I’m buying a Mossberg 500 pump shotgun. It will have a 20" barrel and the 8 shot tube, can handle 3" shells. It will be purely for home defense. Hopefully it will be used 1) never, 2) by me, 3) last resort by my wife. For use # 3, I want to be sure that a target in the "general direction" of a threat will be hit. #3 is why I’m moving from my favored Colt .45. I don’t give a #$@& about rebuilding the house … if it’s necessary to kill an intruder, carpentry and dry wall are a small price to pay if the gun gives us the winning hand. Any thoughts on a good load? I used to alternate a slug and bird shot in 3" Magnum form in my Remington 870 when in the home defense mode. That was arrived at by my gut feeling … never any experience, fortunately. Others probably have a more scientific viewpoint. Love to hear it.

Thanks,

Rich
Thanks for the answers guys – good info. I appreciate the comment about a "general direction" aim not being a good concept for even a shot gun. One likely shot is from an upstairs landing through an open foyer to an entrance … 20 ft. or so. Sure you have to aim, but the odds of a 2 or 3 inch group sure beats the footprint of a .45 ACP, under stress and low light. I think I’m leaning toward 2 3/4 with buckshot. Thoughts on locking mount systems? There’s another recent thread on the topic, but how about a 12v police cruiser lock (lots for sale on eBay) with a cipher pad and a combo you know by tactile feel? I’m more concerned about child safety than theft – If a guy had the time to crow bar it off the studs, it’s his … I just want family safety.

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OK. i recently asked about hunting black bear, and earlier tonight i bought a mossberg 500 12 gauge pump action shotgun to get my shot better. If i dont get a better shotgun, using the mossberg I now have with a 3" slug shell, would you say i have a decent chance at actually taking down a bear? Please do not answer this unless you have experience hunting bear.

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OK, Here’s the deal. BIG-5 just sent out their newest flier, and it’s got 2 Mossberg 12 gauge shotguns to choose from. I went in today and held/looked at both. One is the persuader/cruiser with the(I believe) 20 inch barrel, pretty sure it holds 7+1. I think it handles 2-3/4 or 3" shells. The other is within the 500 lineup, not sure the exact model. It has a combo of two barrels, one 18.5", and one 28". I believe it also handles 2-3/4 or 3" shells, and holds 5+1. Both are on sale for 9.99! That’s a pretty good price, if you ask me. Which would you choose, and why? What are the pros/cons of the barrel lengths, and is it worth the slightly longer barrel for the extra 2 shells? Has anybody had any experience with either or both of these, and if so what did you like and dislike about it/them? I’ve heard pretty good things about Mossberg, what do you think? And also, what are the pros/cons of the different shells and loads for a 12 gauge? I’ve never owned a shotgun, just rifles and handguns, so I don’t know much about the different loads. Thanks for any info or help!
Lance T, or any others with similar usage question. I have never owned a shotgun, so I want one that will be fun, reliable, will work for home defense, as well as many other purposes, and something to sort of get used to shotguns on. I mean before I lay down the big bucks for something "nicer".
Metropol, I’m very aware that the 500 is a great gun. What I mean is before I lay down 0 for the mossberg 930 spx, which I am considering. Thanks to all, for the advice and opinions. I still have the rest of today to make my decision.

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I just purchased a Remington 870 express shotgun with a 28" bbl vt 12ga. rem choke
can I use this gun for turkey and deer hunting with the 28" barrel that came with the gun. or do I have to buy another barrel for turkey or deer hunting? I want to hunt at 40-50 yards max. what about for target practice is this barrel ok?
thank you

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Its says 3", but can it use 2-3/4"?

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allright i love tactical looking guns and so we have a Remington 870 tactical (folding stock, 18" barrel, etc). so if i wanted to use this for bird hunting, instead of buying a new shotgun, could i just go over to gander mountain and pick up a remington 870 hunting barrel and swap it with the tactical one? would it work?

also, i was thinking about just buying a new hunting shotgun anyway (remington 870 express). can i put tactical foregrips/stocks on this?

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My husband just bought me a 12GA 28" remington pump shotgun. Although, I love shooting, fishing, and other outdoor activities I am truly a girly girl at heart. I am looking for the perfect pink camo soft gun case. Any suggestions where I could find one?

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I think in Texas the legal length of a shotgun barrel is 18", anything under that 18" length is considered sawed-off and illegal unless your a law enforcement officer allowed to have Level 3 weapons. level 3 weapons include sawed-off shotguns, silencers, fully automatic weapons, not just semi-automatic, but fully automatic, grenades etc etc. Can anyone answer this question? thanks

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Here is the situation. I have a Benelli Nova pump 28" barrel that I use and quite enjoy for dove and other bird hunting. I was told I could get a rifled barrel for it for deer hunting. As it turns out you can but they are SUPER hard to find and SUPER expensive. I believe Ithaca makes a 24" rifled barrel but I have heard of issues with it on the Nova.

