Home Security Lab

Which is a better backup shotgun?

I’ve been looking at the remington 870 Express Synthetic 7round shotgun and the SPR220 Side-By-Side which would be better for home security and backup while deer hunting with wild hogs and coyotes around. I’ve had a few coyotes to charge and a bolt action rifle and scope take to long to get up so I’ve been carrying a single shot 12 gauge shotgun w/ a barrel cutdown to 18 1/2 ” and I feel I need more shots. The double looks cool but the pump holds more rounds and I’m 18 so dont suggest any handguns

Since you mentioned home security, then 870 will be a far better choice than any SxS double. The sound of a round chambering in any pump action shotgun is very intimidating. The sound alone will make a very clear statement. You will know what it is immediately even if you have never seen a firearm before.

As for hunting, a pump action is only a little tiny bit slower than a double gun but it will not be slow enough to make a very noticeable difference. Actually, I don’t feel that I’m any slower with a pump action when shooting beside a double gun or a semi-auto. By the time I recovered from recoil, there’s always another round already in the chamber and ready to fire. It doesn’t affect my aiming nor will it slow me down.

I do prefer hunting with a double gun though. With a double gun in hand, I always cradle the gun with action open. This way, I could just close the action, shoulder the gun and fire when needed. An open action eliminated the need to take off the safety and this alone really made a huge difference for me. The safety button always seemed to get a lot smaller when you really need to get that shot off in that split second. Of course you could carry a pump gun with the action open too. The only problem with this is that the round might fell off without you even knowing.

As for so called “back-up” secondary arm, I highly recommend that you have someone else holding that gun for you. Don’t hunt alone when you have a choice. When you must hunt alone, your “primary” weapon could take care of most if not all problems. Hogs and coyotes usually won’t bother you unless you bother them first. The problems coyotes = they scared off my prey or they ran away too fast before I could pull the trigger. lol I’ve never been charged by hogs before. But according to all the stories I was told, I’ve never heard of anyone being able to get a 3rd shot off. Out of the 5 hog charging stories, only 1 was able to fire a 2nd shot and that guy was very handy with a lever gun. That 2nd shot didn’t count anyway because it didn’t hit the target; it flew over the pig. So, don’t hunt alone whenever that game could fight back.

PS: If hogs charge, get behind a tree if possible. If trees aren’t around, toss the gun and grab a blade. Machete is a good choice.

PPS: Out of the five pig charging stories, only that guy who managed to fire the 2nd shot got hurt. Both he and his guide were too confident in his shooting skills and the pork got too close. His guide hacked the pig up with a machete.

SPECIAL PURPOSE SHOTGUN – 500 hs 410 HOME SECURITY in slowmo