{"id":69835,"date":"2021-07-16T20:14:25","date_gmt":"2021-07-17T01:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=69835"},"modified":"2021-07-16T20:14:25","modified_gmt":"2021-07-17T01:14:25","slug":"69835","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=69835","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes. Next question.<\/p>\n

\n

Are Hunting Shotguns Good For Home Defense?<\/a><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re like me\u2014which I suspect you are or else you wouldn\u2019t be reading Shooting Illustrated\u2014you own a dedicated home-defense shotgun (or two) tailor-made for the job. But, we are the minority. Many more Americans don\u2019t have an IWI US Tavor TS12 or a Mossberg 590A1 Tactical in a biometric rack above the headboard.<\/p>\n

Rather, they keep a wood-stocked Winchester Model 12, an old Ithaca double, a Browning A5, a Mossberg 500 All Purpose, a Remington 1100 or the like stashed behind the clothes in the closet or in a safe. While these fowling pieces may not have been specifically made for defending castles, they can do it. Here are a half-dozen of the most popular hunting shotguns that can serve double-duty as home defenders, along with some tips for employing them as such.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\"Remington<\/div>\n

Remington 870<\/strong>
\n<\/span>For the last 30 years, Remington\u2019s venerable\u00a0870 Express<\/a>\u00a0has been offered for around $250 at major discount stores. That\u2019s because this 12-gauge pump just works every time, clean or dirty, in foul weather or air-conditioning. In its typical hunting configuration, it comes with three choke tubes and a 26- or 28-inch barrel.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t feel like spending any money making it the best home defender it can be, that\u2019s your call, but at least make sure the plug (mandated for use when hunting migratory birds) is removed so it\u2019ll hold four rounds in its tubular magazine. Then screw in its cylinder-choke tube and you\u2019re good to go. I\u2019d rather have this hunting 870 in my hands than any handgun on the planet when a bad actor comes through my window.<\/p>\n

If you wish to modify your 870 but still use it for hunting in the fall, buy a simple sling for it, a Plus-2 round magazine extension from XS Sights for $82, a hook-and-loop mounted shell carrier to keep reloads handy and a simple flashlight mount like the Ultimate Arms Gear Flashlight Kit for $30. The 870\u2019s only downside? While there are more than 11 million currently in circulation, finding a used one isn\u2019t hard, but at the time of this writing Remington\u2019s Ilion, NY, plant is not yet up and running under its new owners.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Winchester<\/div>\n

Winchester Model 12<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Back before the Great War, if your granddaddy was a duck hunter he likely either shot an American-made double barrel or a\u00a0Winchester Model 12<\/a>. A hammerless update to the 1897, for half a century it was the fastest, most reliable repeater going, and that\u2019s why it was modified by the military and employed as a fearsome \u201ctrench gun\u201d in World War II.<\/p>\n

Today in its 28-inch-barreled hunting configuration, it\u2019s still a quality firearm, although it was usurped by the more advanced Remington 870 in 1964. Even so, if this is the gun you\u2019ve got, rest assured it\u2019ll work wonders for warding off evil. Hopefully, it has an improved-cylinder choke and you can figure out how to remove its magazine plug.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Winchester<\/div>\n

Winchester SXP<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Winchester\u2019s current-production update to the Model 12 is its\u00a0Super X Pump<\/a>. Although this foreign-made model comes in myriad configurations\u2014some more naturally suited for home defense than others\u2014the most common is a 26-inch-barreled, camouflage, hunting version. If you have one, it\u2019ll work like gangbusters.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s likely the fastest and easiest-to-operate pump on the market due to its spring-loaded, rotary-bolt system that initiates the ejection stroke as the trigger is pulled. Just install the cylinder-choke tube and remove the plug so you can feed it with five 00-buck rounds. If you want to soup it up, order a flashlight mount and a sidesaddle for it.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Mossberg<\/div>\n

Mossberg 500<\/strong>
\n<\/span>If you don\u2019t have an 870, odds are good you\u2019ve got a\u00a0Mossberg 500<\/a>\u00a0somewhere in the house. After all, 11 million Americans think the 500 is swell for everything from downing ducks in a salty marsh to rooting out terrorists in some less-appealing locations overseas. While I\u2019d never recommend neglecting any gun, the 500 is one that needs next-to-no coddling to trust it. Mossberg 500s built in the last 30 years feature screw-in choke tubes, sling studs, an easy-to-see white bead, an ambidextrous tang safety and a 26-inch barrel.<\/p>\n

With its plug removed to liberate its five-round magazine (six rounds total), it\u2019s a great defensive option. Like the other popular shotguns on this list, there\u2019s no shortage of aftermarket parts for it, so with a few hundred bucks you can easily morph yours into the ultimate home defender. Most of the cash ($187) would be spent on a factory 18.5-inch \u201cSecurity\u201d barrel and the rest on a four-round mag-tube extension, a flashlight mount, sidesaddle and sling. When duck season comes back around, have Batman change back into Bruce Wayne.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes. Next question. Are Hunting Shotguns Good For Home Defense? If you\u2019re like me\u2014which I suspect you are or else you wouldn\u2019t be reading Shooting Illustrated\u2014you own a dedicated home-defense shotgun (or two) tailor-made for the job. But, we are the minority. Many more Americans don\u2019t have an IWI US Tavor TS12 or a Mossberg … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,29,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gun-schtuff","category-safety","category-self-defense"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=69835"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69836,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69835\/revisions\/69836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=69835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=69835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=69835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}