Current State of the Shotgun

[ranger]

So far as I know, this is the second query about this shotgun on P-F.com. I made the first a couple of years ago, and got a list of soft-shooting 12 gauge/ammo combinations in return.
I was thinking the tactical model SA20 w/a youth stock for the wife.

I have a Mossberg SA20 - it is my "wife's" shotgun. We live in a more rural area of NW GA and we had a near miss incident with a copperhead and her favorite dog - dog did not get bit but she recognized a need for a shotgun. Also, we have coyotes in the area - she is worried about her dogs at night on their "last call" before bedtime. We keep the SA20 at the basement door to the backyard and it is kept empty chamber but the tube loaded with #1 Buck for coyotes and two legged critters and first round will be a Remington Heavy Sporting Clays 7.5 for snakes. I have a light mounted on the OEM rail and otherwise stock. I took it to the outdoor range when new and ran a few boxes of heavy 20 gauge shells through it to check its function with no issues noted. Then, ran the wife through a few drills of loading and shooting. No issues noted. Like many less expensive shotguns it is made in Turkey. I think it is a lot of shotgun for the money and it serves our purpose. I used to be a very active clays shooter so we have plenty of clays type shotguns plus a Remington 1100 "Tactical" and a Stoeger 3000 24 inch.

[GuanoLoco]

Maybe out of legal reasons? They had to cope with the S&W M10 and .38 Special too, after all. I think it was in "Guns, Bullets and Gunfights", but
I can look it up in a few days.
I just found it interesting that both, Cirillo and Karwan, prefered the .30 Carbine 110gr. softpoint as a more reliable stopper.

I have a mild itch for a Benelli M2 Tactical with and extended mag tube, but I'd have to admit that my M1 Carbine is a damn sweet HD gun. Tiny gun, 110gr @ 2000 fps x 30 rounds is no joke. Keep one around for my wife.

[LJP]

So far as I know, this is the second query about this shotgun on P-F.com. I made the first a couple of years ago, and got a list of soft-shooting 12 gauge/ammo combinations in return.
I was thinking the tactical model SA20 w/a youth stock for the wife.

I would tend to steer away from the 20 ga shotguns for defense only because of one pearl of wisdom that I took away from my seminar with Tom Givens. Namely, due to military and police influence, and the prevalence of the 12 ga in those demographics, almost all ammunition developments and research have been directed toward the 12 ga choices, relegating the 20 ga to sporting purposes. The anti-personnel ammunition choices are going to be far superior in 12 ga vs 20 ga.


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[ranger]

I think the point is not that the 20 gauge is superior to the 12 gauge but an option and possibly a better option for those of smaller physical size. 20 gauge buckshot with 9 pellets of #1 is nothing to sneeze at. Will the 12 vs 20 be the new 45 vs 9?

[pdb]

What do you folks prefer for spare shell carriage? What do you find works for your situation? On the gun, on the belt?

[Lester Polfus]

What do you folks prefer for spare shell carriage? What do you find works for your situation? On the gun, on the belt?

I wound up taking side saddles off my gun. While I completely agree that they are the most efficient speed wise, I dislike the way they affect the balance of the gun, and had an incident where doing a quick clear of a trailer home where I slammed the side saddle against a door frame and broke it. Reasonable minds can differ.

I use a stock pouch with elastic loops inside. I keep the pouch unzipped. I have found that when I'm crawling through thick brush and such, I'm much less likely to leave a trail of dropped shells behind me than with a elastic cuff.

Having extra rounds on the butt also keeps me in common with the bolt and lever guns I run.

I also have a mussette bag full of shells as a grab and go.

I also keep a speed strip full of #7.5 shot and another full of #4 buck on top of the safe, for small game and coyotes respectively. I don't have any real intention of doing an emergency reload out of the strips, it's just a way to keep different types of ammo organized.

Speedfeed stocks suck. I never figured out a way to use one where I didn't wind up with a round hitting the deck a significant amount of the time.

[GJM]

I consider extra ammo for the shotgun as largely administrative, because in most situations I am dumping it for a handgun, rather than trying to reload with time pressure.

[SamAdams]

I have side saddles & butt stock mounted loop carriers. They're 'o.k.' but, I don't really like the way they affect handling feel. I prefer a belt & keep one next to the homestead defense shotgun. Maybe I'm just used to it after years of carrying ammo this way in the field.


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[John Hearne]

Given the relatively limited capacity of the typical shotgun, I think that NOT having spare ammo on the gun is stupid and ignores hard won lessons like Newhall and Miami - especially for folks working in the law enforcement context.

[GJM]

Given the relatively limited capacity of the typical shotgun, I think that NOT having spare ammo on the gun is stupid and ignores hard won lessons like Newhall and Miami - especially for folks working in the law enforcement context.

Do you mean ammo literally on the shotgun or on your person?