Same shotgun for sport and home defense

[hminsky]

I suspect the answer here is just "no", but ...

Is there any shotgun that would be useful both
for sport (trap) shooting, and home defense?

It seems like you'd be looking at a semi-automatic, since the pump would be a hindrance for trap shooting where you needed to make two shots.
And is the barrel length needed for accurate trap shooting just too long to make the weapon useful indoors?

 

[hminsky]

I was considering the Remington 870 express combo in 20 ga. It comes with two interchangeable barrels a 20" rifled barrel and a 26" barrel.

 

[mark056]

Mossburg has made home defense and hunting combos for their 500 series shotguns, but you indicated that you are not interested in a pump.

Mark

 

[jhrosier]

I have a Remington 1100, 12ga, that I picked up for a good price with a 28" plain barrel. The plain barrel was replaced with a Hastings vent rib barrel with screw-in chikes for all sporting purposes. The plain barrel was shortened to 18-1/2" and a BIG gold bead was added. Works flawlessly in either configuration and is the only shotgun that I own or need. It's loaded with 5 rds of #8 trap loads, which it will deliver in about 2 seconds, and has a side-saddle 6rd shell holder loaded with buckshot for slow learners. I originally used a butt-cuff to hold the extra rounds, but the elastic in these is not secure enough for heavy use. The magazine plug was removed to allow full capacity. I decided against a mag extension based on weight and political correctness. It still looks pretty much "sporting", even with the short barrel.

 

[cdkayak]

I'd still lean towards a pump. I have a mossberg 500 which performed dual duty until I got an 870. If you're just shooting trap you won't be at any dissadvantage since it's one shot at a time. The clubs I beong to only allow one round to be loaded at a time. Skeet, 5-stand or sporting clays will require multiple rounds, but a pump gun is still a very good tool for that.

CD

 

[hminsky]

Thanks for all the help -- I'm going to try out a couple of these before I buy if possible...

 

[Len-2A Training]

Don't know how big your house is or where you live but here's my take on your question:

- Ideal skeet length is 26" bbl
- Ideal trap length is 28 or 30" bbl
- I have a Rem 1100 Skeet (26" bbl) and a 30" trap bbl for it as well. The length of either combo is just too long to swing it around inside a home. I can't imagine that if I put an 18" bbl on it that it would be very maneuverable either.
- Penetration tests have been extensively done (by others) with the AR15, shotguns and pistols thru doors and walls in a home. Their conclusions were that anything in pistol or shotgun (if larger than 7.5, e.g. anything suitable for home defense) would penetrate multiple walls and be a hazard to other nearby homes! They concluded that the tumbling/fragmentation of rounds in an AR15 made external penetration less likely and thus a better "house gun" for defensive purposes.
- A CAR15 (pre-ban for MA) with 16" bbl is a lot more maneuverable inside a home.

Thus, my recommendation would be the shotgun for sports, and the CAR15 for defense!

 

[Nickle]

Len, Skeet barrels have gone away from 26" a few years ago. The last rage I knew was 28 or 30 inch barrels. My Win 101 I used to use for Skeet is 27 1/2". It's a 101 Field Gun that I had rechoked and fitted.

 

[Len-2A Training]

I haven't shot skeet since 1992 and haven't belonged to a club with skeet since 1999. I really enjoyed shooting skeet, but after ripping up my right rotator cuff in 1992, I haven't shot any high power rifle/shotgun (exception is my AR15s and an M1 with a shoulder pad). And yes, the shoulder still gets painful from doing anything/nothing, as recent as yesterday!