If you are new to shotguns understanding what type of gun to buy and which gauge to choose for your survival needs can be difficult. Continuing the Survival Shotgun series, here is a basic rundown of the types and sizes of shotguns you should consider for your survival gear.
This article is Part 2 in a series of guest posts on the Survival Shotgun by mr. Smashy (Flickr) Part 1 and Part 3
The basic operation of a shotgun is to fire a dose of round lead balls (shot) down a smooth bore barrel. Shotguns existed before rifles and pistols, and the concept of blasting shot down a smooth barrel may extend all the way back to ancient China. Modern Man’s innovation has managed to stuff all sorts of things into a shotgun shell, but the basic operation still remains.
Understanding Gauge
Shotguns barrels are typically chambered in gauges, not calibers. A gauge is the number of lead balls it takes to roll down the barrel to make a pound. If you’re wondering why that sounds crazy, it’s an imperial measurement created by the English, and they tend to over-complicate things. But it does explain why a 12 gauge has a larger tube than a 20 gauge. The most common chamberings for shotguns are 10, 12, 16, and 20 gauge. There is also .410 bore, which is a newer size based on the .45 Colt. It’s an American invention and is not a true gauge.
Choosing a Gauge
Why is this important? You need to pick a gauge (or bore) that is suitable for your stature or needs. Recoil is usually the determining factor, but for the prepper you want to also consider availability. Up to 50% of shotguns sold in America are 12 gauge. You will simply have an easier time finding ammunition for a 12 gauge.
If you cannot handle the recoil of a 12 gauge, then go with 20 if possible. If you cannot deal with the recoil of a 20 gauge then .410 bore is your last resort. Other gauges 
like 10 and 16 are available but too rare for a prepper to consider seriously; you are not going to find 16 gauge ammo on the shelf at a superstore.
For the sake of brevity and to show how versatile the shotgun is, I will stick to 12 gauge for the majority of this series. Birdshot, slugs, and buckshot ammunition are available in 20 gauge. Birdshot and buckshot are available in .410, but you are getting three pellets of 000 buck per shell for the buckshot, versus a 12 gauge 000 load which holds 10 pellets or more. There are also slugs available for .410, usually weighing 1/4 an ounce versus a standard 1 ounce slug in 12 gauge. .410 slug ammunition is also extremely hard to find unless it’s deer season in a shotgun hunting state.
Type of Shotgun
For most preppers, the standard survival shotgun is going to be a 12 gauge pump shotgun; readily available at your local superstore. Semi-auto shotguns are great, and usually a joy to shoot, but there are issues that should be considered.
Semi-autos cost more, usually starting at double the cost of a pump and up. Some of the cheaper models have reliability and quality issues. Parts can and do get worn out more frequently. Some autoloaders will only feed reliably with certain kinds of ammunition, like full power loads.
Barring oddball rounds like the Aquila mini-shells, a pump action gun will cycle any load you feed it because of the manual loading process, including reduced recoil loads, light birdshot, and less lethal ammo with no projectile. Autoloaders rely on either recoil or gas to operate the action.
Each has it’s advantages, but both systems require more preventative maintenance and cleaning for reliable performance. What a prepper is looking for in the survival toolkit is something cheap, reliable, and versatile. And that is the 12 gauge pump action shotgun.
Questions
If you have questions, or need help choosing a gun, ask here and we will do our best to point you in the right direction.
Part 3
Part 3 of the Survival Shotgun series by mr. Smashy covers Choosing Your Gun
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I own a 12 ga. mossberg 500 pistol grip with an 181/2" barrel, Although it's not really for hunting game as much as home defense, I still have #8 bird shot loaded to go. I personally would not enjoy a blast from this behemoth,And any intruder on the receiving end would certainely not say Sir may I have another. I enjoy your site and there are many good tips in here.Thank you.
#8 is so small and is wayyyyy less than ideal for home defense.
