long gun for defense & hunting

[pleiades]

I don't really know much about long guns, so help me out. My friend wants one that is good for both home defense and hunting. It seems to me that a shot gun fits that need but other options are out there?

thanks!

 

[strong89]

cant go wrong with a mossberg 500. 12 gauge pump action. great gun.

 

[SERparacord]

Remington 870 Express Combos.

Pump Action Shotgun - Model 870 Express Combos - Remington Shotguns

 

[jaybird_123]

I agree on the Mossberg. But for hunting and then home defense, I think he would need 2 different barrels.

 

[eric001]

What about a Marlin 1894 in either .357 or .44mag? Easier to swing due to a different balance than a shotgun and 10 round magazine. Also, better range for hunting.

 

[Tim Enyeart]

Whatever gun you choose have a light attached or nearby. Most invasions are at night.

 

[onetwoonetwo]

Whatever gun you choose have a light attached or nearby. Most invasions are at night.

^^^^^ This ^^^^^

also, consider a lever gun in .357. the Henry holds 10 in the tube.
so, potentially with one in the chamber(and since it is a lever you can leave one in the chamber and you just have to cock the hammer and squeeze off the first round then run the lever to chamber the first one in the tube) you have 11 rounds.

no matter what, have a light.

jms

 

[strong89]

ya only need to change barrels if ya are gonna change rounds JAYBIRD_123... ill stick with 3" slug...

 

[Aaron1776]

So I had to solve this same "problem" around the turn of the year. I realized that I didn't want my rifle going into a police evidence locker, and I also "needed" a gun for hunting and a shotgun for multi-gun competitions.

My understanding is that you can only rifle hunt nuisance animals like cyotes and feral dogs, so a shotgun is the way to go there.
For HD though, you need a high cap shotgun with a shorter barrel to be able to manuever it.
My solution was a remingon 870, 18" barrel, 6 shot capacity with a magpul stock and foregrip. The magpul stock shortened the length of pull on the gun. Plus it had a standard ghost ring sight, which is my favorite way to go. Mesa tactical makes a great 6 shot side saddle, and magpul has a 20$ flashlight mounting kit that is super easy to install and holds my surefire light really well. I also ditched the silly breacher and put in an IC choke, which both tightened the patterns of the shot AND shortened the length of the gun by about 2".

It's also just my , but for home defense, a good .45 handgun with a large mag and an attached flashlight is the way to go if you have kids or will be called to manuever through the house. I don't have kids, so I don't have to move. Thus my 870 is what will be pointed at the door or ambush location. They'll get a blinding light followed by a large boom.

 

[jwh20]

The nice thing about many shotguns is that you can get different barrels at relatively low cost that can quickly transform a hunting gun into a home defense gun.

I have a Remington 870 that came with a shot barrel and a rifled deer slug barrel. It takes only a minute to swap them. I've seen any number of other barrels available in all sorts of lengths to suit your purpose.

 

[jaybird_123]

ya only need to change barrels if ya are gonna change rounds JAYBIRD_123... ill stick with 3" slug...

K, thank you.

 

[hunternjh]

Mossy!!!

 

[dtkw]

Do you live in a rural area? Like the next house is miles away? Then you should have something you can get it quickly if needed. After watching that A$E American Justice, about a case in the 60's two ex prisoners heard a lie about some farmer family had a safe in the house. They went to rob them and ended up there was no safe and they killed everyone in the house. But at the end they both got caught and hung.

 

[canav844]

What does he hunt?

An AR, with both .223 and .458 uppers, an open sight (no scope eye relief to worry about) red dot with flipping magnifier on the .223 upper, and a scope on the .458 suited for longer range shots. Configure the foregrips the same, and make sure there's a light on the .223 upper, quick detach sling spare mags and ammo and you're set. The .458 was deer legal last I looked, the .223 would be good for smaller game like coyotes, and you can even put a dedicated .22 upper into the mix if he wants to shoot small game like squirrels.

3 guns one lower, there's a lot of value to that. The .223 with properly chosen rounds can also be more likely to break apart with solid walls so over penetration is less so than with some shotgun loads, yet still have range from a few feet to a few hundred yards (between having co aligned BUIS and that magnifier option)

Or he can get a double barreled shotgun to shells and shoot it into the air if there's ever a home invasion.

 

[Mgderf]

I have a Mossberg 500 with 3 barrels.
One is a 12ga smooth bore bird barrel, vented-rib, 28"
One is a 12ga 24" rifled slug barrel, ported with rifle sights
One is a .50cal muzzle loader barrel that uses a 209 shotgun primer.

The one receiver and the 3 barrels make it a very versatile firearm. If you added an 18" smooth bore to the mix, you'd have everything you asked for and more on one platform that is relatively inexpensive to shoot and maintain.

 

[pleiades]

WOW! Thanks for the help!
He will be hunting deer and he lives in a subdivision.
and this cracked me up!!

Or he can get a double barreled shotgun to shells and shoot it into the air if there's ever a home invasion.

Ooooo... only a moron would think that would work