FR Gun Club

A friend recently got a larger than expected royalty check from his publisher, and in passing asked me if I had any suggestions about the kind of shotgun he should consider buying as his first. Me...an opinion about shotguns?

Deciding on a first shotgun is a straightforward process. And the first step is the same as any other firearm purchase. A liberal once asked me if I thought I had enough guns, and to his supreme annoyance I responded “enough for what?” That’s not a joke, it’s the first issue when choosing a firearm…what exactly are you going to be using it for? If you’re going to leave it under your bed as a home defense insurance policy that means one set of priorities, but if you plan on shooting skeet with it once a month, or using it to hunt deer and turkeys, that’s probably another. You may think that you’d like to do both things with it and that’s perfectly reasonable, but you should be aware that multitasking will come with some compromises. But before I get to that, there are a few things you should know about all shotguns.

If you read gun magazines it’s hard to find a reviewer who has too many bad things to say about any type of gun. That’s because the manufacturers give them the guns to review for free, and they’d like to remain in their good graces. Such is life in the media business under a capitalist system. But no one is paying me, or has ever offered to give me a gun for free, so I’m going to tell you exactly what I think. But if Browning, Perazzi, Krieghoff or one of the English gun makers would like to step up at a later time and “persuade” me to say otherwise, I’ll be more than happy to entertain the discussion.

Also, I’m normally happy to engage in debate with people who don’t agree with me, but in this case I know that passion for a specific firearm manufacturer can run pretty high. So if all you want to do is tell me that I shouldn’t be recommending this or that and should instead be suggesting something you think is better, why don’t you go start your own blog instead? I’m sorry but I’m not really all that interested. I’ll spell out my reasons for thinking the way I do, and if you think I’m a fool then so be it. But I hope you all can recognize that there is more than one way to skin a cat, and I’m describing only one way.

The gauge of a shotgun is defined as “the number of lead balls you would need in that diameter in order to have one pound of lead”. So a 12 gauge gun, by far the most common, is the largest bore, and the .410 is the smallest. There are 10 gauge guns out there too, and even guns that sport custom “super large” bores, but none of these should be considered as a first shotgun. There are a number of common gauges produced by quality manufacturers, but when just starting out I don’t think you need to worry about all that. All you really need to worry about is your size and your strength. In my opinion, if you’re a man of more or less normal size then you should almost certainly buy a 12 gauge as your first gun. In fact when it comes to the fairer sex, I would only recommend a smaller gauge for particularly petite women. As an example, my wife is tiny. She’s a pretty little Hungarian brunette who is 5’1” and weighs about 105 lbs. when dripping wet, and she can still shoot my 12 gauge semi just fine. The only issue is that it’s a little heavy for her so if she shoots it all day her arms are tired afterward. So I did recently break down and get her a 20 gauge gun so she can shoot it a little more.

Some people think starting with a smaller gauge is always a good idea but I disagree. Shotguns are designed to throw a spray of pellets, and the smaller the bore the smaller the pattern. So with a 20 gauge gun it’s harder to hit what you’re shooting than with a 12 gauge, no matter how skilled you are. A 28 gauge is also harder than a 20, and a 410 harder than a 28, and so on. Making it easy to hit what you point your first gun at is a good first concern if you ask me. So for anyone who weighs more than say, 130 lbs or so, I’d strongly recommend a 12 gauge as a first gun. If you’re under that then consider a 20 gauge, but remember that you’re starting with a small disadvantage.

As I told my friend, I’m a value for the dollar guy. I don’t think anyone should ever spend a nickel more than they have to when buying a gun. There are manufacturers out there who will build you a custom fitted shotgun to your body measurements and artistic specification and it will run you $75,000. To consider something like that for a first gun is stupid, even if you have the money. Even to think about one of the higher end factory guns seems a little silly to me when you’re still new at shooting. If you consider a Perazzi, or a Krieghoff, or even one of the nicer Beretta’s or Browning’s, you could easily drop $10,000. That makes no sense to me.

