Tactical shotgun recomendations

[KCRaider21]

I'm looking at buying at tactical shotgun and was wondering what folks might recommend. I want something reasonably priced, high capacity and some sort of tactical rails.

[zoomie]

http://www.impactguns.com/remington-...tube-5077.aspx

Put on the Magpul forend for a few bucks if you decide you want rails.

[Uncle Malice]

I have that 870 Tactical linked to above. I like it quite a bit. I don't like it as much as my Mossberg 590A1's... but it's cheaper, too.

Bud's currently has the 18.5" 590A1 w/ ghost rings in stock at $464.

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/p...ducts_id/69320

You can get a Choate magazine tube extension to make it a flush fitting tube with an extra 2 rounds - giving you 7+1 for less than $50. With that set up, I actually prefer the 18.5" over my 20" 590A1... but in stock configuration, I prefer the 20". Both are great guns though.

I run a micro red dot on the 20" and have the ghost ring version in the 18" as linked to above.

I really like both Remington and Mossberg. I prefer Mossberg controls.

[ClydeFrog]

For a factory stock ready for real tactical use, no excuses, 12ga pump, Id look at the Remington 887 Nitro Tactical.
It has all the features you may want in a tactical 12ga weapon.
It's treated too to hold up to rough elements & real SWAT/LE conditions.

The Mossberg 590 & the Remington 870 Express with a few add-ons can function as well.
I'd pay extra to add Metalife SS C, Black-T, NP3+, Cerakote, or Bearcoat. Nicks, scuffs, rust, and other problems can be avoided plus you can treat it in a camo pattern or nickel color for intimidation, .

ClydeFrog
www.apwcogan.com www.bearcoat.com www.robarguns.com www.black-t.com www.gunsamerica.com www.gilbertsguns.com www.jgsales.com

[MTSCMike]

What tactic are you wanting to support with your shotgun? Each model can have strengths and weaknesses depending on how the weapon will be employed.

[KCRaider21]

Probably a light and perhaps a dot scope.

[allaroundhunter]

The most tacticool shotgun that I have...



Now, what do I recommend? A standard Remington 870 with a 20" barrel and a magazine tube extension to match. Then get a clamp that holds the mag tube in position under the barrel with a picatinny rail on the side to mount a flashlight. After that, BA/UU/R and practice. You don't need a red dot sight on a defensive shotgun, if you want to do any sort of sight upgrade then get a simple, small front sight post with a tritium insert.

[Sheikyourbootie]

I like the Ithica 37



Has the top of the receiver drilled/tapped for a rail if that's your thing.


Though not pictured, I did add a light to this shotgun.

Of course, the 870 is always a fantastic choice, too.

[MTSCMike]

Without a stated mission and the defined tactic or tactics to accomplish that mission, it is hard to recommend a tool that supports that tactic.

If all you want is a shotgun with an extended magazine tube, a light and a dot sight then a 30" full choke anything with a drilled and tapped receiver will do.

Is this for 3-gun competition, home defense, night time hog hunting or low light skeet shooting? Is it your primary weapon or a back-up for something else? Share your thoughts...inquiring minds want to know. There are a great many folks who go out and buy the latest whiz bang tacticool "look at me" lead-slinger only to find out it doesn't suit their purpose very well and it sits in a safe unused.

[Noreaster]

I have had good luck with NEF and Mossberg. If price is an issue start out with something basic and add on what you want or need later. There are plenty of aftermarket hardware for the defensive shotgun. In my own experience I have found that less is more with a tactical shotgun.

[BigD_in_FL]

Practice KISS

"Tactical" is not an add-on, it is a mindset

Learn to run your gun before you go adding all sorts of doo-dads that add more unwieldy weight and upsets ANY sense of handling or balance, no matter what your intended purpose

[ZVP]

The mindset is to defend ones own from harm of any sort and the simplest method is almost always the best! Function over frills! the KISS method has always proven out over gimmickey add-ons!
JMHO
Dave

[ChasingWhitetail91]

Buy a good quality Mossy 500 for cheap and save your money for add-ons.

[hogdogs]

Buy a good quality Mossy 500 for cheap

Good choice of the available guns with a good overall reputation...
And my personal favorite too...

and save your money for add-ons.

Before you spend a penny on farkles and doo-hickeys... Buy a snot load of ammo... I mean a few hundred rounds at least...

Nothing you add will help you if you can't run yer gun like you know what you are doing...

There is no such thing as a "tactical" shotgun that makes one "tactical"...

