Advice for first tactical shotgun

polskadude

polskadude

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First of all, I’m new around the Shotgun section, so Hello to everyone.

I got my RPAL about 6 months ago, and so far I only have a Glock 17 and a Savage Mark II .22LR. My buddy bought a used 870 Express Police model (I think) and I after a shot a few rounds, I knew I wanted a tactical shotgun as well.

So I've done a little bit of looking, and here are the models I've found. If you know of any other models that I might have missed, tactical looking, and are under 500$, please let me know.

Mossberg Model 590 Special Purpose 12 Gauge
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Mossberg Model 500 Special Purpose Tactical: Cruiser 12 Gauge
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Winchester Model 1300 Defender - 8 Shot 12 Gauge
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I know these shotguns are not the recommended ones for trap or skeet, but can they be used? I believe they all have cylinder chokes (where as the 870 Police model doesn't), that’s why I didn’t add it as an option. I'm looking for a great looking shotgun, that has multiple uses. Could I hunt with these? What do you hunt with shotguns?

Any advice or input would be great.

Thanks,
Matt
 
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I own a 835 ulti mag, 935 magnum, and a 590A1 and I like them all. In particular I like mossbergs tang safety, since I am left handed it works well for me. There are many 590 models, the A1 has steel a trigger guard, shell follower etc...I have never run into any problems with my mossbergs.

I have shot the defender and can't really comment as I only shot about 100 shells (it didn't have any problems). The one I shot belongs to a buddy who hasn't had problems. I ve fired a few different mossberg 500s (owned one at one time) and they all were fine....again did use them extensively enough too comment too much on those but the one I owned was fine.

I use a Remington 870 police magnum at work..good gun too....I still prefer my mossberg over it.

As for trap etc...you "could" use them but you are gonig to want something with a longer barrel as it will assist in aiming. Also having a choice of different chokes allows for more versatillity. Maybe a gun with more than one barrel is best for you so you can have a short barreled 500 for example....simply swich to a longer barrel for hunting, trap etc.
 
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well , iv owned the win 1300 in the past. Nice gun and cheap too. If you get an rem 870 you can buy a multitude of barrels for it to suit your needs. a shortie for fun, a rifled bore fore deer, and a a big long bugger for skeet/trap/ package deals can be had new for cheap, or used as you need them, or afford them
 
For a $500 budget I'd get a Dominion Arms Grizzly {solid 870 clone with a 12" IC choked barrel} and pick up a 28" barrel with interchangable chokes for general purpose use.
 
thanks for the advice. The interchangable barrels idea sounds great. I dont really want to get the same gun as my buddy, so I think i'll pass on the 870. I'm really liking the 590 and 500. Do those guns have interchangable barrels?
I dont really have a budget, I was planning on buy an SL8 first, but cant find anything on the EE to suit my needs so I figured i'll grab a shotty first. I just figured those 3 are all under 500$ new, so that would be my budget.
 
I like the 590 to a point, but I have determined that the long magazine tube adds bulk and weight without significant benefit. A shorter gun with a 4 shot magazine tube would be much handier, and some of the aftermarket ghost rings are better than those found on the factory 590. IMHO the front sight should be winged for protection, and my front sight is slightly askew following a spill I took.

I think a Sidesaddle is a good addition and has the advantage of replacing the trigger group pin with a screw.

The speed feed has some issues I'm not completely happy with, but I was able to make simple modifications to address those concerns. The SF springs chew up the back of the recoil pad, so I cut a thin piece of stainless to act as a spacer between the pad and the springs which took care of protecting the pad, but this left enough space for moisture to get in and start rusting the springs, so I took it all apart, cleaned up the springs, put a thin coating of light grease on them, then reassembled and wrapped black electrical tape around the seam which keeps moisture out and only has to be replaced occasionally. I avoid putting 3" shells in the SF, but if you must it might be better to put a single shell on each side. The spring tension is strong enough that it is difficult to get the first shell out, and the addition of the spacer didn't improve this, so I normally carry 23/4" slugs there. The springs also are hard on fold crimped shells, although the plastic welded crimped shells seem to stand up.

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My 590 carries 17 rounds with the chamber empty, 3" shells in the mag tube and side saddle and 23/4" shells in the speed feed; so like they used to say about the old Henry rifles, I can load it on Sunday and shoot it all week. It also gives me the versatility of having a variety of ammo, from field loads to buck shot to slugs right on the gun. Having said that a lighter, shorter, quicker handling gun for my purposes would have been a better choice.
 
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