Recommendations ?

I'm not looking for anything fancy, no pistol grips or flashlights, just a basic, reliable black pump gun. 18" to 20" barrel, and a long tube.

Is the Mossburg 88 any good ? (on sale now)
Mossburg 500, Escort/Howa or a Rem 870 ?

Any that I should avoid ?

The way I see it : Ithaca 37 Police DS Special.

The Mossberg 500 series has a good reputation. Likewise the Rem. 870. My personal choice is the Ithaca 37 M&P. for the extra magazine capacity. That said...the only time I've used the pistol grip that came on it was when I felt the need to carry it under my oilskin duster secured by a length of paracord running over my shoulder. (Did I mention that i used to ride my motorcycle with kind of a rough crowd...??) For around the house...I found an old used wood stock for it, and added a light.

Rem 870 then mossberg

Remington 870.

I have a Mossberg 500... but I also own three Remington 870's

The only one that is a dedicated "Self-defense" arm is one of the 870's

I'd trust my life to ANY of my Remington 870's.

The Mossberg 500? No, Just NO.

MY "issue" with the Mossberg is a failure of the fire control group.

I'll save the long explanation, just that because of the potential of a repeat failure, I wouldn't trust my life to a 500.

I've been a gunsmith for over 40 years & have worked on fewer Remy 870 than all the others by a wide margin. I use an 870.

No need to worry about an extended magazine. Dumbass Biden says you only need to fire two shots off the balcony and everything will be OK.

I like the 870 best in a pump. Also have an H & K semi auto, pistol grip, ghost ring sight, exten. mag., light. Works real well.

Larry Sellers

Remington 870 P

Mossberg 590, a distant second if that is what the budget allows.

870 WINGMASTER
18.5" rifle sighted smooth bore
+1 extension
4 round side saddle

I have both the 870 and 500.

The Mossberg 500 is less expensive and combat proven. Just ask the USMC which adopted the Mossberg many years ago, after using the 870 and others during the Vietnam war. Use the money you save to buy more ammo for additional practice.

quote:

Originally posted by LionHunter:
I have both the 870 and 500.

The Mossberg 500 is less expensive and combat proven. Just ask the USMC which adopted the Mossberg many years ago, after using the 870 and others during the Vietnam war. Use the money you save to buy more ammo for additional practice.

I've heard the same.

Just a personal preference, but I favor the old Winchester Model 12. Very slick action and fast shooting.

Remington 870 Express Tactical. Not that much money.

870 Tactical

I picked up an 870 at the local pawn shop last year (NOT DURING HUNTING SEASON) for $85.00.

I'm pretty happy with my Mossberg 590. Rougher action than 870's I've handled, but really a solid gun from my experience with it (mostly being plate shoots).

Does anyone know the difference between a ;

Mossburg "88" Mavrick
And
Mossburg 500

The Mavrick's have a crossbolt safety like a Remington,

My primary home defense gun is a LH Rem 870 that I bought new in 1971, when I was 19. It has a smooth bore slug barrel (20" I think)on it with the rifle sights. I keep some 12 ga Win slugs and some #4 buckshot loads handy.

If you purchase a very used 870 have a smith check the shell latches that feed the shells from the magazine into the action. There is a left and a right latch. They can be worn down and won't move far enough to let a shell pass.
Not an every day problem, but I have had to replace a few.
The Ithaca and Browning with just the bottom port can be a very serious pain in the nether regions if you ever get a shell stuck.

The only thing that destroys an 870 is not properly tightening the barrel nut, if that isn't done the barrel mount beats the mating surface inside the receiver causing the receiver to become a paperweight, can't be fixed unless your a great welder and machinist

Barrel nut? Do you mean magazine cap? barrel mount?

I not sure what parts you are talking about. I can't find the above named parts in my Remington armorers mannual.

I have a Remmie 870 P LE (Law Enforcment) for sale at the shop. Extended tube.

Regards Jim P.

