I’ll skip my first three choices as they’re outside the parameters of #1. That being said, I’d suggest going with the first one that comes up at a great price, maybe even a “good” price. Run with it for as long as he wants and reappraise. When “the other” comes up at an equally good price get it and try it out. The gun market is good of late. He’s trading paper money for “steel” money. Then decide and sell off the other. Even if he takes a loss (auction, sale, whatever) he can chalk it up to rental or learning curve or whatever. In this market, any loss will be minimal, esp if he got them/it at the “good” price. There’s no harm or foul in having two of them for a short time period.

I went with the Mossberg, specifically the 590S so you can load the federal shorty shells for more capacity (the #4 buck shorty shells are ideal for indoors and the shorty slugs are nearly as potent as 2 3/4").

Even more specifically, I'd go with a 590S shockwave with a brace.

I voted Mossberg 500. The slide release and tang safety are more ergonomically located, the lack of a feed gate makes reloads much easier/faster.

I love pumps and have had one since I was 11 years old when my dad gave me a JC Higgins 12 gauge pump which was a Sears branded High Standard. That gun had the slickest action ever and you could point the muzzle in the air and hit the slide release and the action would open. I've had four or five 870s and a Mossberg and none were even close to being that slick and smooth. Though I love pumps I would probably choose an auto for home defense with the popularity of criminals using high cap 9's nowadays. I have a Beretta A300 gas operated 20 gauge that I absolutely love for bird hunting and if I could find another barrel reasonably priced I would quickly snag it and cut it to 18-1/2".

One of my all time favorites right there.


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I have used a Mossberg 500 for several classes. I suggest the low recoil/tactical rounds.It was totally reliable and light weight. I now have a Beretta 1301 which I think is the bees knees.The 870 or 500 are both good choices.

I have a 1942 Remington model 31 riot gun.
It turns out it was used to train solders to shoot down enemy plains.
It has the cross cannons on the stock, with short I.C, choke.
The forefather of the 870. The 870's safety can be reversed for us lefties.

In the house I gotta go with Rem 870 Tac14

Handy little feller to say the least

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R/S
J.D.

The LGS buys from law enforcement agencies their old firearms. He has had several come in from them with 14 inch barrels. He pulls the barrels and sell the receivers. Once in a while he will put the 14 inch barrels up for auction.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

I'll preface my reply by saying that I'm an avid shotgun fan...I own and shoot antiques, doubles, O/Us, pumps, and semi-autos. However, I do not believe that a shotgun is a great home defense firearm if used indoors. Shotguns are usually rather big and heavy, and if you are forced to shoot one in the house in the middle of the night you'll be temporarily blinded and deafened! How many of us keep a set of ear muffs in the nightstand? My current "go to" defensive/tactical shotgun is a 12 ga semi-auto Beretta A300 Ultima Patrol, complete with Magpul sling swivels, WarBull sling, Holosun 1000/500 lumen light, Esstac shell cards, and a MatchSaverz 1-rd shell holder. I've put hundreds of rounds through this shotgun (slugs, birdshot, buckshot) without a single F2F or malfunction. It's extremely accurate, and has excellent ergonomics (including textured stocks and foreend). It is not my first choice for indoor home defense...that task goes to my S&W M&P 10mm 2.0 with Holosun 507C and Nightstick light. BTW...I do keep some ear protection with my handgun in the nightstand.

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Never looked for parts or pieced one together. Mine are factory built as a firearm with birds head grip. So NFA SBS doesn’t apply

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R/S
J.D.

I will preface this by I was in the Corps for 24 years. We used all sorts of firearms for dealing with nasty folks. Shotguns were good for close in work. I was trained as a Combat Shotgun Instructor for the USMC Security Force Battalion. Can match your hundreds with thousands of round, but that is of no real consequence. Do not like all the high speed low drag stuff folks hang on guns......they tend to fail at the wrong time or expose your position to the bad guy. I have a handgun in the nightstand (trained as a Combat Pistol Instructor by the same folks), Will pick up the handgun first and then move to the shotgun and close the bedroom door and lock it. The wife will be on the phone to the police. I will then cover the door with the shotgun from the far side of the bed until the local police arrive. Will also call the neighbor and alert him (he is a Deputy Sheriff). Which two sounds are scarier---------the sound of a pistol slide going home or a shotgun bolt closing?
The gentleman asking me the question is a retired combat Marine. He has been there and done that. At his age he wants a shotgun. I will give him his choice as he has earned it.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

I shoot southpaw and the Mossberg slide release location turns it in to an auto eject. Kind of disconcerting. So my vote is for the 870, or in my case the Remington Tac 14 with a brace and one shot mag extension. If I shot right handed I would have gone with the Mossberg for a couple reasons: larger mag capacity off the shelf and it can handle them little shotshells, increasing your mag capacity and reducing the potential for blowing a hole through the house. Those shorty buckshot rounds are actually pretty impressive!

