Posted on 10/02/2021 9:37:51 PM PDT by Paul R.
To be honest you can one hand certain models, the old model 12 Winchester and the Ithaca Model 37 can be cycled with one hand. They have very smooth slides and can actually eject a shell by holding it vertical and hitting the slide release. A quick jerk the other direction will chamber the next round.
I found a copy of the Anarchists cookbook in an old building once. In it I found a recipe for building a 6 shot pump shotgun that would fire much faster than a semi auto. Had to be an old Ithica gun. You could hold the trigger down and pump, it would fire every time you pump. Take out the original tube magazine and make it longer, to hold the extra shells.
The article recommended number 1 buckshot stating that it held about 30, I believe, balls that were just slightly smaller in size than 00, but quite a few more of them
TALK ABOUT A STREET SWEEPER!!
My suggestion is this - a pump gun requires the ability to run the pump under stress. Learn to use a pump shotgun if you haven't already, and pump it like it's biting your face and you're trying to get it to stop. You pretty much can't hurt a pump gun by pumping it as hard as you can. My .02 on the topic.
Look for a Browning Auto-5.
“but the semi-auto is quicker.”
There’s a few out there who will dispute that claim!
Almost all people on the aggressor end of a home invasion know the sound of chambering a shell into the barrel of a shotgun. It’s often enough to strike fear and submission into them. It can be the only sound necessary, and may often be better than an actual discharge.
Buy the wife a Circuit Judge ,410. Plenty of power to disable a bad guy. Easy to operate. Just pull the trigger for 5 shots, revolver action. Light weight. Have shot it many times one handed. I carry the SS model on the golf cart I use around this place for varmint control.
Circuit Judge, only way to fly for a smaller woman. Easy to shoot with a revolver action. No thinking needed. Just pull the trigger. I will never understand why people think they need that action sound. That is just a warning to bad guy that tells him exactly where you are. I really love the movies where the guy has already shot twice and then pumps again for a warning. He is just ejecting a live round. DUH!!!!
Good Neighbor.
Bump
Do not buy a $200 semi that you’ll count on to save your life.
Reliability is key.
L
No, you do not. The tactical shotgun courses I've taken teach how to operate the pump SG with one hand. I've shot many courses of fire with one hand -- loading/reloading, racking. It's slower but quite doable.
In a gunfight one may lose the use of a hand/arm. So, we learned how to operate from either side, strong or weak.
The pump is quite versatile, permitting one to load a slug on demand which may be tactically required (the "Alpha" system). But choose the right pump. Many are ill-suited for the "Alpha" system. (e.g. Benelli Nova pump requires the safety to be engaged to load). I trained with a Rem870. Others employed the Mossberg 590. Know the differences and train with both, because a gunfight is not the time/place learn about your weapon's operating system.
Yep and that pump action noise may prevent you from having to fire it. Everyone knows that noise. It’s usually followed by someone flying backwards after the BOOM noise.
Pumps are more reliable, but don’t trust your life to a cheap gun. Get a pump that’s been proven over the years.
We watched some forgettable movie the other day, where the good guy with the shotgun "chambered a round" 4 or 5 times to threaten the bad guy, and no rounds were ejected. Bad guy should have just walked away from the guy with the empty shotgun.
Oh, like closing a Zippo lighter? But tougher. Everybody KNOWS that sound. But, ‘they’ probably won’t hear it since it should be the 2nd round being chambered. :-} Just sayin.
Body armor? Two to the chest, head gets the rest. Just sayin’.
“I’ve seen 40-50 year old Ithaca 37’s and Remington 870’s function flawlessly.”
You’re absolutely right. The first gun I bought myself was an Ithaca 37 in around 1975 at Montgomery Ward. Still have it, still works. Perfectly.
semi auto. let the gas do all the work cycling the shells. and there is less recoil. Remington 1187 $200 used.
Plus it's easier to clean, barrels interchange easily if you want to - (not easily done with a semiauto, a new barrel, say... a 28" vent rib pheasant hunting barrel, must be headspaced by a gunsmith), and greater load versatility. Also usually costs less...
A disadvantage is that a pump action won't have the recoil dampening effect of a semiauto... no big deal, really, buy reduced recoil slugs and buckshot loads and you're better off anyway because you can get back on target quicker.
If you've found a bargain on a semiauto go ahead and buy it and then sell it to someone who has more money than you, and then buy ammo.
BTW always use eye and ear protection, use Winchester AA Target/Skeet loads for practice, and save your empties. (Yes, Remington makes a competitive product, what we're talking about here is reloadability. AA are red and easier to find, Remingtons are green. Keep them in a dry place, and just keep them... trust me...)
Din’t go too cheap or you’ll end up with a hunkajunk. Maverick 88/Mossberg 500 is/are a good choice.
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