Buy some buckshot
Hey you can have a mossberg 500, a high end remington tactical 870, or a junker charles daly pump, but if you don't have the right ammo you put yourself and your family at risk, bottom line. It's not a Behemoth unless you load it with the propper ammo.The 00buck or slug would be the best, but a couple sizes smaller would be acceptable. Law enforcement won't use anything less than #4 but usually stick with 00buck. the ARMY and MARINES use 00buck. My gun is a remington 870 police magnum 8 shot, it's the parkerized version of the marine magnum. I only have three loads for it: Remington slugs, rem. 00buck, and rem. 00buck Magnum 3". load it properly and sleep alittle more sound.
I own a Remington 870 full tactical model with a Spec Ops recoil reducing AR style stock and Surefire forend. The Spec Ops stock allows shooters of different statures and the recoil sensitive to fire the 12 ga more comfortably. I think the 12 ga is probably the single most important firearm a survival minded person can own. Game loads for hunting, buck for close defense, and slugs for intermediate to long ranges (surprisingly accurate through a smooth bore) make for a must have weapon. Affordable, adaptable, and available.
A "survival shotgun"…hmmm. I own the Remington model 10 12 gauge my grand dad used between 1910 and 1920 along the South Texas border to ward off bandits (Mexican and Texan) and other scoundrels that wandered through the ranch in pursuit of no good. Just a shotgun, pump, 30 inch barrel, full choke. Used if for geese too when they migrated south. Shot a Texas Ranger (woops) one afternoon who rode up to the ranch drunk on his horse shooting his gun at a couple of my grand dad's vaqueros. Blasted the idiot off his horse, dug a hole and planted him. So much for the Texas Rangers. But it was just a shotgun. Didn't have the word "survival" or "tactical" or any of that nonsense attached to it. Do you get my drift? Grand dad finally retired the gun after Mexico settled down and took to his Winchester 1903 .22 auto to shoot everything from javelina, deer, coyotes, rattlesnakes, and whatever else nasty came along. I have that rifle too in my vault. Funny how those old timers got along just fine without ever knowing they didn't own "tactical" or "survival" guns. Imagine that.
Fantastic, what an ideal post. We kinda do have a tendency to get hung up on titles huh?
I have a couple of 870's and an 1100 that are just shotguns. I'm suposin' I can use them for survival stuff too tho huh.
keep the ignorance to a minimum, please. Some people are trying to learn and some of us are trying to teach them. An example for you, try to navigate corners with pappys 30" barrel around a corner in a dark house and you will fall victim to a gun grab and probably catch bullet in the face or abdomen, off course you'll be dead while the intrudder rapes your loved ones. As I will state I tell people to buy the best they can afford, and make due. If your grandfathers shotgun is all you have make due I hope no harm befalls you. But there are much better and safer options for people out there.
I would prefer a Winchester 1300HD 8 rd.+1. This weapon is well used around the world, even though it is not manufactured any longer. But, by adding a stock selve to the weapon of 5 or 6 rds. your firing capacity is larger. Also by adding the same seleve to your arms one ea. you now have 10-12 rds. extra. , plus bandoliers of 50 rds. now you are set to defend. I also use 40 cal. hand gun, it has a little more punch w/5 extra clips.
Ease of finding replacement parts, common availability of ammunition, and simple reliability led me to my purchase of a Mossberg 500A with an 18 1/2 inch barrel and 7 round capacity.Being modular I added a forward pistol grip, tactical stock (solid to shoulder w/ pistol grip) and
a “Side Saddle” 6 round carrier on side opposite the ejector. I’ve experimented with the different setups of pistol grips and stocks, and found this works best for me. Oh, yeah I should clarify thaat this is my personal protection firearm, but use a bolt-action SMLE and bolt action .410 Savage for putting food on the table. Personal survival is all about personal preference though, so don’t be afraid of investing money into your own protection. I have, and I feel great about it. And don’t let people try to brow beat you into thinking only criminals own guns. Those people are going to be the ones wanting to follow you and freeload off your well stocked supplies when TSHTF.
