Home Defense Shotguns for Change

For many, there is no better first choice for serious home defense than a modern shotgun.  Joe Biden seems to think so, and though his may not be an endorsement you take seriouslywe are quite serious about shotguns here at Guns. com when it comes to those things that go bump in the night. Moreover, in the true spirit of change, we really like those that can be picked up with as little of it as possible.

Shotguns are affordable, offer a wide variety of shell choices, and are breathtakingly effective in close quarters home defense scenarios—all without the problems of over penetration. Also, in many areas that are anti-handgun or anti-modern rifle, they are sometimes the only best choice. Here we look at a few that can serve well yet will not break the bank.

Used guns

Don’t count out a good used (yet still modern) shotgun. These guns, especially police-trade in pump models and short-barreled security guns, are often gathering dust in the back of pawnshops and gun stores across the land. Since their short barrels kept them from being used as hunting guns, they were more often carried daily and used sporadically (which may explain the poor finish, chipped stocks, and surface rust often encountered on these vets).

used remington 870

If you can put up with some scratches and surface rust, a nice, functional Remington 870 can be had for 200ish.

Beat up old Remington 870s, Ithaca 37sWinchester 1300s, if you search hard enough, can usually be picked up for the $200 range along with Mossberg 500 series guns. These guns may be fugly, but they are usually still functional. For a few dollars less, you can get a…

Mossberg Maverick

The Mossberg Maverick screams home defense.

Disguised Mossbergs

Revelation 310a

It may say Revelation 310a but it’s a Mossberg 500.

For generations, the people over at OF Mossberg sold their now-legendary Model 500 shotgun under a number of different names on the cheap. These guns were sold through retailers like Western Auto (as the Revelation 310)Montgomery Ward (the Western Field M550) and Sears (Sears Roebuck Model 446) among others. These were pushed in both security models with short cylinder bore barrels, and hunting varieties with long barrels /adjustable choke.

Although marked as anything but, these are standard Mossy 500A’s just typically with low-end wooden furniture and plain blued finishes. If you can’t find one of these 1960s-80s era generics for $150 or less in a security model, you just aren’t looking.

Mossberg turned around in 1988 and brought out the Maverick 88 as their inexpensive Model 500 alternative. It’s the same concept as the Revelation/Western Field models with the only differences between it and the standard 500 being different furniture and a cross-bolt rather than thumb-activated safety. The beauty of that compromise is that the Maverick typically can be picked up for about $220 new.

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