Mossberg 500......

By pistol grip, do you mean pistol grip only? If so, do yourself, your kids and your wrist a favor and get a regular stock. Otherwise it is very suitable for HD, as is the 870 from Remington

Got mine at Walmart for $217 then got the 18" barrel at Cabela's for $80 with a $10 off coupon------got the whole set up for less than $300 before sales tax.

+1 to what oneounceload said.

Don't buy the gun if it has just a pistol grip. A pistol grip stock is great, but a pistol grip alone on a shotgun is hollywood. It is not what you want to protect your family.

The Mossberg 500 is a great shotgun.... tough, reliable and reasonably priced. Get one with a full stock and you will be all set.

If you're on a budget, pick up a Maverick 88 at Academy. You should be able to get one for under $200 OTD, and that will leave you plenty of money for shells for practice.

I would have no issues trusting my life or the life of my loved ones to my 500, and it sits by my bed every night (note, I have no "loved ones" yet, but when I do, you better believe my 500 will be standing guard).

I liked the 500 A so much, I bought a second one, in .410 just as a bedside gun.

I too bought from Bud's, I couldn't beat their price. They had it at my FFL in 3 days, and they keep FFL's on file, so I didn't even have to send the license info.

A pistol grip stock is great

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Actually, on a Mossberg, "great" may be an overstatement. The safety is up on top of the receiver, so it is extremely hard, if not impossible, to engage or disengage it with your hand in a firing grip. The Remingtons don't have that issue with safety down next to the trigger.

I'm not a fan of pistol grip stocks anyway, and I do quite like my Mossberg.

Should be able to find a rem.870 for very close to the price of a moss.500.870 is a better made weapon imo (I own both)For home defence,REAL hard to beat a youth model 870 20ga.imo.

Actually, on a Mossberg, "great" may be an overstatement. The safety is up on top of the receiver, so it is extremely hard, if not impossible, to engage or disengage it with your hand in a firing grip. The Remingtons don't have that issue with safety down next to the trigger.

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+1 on this. I was going to get a pistol grip with a buttstock for mine until I realized that the safety would be impossible to work. I like the standard stock just fine however and the 500 is a great gun.

One of mine has served the family well since 1975....I have 3 altogether,..and plan on another soon,....look around for prices. Pistol grip,...meh,...I have a standard 500 pumps,..wood furniture. $ 228 from wally world...I'd look around...

I agree with Sam1911, the safety on the top is a problem along with the fact that the safety switch is plastic and has had issues in the past. A metal safety switch up-grade is available for retro-fit and is an easy job to install. I have a Maverick 88 with full stock and 18" barrel for HD the safety button is on the trigger guard, and it has served me well for 12 years. Picked a a 26" barrel at a gun show and use it as a loaner when a friend comes over and wants to go hunting or trap shooting. I like the full stock for HD. I can shoot from the shoulder, from the hip, or butt stroke the SOB if I need to!

I have the wooden furniture variety and it's one tough little shottie. My barrel is 18 1/2 inches and if I don't let the skeet get out too far I can even shoot skeet with it.

Would I use it? Of course.

The safety is the only sticking point for me, too. It's hard to engage, but really not that hard to disengage. 8)

If it's pistol grip only don't buy it as a first shotgun or a home defense gun. If it's just a gun to play with thats different. I think theres 2 most popular shotguns ever and 1 is a mossberg 500. I have a couple and can't complain.

I disagree very strongly with SAM; I find the Mossberg safety tang to be the ultimately "usere friendly" safety switch, much, much more desirable than the more-common 'cross bolt' safety. Of course, you can do a search of Mossie vs. Rem. and find a plethora of similar arguments, but I don't think you can ever beat the Mossie safety position, or ease of actuation, IMHO...

dacavasi said:

I disagree very strongly with SAM; I find the Mossberg safety tang to be the ultimately "usere friendly" safety switch, much, much more desirable than the more-common 'cross bolt' safety. Of course, you can do a search of Mossie vs. Rem. and find a plethora of similar arguments, but I don't think you can ever beat the Mossie safety position, or ease of actuation, IMHO...

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Can you explan how it is so easy to disengage the Mossberg safety with your hand on a pistol grip stock? Or, maybe you misread him and thought he was talking about a regular stock.

I disagree very strongly with SAM

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I think perhaps you misread me. I also prefer the Mossberg safety switch!

I meant only that it is lousy to add a pistol grip to a shotgun of that design.

That doesn't bother me, though, as I don't care for a pistol grip on most any shotgun.