I've wondered why survival to a lot of guys means defending the kin folk against mutant zombie bickers or some other fantasy involving heroic stands against incredible odds. It's I suppose nice to have 8 rounds you can jack through but it's the first one that counts. It's also real important to have it kind of like nice and handy rather than having a safe queen. My go to gun is a H&R 12 ga. single, 3" #4 in the spout and a few more on the stock. Real handy with that gun. Keep it in the kitchen closet. Got another at the cabin with a "survival" stock. It's full of survival goodies and may be a good idea. Not real sure about that yet. Still with the sling it goes real fine with a pack tramping through the woods. It's light enough that don't know it's there, unlike those street sweepers mentioned above. Cps might like those, but they got to look tough and important and don't have to walk/trot/run more than 100' in any given year.
Anyway, when the bear's in the garage, my trusty little single is what gets pointed at it. It is also what I'd chose as perfect survival gun. As far as the MZB are concerned, I figure I'd hear/smell then a long way off and go the other way (always did like Tunnel in the Sky by Bob Heinlein).
I've wondered why survival to a lot of guys means defending the kin folk against mutant zombie bickers or some other fantasy involving heroic stands against incredible odds. It's I suppose nice to have 8 rounds you can jack through but it's the first one that counts. It's also real important to have it kind of like nice and handy rather than having a safe queen. My go to gun is a H&R 12 ga. single, 3" #4 in the spout and a few more on the stock. Real handy with that gun. Keep it in the kitchen closet. Got another at the cabin with a "survival" stock. It's full of survival goodies and may be a good idea. Not real sure about that yet. Still with the sling it goes real fine with a pack tramping through the woods. It's light enough that don't know it's there, unlike those street sweepers mentioned above. Cps might like those, but they got to look tough and important and don't have to walk/trot/run more than 100' in any given year.
Anyway, when the bear's in the garage, my trusty little single is what gets pointed at it. It is also what I'd chose as perfect survival gun. As far as the MZB are concerned, I figure I'd hear/smell then a long way off and go the other way (always did like Tunnel in the Sky by Bob Heinlein).
I am looking at getting a remington 870 aow with a 14 in barrel with the tax stamp and everything legal just so there is no confusion. What do you guys think about that? I read all the posts here and sounds like a very knowledgeable group of folks any adivse you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated
My second post – but it’s very quiet here …… hope some of you guys are still reading from time-2-time.
This has been very interesting – both the technical article and the commentary.
I don’t want to throw any cold water on anyone’s ideas, but in my “cut-lunch-commando” days of National Military Service in the land of Oz (Downunder), I was used as a “Range Safety Officer” because of my supposed expert explosives knowledge and the clearest memory is of the “hero” types who tended to crack when it got “real” or realistic.
I lost count of the number of guys who dropped grenades on the training mound when they heard the fuse ignite. (They thought they were dummies).
So, my thoughts are that at the end of the day, in a real situation, things can be very different.
I’ve never been shot at, but I do know it would make a helluva difference if you knew the target could shoot back. Don’t think there would be many deer hunters if the deer were armed!
The shotgun therefore, in my humble opinion, would have to be the best all round choice.
Much harder to miss.
Much less to go wrong.
Much easier to service.
Easier to make your own powder and shot.
AND much more scary if you had to confront one.
Cheers from Oz!
Agree with everything except the "harder to miss". At close combat ranges the pattern is somewhere between 2 and 3.5 inches. A pattern that tight can easily miss at oh-dark-thirty when fine motor skills no longer exist. You are quite right that "things can be very different". When lead is going BOTH ways the attention is certainly more 'focused' shall we say and a miss is much more probable, especially if someone has bought into the "scatter gun that takes out the entire wall" nonsense. thanks for the comments.
The only gun I currently own is a 12 gauge. My grandfather bought it for me as a 12th birthday present. I absolutely love the thing, very simple no extras gun. And I don’t think that the armed prowler that my mom put a round of buckshot in with it cared that it was ‘just a plain old hunting gun’.
Maybe I’m just sentimental.
I have a rather sentimental attachment to things that work well. You have a weapon that worked as needed, when needed. You can't ask more than that from anything. Same reason I'm sentimental about the Colt 1911 and don't much care for the M16 platform. I trust what has worked and, in the world of firearms, I rarely, if ever, give a second chance to what did not work. Congratulations on owning a fine weapon.