The design of gun you buy will affect the price. There are single shot shotguns out there for about $100, but there are many things you can’t do with them (including all the clay shooting sports) so I’d stay away from them if you can afford to. Pump guns are generally the cheapest repeating shotguns out there and can be had brand new from reputable manufacturers for as little as $250. Next are semi-automatic guns, and then the double barrel guns which are the most expensive in comparison. That isn’t to say they are pricey in dollar terms. I commonly shoot a Mossberg Over/Under Double barrel that I paid $400 bucks for. It’s a solid gun that I’ve put 10,000 rounds through without a hiccup. And just this morning I shot with a friend who was shooting a pump gun that cost twice that. In some ways, you’ll get what you pay for. You just want to make sure you’re not paying for features you don’t really want or need.

In my opinion, the two biggest issues for a home defense shotgun are a short barrel, and a low price. Statistically, it’s unlikely you’ll ever fire a shot in your own home. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep a gun in your home if you feel the need, but it does mean that if you do, you probably won’t be using it all that much. If it were me, I wouldn’t want to have a several thousand dollar investment collecting dust under my bed. As for the short barrel, you don’t realize how small your house really is until you’re trying to swing a shotgun in your living room with a 32 inch competition barrel. In close quarters small is always a help.

If you’re buying a gun for home defense alone I’d recommend a Mossberg pump gun. Mossberg doesn’t make a pretty gun, but they have legendary reliability, and the click-clack of the pump is often more than enough itself to drive the average intruder away. Remington also makes a pump gun with first rate reliability but a slightly higher price. For my money, Mossberg will do everything you need. The US Army loves the Mossberg 500. And if there is one thing the army knows, its how best to go about shooting people. You’re unlikely to use a shotgun for just this purpose, but if you think you will, then I can’t say enough about the Mossberg.

A single shotgun used for multiple purposes is a tricky business. In fact hunting alone could turn out to be more than one purpose because there’s a big difference between hunting pheasant and hunting deer. Lots of people have just one gun to do all of the above and for use to defend their homes, but there are a number of issues to consider.

The people I know who try to use one gun for everything usually end up buying a semi-automatic shotgun. A pump gun is cheaper than a semi, but the semi will give you a second shot just a bit more effortlessly. In that way its better suited to wing shooting where you should be concentrating on your target instead of worrying about short-stroking your pump. A pump can do it, but for the difference in price I think most people find it’s worth it to go with a semi.

When it comes to a semi automatic gun, I’m one of those people who is of a very strong opinion. I can only recommend one design… the recoil actuated semi-automatic shotgun designed by Benelli. There are a great many semi’s out there that use a gas actuated piston to reset the action after each shot. That design, produced by a half dozen manufacturers from Remington and Beretta, to Browning and others, has historically shown wonderful reliability when produced by a manufacturer with a good reputation. But as good as that design may be, it’s a bear to clean and it must be cleaned well in order to remain in good working order.

The Benelli design on the other hand has only 4 moving parts which drop out of the receiver frame without the use of tools. That design is so reliable that I know several guys who own them and have never cleaned theirs. But if they ever decide to, those few parts make it an easy task. It’s a lighting fast system that can handle any size of load, and makes a great all around design for a first shotgun. When the US Marines are issued shotguns, they are Remington or Mossberg pumps. When they buy their own shotguns they buy Benelli semi’s.

Of course brilliance doesn’t come cheap. The top of the line Benelli Semi-Automatic is not inexpensive, but I have a great way around that. A few years back a Turkish company hijacked the Benelli design, and starting building what probably amounted to illegal copies of it. When Benelli heard about it, they didn’t take them to international court; they bought them, and started offering the Turkish gun as a low priced model.

