General (and some specific) Defensive Shotgun Questions

[LHS]

Yea the Spartan is the closest I've found. It's not low recoil FC or TAP good, but with good choke selection it is acceptable.

Now that Federal makes a FliteControl 20-gauge for waterfowl, I see no reason why they can't co-opt the wad and shove some #1 buck in there. You can only get about 9-pellets of #1 into a 20-gauge shell - an 8-pellet load with buffering in a FC wad would do the trick nicely.

Yeah I saw they were making FC hunting loads a while back, and I had hoped that would lead to a defensive loading, but it's been several years now with no love for the baby gauge.

[RevolverRob]

Yeah I saw they were making FC hunting loads a while back, and I had hoped that would lead to a defensive loading, but it's been several years now with no love for the baby gauge.

Yea, I get all grumbly about it from time to time, because it could/should exist. But since Federal can't supply us with a decent amount of LE133 for use - the dream of a 20ga FC Defensive load seems a bit cart before horse.

[diananike]

I wish the Spartan 20 gauge or another #1 buckshot was available in Canada
I haven’t seen it anywhere up here
If it was I’d be tempted to give a 20 gauge shockwave a whirl.
I really like the .410 version and 5 pellet 000 patterns amazingly

[LHS]

The only buckshot loads I've tested recently were a Rio 9-pellet #1 buck, and a S&B #2 buck. Both patterned poorly out of the mod- and cylinder-bore barrels I tried. They'd probably be acceptable inside, say, a typical 2-bedroom apartment if it didn't have very long hallways.

[Brian T]

About the only thing I have to offer for you 20 gauges types is that you can order primed, virgin high brass hulls for fairly cheap. Wads are cheap, especially if you go with discs. Pellets are pretty cheap too. Shotgun powders are running a little higher these days, but still less than traditional pistol or rifle powders. I'm not necessarily saying load your own, but I'm not saying dont. And if you dont think you can, its not too hard to find a reloading shop that can do it for you. You should be able to get 10 1-buck pellets into a 20 gauge.

[Chuck Whitlock]

Mossberg vs Remington is just personal preference.

I do like the fact that you're not going to get your thumb jammed between the shell lifter and receiver like in Remingtons and the tang safety. Those are imo the only functional differences.

Also kinda nostalgic from use in the Marines.

Personal preference is too true, but there are a few more functional differences.

1. As the Mossy shell lifter rests in the up position, if the magazine tube decides to vomit up its contents, they fall on the ground instead of tying up the action.

2. While not as slick or elegant, replacing the ejector requires a screwdriver rather than rivets.

3. Dual extractors on the Mossberg.

4. The tang safety on the Mossberg is truly ambidextrous.

5. This one I don't see mentioned a lot, but the location of the slide release, forward of the trigger guard, on the 870 requires releasing your primary grip on the weapon to activate (at least with my small digits....YMMV). The Mossberg does not.

That all being said, if one has a ton of familiarity with a particular platform, that is certainly something to be taken into consideration.

[willie]

The 590A1 barrel is thick walled and very heavy. The 590 is less expensive and does not have the heavier barrel. I have owned both. Until I recently sold my "riot guns" as they were once called, I had a collection put together since 1981. The 590 will do the same thing as the 590A1. The A1 has an aluminum trigger assembly and a metal safety button.

The op can learn to operate a pump shotgun and not have a short stroke malfunction. Moving the fore end with force and speed along its path prevents this. He can't break the mechanism. Let me point out that having a loaded extended magazine tube produces a heavy weapon that for some is cumbersome. If he buys a Mossberg, I suggest using 0000 steel wool wrapped around a brush to polish the chamber. The regular model has a 5 shot tube. Adding a +1 extension gives a handy 7 shot shotgun.

[SwampDweller]

Personal preference is too true, but there are a few more functional differences.

1. As the Mossy shell lifter rests in the up position, if the magazine tube decides to vomit up its contents, they fall on the ground instead of tying up the action.

2. While not as slick or elegant, replacing the ejector requires a screwdriver rather than rivets.

3. Dual extractors on the Mossberg.

4. The tang safety on the Mossberg is truly ambidextrous.

5. This one I don't see mentioned a lot, but the location of the slide release, forward of the trigger guard, on the 870 requires releasing your primary grip on the weapon to activate (at least with my small digits....YMMV). The Mossberg does not.

That all being said, if one has a ton of familiarity with a particular platform, that is certainly something to be taken into consideration.

For me, I've narrowed it down between a Mossberg 590A1 and a Benelli M4. It really comes down to semi auto vs pump.

[SwampDweller]

The 590A1 barrel is thick walled and very heavy. The 590 is less expensive and does not have the heavier barrel. I have owned both. Until I recently sold my "riot guns" as they were once called, I had a collection put together since 1981. The 590 will do the same thing as the 590A1. The A1 has an aluminum trigger assembly and a metal safety button.

The op can learn to operate a pump shotgun and not have a short stroke malfunction. Moving the fore end with force and speed along its path prevents this. He can't break the mechanism. Let me point out that having a loaded extended magazine tube produces a heavy weapon that for some is cumbersome. If he buys a Mossberg, I suggest using 0000 steel wool wrapped around a brush to polish the chamber. The regular model has a 5 shot tube. Adding a +1 extension gives a handy 7 shot shotgun.

If I can get the short stroke concerns put away, yeah, a 590/590A1 is what I’d prefer. Good points on the 590 vs A1.

[SwampDweller]

If I get a PD trade in 870P, would sending it off to VangComp or somewhere similar bring it up to like-new condition?