Recently upgraded my Mossberg 500 to 7+1 and am looking at a collapsible stock (shock asorbing). My major concern is California’s “menacing” restrictions. The goal being not being in jail when TSHTF. The thread had a mention of a shock absorbing stock is intreicing but not if it gets me charged with a felony and disarms me.
Other then that the upgrade has given me a shotty with a 20″ barrel and the 00 buck pattern that is better. (tighter a yard or two further out)
Sounds like a lot of good posts, i love my 20 ga mossy. I bought it in the 80's with a pistol grip, but since i have put on a full stock, all i'm going to add is an inexpensive tack lite. Hopefully i will only have to shoot the intruder with the light. I like the 20 ga. 25% less energy then the 12 ga. but 50- 60% less recoil. No matter what shot gun you have it's a good grab in a bad situation…
You're a dick for that.
Good post! I have a question though. I haven't used shotguns all that much, last time I believe was 4 or 5 years ago; Should I go with a 20 gauge or a 12 gauge? I can easily handle recoil from a 20 gauge, but I'm concerned with the 12 gauge recoil, It only takes 2 or 3 shots before I'm sore from shooting it. Should I opt to buy a 12 gauge and just practice with it to toughen me up or should I stick with 20 gauge? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
P.S. If it helps at all, I'm more worried about the amount of time I'd have to use it if SHTF. I'd rather be prepared to protect my own with a 20 gauge then thinking I'm safe with a 12 gauge and using it more than I thought.
Guest,
In my not so humble opinion you answered your own question with "…but I'm concerned with the 12 gauge recoil…". You want a weapon you are absolutely comfortable with if you are going to be playing "you bet your life" with it. Inside of 50 feet or so, without instruments or the Coroner telling you, you'd be hard pressed to tell if a BG had gotten hit by a 12 or a 20. If you are recoil sensitive (I'm getting that way as I age; if I had it to do again, I'd have 20's) the 12 could lead to you flinching and a miss while a 20 would get a hit. YOU CAN NOT MISS FAST ENOUGH OR WITH A BIG ENOUGH GUN TO WIN A GUN FIGHT! Only hits count. If you don't trust a gun, don't think it is reliable, don't like to shoot it, heck, if you just don't like it period, get rid of it and get something you are comfortable with. There are no prizes for shooting the biggest cannon. There are only prizes for staying alive.
A 20 (or a .410 for that matter) will feed a family, stop a rabid animal, repel an intruder. So will a 12. Get the one you will practice with and can consistently shoot well. Anything else is a waste of money and could cost you your life or the lives of your loved ones. There is nothing on this planet that a 12 GA will stop/kill that a 20 GA will not also stop/kill. Out at 50 to 100 yards, there may be some differences that are noticeable against hard targets, but in close, nothing to be concerned with. Besides that, if you don't get used to the greater recoil, then what? Ammo is more readily available for the 12 than the 20 perhaps but both are available and relatively cheap so I don't think that is a deal breaker.
As I said, just my not so humble opinion, but in this case, I'm very right!
How about the Kel-Tec KSG:
"The KSG weighs 6.9lbs and is as compact as legally possible with a 26.1" overall length and an 18.5" cylinder bore barrel. Even with this compact size, the internal dual tube magazines hold an impressive 6 rounds of 12 gage 3" shells each, for a total capacity of 6+6+1 (7 per tube if using 2-3/4" shells). "
http://www.keltecweapons.com/news/preview-kel-tec…
or stack it (1)#8, (3) 00 buck, (2) slugs
I've said elsewhere and will say here; if you are faced with MZB hordes unless you have full auto, belt fed (think M2 or M60) you loose.The most reliable gun in the world is a single shot – a double is just two singles on one stock (part of why I like them so much) and there is NO second shot as fast as from a double which is part of why double rifles are/were so popular with professional hunters. It is also hard for a DA to argue that your single is a "man killing super weapon".
They got along just fine with donkeys, too, before cars.
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