The Stoeger model 2000 has the same fantastically fast and reliable Benelli recoil action, but at a fraction of the Benelli price. It’s not as pretty and slick as the Italian styling of the new Benelli SBE, but it does look exactly like some older Benelli models, and is not unattractive. And in spite of it’s more traditional look, it has the same high performance works under the hood, and it shoots that way. The Stoeger 2000 will typically run you about ½ the price of the Benelli and offer the same functionality. You can find them here for as little as $450 or so. It’s a great buy, maybe the best in the shotgun industry. As a combination hunting and home defense gun I highly recommend it.

Its only weakness is that Benelli has yet to find a manufacturer for the “rifled slug barrel” they’ve been promising for a few years now. A rifled barrel will let you shoot slugs with a shotgun out to about 100 yards with dead shot accuracy. But since Benelli hasn’t gotten their act together, if you go with a Stoeger, then you’ll be forced to shoot slugs through your smoothbore giving you a best case accuracy of about 75 yards.

I’ve never fired a shotgun in a home defense situation. If I exclude the high fence pheasant hunt I do with my friends every year then in the last 7 hunting seasons I’ve fired my shotgun at animals exactly twice. Even if I include it, I’ve probably only fired the gun 35 or 40 times. When hunting you don’t exactly burn through cases of ammo, there’s really no need. But last year on the skeet field at my club, I think I went through about 4,500 rounds of ammo, plus whatever my friends and other guests shot. And that’s the issue that defines the clay shooting sports; there is a lot of actual shooting going on. It’s high volume, over and over and over again. So the gun you select for that purpose should keep that in mind as a first concern.

If you try shooting that kind of volume through a pump gun or a gas driven semi, you’ll spend as much time cleaning that gun as you do shooting it. Even a Benelli or Stoeger Semi will require some careful attention after a while when it’s used that heavily. And while I personally have always felt that cleaning my guns was a zen like experience, sometimes you just have other places to be. So if you want a gun that cleans up quickly and easily, then there are really no bones about it, you want a double barrel gun.

The over under is the slightly more popular double barrel design these days, But in fact the finest grade guns available are almost all side by sides. I think the thing that makes them popular is that with an over under gun you can only see one barrel when you mount it to your shoulder, so it takes less time to get used to the view. In my house we have both. And they can both be used to great effect. No one will ever look down on your for showing up with one or the other. The gun I shoot most often is a Mossberg Silver Reserve Over Under, and my wife’s gun is a Stevens 311 Side by Side.

Double barrel guns cost more than pump guns or semi-automatics. But these days there are imports which are simple, reliable and inexpensive. My Mossberg was made in Turkey (Are you noticing a pattern here”) and Remington imports an over under from Russia which they sell under the Spartan label that I’ve heard people speak well of. Both are sturdy Boxlock designs with shell extractors instead of ejectors. An extractor is a simple device which lifts the shell from the chamber when the gun is opened, but you have to reach down there and remove them yourself. Ejectors are spring loaded mechanical devices that automatically kick the shells free for you. If you’re buying an inexpensive import, I’d stay away from a gun with ejectors since they can sometimes be subject to failure on inexpensive guns. I wouldn’t recommend them unless you’re prepared to pay up.

The triggers on double barrel guns also have several options. Many side by side guns have 2 triggers, one for each barrel. This takes some getting used to, but it works perfectly well. If you decide to go with a double trigger gun I’d recommend getting one that has a straight “English style stock”. It makes it slightly easier to adjust your finger for the second trigger. The Steven’s 311 my wife shoots came with double triggers and a pistol grip stock standard, but I replaced it with a straight style stock as a project.

As for the single triggers typical on over under guns, some are what’s called “mechanical” and others are designed to reset on recoil. Mechanical triggers are supposed to be stiffer and therefore less appealing, but I’ve found them to be more reliable in all circumstances so I still prefer them. You aren’t aiming a shotgun, you’re pointing it, so a stiff trigger isn’t so much of a hindrance in my mind. And if you have a gun with recoil triggers and for some reason the first shell doesn’t fire, the second one won’t be able to. With mechanical triggers at least you’ll get off one.

