# Pump action design Qs



## Liko81 (Nov 21, 2007)

Now that, after casually looking for a plinker handgun, I own a 9mm, I am now casually looking for an HD shotgun. I'll probably not buy one in the near future, and may never get one, but I've been told many times there quite simply is no other alternative if you're serious about home defense, and I have to agree; in terms of damage dealt per shot, Sparky the BG will find it hard to continue his criminal activities after the first hit, and racking a shotgun slide is a universally-known signal that S will HTF in the immediate future.

The three models readily available in a defense (18" barrel) shotgun are the H&R (6 + 1, standard integrated grip stock, $150), the Mossberg Persuader (comes with integrated and handgun grip stocks, 6+1, $250), and the Remington 870 (7+1, integrated grip, $380).

Now to my actual question. A guy at the counter while I was looking said that the Remington pump action is a great, solid mechanism, but has a fatal (in defense situations) flaw: The action is highly dependent on the last 3/4" at the back of its rack to eject the spent shell, and if short-shacked it WILL jam because the next shell is readied for feeding before the previous one is out, so the action will try to mash the spent AND unspent shells into the chamber. If this is true and is a real problem, a Remington action doesn't sound like something I want to risk in a defense situation. For those of you who own Remington-action shotguns (the H&R appears to be a Remington copy), has this ever been a problem for you? For those with a Mossberg or other pump action, does that action avoid Remington's flaw? If so, how? Do those actions have any of their own problems?


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