It wouldn't be very wise, tactically speaking, to give a 10 pound gun laden with light, laser, rail, grenade launcher, bayonet and breacher muzzle loaded with eleventy-two rounds of 3 1/2 inch heavy loads to an eight year girl who has never fired so much as a water pistol...

And a few people here have actually heard me profess to use tactical toilet paper in a tactical way with tactics in mind...

As others have stated... tactical is in the mind...

Personally, I have never strapped anything to a gun but a 3 or 4 D cell maglight when I used to coon hunt... But that was a single shot 12 with a 30 inch barrel... Mission specific so I guess it was tactical...

Brent

[Spats McGee]

I'd look for a used Rem 870 or Mossberg 500 and (as hogdogs pointed out) spend most of the rest of the budget on ammo. ("Snotload" is the technical term.) Knowing how to run the gun, and run it well, will serve you much better than most doodads that you could add. If you've just gotta have rails, Choate sells forends with rails for both the 870 and 500. Other companies may also make those, but I'm just more familiar with Choate products than I am with others. For low-light conditions, I've become kind of partial to something like this.

[BigD_in_FL]

When you add all those gizmos at near the muzzle end of the gun, coupled with a mag extension and that weight as well, you have made the gun VERY heavy right there, making it very hard to swing the gun at all, let alone with any degree of uniformity - that is one of the biggest reasons I stand with the KISS belief. The other is a lot of new folks seem to think that if their gun looks like this:


That everything will be OK.

[Sheikyourbootie]

When you add all those gizmos at near the muzzle end of the gun, coupled with a mag extension and that weight as well, you have made the gun VERY heavy right there, making it very hard to swing the gun at all, let alone with any degree of uniformity - that is one of the biggest reasons I stand with the KISS belief. The other is a lot of new folks seem to think that if their gun looks like this:


That everything will be OK.

There is still plenty of room on that last tac rail for a tactical cappuccino maker.

[Eppie]

Mine is a Mossberg 930SPX. I've had it about 3 years an it goes BOOM every time I pull the trigger. I've even taken up skeet shooting during the ammo shortage because there is plenty of shotgun ammo. Mine looks like this.



It has a ghost ring rear sight, red fiber optic front, an 18" barrel and holds 8 rounds. It's a keeper.

[Noreaster]

Just saw a Maverick 18 inch at Dick's for $209.00. For add ons you could replace the beed with a fiber optic and or it is drilled and taped for a scope base if you wanted a red dot. Take that shotgun and a hundred round box of low base 7.5/8 shot and you will have a real good time. Good luck with your search.

[saddler]

Look for any local deals on police trade in 12-ga shotguns

[Pops1085]

Two questions, I agree that leaving the gun stock is probably the best way to go, having bolted literally everything on at one point or another only to find it gets in the way or messes with the gun but if I was going to mount a light on a mossberg like a mag light would it be better to attach it to the forend or the barrel and mag tube?

And secondly would a mag light make a decent light just for illuminating the target? Blinding a bg would be a nice after thought but I do just want to be able to tell if it is a bg in the unlikely event the power is out or something and I can't just hit the light switch.

What do you think?

[Eppie]

It is my opinion that guys with flashlights make great targets.

For visibility at night I've placed night lights (2 watt bulbs) in strategic places in my house (in hallway, near doors, etc..). They give me the ability to see any potential intruder without giving my position away.

[hogdogs]

If a maglight is in the AAA or AA size, I would not care where it fit on the gun, your previous practice will show that both places have a trade off... On the slide (rail or a recess for a light) is less weight out on the end and you may not have room on mag tube or barrel depending on which barrel length and fore end it has... Personally, I never played with the better lights nor the new fangled mounting types... last time I messed with a light on a gun, I had to invent my own clamping methods...

Brent

[dwaawd]

After you check out the above recommendations look at the Winchester 1300 Defender. It already has an 8 shot capacity and can easily accept any light/mount of your choice.

[JimmyR]

1) What is the primary purpose of the shotgun? You say tactical, but does that mean home defense, SHTF, TEOTWAWKI, all of the above?

2) Who will be using it? Are you experienced with shooting shotguns? WIll your significant other/children be using this as well?

When I asked myself the same questions, I ended up getting a Remington 870Youth Model- 18.5" barrel in 20ga. I then got a clamp on Nebo flashlight with laser/strobe. That was my home defense gun, until I decided that my wife, who I hoped would use it as well, didn't like it. I ended up selling it (keeping the flashlight), since I have a old Sears and Roebuck 12ga if I need a shotgun. My wife much prefers her S&W Model 19.

Long story short, "Tactical" is not a function. It is a description based on aesthetics and accessories. Define your weapon based on what purpose it will served, and then decide what tools you will need to accomplish that task.