I have a pistol that shoots shotgun shells. Saturday I heard honking, a dude I have never seen before tells me he is looking for handy work. He stays in the truck (my pitbull by my side at the door). I tell him husband isn’t home, I have no money. We live at the end of a half mile dirt road. Anyway, I now have the gun within easy reach.
Mossberg 590 12 gauge.
Well, you’re gonna get an earful tonight.
This topic has been heavily discussed over the last week or so.
Most FReeper have offered traditional choices - Mossberg 500, Winchester 870, etc.
Most say to get 5-7 round capacity pumps, which is not a bad suggestion at all, for home defense.
I would look for a short barreled (around 18 inch), pump action, 20 gauge with a 7-shot magazine. I would look at Remington and Mossberg. This is a great self defense weapon even for smaller shooters. Make no mistake though, even a 20 gauge has a recoil.
This is the shotgun that I purchased for home defense. The recoil reducing stock is just excellent, this weapon is a joy to shoot. Here’s a link, however, the gun is now out of stock at this website:
http://www.impactguns.com/store/047700814001.html
This is one of tis pistols that I recently purchased. It’s excellent, has virtually no recoil, and strips in seconds for cleaning. I stockpiled ammo for it earlier, but now it seems that hollow point .40cal ammo is not easy to find. Here’s a link for viewing, however the gun is out of stock at this website currently:
http://www.impactguns.com/store/706397866518.html
Georgia is great! Try to get up in the north county, if you haven’t yet.
This is the right forum, you should get some expert advise.
Many will recommend a 12ga pump - Mossberg 500, $300+- or a Remington 870 for a few more bucks. You can run Dogpile for a comparison. Use a load that is not likely to go through walls.
Make sure your wife gets practice both outside and then walk through the house a number of times to be sure to quickly know in which direction not to fire the weapon (assuming there are or may be others in the house).
I’d go with a Mossberg 500.
It’s a short 12 gauge pump, holds lots of shells, and is relatively inexpensive.
Go to your gun dealer and fire various weapons. If your local gun dealer can not let you fire his weapons. you have the wrong dealer.
Find and fire the one you like. Then go practice with it.
My personal favorite is a 12 gauge Browning Humpback. It “ain't” pretty but it is relentlessly reliable.
At the risk of being redundant, the Mossberg 500 “Persuader/Cruiser” is one of the best values on the market. It’s not fancy, but it’s economical, and very reliable.
Give your friends and relatives an NRA membership for Christmas. That's what I may do for the ones of mine that aren't anti-gun :-). I really don't care for guns and haven't decided yet.
So, you get a 12-gauge with a confident wife behind it, and you got a pretty secure home in your absence, I'd say...
My wife (5’4” and barely a 110 pounds when wet) has a Winchester Defender. It’s 12 gauge, short barreled and holds eight. She shoots it from the hip, it’s not accurate but when she’s using 4 ought it doesn’t have to be. She learned that from her Texas granny, who ounce blowed a hole in a wall by accident.
My recommendation is a Mossberg 500 20 gauge shotgun. Tell her not to hold it up to her shoulder like a rifle (unless she wants to have a good knock upside the head). Just hold it waist high and aim and fire. And go to a range and practice firing some shells and get used to the recoil. Get “home defense” shells - can’t remember the exact name but a gun dealer would know what they are.
A Remington 870 or a Mossberg 500/590 that fits your budget and has a full-length magazine (running roughly the length of the barrel) is the ticket; they use completely different safety locations and vary in their slide releases, and that will probably matter more to your household than the other specifications. I prefer an 18" barrel for easier handling indoors, others like a 20" tube.
I also use and recommend a 12 gauge because the ammo availability/selection beats anything else out there. Some heavy 20 gauge loads will be as bad or worse than some light 12 gauge loads... Remington or Federal reduced tactical buckshot loads would be my first choice... if you get ammo at the local farm/fleet, get a low charge-weight loading in the biggest diameter shot size they have (not to be confused with the number designation for below-buckshot pellet sizes).
With the above, the only other thing you will need is the same thing that gets one to Carnegie Hall: practice, practice, practice.
Mr. niteowl77
Sometimes, bigger holes are better.
The Knox stock is important from the standpoint of allowing your wife to enjoy going to the range for practice on a regular basis.
Training is a huge, huge deal when it comes to the competent use of any firearm in a life-threatening emergency. Just owning it ain't enough.