Recomendations for short-barrelled shotgun

Buy an old 2 3/4" 870 Wingmaster, cut the barrel down to 18.5", buy a cheap pistol grip stock, sell the original wood one and then go buy Challenger slugs. It might not be the lightest nor the shortest but in the rare event of a life threatening bear encounter the old 870 Wingmaster is the only gun I'd want in my hands.
 
Short, light, cheap. Pick any two. If you want short and cheap, many people choose the norinco/DA Grizzly shotguns, with barrels as short as 8.5" but a bit heavy.
Short and light, but not necessarily cheap, is the Fabarms pistola with 11" barrel, or possibly Dlask but not sure how light it is.
 
Theammosource has a good deal on Hatsan Escort pumps. They are also donating to NFA when you purchase.
The OD green one is nice. Under $500, pistol grip, 20', ghost ring, heatsheild, full buttstock.
 
Olyar15 said:
Short, light, cheap. Pick any two. If you want short and cheap, many people choose the norinco/DA Grizzly shotguns, with barrels as short as 8.5" but a bit heavy.
Short and light, but not necessarily cheap, is the Fabarms pistola with 11" barrel, or possibly Dlask but not sure how light it is.
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I checked out the fabrams, that's just beautiful but yeah not cheap. I wish I could afford that.
 
If my safety were at stake I would get the most reliable SG I could afford and practice with it a lot. For under $500 I'd check the EE for a Mossberg 500 or Wingmaster/870.
 
wmd said:
dominion arms are very reliable but a bit heavy
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X2. I got my 12.5" Dominion Arms pump in the first batch of guns that came into the country.

Well past 60,000 rounds fired through it since 2008, I just stopped counting and caring.

All I did was polish the action bars and the rails they slide through and the gun is awesome.

I beat the piss out of this gun, literally throw it on the ground, swam across rivers with it slung on my back, been fired in -35 & +35 temp no problems at all.

I'll add some pictures to this post soon.
 
Well..

Cheap and short is easy...a Norinco or Dominion arms 870 clone with a 12 or 14 in barrel....no brainer really...especially if short is the most important aspect.
They weigh what any 870 weighs which is a bit of a porky receiver as they are solid steel vs aluminum of the Mossbergs/Winchesters.
They have very thin wall barrels tho which are light and keep the overall weight down.

Another option here is to source an old Wingmaster and buy a used chinese 12 or 14in barrel and then you have a high quality action with the lightweight short barrel.
Don't worry about the 2 3/4 thing....there is absolutely NO need for 3in shells for your intended use.

With either of these approaches you will need to verify the gun functions properly.
The chinese guns are spotty...I've had some that were superior to fit/function to remington and work(d) flawlessly and I have had and seen some that were basically nonfunctional out of the box and some that would never work right.
With an older wingmaster it is extremely likely that it will be perfect although it is poss to get one that has seen abuse/broken parts/gummed up etc....it can always be made right simply/affordably by yerself or a gunsmith tho.

The issue when going for a compact shotgun is what format? To keep inside the 26in overall you have to sacrifice barrel length or stock length....either will get you right down to the wire. A 18~20in barrel gets you less muzzle blast, potentially more mag capacity but means either a folder or pistolgrip stock which are difficult and uncomfortable to shoot and mor eimportantly to shoot well under stress.
A short barrel 12~14in affords a full stock which is comfortable/practical to shoot....as in hitting the target..especially under stress. The shorter barrels have lots o muzzle blast but hardly a concern for a gun carried a lot and shot little.

As for weight....The 870 and its clones are solid steel actions which are heavy. Winchester and Mossberg are aluminum actions which are significantly lighter.
For a gun carried a lot and shot little this is favourable. Problem is short barreled Mossbergs are rare and expensive...there are no short barrels for Win either oem or aftermarket. Plenty of short chinese barrels avail for the 870 and clones. Oem remington 14in are avail too but expensive.

I would strongly reccomend a remington 870 with a 12.5in chinese barrel for the use you solicted. Use a youth or reduced length of pull stock to keep overall length to a minimum. This gets you a reasonably lightweight, very compact, reliable shotgun that can be shot well enough to be useful/practical and has sufficient mag capacity. Set this gun up with a good sling, verify it's function ( for certain...use a gunsmith if nec) debur any sharp edges. Keep the gun clean and pretty much dry of oil as it will then run when really cold...just a drop of lube on critical areas.
Practice with the gun simulating engaging targets along the lines of what you are carrying it for at the ranges you expect to do it in. Practice not only shooting it but presenting it, loading it from how you will carry it, malfunction drills. Learn "where" it shoots within its practical range limitation and what that limitation is with the ammo you will carry it with. You will prolly have to experiment with front bead and or learn hold over to compensate a short barrels shoot way high unless using a very tall bead or post.

Avoid the advice and or temptation to add accesories and widgets to the gun....make sit snag prone/heavier/likely to break/complicated.

If you doubt this....for ####s and giggles try deploying a folding stock/pistol grip/rifle sighted/siddesaddle/laser equipped shotgun from your sleeping bag, backpack, tent etc.....then try the same drills with a bead sighted/deburred/coventional stock/totally naked shotgun....hell even just fondle the gun for 5 mins....you'll likely snag or even cut yourself on the former.
 