I played around with a "PGO" [pistol grip only] setup on my Maverick 88 HomeLand Security shotgun...ONCE!

that was how I got to be known as "Rocky Raccoon" among my Shooting budds for a couple of weeks.....seems we were trying out the PGO setup just for grins with some fairly light #8 shot loads. we were doing OK with it at close range, then I put in one of my HD loads...3"Mag #4 buckshot...Budd tossed one of those dangerous "Clays", and i swung up the Mav 88 like a full stock skeet gun BOOOM!

"OW! QUIT IT!"....severely mooshed (but not broken) nose, fat lips, and a matched pair of "Shiners".

PGO setup on my HomeLand Security shotgun? ? ? Not now, not ever

Now, as to durability/reliability...the Mossberg 500 will probably outlast you grand-children

Before I jumped on the bandwagon, I went to Bud's web site and looked for a Mossy 500 with an extended mag tube for $324. I didn't find one, but I did find one for $326 so maybe yours went up 2 bucks.
The one shown has both a synthetic stock and an interchangeable pistol grip.
Looks like the best of both worlds to me. And a good buy.

Nothing seems to incite more passion on this forum than a pistol grip on a shotgun. You could say, "I found a rusty shotgun made in Tibet." and everyone would say, "That's really cool, enjoy." But if you add, "Oh, and it has a pistol grip", you'll get a hundred responses of, "Are you crazy? Throw that thing away."
I suspect the great majority of people who claim to hate the P/G have never even shot one, and certainly would never consider owning one.

But I have two. They'd be lousy for hunting or skeet, but I find them handy for what I use them. They are very compact, store easily, and at 15' or less could be very devastating.

I'd say get the Mossberg, and enjoy.
By the way, I don't find the safety on the Mossberg that odd. It's in plain sight, easy to push to shoot. If the plastic button bothers you, a metal replacement is available. I find the safety on the Remington hard to feel and in an awkward place. But that's probably because I don't practice with the Remington nor do I own one. (and the safety is one of the reasons).

.Budd tossed one of those dangerous "Clays", and i swung up the Mav 88 like a full stock skeet gun BOOOM!
"OW! QUIT IT!"....severely mooshed (but not broken) nose, fat lips, and a matched pair of "Shiners".
PGO setup on my HomeLand Security shotgun? ? ? Not now, not ever

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Ha, that's funny. I feel your pain.
However, you were doing it wrong, so why blame the gun? If you hold your fully stocked 12 ga. against your testicles, you'll regret that too!
Sorry, I'm still laughing.

I suspect the great majority of people who claim to hate the P/G have never even shot one, and certainly would never consider owning one.

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That certainly may be true of the general population, but change the terms to "a great majority of the people here in the Shotgun forum at THR ..." and it certainly isn't true.

When I was young decades ago, I bought into the "cool" factor of the PGO Mossberg Cruiser. After one session, the PGO came off in a drawer, and a standard synthetic stock was put on and has remained this way for 30 years.

There's THIS type of pistol grip:


And this type of pistol grip:


And then there's this type:


just to avoid any confusion

For me it was many many range sessions with my Persuader model. We shot skeet with it, we shot slugs with it (Brenneke 3"s too. Not that big a deal, really.), lots of buckshot.

Then, when I started using it in timed shoots and comparing my results with others, a full, traditional stock (though synthetic) was immediately procured and my results improved greatly.

I had a great time blasting many cases of shells through it PGO style, and did "well" with it that way. It never hurt me. Not once. Not with 3" buck or slugs. It was fun! But I've got more riding on that gun now than putting a grin on my face, so I use a full stock.

yeah, guns and more...i sort of very vaguely remember my shooting budds laughing too, but i couldn't hear them very well over the ahhhhhh not so muffled curses, name calling, ancestry tracing and blood spitting........

I've owned 2 500's with never a problem with either one. The last one was a toss up between it and the 870. I chose the 500 because it was for defense and not hunting.

Would I buy another Mossberg 500? Yes, in a heartbeat.

Mossberg 500 was the first gun I ever owned. Very solid and dependable. No frills basic shotgun for a fair price.

For me it was many many range sessions with my Persuader model. We shot skeet with it, we shot slugs with it (Brenneke 3"s too. Not that big a deal, really.), lots of buckshot.

Then, when I started using it in timed shoots and comparing my results with others, a full, traditional stock (though synthetic) was immediately procured and my results improved greatly.

I had a great time blasting many cases of shells through it PGO style, and did "well" with it that way. It never hurt me. Not once. Not with 3" buck or slugs. It was fun! But I've got more riding on that gun now than putting a grin on my face, so I use a full stock.

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Very well said. I respect your decision.