There are many types of guns out there and many many opinions on them. I like the cheap imported guns and have found them to be of excellent quality generally, but there are a lot of guys out there who would never consider them. Fair enough… more left for you and me. Also, I love buying shotguns online because it makes the firearms market more efficient and MUCH cheaper. These online gun auction sites:

should all be checked out when you decide to purchase one and it will save you a bunch of money. They can refer you to a “transfer agent” in your area, and it’s perfectly legal for you to buy them online if you meet all other laws and requirements that apply to you with regard to firearms purchases.

With that said though a shotgun still needs to fit you well. So I would highly recommend that before you buy anything, you go to a local firearms dealer and try them on. Stocks for factory guns all come in slightly differing lengths and sometimes come with space holders whcih can be added or removed to change the fit. And that fit is of paramount importance.

so go to a local store... pick one up, hold it, mount it, see how it feels tracking an invisible pheasant through the air. It’s really one of the most important aspects of a shotgun purchase. We aren't all built alike, and what suits me perfectly might not work for you. And in the meantime I’ve also had my local dealers agree to match prices that I showed them from the internet, so it might wind up saving you a trip as well.

The shotgun sports are my principle hobby so naturally I have alot more to say, but unfortnately I lack the time to say it. If you have any other questions, please leave them on the blog and I’ll answer them as soon as I can. After all, it's not exactly tough to get me to offer an opinion on shotguns.

I think in most cases the average working man is not going to be the victim of an armed robbery/hit team. They are much more like to be the target of a drug addict looking for your prescription pills, cash and jewelry.

From what I hear, it can get very expensive if you kill someone and the cops, all of them, aren’t 100 percent on your side. Make sure the evidence matches your storyline to a T or else .......

> Strangely enough, it is legal to shoot through a door, window, or exterior wall of a dwelling IF an exterior breech is imminent and you are in fear of your life.<

This was explained to me that, if someone is breaking in through your door and doesn’t cease when you say that you will shoot if they don’t stop, then you are in fear of your life to the Courts satisfaction.

“I was in fear of my life, and the lives of my family!” won’t stand up in court if the corpse on the floor has an empty stomach and a mouth full of peanut butter and jelly, especially if it matches the brand your wife has in the cabinet.

I think in most cases the average working man is not going to be the victim of an armed robbery/hit team. They are much more like to be the target of a drug addict looking for your prescription pills, cash and jewelry.

From what I hear, it can get very expensive if you kill someone and the cops, all of them, aren’t 100 percent on your side. Make sure the evidence matches your storyline to a T or else .......

Well now of course HOPEFULLY nobody would shoot somebody for stealing a meal. But there is a bad trend where B&Es consist of 4 to 6 individuals and at least some of those are usually armed. It makes a good argument on several fronts. One is that they usually have to coordinate a little better. It's not as if one guy and his homey got the bright idea to rob a house on the spur of the moment. The other is that these groups are shown to have a "rough" leadership structure. There is usually one individual in the group that the others look up to as a leader. It's akin to the social dynamics of gangs and their leadership structures, just on a smaller scale.

I can verify from second hand recounts of what happens if the outcome is not 100% in your favor, and it can be very, VERY expensive. There's a guy here locally who's somewhat famous/infamous...depending on your point of view. He was the victim of an armed robbery a few years ago and he chased the thieves from his house through the garage. As the last two were running through the garage to the outside, the one in the rear turned and fired a pistol at him. He was in the doorway leading to the house and he had a pump 12 ga shotgun. He returned fire, killing the guy who shot at him, and wounding the guy in front of the dead guy. The problem was that every single pellet went right through the perps back. He went to court and it was ugly. It looked as though he might do jail time. He got a good lawyer and ended up being acquitted, but if you ask him what he would have done if he had to do over again, he'd tell you that he would have either shot the guy through the front, or just let them go!

I agree 100% with Shooter 2.5's comments about racking the scattergun to scare away intruders -- that's TV-tactics. In real life, being trained by TV will get you dead.

