[Best budget shotgun for self defense in home?]

This is a competitive shooting forum. Nothing wrong with self defense, but not the materia subjecta here. A good coach gun would do you very well, 00 buck.. Bud's Gun Shop or something like it. You will get better information on such places as the High Road, CalGuns, or numerous other forums. Good luck.

I'm sorry guys! I just Googled "best budget shotgun" and I found a post similar to mine but with a much higher budget so I decided to make an account and post my own question. I didn't realize this wasn't just a general gun forum.

co-workers can be interesting.

you may want to read what Massad Ayoob has to say about shotgun and pistols

for home defense.

.... in all, you may find the people here will

encouage you to find some weapon other than the hi-point.

may you never need to defend your home.

BTW, this forum tends toward competition with firearms.

miranda

Sorry, I didn't know this was primarily for competition.

http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/mossberg-174-maverick-174-88-8482-12-gauge-pump-action-shotgun/pid-298703

I think the best buy out there is the Mossberg Maverick 88 security. I see them on sale occasionally for $189. 2 3/4'' 00 buck shot does well as a home defense round.

Thanks, that does indeed look like it would work well for me! One of the main reasons I was looking at the Mossberg 500 and the Remington 870 was because they had tons of accessories available if I decide to upgrade stock, foregrip, etc in the future...but it looks like the Maverick 88 has that as well! Will definitely look into it!

I think you are better off with birdshot for a home defense shotgun, as long as you only plan on using it indoors. Buckshot, especially the larger sizes, will penetrate walls very easily and that is what you want to avoid in a home defense weapon.

Oops, goes to show what I know (or don't rather!)...I was thinking buckshot was the small pellets that would be used for birds etc. Thanks for the clarification!

There are many different opinions on a good home defense gun. I have listened to many of them and haven't figured out which is best, yet.

The following is in no way an expert opinion, just thoughts rattling around in my head. I would also like to add that practice is very important. If you want a round that won't penetrate walls and such, the best is a well placed shot.

Shotgun: It can be very effective. It is a very versatile gun to have and to use. You can shoot anything from bird shot which is small and a lot of pellets or 00 buck, which is only 9 pellets. You can even shoot slugs in them. Very versatile. As far as not wanting something that will damage the house or others, a shotgun can be questionable. The pattern of a shotgun gets larger the farther away you are. This means that if the intruder is at the other end of the house, there is a likelihood that some of the pellets are not going to hit him (lets face it, if he is in your house, you are not going to give him a chance to get any closer). I want to be able to account for every projectile that is coming out of the end of the barrel. My recommendation is the Mossberg 500. Inexpensive and very customizable. They make some with shorter barrels. Accessories for the 500 are easy to come by.

Handgun: Does not make the sound of a pump shotgun slide racking. Only one projectile at a time to be accountable for. Easier to use and maneauver with in close quarters (like a house) due to the size. Can get some good home defense rounds that will open on impact and have a smaller chance of penetrating walls. The handgun is very useable in the house, car, yard, etc. It can easily be concealed (that also depends on your state laws). A handgun is easy to "stage" anywhere in the house. You don't want to have someone break in while you are in the front room and have your self defense gun at the other end of the house. I would recommend a good quality handgun for home defense: Glock, XDm's, M&P's, 1911's, etc.

AR-15: I had never considered an AR until someone explained the benefits to me. A good hollow point round will expand enough that it can limit the amount that it will travel through. They are very versatile, they can be used at close range or longer distance than any of the other fore mentioned tools. Are you only defending your house, or your property? Where do you live, city in an apartment, or country with 10 acres? Once again, only one item coming from the barrel to be accountable at a time.

The best advice is to get a decent firearm that you are very comfortable with and to practice. Start shooting IDPA with a handgun and that will help to teach you to shoot it very well.

Thanks! I may keep my pistol and get the shotgun to supplement. I intend to practice, one of the positives of 12ga is that from what I can tell there seems to be some pretty inexpensive shells for it compared to ammunition for the pistol.

[Best budget shotgun for self defense in home?]

When I was 18 I bought an old Mosin Nagant with bayonet in decent shape but really dirty from a Pawn Shop for $50. I cleaned it up really well and got a great deal on some surplus ammo and had a good time shooting it. Since that wasn't the best weapon for home protection (I was always told a handgun was the way to go) so when I turned 21 I took it to the local gun shop and they took an even trade, my Mosin Nagant for a new in box Hi-Point .45 pistol. I bought a box of 20 bullets (for considerably more per bullet than I had payed for the ammo for the Mosin) and I shot it every now and then but much less than I did with the Mosin.

Now to the point, I have worked in a state prison for 6 months and was just talking to a coworker recently about how the only gun I had was the Hi-Point .45 for self defense to protect my family from intruders into my home. He then began to "school" me on why a shotgun would have been better...inexpensive, some can be customized, inexpensive ammo, different shells for different needs, able to use buck shot to do damage to an intruder without as much risk of penetrating further than you intended and doing unintentional damage to my family or house, he said the sound of pumping the shotgun is about as scary a thing as an intruder can hear and may even cause them to flee the house.

I did a lot of research and went to Walmart (the local gun shop was closed) to see what they had. My research said to get a Mossburg 500 or a Remington 870 and then I could get replacement accessories/parts to customize it in the future if I decided to do so. Walmart had a Mossburg 500 12ga (he just said it was "the standard") brand new for about $265, I liked it pretty well but the barrel was quite long. They had a Remington 870 12ga (again, he said it was "the standard") for $305, but they were out of stock at the moment so I didn't get to hold it. However, when he asked what I wanted it for and I told him primarily for self defense inside my home, he recommend the Stevens 320 12ga which they had for $200. I held it and it felt fine in my hand but not quite as good as the Mossburg...however it seemed a little easier to handle though due to the shorter barrel.

What shotgun would you recommend for someone in my shoes wanting it primarily for home defense while keeping it under $400 new?

What I would ideally like to do would be to trade in the Hi-Point (plus $100 or less cash to boot) towards a good used shotgun. What shotgun would you recommend for this?

And final question, what type of shell would do the most damage to an intruder while limiting the penetration into walls and thus the risk of accidentally hurting a loved one or causing unnecessary damage to my home while intending to take down an intruder?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!