Has 2020's Riots Changed Your Mind On Shotguns? Still Viable?

[gato naranja]

Due to physical issues, my sole remaining shotgun is the last thing I want to have to fire these days, but I keep one around because they work as well as they ever have. So, no changes of mind due to engineered unrest and carefully nurtured street theater of late.

I would probably benefit from a handling standpoint by selling the 870 and going the semiauto route, but I have yet to find the magic semiauto that will feed and function with the cornucopia of loads I may end up resorting to if/when the balloon goes up, life goes sideways and care/cleaning of small arms may have to be deferred.

[JTMcC]

Racking a pump gun on the ground with someone beating on you would not be fun.

If you want to talk PR, a giant hamburger wound on someone's chest would look great for your cause. Sarcasm.



I think that is trivial given the spread of things like Flite Control buck or a slug.

Nothing new in the OP, hey, Kyle should have just racked the gun and the giant mob would have fled. Sarcasm, yet again.

Back to the AR, thinking you are going to stand there and shoot 30 people down with a 30 round mag - another fantasy. Some of them did have guns, as we saw. One of these days, the AR militia is going to be engaged, perhaps in a surprise while they are standing around.

It's not trivial to me.
6 or 8 inch (or more) pattern delivers a lot of margin (when the target is moving and it's dark) over a single rifle bullet.
I'm limited to what my light illuminates after the sun departs, making a 12 ga. a pretty decent nightime choice for me regardless of what has the dog annoyed. Human, animal or aliens.
People in the city have completely different conditions I understand that. I'd be more concerned about stray pellets if I was urban but misses only impact the mountains where I live.
I've never seen "spread" with any slug load

The people posting who live in and around the areas where antifa has been holding their parties have a whole nuther set of circumstances to consider.

[gato naranja]

It's not trivial to me.
6 or 8 inch (or more) pattern delivers a lot of margin (when the target is moving and it's dark) over a single rifle bullet.
I'm limited to what my light illuminates after the sun departs, making a 12 ga. a pretty decent nightime choice for me regardless of what has the dog annoyed. Human, animal or aliens.
People in the city have completely different conditions I understand that. I'd be more concerned about stray pellets if I was urban but misses only impact the mountains where I live.
I've never seen "spread" with any slug load

The people posting who live in and around the areas where antifa has been holding their parties have a whole nuther set of circumstances to consider.

Outdoor shooting at night is something I have never been overconfident about, probably because it has occurred so seldom in the 50-odd years I have been pulling triggers. I came early to the conclusion that night time was when you found out what ought to work... didn't. When a commotion starts outside at midnight and something needs stopping RIGHT NOW, a little spread is going to benefit me. I sometimes suspect that my 870P with the fixed IC choke patterns almost too well when using some of the better contemporary "tactical" loads.

My biggest beef with the scattergun these days - as alluded to earlier - is that even with low-recoil 00 buckshot loads, the recoil of my 870P (which weighs 7 lbs, 5.3 oz unloaded) is a lot less lovable or harmless than it used to be. Getting old mostly sucks. All points considered, I would rather shoot a light 12 gauge load from a 7-1/2 pound shotgun than a roughly equivalent 20 gauge load out of a 6-1/2 pound gun, and I am too far along in life to want to logistically make the changeover to the 20. And THAT is the reason I suspect will eventually make me have to give up the shotgun.

The shotgun will still be viable, but I won't be.

[blues]

When a commotion starts outside at midnight and something needs stopping RIGHT NOW, a little spread is going to benefit me. I sometimes suspect that my 870P with the fixed IC choke patterns almost too well when using some of the better contemporary "tactical" loads.

Just sayin'...




Don't work hard, work smart.

[gato naranja]

Just sayin'...

Don't work hard, work smart.

It checks so many boxes. No recoil to worry about, it uses environmentally-friendly steel shot, AND activation is remote... no need to run outside in my underwear.

[DDTSGM]

My biggest beef with the scattergun these days - as alluded to earlier - is that even with low-recoil 00 buckshot loads, the recoil of my 870P (which weighs 7 lbs, 5.3 oz unloaded) is a lot less lovable or harmless than it used to be. Getting old mostly sucks. All points considered, I would rather shoot a light 12 gauge load from a 7-1/2 pound shotgun than a roughly equivalent 20 gauge load out of a 6-1/2 pound gun, and I am too far along in life to want to logistically make the changeover to the 20. And THAT is the reason I suspect will eventually make me have to give up the shotgun.

The shotgun will still be viable, but I won't be.

I don't know if you've had any formal shotgun training, or a physical limitation that prevents this, but most everyone I know teaches some variation of push/pull: pushing the forearm forward with the support hand and pulling the stock into the shoulder with the strong hand - kind of like an isometric exercise. Done correctly the recoil seems to die between the hands, and the 870 won't bind up like it can when pulling the forearm to the rear, causing the end of the action bar to block the action lock from moving.

Good luck.

[gato naranja]

...or a physical limitation that prevents this...

Retina tear repair and associated damage; it is what it is... and it no longer takes much recoil to ring my bell/bring the headaches.

The push-pull technique does help, but only so much.

The silver-plated lining of this cloud: I no longer gripe about overweight firearms and optics.

[theJanitor]

Retina tear repair and associated damage; it is what it is...

I have one retina that's not repairable, and one that failed four years ago, and has been mostly repaired. I've since divested myself of ALL shotguns. I think I'll get by with the AR's.

[gato naranja]

I have one retina that's not repairable, and one that failed four years ago, and has been mostly repaired. I've since divested myself of ALL shotguns. I think I'll get by with the AR's.

If I could figure out a no-hassle way to sell and ship my 870P to a well-known dealer, I believe I would do so. Locally, there is just not enough of a market to get anything out of it.

[theJanitor]

If I could figure out a no-hassle way to sell and ship my 870P to a well-known dealer, I believe I would do so. Locally, there is just not enough of a market to get anything out of it.

Trade it for ammo.