So my question is what would be the best set up to hunt deer with what I got. Slugs, choke, sites, I wouldn’t think you would use a scope with a smooth bore slug but again I am not an expert by any means so if I am wrong, please advise. This will be my first deer hunt with this gun. Advice, technique, pointers, anything would be helpful. THANKS SO MUCH!

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I bought a 12 ga Remington 1100 shotgun it came with two barrels, one is 2 3/4" and the other can chamber a 3". My question is it possible to shoot 3" shells if the 3" did not come with the gun?

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I just bought myself a Remington 870 Super Mag " Camo "
I was wondering what are the differences between the two " Magnum, Regular "?
No, its a Remington 870 Supermag pump

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my shotgun is a 1960′s 20 gauge mossberg pump. model is the 500c. it is a 28" with modified choke. i would for the barrel to be as short as it can be legally. if it is considered better to have a smithy do the work how much might i be looking at. thanks for anyone that can help.

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ok
I plan on going and buying a benelli SBE II 28" barrel 12 gauge this weekend. I am a "semi-exhibition man" and want to add a Nordic Extension Tube. What size can I get to so that the magazine tube is shorter or equal to the length of the barrel?
(length in the terms +01,+02, etc…)
THANKS!
Alex
Do not tell me to get another gun. I am set on the SBE II no matter what

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If I leaned over in a sitting position over a mossberg 500A shotgun (with a pistol grip on it) and a 16 " barell) butt end sitting on the floor between my legs and I put my head on the barrel tip with the tip placed between my eyes and pulled the trigger with a #4 round of bird shot, what would my face look like exactly?? What if I put it in my mouth and pulled the trigger? What type of damage would that do?
If the gun was a mossberg 500A with a pistol grip that was sitting on the floor between my legs, would the gun remain sitting upright without falling over?
Would my face be destroyed if the tip of the barrel was pressed against my forehead using #4 birdshot load? I’m asking this because the police say this is what my son did, but when I found him, his entire face was intact from his mid forehead down with NO blood anywhere on his face, nothing. The back of his head was gone however and the gun was standing on the pistol end upright not touching ANYTHING as if it was suspended in air with the pistol grip end sitting on the floor… that’s why I am asking. I think the police falsified the report and the Medical examiner office was shut down 6 weeks later due to their not doing their job. It was outsourced to a private hospital. So I am thinking they just didn’t want to deal with this and faked the entire report. I think his wife and boyfriend murdered him.
I think it’s funny that I have two college degrees in biology and zoology and am a gun owner, but I found my son dead with a shotgun wound to the head this summer and I am trying to figure out how it happened exactly. I am by no means suicidal and it wasn’t my gun it was his WIFE’S GUN. She bought it for him (10 yr felony there: straw purchase). So please don’t assume, you know, the first three letters of assume? I’ll never ever be the same after seeing my son lying there with his brains blown all over and I am still trying to understand how he could have done that. I never saw any hole in his face or powder burns, NOTHING. How could that happen? The police said he put the gun between his eyes and pulled the trigger but there was NO HOLE and like I said, everything from his mid forehead down and ears forward was NORMAL.
How long would it take post mortem for stippling and possibly burns to show up? I’d think burns would show up right away but stippling maybe an hour or? I’ve been trying to figure it out forensically but that’s not my forte. The police report sounded like a textbook and they said there was "tatooing" but I never saw it. I found him probably within 36 minutes of his death, really fresh. The photos I saw taken a few hours later by the medical examiner, he looked completely different, hands curled, position shifted and large brain lobes were deflated somewhat that were lying around him ie. dessication and rigor was early onset. I can’t get the answers to my questions yet but I am working on it via the sherrif dept and the new medical examiners office. He was also drugged on clonopin, not his Rx. His hands were resting palm down on his legs, one on each when I found him, as if someone put them there. really strange. It’s three months out and I still cry in losing my son.
JOSHUA: I DO NOT OWN THIS GUN HIS WIFE BOUGHT IT FOR HIM OK GOT IT? One of the questions I DID have today for the Sherrif in my appeal for their photos of my son’s death is HOW LONG WAS THE GUN FROM TIP TO GRIP because I am eventually turning his wife in for a straw purchase to ATF. You want to look it up his name is John Charles Heitz and his date of death was on 7.19.2010 in Kalamazoo county michigan. I am his mother. he was 33. Why do you continue to accuse me of owning an illegal gun? You can’t read or? I already said it was registered to his wife. I think the police report said it was 16 3/4 inches and I know anything under 30" is considered a pistol and needs registration etc. as a handgun.
I did go back to this truck days later and took photos of the splatter too… there was some above but most of it was behind him in his bunk and consistent with center fire shells his brains were mainly to the right of him behind and to the side of remained his head with a large lobe off to his left. he was leaning slightly to the right on his back. When I found him, the gun wasn’t touching anything but the floor and so after I called 911 I went back into the truck and looked again at him to confirm what I saw, gun was exactly perpendicular to the floor touching NOTHING but the floor with a pistol grip end. I think that is nearly impossible with that type of gun and load. I found a shell at the scene after they all left and took my son to the funeral home. They police say they have a shell too… so I am wondering what is up with that as well… I know you have to cock the gun to empty the shell… Police said there one only one empty shell in the gun when they found it…
and by the way, I owned 16 guns when I lived up in Montana back in the 1980s and hunted on a regular basis AND I am a female AND NOT a christian republican extremist/conservative militia freak of nature. I just want to know how my son died and if the gun was illegal his crazy wife is at fault as it was HERS not MINE. All I need now is the police photos and if I see a hole in his forehead and after forensics deals with it then I can rest in peace knowing that my son wanted so badly to get away from his fat disgustingly obsessive complusive wife that he killed himself to get free of her. She told me that day she told my son the day he died she would give him a divorce. Well he might not have wanted to wait that long. Too bad she was such a dominating obsessive compulsive freak. Sorry about the new boyfriend she found less than a month after she moved to california. He doesn’t know she’s going to get him too… She’s a man eater.

