Shorty for Bear Defense

[Butcherbill]

OP, have you thought of something like the Fabarm Martial 14”? It’s a pistol grip but it’s got a butter smooth action and a full length mag tube, great sights and a rail and is threaded for chokes. Bit more expensive than a 500/590 or a 870 but it’s a great shotgun, I’ve been hunting with a 20” Fabarm pump for a couple yrs and it been 100% reliable.

 

[jetfixer]

I prefer Mossbergs, but I ended up configuring a used Remington 870 that I bought here on CGN, specifically for predator defense, as it was easier & cheaper to convert to a short barrel shotgun. I bought a Dlask 12.5" barrel and put a Magpul forend and stock on it (the same as my Mossberg). I sold the OEM stock set and barrel to offset the cost, which in the end was under $500 as seen in the picture. The Mossberg short barrel conversion kit alone would have cost me about the same. I haven't felt the need to put different sights on it, but if you prefer ghost ring sights, they can be mounted fairly easily.

 

[GD7]

Unless you were lucky/smart enough to buy a factory 590A1 14"for the short time they were available in Canada, you'll need to put your own together. You can sell the long barrel to recover some of the costs of the 14" kit, and then you'll have to do a ghost ring sight conversion. I put a picatinny rail and a Trijicon RMR on mine, but actually preferred the ghost ring, so I'll be doing the conversion to GR too.

The other one I really like is the Remington 870 TAC-14 Marine 14" (5.6 pounds!), but I doubt we will ever see those in Canada, unfortunately.