What kind of sights are best for home defense Shotgun?
April 30th, 2010 by eranio
I am a newbie when it comes to shotguns and after much reasearch I decided to go with a Mossberg Mav 88 with the 18.5 in barrel. I would like to know what sights are best for home defense. I have heard ghost ring sights, some say stick with the bead sight, I just thought I would ask and get some opinions. Thanks for your time
I did purchase a butt cuff and a 5 pack of 2 3/4 00 buckshot. That seemed to be the popular consensus from what I read. 
StormGal or anyone else, where could I get a tritium front bead for my maverick 88?
Posted in best shotgun
April 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Forget the fancy sights…….they don’t work in the dark with sleepy eyes unless they are night sights.
Besides night sights the plain bead sight is fine for shooting someone in your house at night with birdshot. Yes, birdshot for most HD guns unless there is nobody in or around your house for 1/4 mile…in which case 00buck is fine for that.
The next thing you need on a HD gun is a good light..so that you don’t shoot your kids,dog wife………
April 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Spend a little more and get a 500. Its the same gun made in America and better quality. You don’t need to replace the standard bead sights since the range you would be using it at would be 5 yards or so anyway.
April 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
For home defense you won’t be using the sights.
It is just pump, point and click. Repeat as necessary to remove unwanted vermin.
April 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
yea its called pump,, sights known around the world
April 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Trigicon Night Sights If you want to invest in something. Actually I use Glow in the dark paint for my hand guns just to save a buck, but might look tacky on a bead
April 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
I use the slug barrel on my 12 gauge Mossberg 500. Although it has sights, I don’t bother with them for home defense. No room in my house offers a shot longer than 25 feet. At that distance I feel perfectly comfortable just pointing. I use the Mossberg mostly for wing shooting, so pointing it comes pretty naturally. I probably wouldn’t be able to see the slug barrel’s open sights very well in a home defense situation anyway. If that doesn’t work for you, probably a laser sight would be very good. I’ve never used one on a shotgun but have been impressed with them on handguns and rifles.
April 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
OK, for a home defense type situation, unless you have a huge house, you shouldn’t be lining up sights, you should be reflex shooting. I prefer rifle-type sights (front post, v groove in back) because you can get decent range, even with a short barrel, with slugs. Now for home defense, the 00 buck is about as good as you can go, I use #4 just because it has more pellets. I have use the butt-cuffs on shotguns, and ended up removing them, they slid forward after a few shots, and had to be slid back onto the stock. I would suggest either glueing the cuff in place, or using a solid shell holder, mounted to the action (for the Mossberg, check http://www.cabelas.com, or http://www.cheaperthandirt.com). Hope I helped.
April 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Bead sight……
Ghost ring or rifle type sights are great for longer distance shots with slugs…. That’s not what you need your shotgun for… For home defense just keep the bead sight on it….. Keep the gun loaded with 2 3/4 inch 8 or 9 pellet buckshot…..
AND WHATEVER YOU DO – Practice with your firearm……
Get some buckshot and a large piece of butcher paper or cardboard….. Then see how your shotgun patterns…. That way if you need your gun in an emergency you know what its capable of…..
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot42.htm
April 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
You shouldn’t need to change the factory sights for home defense. You are not going to be aiming. It will be a point and click scenario.
April 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
The bead sight will be just fine. Home defense situations are typically within 10 yards. The only thing that WOULD be helpful is a tac-light.
April 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
First off, most encounters with a shotgun just take a pump of the action and it gives off that universal GTFO of my house noise. Typically home defense shottys are loaded with 00 buck and all you need is a bead sight to point in the general direction and shoot.
April 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
the cheap answer is buy yourself a pair of tritium night sights
http://www.protacgearstore.com/meprolt-td-mssbrg-frnt-500590.html 50 bucks…
you get a better sight and when you turn your living room into a midnight free-fire zone you’ll be able to see those glowing dots to aim…
Lasers Flashlight do more to give your position away than they do helping acquire a target… you see real Technical Teams holing their lights well away from their body. Lots of ghost rings and aimpoints do give you a dot to look at but if its to dark no target.
April 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
An 18.5 inch barrel is barely legal, just point and shoot don’t aim, point.
Aiming is for pistols and rifles with 1 projectile, a shotgun has several to many it effects an area, point at that area
After home defense plastering your walls is not much of a price to pay.
April 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
I personally use a tritium front bead, that’s all I need, a shotgun is a point and shoot kind of deal you don’t need to precisely aim at the target to ensure a hit, so I just line up the be with the top of the receiver and let it go, works fine for me and it was cheap.
my personal choice for home defense ammo is something you wouldn’t expect, it’s T shot, a newer shot size that’s the biggest "bird shot" available, but still small enough not to worry about double drywall penetration(basically the test for single wall penetration safety), from what I’ve seen done to coyotes with it, it’s powerful and effective and if it can kill a coyote, it’s going to either kill or at least completely stop a person from continuing to fight.
April 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
You need to practice enough with your shotgun so that it is pointing where you are looking. Pick out a place on the wall and look at it. Close your eyes. Mount the shotgun on your shoulder. Open your eyes. If the shotgun is not pointing right where you were looking, repeat. Repeat until it is natural. Refresh yourself every once in a while. If you can’t get it to point where you are looking, get a different butt stock with a different length of pull or drop. If that doesn’t work, get a different shotgun. You don’t need sights shooting something other than slugs at long range.
April 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
unless your house sports hallways 50 yards long and rooms over 20 feet wide, to hell with the sights. just point and shoot.
honestly in the dark when your house is being broken into sights doesn’t work too well without light. and night sights (tritium glow in the dark) stuff is only if you plan on being a commando or something in your house.
buy a case of 00 buckshot. 5 rounds simply won’t do.
and buy a case of "target" birdshot, so for you to get familiar with your new shotgun and where to point it so the shot goes where you want it to.
April 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
The sights that are on it will do just fine.
For home defense, it is more likely that the intruder will be close to you. You will not have time to aim, you will just point and shoot.
Beware that 00 buckshot will go through walls and might kill someone else in the other rooms. At close range 7 1/2 shot will work just as good and not go through walls like 00 buckshot will.
I prefer the Remington 870 Marine Magnum with the 18 inch barrel and the extended magazine.