Today’s increasingly popular handguns, without doubt, can offer protection, safety, and peace of mind in a personal protection role. However, many homeowners feel safest with long guns in their home, in case of emergencies.
Rifles and shotguns are more powerful and effective against human-sized threats than handguns, and in this overview, our focus would be on tactical shotguns purpose-built for home defense.
While modern self-defense pistols offer tactical advantages like compactness, maneuverability, and a large magazine capacity, the tactical shotgun’s stopping power, versatility, and intimidation factor make it a compelling choice for home defense.
Speaking of shoulder-fired weapons, many people still prefer rifles for home defense, but many more gun owners figured shotguns as a primary defensive weapon.
There are multiple reasons for that including reliability, ease of use, and overall effectiveness. With the one-shot stopping capability, the shotgun represents the absolute power a personal weapon can have.
In addition, shotguns are usually legal to own and possess in most US states and there are no restrictions found on handguns or semi-auto rifles.
The tube-fed shotguns are the most widespread type of repeating defense-oriented shotguns. Speaking of action types, there are two main action types for home defense shotguns: pump-action and semi-automatic. Though less common for home defense, people also using break-action, bolt-action, and lever-action shotguns due to their simplicity, reliability and affordability.
The most common choices for home defense are 12-gauge and 20-gauge. While that choice depends on personal preference, the key decision refers to the right ammunition and training.
Whereas some authors described the home defense shotgun as “reloadable Claymores,” you have diligently to choose the best ammunition to get that effect and stop the threats. Most gun authorities recommends a 12-gauge No. 4 buck simply because of the number of pellets (27 .24 caliber pellets, each 21 grains), but some also prefer 00-buckshot where standard 2¾-inch shell offers 9 .33-caliber 53.8-grain pellets screaming downrange at approximately 1,200+ fps.
Below are some of the top-rated shotguns highly esteemed for their reliability, ease of use, and effectiveness in defending your home.
Mossberg 500
Two shotgun icons in the USA have become a symbol of American culture and heritage, and one of them is the Mossberg Model 500. Introduced in 1961 and designed mainly for hunters, it was quickly adopted by law enforcement because of its reliability and low cost. One of the explanations the number 500 in Mossberg’s name refers to the gun ability to load and fire a variety of 500 different shotgun cartridges.
The Mossberg 500 comes in over one hundred distinct pump-action shotgun models. But for this overview, we take into account only the ones most suitable for defensive use.
These Mossbergs are chambered in 12 gauge and sport a 20-inch barrel, which is a bit longer in comparison to the competition, but it is still maneuverable enough for a defensive situation.
All Mossberg 500 pump-action shotguns utilize durable aluminum receivers to reduce weight. Unlike most other rival pumps, the Model 500 has twin extractors, whereas the slide mechanism features twin guide bars that help prevent twisting or jamming during rapid operation.
Like most classic shotguns, the Mossberg 500 has a traditional ambidextrous tang mounted, sliding safety, that can be an important consideration in high-stress situations.
Other Mossberg Models
Mossberg 500 is available in a variety of configurations, but for defensive roles, we will mention the Model 590 and the 590A1, both military-grade shotguns that meet strict Mil-Spec requirements. There is also a Mossberg’s budget brand, called Maveric 88
A few years ago, Mossberg offered an alternative to using a sawed-off shotgun for personal and home protection called Model 590 Shockwave. With an overall length of 26.37 inches and a 14-inch barrel, Shockwave stands out as a powerful, compact option for home defense. Easily recognizable by its Raptor bird’s head pistol grip, this compact and easy firearm to maneuver in tight spaces is designed to minimize recoil and enhance control.
Remington 870 Tactical
Another legend in the shotgun world is the Remington 870 pump action. With over 11 million units produced, this American shotgun became a staple in the global firearms industry for over 70 years. Whether you decide on a classic hardwood stock or a tactical variant with a synthetic stock, you will get a tried and true option for home defense.
Unlike most counterparts, the Remington 870 Tactical uses a steel receiver and overall build manufactured to military-grade specifications. Remington patented the concept of dual-action bars on a pump shotgun resulting in a super-smooth action and reliable cycling of rounds. The Remington 870 Tactical is chambered in 12 gauge and features an 18.5-inch barrel for maneuverability inside close quarters. The cylinder-choked barrel features a front bead sight and a six-round magazine tube capacity.