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I have an 870 Express that occasionally (1%-2%) fails to extract a fired shell.

The slide doesn’t get stuck, instead the extractor never seems to grab the rim of the case. I’ll rack the slide back and see the shell stuck in the chamber still. I generally dig it out with a car key, but of course for self defense this isn’t ideal ("Hey buddy, can you wait a minute?").

Racking the slide back forward (when the shotgun is unloaded of course, or it would jam) will not cause the extractor to grab the shell, even if I jam it forward with great force.

What causes this failure, and how is it prevented?
Cleaning is a good recommendation, but I just finished cleaning that shotgun meticulously.

I broke down the whole thing and paid special attention to the bolt and the extractor with a toothbrush and CLP.

Didn’t seem to make much difference.
I have been shooting the Federal bulk ammo from WalMart.

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I currently have a Mossberg 500 shotgun with two barrels. A 28" field barrel and a 24" slug barrel. It is basically new and has about 120 field loads through the gun. I want to pick up a synthetic Remington 870 field shotgun 12 gauge for a replacement. I realize I will probably loose a few bucks but I really would like to try the 870. Are the new 870′s still good quality? I heard they also absorb more recoil due to their receiver being made of steel. Thanks for the help. How much should I ask for my mossy do you think? Thanks.

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I am pretty set on the Remington 870 edition, but I want to do two things, and only have one gun. I want a gun for home protection, and I also want to be able to go to the range and be able to shoot skeet. I talked to a guy at the local gun store and he said I should just buy two shotguns, but I don’t want to spend that much money. I know I can change out the barrels and only have one shotgun, but I am not sure how much that would cost. I want an 18" barrel for the house, and around a 28" barrel for the range. Also, this is my first gun, but I am pretty familiar with them.

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I remember seeing a great package deal on a 12g shotty. It came with two barrels… One 18" for home defense and a second 26" for hunting, etc. It was either a Remington 870 or Mossberg 500 combo with a special name. Anyone familiar with this?

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i dont wanna blow my arm off and im kinda thinking ill be ok with small shells like 2" but unsure?? im also thinking that with a sawed barrel I could fire most anything is this right or way off???
are u sure about 3" bear slugs so no bird shot? and my barrel is like 31/2" long its scary short. from the firing pin to the end is like a foot and a half!
and it was a 30" barrel full choke origionally
haha its my gun,but it sez everything about it exept wat length of shell it takes! and thats poinless to say cause if its sawed of its less narrower at the end!
and ya i know its illegal and all that! i didnt saw it off! the pearson i got it off did! id never do that, i know its silly just need a solid answere
you guys are hilarious ITS MY GUN im 21 an married. just need an answere about wat i can fire out it. and i aint calling the sherrif bout it! thats funny! i also live n the middle of nowhere!
the breech just sezs 12 gauge full choke
and it sez 30" barrel
thx ricov u know wat im saying my barrel was 30" now its like 31/2 inches past the forstock!
total from the firing pin to the end is like a foot and a half!
and ya its got a stock
1 guy said use bear slugs and a nother guy said use bird shot????????????????????????????????????????????
i need my arm guys!!!
why would it be awsome?? thats sounds scary
who is makin stories this took awhile to do all this so fuk you bob!!

and if u actually listen to what i was saying it dosent say on the barrel what length! just 30" barrel full choke12 gauge

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I dont know a lot about shotguns. I have a Benelli Nova pump. Can I use a steel shot in this gun? It says on the box of shells to make sure the gun is designed for steel shot. How do I know if it is or not, also what is a better name to use. I bought Winchester Xpert HI-VELOCITY 3" steel shot. All help welcome.Thanks.

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