THE 12 GAUGE

JayFramer · Mar 8, 2020

Here’s one for all the whippersnappers out there:

It’s called a 12 GAUGE SHOTGUN, a Remington 870 Police model, in fact. It’s what we dinosaurs used before the influx of .22 caliber Matel-16 poodle shooters. Men stormed the trenches with them, took islands in the pacific, rode day and night on the mean streets of America with the 12 gauge pump-action shotgun. A load of 00 buckshot is still about the best close-range problem solver there is.

I’m just giving the new .223 carbine guys a hard time. The AR is in reality, a great gun for many different purposes and is highly effective all jokes aside. But for me? Nothing beats the time-tested reliability and unquestionable devasting close-in lethality of the classic, timeless, trusty 12 GAUGE!

-Jay

Echo40 · Mar 8, 2020

That's a pretty rad shotgun, pops. But this is the shotgun all the cool kids are using these days!

Well, us cool kids who are over 30 and grew up watching 80's action films, anyway...

model17 · Mar 8, 2020

12 Gauge Pump

Hard to beat a 12 gauge pump for most applications!

cbore · Mar 8, 2020

Being and ex-LEO my favorite friend is an Remington 870, 12 gauge. I have kicked in many doper's doors with one of these in my hand. Recently took a defense shotgun course now that I am that retirement age. After 150 rounds bird shot and 75 rounds buckshot got to admit shoulder had a workout. My tricked out 870 next to the bed always

reccpd101 · Mar 8, 2020

cbore said:
Being and ex-LEO my favorite friend is an Remington 870, 12 gauge. I have kicked in many doper's doors with one of these in my hand. Recently took a defense shotgun course now that I am that retirement age. After 150 rounds bird shot and 75 rounds buckshot got to admit shoulder had a workout. My tricked out 870 next to the bed always

Me too, but the older I get the better I like my 870 20 gauge

rockquarry · Mar 8, 2020

Yes, hard to beat an 870 12 ga. No worrisome jello testing, penetration, expansion, FBI studies, and the other factors the easy chair obsessors and theorists fret about endlessly. A plain short-barreled 870 with no add-ons is probably the best and most useful 870.

JJEH · Mar 8, 2020

Shotguns are great, very versatile. I do prefer the 20ga but here's my 12ga. Love it. Adding an O/U soon... not sure if 12 or 20 though...

Don't mind the mess, spring cleaning is coming soon....

ContinentalOp · Mar 8, 2020

No doubt the 12ga is effective, and the 870 is well-proven.

My only experience shooting a shotgun was familiarization training with the 870 during a LE course I attended (I am not LE, just took the course). It was a plain jane, wood stock and fore-end gun with a bead sight. All ammo was 00 buck. 2 hours learning the manual-of-arms, loading and unloading, shooting, etc. I can't remember much about shooting it, but we did some quick wing-shooting (stock tucked under the armpit) and I remember not liking it. It was also challenging as I'm right-handed/left-eye dominant and was shooting the gun as a righty. If I do ever get into long guns, I'm inclined to shoot them as a lefty.

I remember the instructor telling us a story about a police officer who tried to use the stock to help boost his partner over a fence or wall like he had with a M1 Garand, but because the stock was just attached to the receiver it ended up breaking.

Not too long after the class (this was probably mid-90s) I visited a LGS that had a bunch of used LE 870s for sale. I can't remember the price, but I remember thinking it was a very good value. I was very tempted to get one, but didn't.

Nowadays, when it comes to long guns, I'm much more interested in getting a pistol caliber carbine (PCC) than a shotgun, but there are times I'd like to add an "old school" shotgun to my meager collection, probably an Ithaca 37/87. Or maybe a short-barrel side-by-side coach gun like the Stoeger.

raljr1 · Mar 8, 2020

Here is one of mine....Slug barrel, also works well for buckshot....I have about $90 in it....a 1 ounce slug drops a deer like a sledge hammer....reckon it'd do the same to two legged creature.

NYlakesider · Mar 8, 2020

I have my choices of house defense equipment.

