I have a Mossberg 500 with an 18" cylinder bore barrel, and it has been my HD shotgun for about 25-30 years. Always reliable, does the job. I also have a 28" Mod barrel for it, put it on a couple of weeks to loan to a friend's son when we went quail hunting. I do have a pistol grip for it, but have never installed it. The only reason I can see for it is to make the shotgun concealable under a coat, which I don't really intend to do (although I did design a shoulder rig to carry it on my right side and one of my 500s on the left). The pistol grip, IMHO, is somewhat less controllable, and completely eliminates the possibility of delivering a buttstroke to the head in close combat. My choice of load is #4 Buck, plenty of oomph from each pellet, but a much higher pellet count for each round.
Regarding a few comments in earlier posts about preferring an AR-15 for H-D, I can't agree. I've used M-16s, as well as rifles in real calibers, and shotguns, in combat, and, based on my experience, I much prefer the shotgun as a home defense weapon, and rifles in calibers beginning with 3 for use as general battle rifles. A clue to the regard I have for the AR-15/M-16 platform is the fact that I don't own even one, out of the many rifles I own, and I have no plans to purchase one. YMMV.
