotguns over the years, I guess like many things. This is still my HD shotgun and was the Po'boy version of the M1S90 at the time.

 

Like I said I used a Mossberg 500 for years. If $800 was absolutely all I was going to spend I’d stick with the Mossberg or a 870 . We’re all in different positions financially and in just what we’re willing to spend but if you’re truly looking for a gun you would stake your life on I couldn’t find a $800 semi auto I felt comfortable with, especially if you’re looking at the fully accessorized price. Maybe something could be found on the used market.

 

An AR with 55 grain frangible/expanding ammo is much better for home defense, and less likely to overpenetrate a dwelling believe it or not. Recoil is also far less making it ideal for youthes and the little lady.

A solid AR can be had for half the cost of a 1301. And it has the versatility to be effective out to 500 meters, and if set up correctly can be far handier than just about any shotgun.

Just another option for your consideration. Don't feel absoluely tied down to a home defense shotgun because they are tremendously overrated. Cue the cantankerous curmudgeons among us in 3, 2, 1... lol

 

What have you done? The shotgun vs AR battle begins! I tend to agree with you. But I have both a 223 and a 12 gauge. As I always, boringly, say in that debate - shoot the carbine and the shotgun in a 'tactical' course or competition and see which works better for you with multiple targets and some movement/time/reload stress.

I've mentioned doing a training run with a coach gun and you were in a white smock to simulate jumping out of bed naked. Got the gun and a box of shells - you have to move through a 3D shoot house, pop up targets and the shells were mixed bird and slugs (you were supposed to figure out which for the distances involved - fat chance of that). So move, find, pie, shoot, reload - OMG, there are more. In one case, two BGs - boom, boom - OMG, another pops out - so I butt stroked him. Ref said it was legit, the goal was to make it through. Anyway, such things - moved me to carbine for home SD. I do like shooting the shotgun though.

To the OP, spend the money or get a quality pump if you do go shotgun.

 

Eagle Pass, Tx. for the most part. If I remember correctly, it's their sub-guage semi auto shotguns that are made in Turkey[SA-20 and the like] (930's are made in Texas.

 

While I would agree that an AR is a better option for most uses a shotgun still has its place. At any range inside my home, I'd much rather have a handgun and have one hand free. And a shotgun offers no advantage over an AR at ranges that close. Where a shotgun shines is outdoors at intermediate ranges from 10-40 yards.

But I wouldn't drop a ton of money into all the bells and whistles. I have an older Benelli M1S90 hunting shotgun with a 24" barrel and interchangeable choke tubes. That is my primary HD shotgun. The only thing I did was add a +3 extension. Those guns are 3+1 instead of the more common 4+1 from the factory. With the extension I now have 6+1. Without the extension and plugged for 2+1 it is an ideal turkey gun.

I have no direct experience with the Mossberg 930, but over the years have read mixed reports. Traditionally Mossberg has done a great job with pump guns, but all of their previous attempts at semi-autos have not turned out well. I do have experience with the Mossberg 9200, and it was borderline.

I had a Stoeger 3000 for a while and it ran perfectly for me. But I didn't keep it long enough to have a long-term opinion of it.

 

My go-to is older Rem 870 with surefire light and standard stock. Don't see a need for a folder for something I'm not trying to transport, and you need to have the thing open for effective use anyway, so why not keep it ready. As far as autos, I have had good luck with the 930 I used for 3 gun and the other I use for hunting.