After doing a lot of soul-searching and research I've come to the conclusion (as have countless others before me) that the best home defense weapon is not a handgun but a shotgun. I'm signed up to take a 4-hour defensive shotgun class in a couple of weeks and I went shopping today for a HD shotgun. I wanted something that would be solid and dependable but not break the bank. I've been researching HD shotguns all week and had narrowed my choices down to:
1. Browning BPS
2. Remington 870
2. Mossberg 500
3. Maverick 88
4. Savage-Stevens 350
5. H&R Pardner Protector
I handled all of these and decided on the Pardner Protector. For $200 all-in I don't think you can beat it. It's a (licensed) 870 clone, and I've read almost nothing but positive reviews. The action was a little rough when I got it home so I took it completely down to work on it. Internally, it is an exact copy of the 870 action. Externally the receiver has a more Browning/Benelli profile. (Maybe Remington insisted on this so the gun would not be a 100% copy of the 870.) Receiver is forged steel and the internal milling looked excellent. Trigger group is aluminum, unlike the current 870 Express models that have plastic. I used 1000 grit sand paper and polished the mag tube, the slide rails, and the bolt. I removed the mag spring and follower and cleaned a load of [censored] out of the inside the mag tube. Got it all cleaned, lubed and put back together and she now cycles 100% more smoothly, which should improve even more after a few hundred rounds go through it.
1. Browning BPS
2. Remington 870
2. Mossberg 500
3. Maverick 88
4. Savage-Stevens 350
5. H&R Pardner Protector
I handled all of these and decided on the Pardner Protector. For $200 all-in I don't think you can beat it. It's a (licensed) 870 clone, and I've read almost nothing but positive reviews. The action was a little rough when I got it home so I took it completely down to work on it. Internally, it is an exact copy of the 870 action. Externally the receiver has a more Browning/Benelli profile. (Maybe Remington insisted on this so the gun would not be a 100% copy of the 870.) Receiver is forged steel and the internal milling looked excellent. Trigger group is aluminum, unlike the current 870 Express models that have plastic. I used 1000 grit sand paper and polished the mag tube, the slide rails, and the bolt. I removed the mag spring and follower and cleaned a load of [censored] out of the inside the mag tube. Got it all cleaned, lubed and put back together and she now cycles 100% more smoothly, which should improve even more after a few hundred rounds go through it.