Mossberg 500, Home defense, short barrel. Pistol grip or standard stock.

[PeglegJones]

Using with 2 3/4" 16 pellet, #1 shot.

Pistol grip more compact, standard stock better control.

Opinions?

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[sneakboxer]

I would prefer a stock. Maybe a stock with a pistol grip. A 12ga seems pretty hard to control with pistol grip at the hip for me. Sure i can make noise and make soda cans dance but it would be too uncontrolled and inaccurate if the chips were down for me. And you can't "butt stroke" a bad guy without a stock. Whatever you chose budget in some practice time.

 

[tacticalgunner]

I did the on my 590, have not looked back, great control
<broken link removed>

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Ditto on the ability to butt stroke with a standard stock.

 

[revjen45]

If I wanted a club that's what I would carry. Stock allows much better control of recoil and better accuracy.

 

[.45's and .38's]

For a home defender I would take a full length stock anyday...If need be, you could tuck the stock under your armpit to shorten the length of the weapon when moving around courners...etc

for me personally, I find I can rest the stock on my hip & reload shells much faster, pistol grips & full length stocks start to break my wrist a little & the barrel will point down a bit....pistol grips with full length stocks are heavier than a standard buttstock

 

[Nick Burkhardt]

Hit em with then end of the barrel

 

[samuelm16]

Pistol grips suuuck

 

[cookie]

I love pistol grip shotguns. When I see someone with one I make my gun safe and watch the person take the first shot with it. Sometimes they get smacked with the shotgun maybe a bloody nose and the dumbest expression on their faces possible. It makes my day.

 

[deen_ad]

On one of my Win 1300's I have a folding metal stock with recoil pad and pistol grip. Best of both worlds: easier to store and I still have a full stock if needed.

 

[Stomper]

What everyone else has said advocating a fixed stock.... you'll have better control of the weapon, pistol grips are for T.V. crime-dramas

I periodically used the old Winchester 1300's (heavy as hell and all wood furniture) when in the Army, and when I bought my first Mossberg-500A back in 1989 (or so) it came with the synthetic factory speed-feed stock, 8-rnd. mag-tube, and barrel heat shroud. I put the included rear pistol grip on it, even put a pistol gripped forend on in place of the stock one, then took off the rear and installed a side folder w/pistol grip.... because Miami Vice was cool as hell back in those days...

Then after a very brief spell of removing all rear stocks and mounting it under the barrel of my Colt AR15A2, M203 style (because Predator was an awesome movie, and I used M203's in the Army) and putting cracks in my hand guards from the several hundred rounds gleefully run through it during a shooting session up on Larch Mountain (LOL), I went back to the factory forend and speed-feed stock where it sits in my closet gunsafe as my primary home defense weapon to this day (with a few scratches and slight dings), loaded with 00-Buck alternated with 1oz. slugger rounds... ready to party if ever needed.

Damn, I spent a lot of money on pistol grip contraptions, and a replacement set of handguards for my Colt AR15A2... but I still love that "old" (all stock) 500.

 

[rocky3]

Precisely for me to own and shoot a 410. 12 gauge is for the physically fit and young. We old timers must come to realize what we can and cannot do.
So don't smirk, old age will come on quicker than you think. lol

 

[U201491]

A 12 ga definitly does the trick, But before you actually need to use one in your home on a dark night with an intruder, take it and find a concrete block room, or a remote shack somewhere and, in the dark, discharge it inside that room.
My bet is a good handgun will look like a far better option.
My granddad taught me that one in an old sheepherder sod hut back in the fifty's over by cecil and ione..
I would not even consider using one in my home unless it was the only thing I could reach.
Try it.

 

[Stomper]

A 12 ga definitly does the trick, But before you actually need to use one in your home on a dark night with an intruder, take it and find a concrete block room, or a remote shack somewhere and, in the dark, discharge it inside that room.
My bet is a good handgun will look like a far better option.
My granddad taught me that one in an old sheepherder sod hut back in the fifty's over by cecil and ione..
I would not even consider using one in my home unless it was the only thing I could reach.
Try it.

Yes, at a minimum your ears will be ringing... if not bleeding, maybe even cause tinnitus.

 

[U201491]

Yes, at a minimum your ears will be ringing... if not bleeding, maybe even cause tinnitus.

Yes and flash blind.

 

[Riot]

Had one firearms instructor show me how easier it is to disarm someone with a pistol grip than with a standard stock (I had the pistol grip/stock combo on my 590).



My two cents? Find out what works best for you and your situation. If you plan on searching your house with it or keeping it in your rig, then I would go with the pistol grip for easier mobility. If you plan on pointing it at the door of your bedroom while you call 9-1-1 then go with the stock.

I used to do three-gun IDPA shooting with my 590...I loved the pistol/stock combo. To each, his own.

 

[Stomper]

One more thing about having the "standard" stock is the tang safety is designed to work with the natural position of your thumb ambidextrously. With any pistol grip configuration you will have to let go of the grip to actuate the slide lever.

"IMHO", pistol grip confligs are better suited to trigger housing cross-bar kitted shotguns like the Rem 800.

 

[Hrethgir]

I use my Mossberg 500 20ga for my bedside gun. For that, I have it set up with the short barrel it came with and the standard stock, i want the better control and accuracy everyone is talking about. Thought about getting a pistol grip, but I'll leave that to my pistol, lol! And since it came pre-tapped for a rail on the top, I added a rail. Had a red-dot on it for a little while, but took that off as not being very useful for that application. Going to take it down and get it set up with some rings that can hold my Surefire this weekend, that will be much more appropriate, I think. Loaded with #4, #4, rifled slug, #4 and rifled slug. The #4 should take someone down, and if it doesn't, the slug will.

A 12 ga definitly does the trick, But before you actually need to use one in your home on a dark night with an intruder, take it and find a concrete block room, or a remote shack somewhere and, in the dark, discharge it inside that room.
My bet is a good handgun will look like a far better option.
My granddad taught me that one in an old sheepherder sod hut back in the fifty's over by cecil and ione..
I would not even consider using one in my home unless it was the only thing I could reach.
Try it.

That's why if I have my shotgun next to the bed, the 9mm is in the nightstand drawer! If someone kicks in my door, I'd rather go pistol, although living in an apartment, I'll go shotgun first just because of less overpenetration (unless I get to the rifled slug, pretty sure that will go thru sheetrock just as well as a 9mm JHP! Guess home defense weapon choice comes down to using whats best for the given scenario. I hear someone trying to pry my front door open, I'll grab the pistol from the drawer and get ready. Someone kicks the door off the hinges with no warning, shotgun will be easier to grab fast.

 

[soberups]

Pistol grips on shotguns are a bad idea. Kind of like airweight alloy-framed .357 snubbies or Taurus Judges. They might look like a good idea to the uninformed but they are poor choices for real-world personal defense. If for whatever reason you need to "clear" your house, you should be using a handgun. In my humble opinion a shotgun should only be used from a fixed position, such as kneeling behind the bed while waiting for the police to arrive.

 

[Fast Eddie]

Pistol grips are not practical.