IMHO the shotgun has no equal when it comes to dealing with most of the problems people will encounter.
Even though my agency issued Remington 870s I decided to buy my own Mossberg 590 and never looked back. The two main reasons were the ambi safety and the Ghost Ring sights. At the time we did not have any rifles so I saw the need to be able to reach out with slugs and felt comfortable doing so off hand out to 100 yards.
After being involved in a shooting with my shotgun I soon after added a Surefire forend. I think this should be the first thing you put on your shotgun if you want to add anything. It is costly and I believe worth every penny especially if used professionally or for home defense.
After seeing how 00 buck failed to penetrate heavy winter clothing I began loading only slugs and hand buckshot and bird shot on the side saddle. The bird shot was for small critters I had to put down. On my SWAT vest I had bean bag rounds and breaching rounds. I did it all with one gun. This is not something I would advise for everyone or for an SOP but it worked for me on several occasions. The way I did it was to download all lethal ammo in front of the team leader, he checked the gun and I reloaded with bean bag rounds. This worked well during one situation in which I shot someone with a bean bag round. This just goes to show the versatility of the shotgun as a platform.
When I started at my agency we qualified with pistols out to 25 yards and with the shotgun using 00 Buck out to 15 yards. Then we were given four slugs to fire at 25 yards but the patrol shotguns you could draw out were only loaded with 00 Buck and no slugs were available. When I mentioned ot the Chief that if I had to set up a perimeter past 15 yards I could only uses my pistol he gave me that Chief look and then allowed me to issue slugs to guys who had a clue.
The shotgun is like Daddy's tractor, very kewl, kinda scary and you don't really know what to do with it. But once you learn you develop a grear appreciation for it.
While doing the police thing I had a single points sling because it worked well with my nylon ninja stuff. Now that I am no longer a foot soldier in the war on crime I am back to use a good old fashioned two point sling, side mounted because of the light. As an instructor I believe this is the best option. One and three points slings for typical good guy use will only leave you with black and blue well you know, that shotgun bounces all over the place.
Even though my agency issued Remington 870s I decided to buy my own Mossberg 590 and never looked back. The two main reasons were the ambi safety and the Ghost Ring sights. At the time we did not have any rifles so I saw the need to be able to reach out with slugs and felt comfortable doing so off hand out to 100 yards.
After being involved in a shooting with my shotgun I soon after added a Surefire forend. I think this should be the first thing you put on your shotgun if you want to add anything. It is costly and I believe worth every penny especially if used professionally or for home defense.
After seeing how 00 buck failed to penetrate heavy winter clothing I began loading only slugs and hand buckshot and bird shot on the side saddle. The bird shot was for small critters I had to put down. On my SWAT vest I had bean bag rounds and breaching rounds. I did it all with one gun. This is not something I would advise for everyone or for an SOP but it worked for me on several occasions. The way I did it was to download all lethal ammo in front of the team leader, he checked the gun and I reloaded with bean bag rounds. This worked well during one situation in which I shot someone with a bean bag round. This just goes to show the versatility of the shotgun as a platform.
When I started at my agency we qualified with pistols out to 25 yards and with the shotgun using 00 Buck out to 15 yards. Then we were given four slugs to fire at 25 yards but the patrol shotguns you could draw out were only loaded with 00 Buck and no slugs were available. When I mentioned ot the Chief that if I had to set up a perimeter past 15 yards I could only uses my pistol he gave me that Chief look and then allowed me to issue slugs to guys who had a clue.
The shotgun is like Daddy's tractor, very kewl, kinda scary and you don't really know what to do with it. But once you learn you develop a grear appreciation for it.
While doing the police thing I had a single points sling because it worked well with my nylon ninja stuff. Now that I am no longer a foot soldier in the war on crime I am back to use a good old fashioned two point sling, side mounted because of the light. As an instructor I believe this is the best option. One and three points slings for typical good guy use will only leave you with black and blue well you know, that shotgun bounces all over the place.
