Shotguns generally have two main uses in modern times. The first is for different types of hunting, and different types of clay pigeon shooting, like trap, skeet, and sporting clays. The second is for defensive use, either by law enforcement and the military, as well as by civilians. While you could take a shotgun suited for hunting and use it for defense as needed, that is not ideal, and neither is the reverse. Hunting/sporting shotguns can be any style of action, semi-automatic, pump, and break actions including side by sides and over-unders can all be found to fulfill this role. You can also on occasion find bolt action shotguns designed for deer hunting, which are kind of odd-balls, and don't really fit in with the rest of the types of shotguns. Common features on these shotguns regardless of actions include long barrels, usually over 26 inches, interchangeable choke tubes, and a small magazine capacity. Many jurisdictions limit the number of rounds a hunting shotgun can hold, often to three rounds. So, even though a standard Remington 870 pump action shotgun can hold 5 rounds, the magazine tube needs to be plugged in order to legally hunt. Be sure if you intend to hunt, you know the firearms laws and restrictions for the jurisdiction you intend to hunt in, because they vary throughout the nation. They also usually have simple sighting systems, like a plain bead front sight.
Defensive shotguns have different traits that make them more suitable for the role. They generally have shorter barrels, usually between 18.5 inches, and 20 inches. The shorter barrel makes the shotgun more maneuverable indoors, as well as helping clear doorways because there is less out in front of you for someone to grab, or for you to accidentally have sticking into a room, giving away your position. They also have larger magazine capacities where allowed by law, sometimes up to 8 rounds for a tube magazine, or 10 rounds for a detachable box magazine. The larger capacity does add some weight at the front of the gun, but doesn't add much bulk, and allows you to stay in the fight longer before reloading. They often do not have interchangeable choke tubes, and generally have a fixed choke, which has one of the more open patterns, like Improved Cylinder. There isn't a need for different chokes on a shotgun like this, because their intended use is usually at very close range. They can have more complex sighting systems, like rifle sights, night sight beads, or ghost ring sights. They also may have a weapon mounted light, and some way to carry spare ammunition on the shotgun. Below are some examples of home defense shotguns, a semi-auto Mossberg 930 SPX, pump action Remington 870, and a side by side Stoeger Coach Gun.
While you can use a hunting shotgun for defense, or a defense shotgun for hunting, it is not ideal to do so. It is possible to have one shotgun, and modify it for either use. This is easiest accomplished with a pump action shotgun. The two main contenders on the market today are the Remington 870, and the Mossberg 500. If I was only going to own one shotgun, it would be one of these two. As they come from the factory, both usually have a 26 or 28 inch barrel, and a 5 shot capacity. Both companies also have different grade shotguns, which get more expensive with the upgrades. The biggest difference between the base model 870 Express, and the 500, are the locations of the controls, including the safety. So, if you are looking for a shotgun, try to get your hands on both, and see which controls work best for you.
The base model is already set up pretty well for most kinds of hunting. The barrel is long enough to swing well and provide good patterns, and the shotgun often comes with a magazine plug to reduce capacity for hunting. You can also find 18.5 inch barrels for both of these shotguns readily available. By removing the plug, and swapping the longer barrel for an 18.5 inch barrel, you have a good choice for a home defense shotgun. That way you have one shotgun that can fill pretty much anything you need it to, with just the change of a barrel, which can even be accomplished without tools, in under a minute. If I was going to own just one shotgun, the above set up is what I would use.
There are a plethora of accessories on the market today for defensive shotgun, but I like to keep mine rather simple. I add a sling, a light source, and some way to carry extra ammo, and leave it at that. I covered weapon mounted lights in a previous post, but I think they serve a good purpose on a home defense shotgun, and are a good investment. You do need to ensure you buy a quality light and mount that will be able to withstand the recoil from a shotgun. And position the light in a place where you can activate it using your normal hand position during firing. They do make some excellent fore-end replacement units for pump action shotguns that allow you to operate the light with your forward hand, while cycling the weapon even.
For holding extra ammo you can add a side-saddle, which my 870 has, on the side of the reciever, or an elastic buttstock sleeve. Both work relatively well, and the elastic sleeve is not model specific. The slings that are designed to hold extra shells generally don't work, because they prevent proper sling use, as well as adding a swinging pendulum of weight under the shotgun that disturbs your aim. But, a quality sling that allows you to use your hands while maintaining control of the shotgun is a good idea.
I prefer the standard style buttstock on my shotgun. Most of the folding stocks I have encountered don't have a very tight lock up, and make noise and don't provide a good cheek weld. Similarly, I don't like pistol grip only stocks. You lose the ability to properly sight the shotgun, and it intensifies recoil. They look really cool in the movies, and have limited real world use for breaching shotguns, but for home defense, I like an actual buttstock that allows me to get a good cheek weld, distributes recoil throughout my body, and lets me use the sights on my shotgun. And fore-ends with pistol grips tend to feel a bit awkward to cycle, and add extra bulk to the shotgun.
I also don't like lasers on shotguns. With most shells, a shotgun fires a pattern of pellets, which spreads with distance. Unless you are shooting slugs, which have major over-penetration concerns for home defense, a laser is just going to give a general idea of where you will hit. Keep your home defense shotgun as simple as possible, it doesn't need a whole lot of bells and whistles. In fact, bells and whistles may detract from it's usefulness.
Which brings me to my next point. In the picture above, one of the shotguns doesn't look like the rest. That shotgun is a Stoeger Coach Gun. Some people may say that it is obsolete as a home defense shotgun in the 21st century, I would disagree with them, but there is a caveat. The advantage of a coach gun is that it's overall length is short, even shorter than my pump or semi-auto with their short barrels. It is also much lighter weight than either of the other two. And, since it has dual triggers, if you want or need to, you can shoot both barrels at once. Which brings me to my caveat. The reload of this style shotgun is rather slow, requires fine motor skills, and it has a very limited capacity of two shots. So, if you are going to use a shotgun like this for home defense, have something to back it up, like a defensive pistol, so after the first two rounds are fired, you can transition to something with more capacity if needed. This is a technique that goes back to at least the post-Civil War era in America, with a short side by side shotgun to begin an engagement, backed up by a handgun.
Hopefully this answered some of your questions about selecting a home defense shotgun. In future posts I hope to explore some related topics, such as shell selection, as well as addressing some of the myths surrounding shotgun usage. If anyone has any questions or comments, feel free to post them, and I will try to address them as soon as possible.
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