What do you recommend for a home defense shotgun?
Remington 870 or Benelli M-4 or ?

When both options are good, A lot of it comes down to how do you like them in hand. That will be the deciding factor. Have you handled and shot both?

Browning A-5.

https://youtu.be/2ipA86ri5C8
A good 870 info video

If cost was no barrier... M4 Police model.
https://youtu.be/kTfOPCRC4EI

I think of the shells you use are more important than the shotgun in most cases.

870 without a doubt. Bill Jordan once said, "In all my years of law enforcement one thing I never figured out. What scares a man more; the chink-chunk of a pump or the click-click of a S/S". I have a little story told to me by an old buddy who worked for Santa Fe R.R. in Houston in the 70s. One of the guys wanted a gun for home defense + asked Doug his opinion + Doug said "12 G. pump." 2 days later he comes to work + the guys in the break room says Bobby is really pissed at you; says you told him wrong. So Doug seeks out Boby to find out the problem. Bobby says I live in a trailer house + last night 2 guys broke in + crept down the hall in the dark. When I got to the lining room I jacked that slide, + those M.F.s didn't go out the window or door, they took down my whole MF ing wall!

As an addendum to that, I have had a semi-auto shotgun that jammed or malfunctioned for whatever reason but I have NEVER had that happen with a pump.+ clearing the action is also much faster + simpler.

I use a Benelli M3- more or less the best of both worlds.

I normally hunt waterfowl with a Benelli SBE, so the manual of arms is there, and I shoot the mag empty on the M3 once a year and clean it then. I did use it for a year or so as a 3 gun shotgun, so it was worked out pretty good.

I usually load it #6 bird shot/00 buck/slug and repeat until its full. (mag hold 8, so its a 9 shooter.) It has rifle type sights on it, but it fits me, so its good.

Thanks for the insights.
Cost is not an issue.
I have used the 870 extensively.
I was thinking the M4 would be an option for my wife as she can pull a trigger but has no experience with a pump.

I like that the M4 can feed so many different rounds reliably and is used by so many military and police groups. Is recoil an issue? Some are better than others at mitigating recoil.

dogcat, just for the sake of argument I think it would be better, in the long run, to just educate her on the pump function. If worse comes to worst + she knows nothing about guns, it is easier to clear a jam out of a pump than an auto.

Love my Bennelli m4 and love the fact the I bought it at Beretta Gallery in nyc when Bloomberg was the mayor.

Mike

My Benelli M4 is my single most used gun when I take newbies to gun range. Everybody is deadly effective with it on the plinking range with 2 shots of shooting a gun for first time.

I seriously don’t know why I own handguns for home defense.

Mike

A man is wise to stick with what he knows + is comfortable with. That's why I carry a 1911, because I don't have to think. I hope that makes sense.

The M4 uses their gas regulation system, so the gun is more reliable, especially with light "law enforcement" loads, and especially with shooters who are not good about shouldering a gun- the standard benelli recoil operation system will ofetn have hiccups with those problems.

The M3 I mentioned is a pump/autoloader combo gun- and I am not sure if they still make it.

But all gas operated guns rely on proper shell pressure and gas volume and still do need to be held somewhat properly to work.

A pump or double gun will take the proper stance and holding the gun out of the equation for the most part (well unless they have inertia triggers in the double or are so sloppy they induce a double feed with the pump...)

So the idea of an idiot-proof gun doesn't exist.

You know how much your wife knows about guns. If she is able to assume a proper aggressive shooting stance and put the stock tight on her shoulder in all situations, and you make sure the home gun is maintained regularly, the semi auto guns are probably easier to get a minimally educated user to use properly. Pumps require remembering to pump, and then full use of the slide. A pump will handle more issues better than an auto for malfunction drills, but that means she is at the point where learning the malfunction drills is part of the education.

A bad shell in a home invasion situation is probably a fatal outcome regardless of how good you are as you will have to clear it, and generally the invader is within contact distance (under 21 feet) inside a house.

Revolvers (assuming you are dealing with a modern DA one) are similarly easy to teach to function, and have an easier manual for failure to go bang than any of the other guns.

You probably have examples of both semiauto and pump guns, or can get one from a friend- have her tell you which she thinks is the better option. Just make sure you use the right kind of shells so as to not scare her off...

Most of the newbies I take shooting actually prefer my S&W M41 as it is really accurate, no recoil, little noise, and with a sighted in dot scope, they figure it out pretty well- but generally I have to load it and help with the safety- but they do hit things easier with a shotgun.

I have Rem 1100 that's been very reliable in the field. I am sure it would be for the home as well.