The article is well written, useful, and informative in the context of picking out one's first shotgun. I would remove the line cited because it is not 'sound' advice, pun intended. Instead, in the section on home defense, a reminder to familiarize oneself with state laws related to home defense, and receive some training in tactical preparedness would be more useful.

So far, so good. What concerns me is that in our area, an increasingly popular technique involves multiple perps simultaneously hitting the front door. First they sever the phone lines, and then kick their way in. It has happened at all hours. I was at one time tempted to switch out my shotty for the Glock 21 as principal home defense, but I remembered the words of an old pistolero who once said "a handgun is what you use to help you get to a REAL weapon." Fair enough. When it comes time to respond to things that go bump in the night, the vintage Winchester Defender pictured below comes with me. It was my first choice for home defense purchase back in 1987. "Dance with the one that brought you."

The multiple perp scenario is becoming more prevalent unfortunately. There's also a new tactic where they "pretend" to be LEOs. I don't like using handguns as primary defensive weapons. I think they're too easy to miss with under stress, even at close distances. We live in a very rural place, but there is a bad place (with BAD people) about a half mile from us. Our biggest problem is predators (the four footed variety) in our goat pens. I keep an Armalite A-4/M-4 (clone) handy, and it's usually loaded with 75gr Hornady A-Maxes, so they're aren't AS apt to penetrate the entire HOUSE. But I do have to be very aware of where everybody is.

>But there is a bad trend where B&Es consist of 4 to 6 individuals and at least some of those are usually armed.<

What is the pattern for enticing them to break in?

having had acquaintence with a few low level zombies back in they day [ same circle of neighborhood, NOT runnin buddies], mostly predators look for 'easy' circumstances..ie rural outta the way homes or rows of darkened houses at 6 pm during fall daylight savings etc for purely 'lets get whatever they got to pawn' type hits...

the more dangerous breed imo were the guys that saw somethin that tickled whatever their fancy was at the time, ie ie drugs, 'cool' electronics, guns etc and determined to have that particular item ASAP...

all in all, mostly criminals of 'opportunity' either way, which is to say, Dont advertise and Dont 'look' like an easy target, and be a good boyscout...

the lesser recoil can allower shorter recovery time from recoil, allowing a faster shot on a second or third target, or a quicker second follow-up shot on a deserving initial target.

This is something that is a primary concern with all ammunition that I use.

I don't reckon you'll be in the market for one of these then. Still, for what it accomplishes, the relatively massive recoil might be described as reasonable.

Originally, it came with a maple stock and fore end. LOP was about 14”, and the wrist was way too thick for my tastes. Unleashing it in its original configuration was ahem...intense. Plenty of buck and snort. Range sessions resulted in headaches and massive bruising at the shoulder. It's currently set up with a Choate pistol grip shorty stock (12” LOP), and Choate fore end. Felt recoil dramatically reduced. No recoil pad, yet I can fire it all day long in just a T-shirt. No flinching or bruising. I added a steel heat shield, fiber optic front sight, anti-walk pin for the trigger housing, and a new magazine cap equipped quick detach swivel for the sling.

For wild hogs I would think any higher powered rifle or even magnum handgun, 40 cal. or higher, would be OK. A model 94 Winchester in 30-30 would be good or one of the newer model 92 reproductions in .44 mag. I guess the model 92 in any caliber would do.

For home protection I agree with those who say a pump but an auto or even a short barreled double would be OK. My personal gun right now is a Winchester 1200 defender. It would not have been my first choice but operationally it has been perfect. It has an 18 inch barrel and will hold 8 of some brand shells. I got it brand new at Wal-Mart for $189. I just don't think it looks as good as a Remington 870. It did not fit my hands well so I tried one of the black pistol grip stocks from CDNN and that fits me far far better. It is much slimmer.

I have gone back and forth on loads sometimes using 3 inch 00 buck and at other times using magnum BB loads. Honestly I doubt if it makes any difference indoors which load you use. I might give the nod to the buck simply because you might find yourself outside opposite a person in a car.