You'll want a full stock so go with a short barrel. I'd go to Canada ammo and buy a Dominion Arms 12.5" ghost ringed pump. Take it to the range and beat the poop out of it until it's smooth and you've proven that it's reliable. If you have a problem with owning a Chinese shotgun, buy it anyway, sell the receiver and stick the short barrel on an old used Remington 870.
 
johNTO said:
If my safety were at stake I would get the most reliable SG I could afford and practice with it a lot. For under $500 I'd check the EE for a Mossberg 500 or Wingmaster/870.
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Do this ^^^^^^. Or pick up a 12.5 grizzly from can am with ghost ring sights. load with challengers or breneke KO's. Enjoy yummy bear steaks if anything dangerous happens. IMO the ghost ring is the best way to run a defensive or hunting shotgun.
 
I went with a 12.5" Grizzly from CanAm. For $300 +ship+tax, I got a good base that left me $$ to customize it the way I want.

A bit beefy, weight wise, but I'm 6' and 240LBS, so the few extra ounces don't bother me. Also, don't forget that more weight = less felt recoil, and that makes a difference in shootability.

If you go with a Norinco, remember the first thing to do is to strip it right down and clean it/flush all the action with G96 or some similar. There was a lot of crud and filings left in the action in mine, and from what I've read, that's fairly typical for Norincos.

I've run a mixed bag of ammo through mine, about 100 rounds (7.5 Bird, 00, a pair of bear bangers), and it ran smooth from the get go and no problems so far at all. No stuck shells, even with the cheap aluminum base target ammo.

The other thing I would recommend is make sure you stick with cylinder bore. That gives you the option of firing 12guage flares and 12guage bear bangers.

griz_chimney.jpg
 
OP…you can go with a full-stock like grelmar's "870" ^^ or a PGO SG like my Mossberg JIC 18.5"bbl with Raptor grip (OAL 31") for ~ $400 BNIB.
A 14"bbl on a 870 receiver with a Raptor grip has an OAL(26.5"?) keeping it non-restricted. Unfortunately, 14" Mossberg's would blow your budget and are rare to find.
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grelmar said:
I went with a 12.5" Grizzly from CanAm. For $300 +ship+tax, I got a good base that left me $$ to customize it the way I want.

A bit beefy, weight wise, but I'm 6' and 240LBS, so the few extra ounces don't bother me. Also, don't forget that more weight = less felt recoil, and that makes a difference in shootability.

If you go with a Norinco, remember the first thing to do is to strip it right down and clean it/flush all the action with G96 or some similar. There was a lot of crud and filings left in the action in mine, and from what I've read, that's fairly typical for Norincos.

I've run a mixed bag of ammo through mine, about 100 rounds (7.5 Bird, 00, a pair of bear bangers), and it ran smooth from the get go and no problems so far at all. No stuck shells, even with the cheap aluminum base target ammo.

The other thing I would recommend is make sure you stick with cylinder bore. That gives you the option of firing 12guage flares and 12guage bear bangers.

griz_chimney.jpg
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Hi, grelmar. That's some hansome furnature you got there. May I ask where did you find them? And how do you compare the barrel wall thickness with mossberg 500 ?
 
5kong said:
Hi, grelmar. That's some hansome furnature you got there. May I ask where did you find them? And how do you compare the barrel wall thickness with mossberg 500 ?
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I have owned both so I can answer one of your questions.

The Mossberg's barrel feels and looks extremely thin in comparison to the factory 12.5" barrel.

A factory full size Remington barrel is pretty thin as well, Norinco sure made these 12.5" guns beefy and I love it for that.
 
5kong said:
Hi, grelmar. That's some hansome furnature you got there. May I ask where did you find them? And how do you compare the barrel wall thickness with mossberg 500 ?
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I don't own a Mossberg, so can't comment on barrel thickness, I'll have to defer to Grove on that. But word on the street in that the barrels are thicker. Keep in mind, that doesn't necessarily mean better - my own suspicion is that use a slightly lower grade of steel, and compensate for it by thickening it up a bit.

As for the furniture, a couple different sources.

The wood I picked up off the EE. So many people are taking their Wingmasters in a "tactical" direction, that wood furniture is abundantly available for really good price. I placed a WTB add in the EE in the morning, and when I checked later that night, I got to pick and choose from a pile of offers in my inbox. The wood is from an early 80s (ish) Wingmaster Security Express (think "Armored Car Special" ). It was pretty beat up, but it came for under $50 shipped, and I do woodwork/cabinetry/finishing carpentry as a hobby, so the shape of it didn't scare me. I stripped the dark finish off all of it, did some work reprofilling the forend (it had been chewed up by the clamp that holds it in place in an armored car), then gave the stock and forend a 6 coat rub with Tung Oil. It came out pretty amazing. It sounds like a lot of work, but I have "all the toys" for woodworking, so it was a fairly minor project.

I picked up a grind to fit recoil pad from the Barber Shop in Calgary, which is only a few blocks away (one of the oldest gun shops in town is a gun shop/barber shop combo, only in Calgary). $25 - nothing fancy, but the recoil pad that came with the Wingmaster furniture was really old and cracked.

The leather I picked up from a Ukrainian dealer on eBay - http://www.ebay.ca/usr/extremestyle_ua - The prices are awesome, a fraction of the price of what I can find leather-work for pretty much anyplace else, and I was surprised at the fit and finish and overall quality of it for what I paid, much more than I expected really.

Hope that helps.
 
@Grove

Thanks a lot for your info. I'm very tempted to get that grizzly although I alreay have a mossberg 500 combo. hmm...

@grelmar

Wow, you're so talented to make your own stuff. That is a great ebay seller in your post. Appreciate for your help. :)
 
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