As we live rural no neighbors in danger, my go to guns are both 12G Mossie Pumps. I have a 9 shot conventional magazine and one of the newer detachable ones. That one is 10 rounds (NY legal) Have a bandoleer of extra shells close by.

As we also have bears and other critters up here both guns will first fire off 5 00buck and the rest are slugs. We are on the far end of the county and LEO help could be a long way off.

Gene L · Mar 8, 2020

Dirty Harry Callahan said:
That's a pretty rad shotgun, pops. But this is the shotgun all the cool kids are using these days!

Well, us cool kids who are over 30 and grew up watching 80's action films, anyway...

I cut off an 870 when I was a LEO like that. It kicked like hell, even with birdshot. My sheriff took it with him to New Orleans during Katrina and gave it to a sheriff down there.

I've never warmed up to a gauge. When I was in VN, 68-69, I had an Ithaca, which had also been sawed off fore and aft, that was gifted to me by my CO when he left country. I carried as a backup, in my rucksack. Didn't trust the short-range limitations. A guy in my platoon carried a Winchester 97 riot gun, heat shield and bayonet lug an all, which somehow got left in our arms room inventory long after. Story behind that, I'll bet, but never know.

When I was a cop, we were issued 870s, 1 per car. And we were minimally trained on shotguns. You'd be surprised at how many cops can't operate one. Used to be, in NYC, they issued Stevens/Savage doubles to cops because of the uncertainty of officers and pump guns. At least that's what we were told.

I've got a S&W police 122 ga. a police trade-in. Got sights on it. I only fired it once to make sure it works. Made in Japan. It's in a closet in a spare room.

My friend in NC, who is a retired LEO and an excellent shot with any weapon, competes in the Senior Games they have up there, He shoots an 870 in the shotgun phase, no sights, and wins with ordinary slugs. Pretty far distance; he told me the range, but I forget. Maybe 75-100 yards?

shocker · Mar 8, 2020

Dirty Harry Callahan said:
That's a pretty rad shotgun, pops. But this is the shotgun all the cool kids are using these days!

Well, us cool kids who are over 30 and grew up watching 80's action films, anyway...

It's even cooler with a laser. Both of mine have one. Crimson Trace LS-250 greenie on the 12 G, and the red laser I got as a rebate on that I put on the 20.

Dump1567 · Mar 8, 2020

Trained and qualified with the 870 for my 26 years on the job. Every time I go into a Pawn or Gun Shop I have to stop myself from buying whatever $300 shotgun is on the rack. I have enough.

I think these are the last two I picked-up. Only because all my others are traditional style.

And who didn't grow-up in the 80's & saw these in the hands of the US Marshals.

jbtrucker · Mar 8, 2020

Mossberg 500A and dad and his JC Higgins was home defense 1960's - 1980's

DWalt · Mar 8, 2020

I happen to have one of the Vietnam-era Stevens Model 77-E 12 gauge pump guns as my SHTF weapon. I doubt that I have fired more than 20 rounds through it, just enough to let me know that it worked OK. It sits in a closet with a box of #4 Buck shells and 10 rounds of rifled slugs nearby. That is the extent of my interest in defensive shotguns.

Bullet Bob · Mar 8, 2020

I recently bought a 18" barrel for my 20 gauge Remington Wingmaster, it's a very handy combo. And it's so good looking, I think a miscreant would be honored to be shot with it.

Tubbsy · Mar 8, 2020

I've got a supermag in the safe I use for waterfowl, my home defense/turkey gun has a bigger hole at the end....

sodacan · Mar 8, 2020

The pump shotgun may be the best weapon on the planet for HD. Here's my Remington Wingmaster 12 gauge from 1971. It is a Scattergun Technologies conversion done before Wilson Combat took them over. The barrel was left at 20" and the rifle sights were left in place because I find them better for target acquisition than a ghost ring setup.

sheepdawg · Mar 8, 2020

Now you have shotguns and then you have the Winchester Model 12.

RobertJ. · Mar 8, 2020

Not my only scattergun, but my favorite:

THE 12 GAUGE

Member

Member

Member

Attachments

Member

Member

Member

Member

Attachments

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Attachments

Member

US Veteran

Member

Member

Attachments

Member

Attachments

Member

Attachments

Similar threads