One thing I disagree with the author on is the Benelli. They are beautifully made and I suspect very reliable but they kick like a mule. I had a Super 90 M1 for a while and thought it looked the best of any shotgun I had ever owned, I mean wicked! Now I am a big guy not overly affected by recoil but that gun was just too much. It kicked worse than my lightweight single barrel. I guess in a gunfight I would not notice it but I like to actually shoot my guns occasionally.

I have several of the fine offerings of Mossberg; two 500A’s and one 590, specifically for those potential nocturnal “Repel Boarders” moments.

The 590 is the standard military version, but with a side saddle added on that holds a quick extra 6 rounds. That’s in the bedroom at night (chambered - no racking needed), backed up by a Glock 21 with a Surefire on it in the headboard.

The Mossberg people have now added a couple of new versions to their line, their JIC [Just In Case] series, which comes with a waterproof storage case very suitable for boating [ "Mariner" bright orange!]or rural storage ["Cruiser" olive drab or "Sandstorm" desert sand camo] uses.

I'm less than thrilled with the use of the *cruiser* pistol grip, though it does keep overall length down and can easily have a synthetic full-stock butt added, bagged and taped to the outside of the container, with a suitable screwdriver added to the contents of the survival kit gizmos Mouseburger includes with the JIC combo.

But in all, it's a pretty good idea, and since there's already a 18-inch barrelled Mossberg 590 in the family, one of the JIC packages might not be all that bad anm addition.

Like I said, I hadn’t tried any. I prefer to stick with what I know works.

Nothing wrong with that approach, and for those with that experience, no worries! But for others, particularly those with a new or unfamiliar gun, it can be smarter for them to work up to the heavier loads in stages.

I can appreciate that lower recoil is less wear on the gun and that it affords quicker follow-ups, but if you look at some of the muzzle energy ratings of a lot of the tactical stuff out there it is still less than #1 shot.

Agreed, and my *daytime* 870 that stands watch by my front door is indeed loaded with 20-pellet #1 buckshot. But the muzzleflash from those loads at night is blinding to those on either side of the gun- a mixed blessing, but one in some circles which screams *throw grenades here.*

Still less energy on target. No doubt that it is effective though.

There is a lot of comfort when dealing with multiple targets in knowing that ones you've dealt with already were serviced with the best and most effective loads possible. And in these days of common body armor, one answer with a shotgun that throws 16 or 20 .30-caliber pellets per trigger pull is to shoot the knees and upper legs out from under them and let time and arterial bleeding do the rest. The area from the knees to the belt buckle is the area to be saturated. In the one instance in which I have used a shotgun that way, the result was immediate and impressive.

What is the pattern for enticing them to break in? Do they hit one house after the next until they locate a particular item or what? Do they tend to stay in certain income level areas? I can’t picture them busting into Section 8 housing unless they were going after a known drug dealer.

A good portion of it is drug related. That being theft of drugs, or theft of cash. Immigrants are the most targeted from what I'm told, and they report less than half of it because they're illegals and afraid to contact LEOs. I don't think they spend a lot of time robbing Section 8 housing. :-)

There were some of these in south Florida in the last couple of years. The large jobs were thought to be planned by persons who had some legal access to the house and used the job as an opportunity to case houses. This might be an employee of a remodeling / maintenance company.

These differ from the more typical push in job. That seems to be a case of “it’s in a nice neighborhood so there must be something that I want in there.” I work in a gun store part time and we get a significant number of locals who’ve decided to learn to shoot after they or their neighbors had a push in. All the ones I can recall were small ones - one or two thieves.

There were also several break ins at the complex where I live last year. The landlord sent out warnings to all the tenants about it. This is in the nice part of the town, several miles away from the hellhole. There are opinions that the thieves were employees of the landscape contractor or migrant workers. There are several farms nearby. I think it was opportunism and the thieves moved on, but there are lots of northerners here and one of them may have been afraid to tell the police that he chased off a burglar at gunpoint.

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