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Even older, even crankier....

I've always felt that the Remington 870 platform was good great for Home defense and other purposes.........

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.............SmithNut

I would recommend he buy whatever he is most comfortable and familiar with. I shoot shotguns recreationally 1-2 times per week and have been at it a long time. I almost never shoot a pump-action gun, so I keep an autoloader ready, rather than a pump. In my case it’s an older Beretta 1201FP. It’s nothing jazzy, by today’s standards, but it works flawlessly. All I have to do is remember to drag it out and shoot it once in a while. The only issues I have with it is there is no handy-dandy way to mount a light, and I would prefer bigger, more visible sights.

If I were buying a new gun now, it would probably be the newer Beretta A300 Patrol autoloader, but I can’t really justify the expense. If your friend is determined to buy a pump, either model mentioned should be fine.

It's labeled Eastern Arms was probably made 100 years ago. It does go bang.

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How fast on the reload?😁

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Not having been shot much for decades. Guess I'll use some new-fangled thing like one of those six-guns instead.

Read my Post#112. The handgun will probably be the first weapon I pick up. 30 years ago I would have gone hunting in the house. Much older and slower now at 72. Hide behind the locked door (read fort up) and wait for the cavalry to show up. Shotgun will be within reach if not being held.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

When things go bump in the night what could be easier to operate then a nice short side by side shotgun.no one would stick around for you to shoot 3 times.

When I was the armorer for our Dept. I made the 870 the standard shotgun and all sworn personnel were issued one. We had some Ithaca's, but they were sold off. I converted all the 870's to the flexi-tab anti jam system and the newer guns had the 20" barrels with rifle sights.

I bought an 870 Wingmaster from a Forum member and it had a scope mount on it. I removed the mount, used set screws to close the drilled holes, and bought the parts to convert it to the flexi-tab anti jam system.

I have 00 Buck and #4 Buck in the magazine tube and it sits by the door between the living and family rooms.


When I first got into Trap and Sporting Clays my gun was a Remington 870.

Either platform will work, and one should tailor modifications to fit their needs. Just about any service load (00, 000, slugs, #1) will deliver ample ballistic performance. A friend's agency has modified 870s with 14" barrels that individually issued and tested for patterning and the like. The short barrel is necessary to make it easier to grab and deploy from the car. Likewise IIRC their AR platforms have shorter barrels.

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NHI, 10-8.

Unless they do . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

I have Shock Wave Tac 13. Birds head grip 14" barrel. You can have it at waist level and turn around in hall way. Use target loads at that range.

Our issue shotgun was the 870 for most of my career, after we sold off the Winchester 97’s. No kidding.
I do like the 500 because of the ambidextrous safety. I’m south paw. I sent mine with our son when he was based on Kodiak Island. He’s also lefty. He still has it.
Both are solid guns. Didn’t vote. Can’t choose between them!

Those are two different firearms, but the theory is the same . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

For many years, my PD did not put shotguns in the patrol cars. Finally, they authorized privately owned ones. I carried an 18 1/2" cut M97 Winchester. It now sits in the corner of the bedroom, loaded and ready to go.

The department finally bought shotguns and standardized on the Remington 870. I have also shot the Mossberg; I like the safety better, but would be happy with either.

There is a SDS CIVET 12 ga pump 19” black sitting next to the desk as I type. It has a 9 round box magazine loaded with 00 buck in it and there is another 9 rounder loaded with slugs handy.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

The Mossberg is a well made pump shotgun,preferred by thevU.S. Military for 50 some years and in numbers far surpassing the 870 in numbers . The preferred shotgun in all branch's of military is the Mossberg!

The USAF has used the 870 modular combat system for over 10 years. Not sure if that is still the case. Before that, there was a hodgepodge of Winchester 12s, Winchester 1200s, 870s, and Mossbergs. I preferred the Mossberg. Some of those may still be in use. USAF had many of them. https://ndiastorage.blob.core.usgovc.../schoppman.pdf