re: What kind of shotgun would you recommend?

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Do you really want to start with a shotgun if you don't even have a weapon in your house? That seems like a lot of gun for a novice

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Joking right?

A shotgun is ideal for home defense. Remington 870 should run about $200-300

I will say just because something is mil-spec, that doesn't mean it's good. Most high end ARs aren't made to mil-spec. They are made to a much higher standard.

In reality, the 870 and 590 are both hunks of junk compared to the M4.

To the OP, if you want the best home defense shotgun on the planet, buy a Benelli M4. There is a reason why it is used by elite forces all around the world. It is simply the best, and no one can dispute that.

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I have a 870 from the 1970's and that thing is a tank. I've heard they suck now though. Mine has too long of a barrel for home defense.

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Ditto. From my grandfather to my dad to me. Unfortunately, mine's in 16 gauge, so it's basically a sentimental piece at this point. That thing killed a lot of birds when I was growing up, though. It's a beast and will just... keep... firing... as long as you can put shells through it.

Get some bear traps and a tire iron or a crowbar. It's much more fun to watch them suffer after they break-in.

For home defense, get a pump shotgun. Doesn't matter the brand. Don't spend a ton of money unless you want to. The chambering of a shotgun will make anyone's a$$hole pucker. Everyone knows that sound.

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Depend on what the wall is made of, even #8 birdshot will go through sheetrock followed by wood siding. Plenty of YouTube videos showing penetration levels of various shotgun loads.

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I agree, but we are talking about the average home defense scenario, the average homeowner/gun owner and the average firearm with average range time, and the lethality of the firearm to the enemy and not to innocent bystanders, not ballistic gelatin who lacks the will to live: Are there any YouTube videos of the #8s going through a wall, hitting a human and then seeing their subsequent reaction (or demise)? As long as the intruder is dead and the collateral damage (the dog licking his arse on the other side of the exterior wall) is not, then you have the answer to which is best for home defense from a purely "end goal" set of results: Enemy dead + dog peppered and badly shaken but alive & well= a win for the homeowner and law abiding gun owners of America.

Yeah sure, you stand on the other side of the finest exterior front door that a fellow can buy from Home Depot and let me hold the muzzle up to the other side 8" off the surface and then send hundreds of #8 freedom seeds your way and it's gonna be a mess after what it does to you. However, just because a #8 goes through a sheetrock wall and I'm 30 feet away with my back turned and get hit doesn't mean I'll die. Odds are, I won't, and even if I'm facing the blast I may lose an eye, but #8 bird shot that has passed through a standard sheetrock wall and gone another 5 to 10 yards won't kill me like a 9mm Parabellum will if it hits me in the eye. I've seen a guy get hit head on from unimpeded bird shot fired from 20 yards away, and even though he was badly shaken, he came back to the hunt (unlike the idiot who fired at the low bird and hit him). Likewise, high brass magnum TSS makes for a great HD load because if I shoot & hit you from the other side of my room (and it's highly likely that I will because it's a shotgun) then you're dead meat, and any pellets that keep going have far less of a chance to kill someone else downrange, unimpeded or not.

However in comparison, the aerodynamic and ballistic capabilities of rifled projectiles, as opposed to smoothbore projectiles (somewhat excluding high powered buckshot loads but that's where proper setup of the barrel choking married with even limited range time can make the difference), to continue past the intended target and into the room next door, then the next, and the next after that, is far more a guarantee than if the projectile were coming out of a smoothbore- especially when using supersonic long rifle ammunition.

We can split hairs all we want, but the fact is, a whole lot of engineering goes in to making rifled projectiles as lethal as possible to an enemy, but not to the person in the next room who's sleeping under thick bed coverings or hunkered down hiding, but even then with all that engineering, if (or when) the shooter misses, that projectile stands a much better chance of going through and hitting that person, hunkered down or not. That difficulty of stopping a rifled projectile is a matter of physics.

If an intruder is standing at my bedroom door then I'm thinking twice about shooting at him with a rifled projectile because my son is in the room several yards behind him: I'm taking my chances on the buckshot if a shot HAS to be fired, because in that situation it will HAVE to happen. That is often the situation in the average home with multiple people inside, and choked correctly the buckshot will be far more likely to hit its target at HD ranges than not. The physics are just not there for the hammering ram that is buckshot to keep going and going and going- even after hitting the target. Handgun loads are less likely to wind up as far downrange as long guns, but the "accuracy and range time issue" with handguns is as critical as all other HD firearm options put together in order to be lethal to the enemy and not others- a criticality that, dare I say, the average gun owner overlooks. Furthermore, there's a reason why the average AR is a terrible choice for the average gun owner who possesses average range time in the average HD situation- especially a home with multiple people in the dwelling or in neighborhoods with homes so close that you can hear the neighbor taking a shite: You can't always be sure where & when you'll engage the enemy, and you can't always be sure where your family is located when that engagement ensues, and you can't always be sure that, target hit or not, the projectile will stop, but one thing that you can be sure of is that in the average HD situation you won't have time to think about ANY of that shite.

And finally, in an ode to shotguns for home defense, you have the variables of accuracy and precision: While it inherently lacks the precision of a rifled projectile, a smoothbore scattergun is incredibly accurate when it comes to hitting the target in defined areas: The less bullets that fly without hitting the intended target, the better chance the bystanders have of surviving- and not just from friendly fire, but also from the enemy himself. I want one shot, one kill when my family and my life depends on it, not 20 shots fired and one intruder dead, me fighting for my life from being shot and my wife DOA from the crossfire as well.

A shotgun in the home is the baddest mf'er there is when you want devastating, overwhelming, accurate firepower when compared to nearly all other options available to average person, with and without extensive range time. It's a non-issue: Short, fast, manually-repeating shotguns are the best option in nearly every facet of the average home invasion/ home defense situation, including availability to the average person who doesn't live at the range, dependability after long periods of not being used, and many other reasons as well- period.

TLDR: Come up in my house with a handgun or an AR with trouble on your mind and your odds of leaving in a body bag and my family and myself not leaving in one are much higher than if I went for the handgun or rifled long gun. All's I gotta do is point and shoot, and not think too much, and that is what will save my life and take yours in a home defense situation. That's the results that the military trains and strives for in its soldiers: Don't think, just do. The average civilian gunowner focused on home defense has one option if he or she wants to attain some of the same results with minimal investments in range time, costs and minimal loss of life downrange of the exchange of fire: A properly setup smoothbore scattergun. Period.

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Lol, so Mossberg sucks "because you said so." I guess that settles it.

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yeah, Ron White said it best.
"You can't fix STUPID".

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I won't purchase one and can call it a POS if I want to.

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You have every right to. I don't care what you buy. I was genuinely curious as to your input on why you think they make shitty products.

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A shotgun in the home is the baddest mf'er there is when you want devastating, overwhelming, accurate firepower when compared to nearly all other options available to average person, with and without extensive range time. It's a non-issue: Short, fast, manually-repeating shotguns are the best option in nearly every facet of the average home invasion/ home defense situation, including availability to the average person who doesn't live at the range, dependability after long periods of not being used, and many other reasons as well- period.

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You only forgot one point. If you have to continue the fight beyond empty, the shotgun makes the best tool to bludgeon your attacker with.

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What kind of shotgun would you recommend?
I live locally, and have a few dozen, if you want to shoot/test a few out lets get in contact.

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Where in MN are you?