I wanted a short shotgun, what's my next move?

If an 8.5 can't put a decent shot out at 20yards then not that its necessary but I'm not interested, 14-18 it is. Good information.

I haven't taken anything when we've gone camping but at one site we were woken up by our neighbour yelling "Bear! Bear!" It was on his site so we all just stayed in the tent.
We've gone hiking and taking it with me (since we have laws that would restrict other guns going with, restrict see what I did there?) would be a nice option.
I'm not sure about scared black bears I've seen them not get scared by train horns.

Pretty much everything I've seen would be great options. Except any restricteds would be home/range guns only.
I've never considered an sks but that would be a cool option too, its on my list of future purchases.
If we're dismissing less lethal loads why not load up buck buck slug? Or similar, why expect to scare it off with targets? If you need that first shot it should be something with more punch. Like home defense.

All these pictures have me drooling, time to start beggin Santa and being good I think. I'm jealous.
 
The reason i load first shot with target is because ditch chickens and rabbits taste good and there wouldnt be much meat left with 00 buck. If you wherent intrested in them at all then loading buck as a first shot would be a good idea
 
I load the 8.5 inch shotgun with a bear banger for the first round then a rubber slug made for bears (it backs a huge punch) Then I have a slug for the last round. The short shotgun can fire a slug just fine everything else like shot it's not very effective the 12 inch is not bad the 8.5 is a huge pattern. The Dlask shotguns come with a built in choke for that very reason.
 
"...found a Wingmaster..." There are lots of aftermarket and Remington made 870 barrels. Ask your wife if you can have one and go buy it.
"...12.5-14" barrel..." Useless things.
 
Ive bought/sold a couple of these and had a chance to try heres what I think.

range gun/hiking defense gun- the fabarm hands down. 14" bbl, pistol grip(if you want I just like the normal grip model) Its also the lightest shotgun youll prolly ever have. For informal clays the choke is also quite helpful.

Hunting- prolly go with the 870 as you can get a 14 and a 22" barrel. you're stuck with the fabarm at 14" due to availability of barrels.
 
I picked up a 14" barrel from Dlask Arms for my 870, and ordered it with a brass bead instead of a blade front sight. The brass bead
and the 14" length makes it useable for harvesting grouse in hunting season, and it doesn't snag when you pull it out. I usually keep
it in the rear seat box of my quad. When I don't have my quad I throw the original 28" barrel on there and it's an even better hunter.
 
sunray said:
"...found a Wingmaster..." There are lots of aftermarket and Remington made 870 barrels. Ask your wife if you can have one and go buy it.
"...12.5-14" barrel..." Useless things.
Click to expand...

A 14" Dlask barrel on my 870, ordered with a brass bead front sight instead of the blade, makes it a passable grouse getter that fits in my quad box.
 
sunray said:
"...found a Wingmaster..." There are lots of aftermarket and Remington made 870 barrels. Ask your wife if you can have one and go buy it.
"...12.5-14" barrel..." Useless things.
Click to expand...

Yes there are lots of barrels, yet as every thread that mentions anything Chinese we get various reports. I'm trying to find out if its worth the dice roll or not. If I had more money to play with I wouldn't ask questions I'd just buy and experiment and post multiple range reports.

I don't hunt so 12.5/14/18" barrels make more sense I can't see how they can be useless. Shorter barrel=harder to hit so if I'm at the range more than anywhere else I want to work harder at being better. Know anyone taking sniper rifles to the 50 or 100 yard?
There's a use for everything from the short barrel shotguns to the long barrel revolvers.

If I ask the wife the answer will be no, again no money :p

If I had gotten an 18.5 I might be happy. If I'm shopping though I might as well ask where my money is best spent. And a $200 barrel that doesn't index or has hangups isn't the best use of cash.
 
"...sunray's posts" Useless things.
As for shorties, with most standard field loads around 1200 fps you lose 100-150 fps from 18" (where velocity usually peaks) to 12-14". Remington managed recoil slugs fired from a 14" will pass clean through a deer if no major bone structures are hit. Broadside shots on black bears are easy clean kill shots. The lower velocity prevents fragmentation at short range which increases penetration. That said, I like my guide gun in .45-70 a lot better. Same size and weight as a defender with more range and much cheaper/more accurate ammo! I do miss the simple field stripping of a shotgun however, that can't be beat.
 
Ardent said:
Friend and member here had his blow up, skip this suggestion like the plague.
Click to expand...

7 years ago when I first joined CGN and was in my early to mid 20's I would have read your post on Chinese firearms and thought, what an a$$:redface:. But now I am happy to say I am going on 2+ years Chinese firearm free and to be honest, never felt better;)

To the OP, stick with the Wingmaster and grab a 18.5" barrel for her, it will be short enough and you can grab a barrel for under $150. Then down the road maybe pick up a nice 870P 14", Benelli 14"or Fabarm 14".

 
supernova said:
"...sunray's posts" Useless things.
As for shorties, with most standard field loads around 1200 fps you lose 100-150 fps from 18" (where velocity usually peaks) to 12-14". Remington managed recoil slugs fired from a 14" will pass clean through a deer if no major bone structures are hit. Broadside shots on black bears are easy clean kill shots. The lower velocity prevents fragmentation at short range which increases penetration. That said, I like my guide gun in .45-70 a lot better. Same size and weight as a defender with more range and much cheaper/more accurate ammo! I do miss the simple field stripping of a shotgun however, that can't be beat.
Click to expand...
It's like having your own skin removed without a painkiller IMO to agree with sunray. However, popping slugs at a big mammal at close range is one thing & taking grouse (on a regular basis) with a stubby shotgun is a whole different ball of wax.
What I think is often missed in these discussions is choke, load, effective killing pattern, buffered shot, backboring etc, etc, etc.
Two examples I can provide: One example was using a riot type shotgun, cylinder choke 20 inch barrel (plugged within the game laws btw) in 12 gauge, which was an aweful choice using a 1 1/8 ounce #4 shotload for grouse & I clean missed it twice at twenty five yards.
It flew away unscathed, no doubt laughing at me!
Second example was using a reproduction flintlock 10 gauge blunderbuss with a 15 inch barrel with the common flared muzzle.
Rabbit dead at 7 yards through thick branches, leaves and twigs with the one heavy 1 1/2 ounce shot load.
The duplex load was #4 & 7 1/2 birdshot.
 
Another common factor I've seen time and time again, many relatively short barreled shotgun sling those slugs higher than your intended point of aim. So a standard bead does not suffice for this task. Two ways to address this, rifle type sights which take away from the shotguns quick shooting at flying bird characteristics IMO, or number two, maybe an elevated bead on a ramp or pedastel. In the 1990s Remington used to make these available straight from the factory. I don't know why they are not more commonly seen in the game fields.
 
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