Any shotgun is a good home defense weapon - the best by far. The Pump shotgun is arguably the best in the home. The brand that is best is a gray area. What you can hold and aim easily is the best for you.
The Remington has an excellent reputation and with little maintenance will outlast you. The Mossberg also has a good reputation but if you buy a 500 plan on replacing the safety button - when mine broke I replaced it with a metal one that I made and it will be trouble free forever. All the other brand names seem to do well for those who own them with one surprising exception. The Smith and Wesson police issue is the cheapest - no, the most expensive piece of junk that I have ever had the displeasure to handle. I handled it back when I was searching for my own shotgun - some 35-40 years ago. Brand new it was sloppier than my Mossberg is today. They may have cleaned up their act but with the revolvers that are breaking using factory loads I tend to doubt it. Smith has been living on its reputation and light trigger pull for far too long and I believe they have forgotten how to make guns.

Moss 500, pistol grip stock and 18 1/2" brl. Had it 1980. Also swap barrels and is my Goose gun. Has never failed me. It's beat up but she's my go to scattergun!

All of the above listed shotguns are good. You might want to try the Benelli Nova also. It sells in the lower $400,s

If I have to use a pump, I'll use my 97 Winchester.

Winchester 1897 is a machine, I love it.

IMHO there is ZERO 'gray area'. Remington 870 hands down. Fuggitabout the Mossberg due to the aluminum receiver and the Ithaca due to the light weight (both of which equals plenty of recoil with buckshot loads).

as of 2009 Remington has sold in excess of 10million Model 870 pump shotguns,

Which if you except the Mossberg 500 and variants thereof
OR the Winchester model 12, is more pump shotguns than all other models by all other manufacturers combined

The Mossberg 500 is currently #1 in sales and #2 in total production but as someone who owns both, I will never buy another Mossberg, not that there's anything really wrong with them, but the Remington is just a better shotgun.

I think any pump shotgun is fine for home defense. After all how many shots do you intend to fire at home invaders in a lifetime? 5-10 I think any pump will handle that many home defense loads.

870. Shot one in competitive trap for several years and have over 10000 through it with only one malfunction, due to a high wind depositing some small rocks in it. Took trigger group out, cleaned it and fine ever since.
As for how many rounds you will need for home defense, if you read some of the forums, you will need at least 90 rounds from a AR15 carbine that weighs at least 11 pounds due to lasers, three sets iron sights, four different scopes, red dot and reflex sights. You will also need to have a Glock with at least 4 extra 19 round magazines as a back up.

'Any pump shotgun is fine for home defense'? You know the two loudest sounds in the world? 'Bang' when it should have gone 'click' and 'click' when it should have gone 'bang'.

Sounds like operator error.

No matter what you decide to buy. Learn how to use it before you have a need to defend your home or life.
I have a moss 500 loaded with 2 3/4 plated #6 1 1/2oz turkey loads out of a factory 18 1/2 bbl. first shot to face second shot to groin third shot to knee caps. I dont think I will need all three shots. I am 55 years old and have never had to shoot any home invader.
But if someone gets stupid I believe the 500 will get the job done.

Why the groin and the knees. Why not CNS

I have a sadistic streak in me!

In have a Mossberg because of the safety. The Mossberg has a tang safety vs a safety on the trigger gaurd like the Rem 870. I shoot left handed a tang safety is very intuitive for me as most of my other shotguns have them. Also I don't have to switch out the safety and if I hand it to a right handed shooter there will be no confusion..

You have a good point.I replaced my plastic safety with a steel tactical kit from Brownells.It is easy to get to and robust money well spent.

quote:

Originally posted by Andre Mertens:
The way I see it : Ithaca 37 Police DS Special.

True story...

When I first hired on, my Dept. had the Ithaca pump as shown above as the SGN carried in the Squad Car.

I really liked them they handled well and were very slick to operate, and quick to reload.

However many of them were "wore out".

When you pumped them, you never knew if it was going to work properly, or spit a round or two on the ground and you never knew if a round got into the chamber or not...

Eventually they were replaced with the Remington 870.

Also when I transfered to the Tactial Division I was issued a new Remington 870.
I used this same shotgun for over 23 years. I shot it a lot, including several of the top Shotgun schools around. Several thousand rounds of full power buckshot and slugs, as well as several thousand rounds of bird shot, as they are a lot easier on steel targets than buck shot and slugs.

I never had any drama.

While I have used Bennelli shotguns for hunting, bird and deer, and as a SGN in 3 gun competitions, IF I hear a bump in the night and reach for a shotgun, it is an 870...

The Wife sleeps with an 870 next to her head, every night.