Balrog
Senior Member
I decided recently to switch my home safety shotgun from a Remington 870 which I have used for years to a semi automatic. As I have gotten older, I find my ability to cycle the pump and get back on target quickly has lessened. I have also always kinda been concerned that under stress I might short stroke the pump and end up with an empty chamber. These things, along with just a general desire for a new gun, led me to begin looking at semi auto shotguns set up for home defense.
I considered several, including the Benelli M4, a Remington 1100 tactical model, a Beretta 1301 (I think that was the model) and the Mossberg 930 SPX.
I liked the Benelli, but it was pretty costly. Remington 1100 I looked at had the charging handle on the bolt break off when the gun store owner pulled it back. The Beretta was a nice gun and I considered it. After reading positive reviews of the Mossberg 930 SPX, and watching Jerry Miculek on YouTube, it looked like it had the features I wanted and was also the most affordable.
I considered the pistol grip model, but found the ability to access the tang mounted safety was clumsy and you had to move your shooting hand from the firing position to switch the safety off. I didn't like that, though it did feel good on the shoulder. I ended up getting the standard stock because it was easier to get the safety on and off.
I looked at the 22" Jerry Miculek model. It was a nice gun, but I felt like the barrel was too long for home safety, and with the extended magazine fully loaded, I found it to be too heavy on the muzzle end.
I also considered whether to get ghost ring sights or just a bead front site. I liked both. To some degree I liked the bead better because I felt the sight picture was a bit cleaner. But I also liked the red fiberoptic sigh on the ghost ring set up. I ended up deciding on ghost ring sights, but think I would have been just as happy with a bead.
So the gun I ended up with was the Mossberg 930 SPX, 18.5" barrel, standard stock, ghost rings, which holds 7+1 2 3/4" shells.
Took it out in the back yard a few days ago and put it through initial firing I fired a total of 200 rounds, consisting of Winchester 00 Buck, Remington 00 Buck, Remington #1 Buck, and Federal #4 Buck. I had no stoppages of any kind, and it would spit spent shells out as fast as me and my daughter could pull the trigger and get back on target. We shot all rounds at 60', which is the longest distance possible inside my house. All ammo shot to point of aim at 60 feet, with the center of all patterns being at center of mass of the silhouette target, no sight adjustments needed.
All shot from any of the rounds pattern consistently within the outline of the silhouette target at 60 feet, with no pellets falling outside the silhouette.
Recoil was amazingly light. I shot about 125 of the rounds and daughter shot about 75. We both felt this was an amazingly light recoiling 12 gauge.
The only complaint I can make about it is that my daughter found the length of pull to be too long. She is used to shooting a Benelli with a 13" LOP. The 930 SPX has a LOP of 14". It was OK for me but she has shorter arms.
I took it apart today and gave it a good cleaning. It is now loaded and ready with 8 rounds of Remington #1 Buckshot.
Overall I was very happy with this excellent shotgun and based on the limited shooting above, would recommend anyone considering a home safety gun take a look at it.
I considered several, including the Benelli M4, a Remington 1100 tactical model, a Beretta 1301 (I think that was the model) and the Mossberg 930 SPX.
I liked the Benelli, but it was pretty costly. Remington 1100 I looked at had the charging handle on the bolt break off when the gun store owner pulled it back. The Beretta was a nice gun and I considered it. After reading positive reviews of the Mossberg 930 SPX, and watching Jerry Miculek on YouTube, it looked like it had the features I wanted and was also the most affordable.
I considered the pistol grip model, but found the ability to access the tang mounted safety was clumsy and you had to move your shooting hand from the firing position to switch the safety off. I didn't like that, though it did feel good on the shoulder. I ended up getting the standard stock because it was easier to get the safety on and off.
I looked at the 22" Jerry Miculek model. It was a nice gun, but I felt like the barrel was too long for home safety, and with the extended magazine fully loaded, I found it to be too heavy on the muzzle end.
I also considered whether to get ghost ring sights or just a bead front site. I liked both. To some degree I liked the bead better because I felt the sight picture was a bit cleaner. But I also liked the red fiberoptic sigh on the ghost ring set up. I ended up deciding on ghost ring sights, but think I would have been just as happy with a bead.
So the gun I ended up with was the Mossberg 930 SPX, 18.5" barrel, standard stock, ghost rings, which holds 7+1 2 3/4" shells.
Took it out in the back yard a few days ago and put it through initial firing I fired a total of 200 rounds, consisting of Winchester 00 Buck, Remington 00 Buck, Remington #1 Buck, and Federal #4 Buck. I had no stoppages of any kind, and it would spit spent shells out as fast as me and my daughter could pull the trigger and get back on target. We shot all rounds at 60', which is the longest distance possible inside my house. All ammo shot to point of aim at 60 feet, with the center of all patterns being at center of mass of the silhouette target, no sight adjustments needed.
All shot from any of the rounds pattern consistently within the outline of the silhouette target at 60 feet, with no pellets falling outside the silhouette.
Recoil was amazingly light. I shot about 125 of the rounds and daughter shot about 75. We both felt this was an amazingly light recoiling 12 gauge.
The only complaint I can make about it is that my daughter found the length of pull to be too long. She is used to shooting a Benelli with a 13" LOP. The 930 SPX has a LOP of 14". It was OK for me but she has shorter arms.
I took it apart today and gave it a good cleaning. It is now loaded and ready with 8 rounds of Remington #1 Buckshot.
Overall I was very happy with this excellent shotgun and based on the limited shooting above, would recommend anyone considering a home safety gun take a look at it.