No shotgun with more aftermarket support than the 870, so you can suit a perfect home defense pump-action shotgun.
Vang Comp Systems Model 077
One interesting variant comes from Vang Comp Systems under the name Model 077. They upgraded the Remington 870 Tactical by adding a Magpul MOE handguard and a Magpul SGA stock. Besides furniture, the main improvement is the barrel modification system which decreases recoil and pattern deformation. The Vang Comp comes equipped with adjustable ghost ring sights and various front sight options like fiber optic and tritium sights. By every standard, the relatively lightweight Model 077 is a high-performance pump-action shotgun for home defense.
Benelli M4
Without a doubt, the most desired defensive shotgun among civilians is a Benelli M4. As one of the finest tactical shotguns ever made the Benelli M4 owes a good share of popularity to its military and police service.
Introduced in 1999, the Benelli M4 is a specialized weapon designed for offensive and defensive use. As things go in the firearm world, along with quite an astonishing combat history, this battle-proven shotgun found its way to home defense crowd, preppers, and survivalists.
The Benelli M4 Tactical is a semi-automatic 12-gauge shotgun sporting an alloy receiver, an 18.5-inch barrel, and a 3-inch chamber.
This premium defense gun is famous for its rugged reliability based on the Auto-Regulating-Gas-Operated (A.R.G.O.) system. The inertia-driven system ensures smooth cycling of rounds and less fouling of the chamber. The shotgun can fire without problems even very low-power rounds known as less lethal ammo (gas, rubber balls) since the shooter can cycle it manually via an oversized side charging handle.
The Italian high-performance combat shotgun is available with a standard or over-molded pistol grip stock and ghost ring sights, providing quick target acquisition.
As you would expect, the M4’s durable construction and overbuilt feeling come with top-of-the-line pricing.
Stoeger Double Defense Shotgun
For those people who want to take an unconventional approach to home defense, might be interesting to take a look at a classic break-action, double-barreled shotgun coming from Stoeger Industries.
A few years ago, Stoeger launched tactical Double Defense shotgun with 20.0″ barrels chambered in 12 and 20 gauge. With short twenty-inch barrels and compact profile the shotgun resembles the Wild West coach guns but with a 21st-century spin on that concept.
The Stoeger Double Defense is available in side by side and over-under style, but unlike exposed hammer designs typical for coach guns it features safer hammerless boxlock action. The action has plain extraction, without ejectors. Besides configuration, you can choose between double or single trigger to control both barrels.
Double Defense comes with black synthetic stock and two Picatinny rails positioned on the gun — one for an optic and one for a light. Along with tang-mounted automatic safety, this Brazilian shotgun sports traditional tang-mounted barrel brake latch, which makes opening the action quite easy and comes naturally.
Though marketed as a tactical home defense gun, this optics-ready tactical shotgun can also serve as double-duty for general recreation or predator calling hunt.
Both barrels on Stoeger’s Double Defense shotgun are ported on top for reduced recoil and equipped with green fiber optic post front sight.
For beginners or less experienced people who are not entirely familiar with firearms using a double barrel for home defense such as the Stoeger Double Defense side by side might be a win combination as it requires a minimal practice and training.
Kel-Tec KSG
If you are looking for a quick-handling, easy-to-maneuver home defense shotgun with large capacity magazine, Kel Tec Shotgun or for short KSG can be your perfect choice. With mag capacity of 14+1 rounds KSG is quite opposite to mentioned Stoeger double barrel defensive shotgun.
The Kel-Tec KSG is a unique, bullpup-style shotgun boasting a highly distinctive, dual-tube magazine equipped with a selector switch. It allows shooters to easily switch between tubes and use different loads according to how the situation develops.
Utilizing an 18.5 inches barrel and an overall length of 26 inches, this Kel-Tec 12-ga pump-action is much shorter than most traditional defensive shotguns.
The KSG comes equipped with 12” Picatinny rail on the top and a 6” rail on the bottom allowing you to mount multiple sights, lights and other accessories.
The KSG’s compact design, cylinder-choke barrel and huge firepower provide you with a formidable option for any unexpected close encounters of the violent kind including home defense.
Final Thoughts
Although innovative designs in the last decade completely changed the world of tactical, defensive shotguns, the classic pump action and semi autos continue to live with more cosmetic than crucial modifications.
These firearms are still affordable for every budget with some exceptions, so your home defense strategy doesn’t have excuses for economy and financial status.