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Originally Posted by Aluminum Kam
I dont have alot of money but i will definatley try my best to save enough to by an efficint one, so i was wondering what brand makes a good affordable, reliable shotgun,
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The Remington 870 is pretty much the gold standard for pump-action scatterguns; it's been the preferred choice of law enforcement and military units for decades. Though I've not priced one for ages, I think they tend to hover around $400 retail in most places; this would be about $100 more than a more "cut-rate" shotgun, but worth every penny. You can't go wrong with this one.
A couple folks mentioned Ithaca; I concur. A buddy of mine has a full-sized Ithaca Model 37, which is kind of heirloom (belonged to his granny, maybe a relative before her). This particular example has an interesting feature built into it I've not seen elsewhere: a sort-of "semi-auto" mode which allows the shooter to crank off shells in rapid succession by simply holding the trigger down and racking the action. Not very accurate, but in tight quarters you could-- if you needed to-- lay down one big honkin' storm of lead in a trice. The Model 37 was for years popular with detectives and UC officers, who would often chop the barrel down, cut the stock, and bob the grip thusly (sorry it's such a teeny-weeny pic):
This was dubbed the "Witness Protector." Anyway, it's a good piece, though I dunno what the typical going price for one is.
In the last thread of this sort, I got reamed for suggesting the Mossberg 500. To hear some folks talk, the Mossberg 500 is such a complete piece of shit that it will either explode, or practically field-strip itself into a dozen pieces, the first time you get it out of the box and shoot it. But then again, in any discussion about guns, opinions vary.
They are popular with sportsmen and many armed pros, and I have shot a few and thought well of them. I think the base model still costs about $200, which is nothing if not perfectly reasonable. I also seem to recall that the base model came with a hunting/field barrel and a quick-change 18" barrel better suited for home defense.
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I was also wondering where, how, and if I should saw the barrell off when i purchase it.
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Short answer: nowhere and no-how.
I think that 18" is the across-the-board legal minimum length in all 50 states, though it might be prudent to check, at least if you buy it from some shade-tree dealer or your friends' friend and not a licensed and bonded gun dealer. If the shotgun does not come with one, one can be purchased for a nominal fee from about a zillion different sources and does require special tools and armorer training to switch out.
The last thing you want to do-- should you ever have to put it to use on an intruder-- is have the local 5-0 show up and find you holding an illegally-modified street-sweeper. If that happens, you may wind up going from "guy involved in justifiable homicide" to "felon." No improvement that may come from chopping the barrel down would justify doing so.
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Originally Posted by David Koresh
Korean, I know you love that SpecOps stock but really, what's the point? I've never understood why people like those grips on a shotgun. Obviously, I can understand the advantages of having it on an assault rifle but that is a completely different animal than a shotgun.
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Personal preference. Some guys like pistol grips, some like none. Some guys like vertical foregrips (i.e. like my friend has on his Mossberg), I find them clumsy and a bit awkward.
I like a rear pistol grip; in any circumstances I prefer to have one. If we're talking "home defense scenario," I'd want a pistol grip and a collapsible stock (or preferably no stock at all). I don't want to be negotiating my way down dark hallways, around tight corners, and through tight doorframes with my grand-pappys' full-size turkey gun, nor do I want to be obliged to put it into my shoulder to fire.
