Mossberg Shockwave for home defense??

if i'm going with a shotgun i'd want the option of shouldering it.

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Have you shoot it yet?

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Yes, both my 20 and a friends 12 gauge. Not nearly as bad as a conventional pistol grip.

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How do you plan on aiming it?

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its a shotgun with a 14 inch smooth bore barrel. Not a whole lot of aiming involved, more of point and shoot.

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A full size shotgun is a much better option

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i like the freedom of movement this provides vs conventional shotgun.



My thoughts are, maybe not the best for someone new to guns, but for some one with adequate training, including hip shooting. This is a very viable alternative for a bedside, home defense weapon.

I bought one three months ago and I love it. I got it for home defense. Mainly because I have narrow halls and I don’t want to lift the barrel to turn if I need. Remington has an 870 model as well.

Don’t shoot it with one hand though. It kicks too hard. Two hands from the hip.

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Just curious as to what the boards general consensus is of the Mossberg Shockwave value as the "go to " choice for home defense.

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It sounds like you've pretty much already made up your mind in that you like the "Shockwave" so my comments really are aimed at readers who're undecided.

Surely the shotgun is one of the best self defense guns. Although 12 gauge is generally preferred, a good argument can be made for the 20 gauge. Opinion seems split on whether to use pump or semi-auto. OTOH, although I don't claim to have read everything available on self defense, I don't recall seeing very many, if any, reputable experts who recommend always shooting a shotgun from the hip instead of the shoulder. Personally, I wouldn't have any use for the "Shockwave" unless nothing else was available. If a typical shotgun barrel is too long, use a handgun. If one insists on using a shotgun from the hip, one can still do that w/ a regular stock shotgun. I don't see where the pistol grip stock of the "Shockwave" has any advantages.

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its a shotgun with a 14 inch smooth bore barrel. Not a whole lot of aiming involved, more of point and shoot.

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maybe not the best for someone new to guns, but for some one with adequate training, including hip shooting. This is a very viable alternative for a bedside, home defense weapon.

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It's good you're experienced and skillful enough that you can shoot a shotgun adequately from the hip. I don't know about others, but I admit that I can't do that well enough to bet my life on it. I like Massad Ayoob's comments on aiming a shotgun:

"Owners should be aware that shotguns do not shoot a spread across an entire room when firing them for self-defense. Shotguns need to be carefully aimed the same as any other type of firearm when using them for self-defense purposes. A riot gun with an 18-20 inch open-choked cylinder barrel has a spread of approximately 1 inch for every yard of firing range. The spread across an 18 foot room will be 6 inches and the spread across 50 feet will be 16 inches. Practice with shotgun at firing ranges to determine what type of spread your shotgun has when fired."

If I was going to use the "Shockwave" for self defense, I'd mount a laser sight to the upper receiver. I don't keep up w/ LEO literature or training, but I'm someone here does and can answer my question: do police (and similar agencies) routinely use pistol grip only shotguns like the "Shockwave"?

You bring up some good points, especially adding a light/laser. I don't have one for what it's worth. The design of the Shockwave integral birds head stock (not a pistol grip) allows for it & it's 14" barrel to be 26" long (overall length) and has been deemed a non-NFA gun.

I'm pretty sure if you removed the standard stock, and installed a pistol grip on a 870 with a 14" barrel, you would have created a NFA firearm. I think a 18" barrel would be the minimum you could go with for it to br legal. It's been awhile since I went thru this on a shotgun conversion, so I may be off a couple of inches. At least that's what she said,

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I'm pretty sure if you removed the standard stock, and installed a pistol grip on a 870 with a 14" barrel, you would have created a NFA firearm.

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Don't worry, I'm not going to be doing that either.

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but I don't see this in any legitimate self defense scenario.

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Uh maybe you haven't heard, but you just have to rack the slide and it scares off the bad guys.

That’s surprisingly more energy than I thought so I stand corrected on that piece of data.

As far as a stockless shotgun versus one with a stock, my comments stand.

The minishells are fine for home defense. Their slug version is 385 grains moving at 1150-1200 fps.

That's more energy than pretty much any common home defense pistol caliber (over 3x the energy of a standard 9mm).