Best Shotgun for Home Defense

I'm in the market for a shotgun to keep at home and want to get a few opinions. I'm stuck between a 12-gauge and a 20-gauge. I hear the 12-gauge hits hard, but the 20-gauge is less painful to shoot and easier to maneuver in tight spaces. What's the best option?

Also, what should I be focusing on with barrel length or stock type? I've noticed shorter barrels could be better for indoors, but is there a sweet spot?

I'm looking for models that are known for reliability and simplicity. Any particular brands that you trust?

Lastly, how crucial is training with the shotgun? I've handled a few, but haven't done anything serious. What kind of practice should I be incorporating to be ready?

The velocity of.the shot is essentially the same from 12 or 20 gauge, 1200 to 1300 fps give or take. The 12 gauge has more pellets, shot, or a larger slug.

A burglar won't know the difference.

A Mossberg 500 or Remington 870 will sit in the corner and gather dust, yet still go bang when you need it to. Either will leave money in your pocket for ammo. Extra barrels are cheap and plentiful if you want to hunt or bust clays. There are gazillions of aftermarket doo dads out there to accessorize your 500 or 870.

But, if you want to spring for a Benelli or Beretta, we can enable your desire to spend money.

Any pump bird gun will do. The modern affliction of adding lights, vertical foregrips, slings, red dot optics, and such is pretty much useless.
If you can, try to find a youth model. These usually have shorter barrels and shorter butt stocks. I'm 6' 3" and youth models fit me just fine.
I bought my wife a used 20 ga Winchester 1300 Youth Model and she keeps it loaded with #3 buck.

I like shotguns. I have somewhere north of a dozen. Pump, double barrel, single shot, bolt action.
In an emergency, the one I would grab is a Remington 12 ga 870 Magnum Express. Just a standard bird hunting shotgun. Still the way it came from the factory. No add ons.
I bought it used for a grand total of $185.

I would go with a 12 gauge, they throw more lead and are usually cheaper. Recoil? You'll never notice it in any kind of stressful situation. As far as maneuverability goes, if you were to handle two different gauges of the same given model in the dark, I bet you couldn't tell which was which without sticking your finger down the muzzle. But don't do that!

A shorter barrel is a big help when maneuvering around corners and doors. About 19" is perfect.
A mounted light is the only accessory I would consider useful, try working a pump action while holding a flashlight, it's pretty tough!

Any Mossberg 500 or 590, or a Remington 870 should be fine. I would tend towards a Mossberg, they're practically impossible to double feed or jam, and the Remington ejector can be surprisingly fragile. Also the Mossberg safety is absolutely ambidextrous.

Whatever you get, keep it with the magazine full, safety off, and the hammer down on the empty chamber, all you have to do is chamber a round and you're good to go.

I like No. 1 buckshot, and while the pellets are slightly smaller than America's favorite 00, you can fit more of them in a shell. So not only is your pattern denser and your chances of a hit greater at longer ranges, but the charge weight is actually greater because of less airspace inside the shell, resulting in even more ft lbs energy on target. And that's always a good thing.

As far as training goes, run a hundred rounds or so through it to get used to it and make sure it works with whatever ammo you decide to use, then grab it and creep around your house in the dark, until you know exactly where all the furniture is, and where possible blind spots are. You might want to let other family members know first, it might freak them out a bit if they see you gliding silently around the house with a shotgun.

Those are my thoughts, hope they help you out somewhat. Cheers!

I too keep the chamber empty safety off. Being left handed, unless there is a tang safety they are useless to me anyway.

rice paddy daddy said:

I too keep the chamber empty safety off. Being left handed, unless there is a tang safety they are useless to me anyway.

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Yep, left handed here as well.

Keith.303 said:

Yep, left handed here as well.

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One of my favorites is a Stevens 12 gauge Model 67E pump gun. The safety is right on top of the tang.
Mine is just a plain bird gun with a ribbed barrel, I had another with a smooth barrel but I traded it away.

Some purists may look down on the lowly Stevens 67, but they were reliable enough to have served in the Army Infantry in Vietnam. And that's good enough for me.

rice paddy daddy said:

One of my favorites is a Stevens 12 gauge Model 67E pump gun. The safety is right on top of the tang.
Mine is just a plain bird gun with a ribbed barrel, I had another with a smooth barrel but I traded it away.

Some purists may look down on the lowly Stevens 67, but they were reliable enough to have served in the Army Infantry in Vietnam. And that's good enough for me.

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It's hard to imagine that there are purists in the American pump shotgun world, but I'm sure you're right, they seem to crop up everywhere. I've got a cheap old Sears branded J C Higgins, it's the slickest shooting pump gun I've ever used. They made some quality, inexpensive shotguns back in the day.

Reversible safety buttons are more common these days.

I cut my teeth on Remingtons, an uncle loaned me a Model 48 20 gauge the first day of dove season in 1973. Santa brought me a 12 gauge 1100 for Christmas in '73.

All of my shotguns have the safety on the trigger guard behind the trigger, nothing else feels normal to me on a bird gun.

Thanks to a burglar the 1100 went down the road. About 1980 or 81 I acquired an 870 12 ga so I could shoot 3 inch buckshot in the deer / hog dogging woods.

Still have the old 870, the only things that are not original are the 18 inch threaded barrel and magazine extension.