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Shotguns have more than earned their place in your preparedness armory. They’re extremely versatile and the utilitarian benefits that they provide are hard to beat with any other firearm platform. However, I did make some changes to my Mossberg 500 to make it a little bit more friendly for self-defense. This shotgun started life off as a Mossberg 500 field/security combo, which means it's a 12 gauge pump action shotgun that came with an 18.5-inch security barrel as well as a 28-inch vented rib barrel. This gives me a lot of versatility and once I added some of the accessories I describe below on this shotgun, it became a lot more effective for defensive purposes while still being easily usable in a hunting role. Here are some ideas about what you can do with your Mossberg 500 to make it more home-defense-ready. This can also work for your Remington 870.
As I mentioned, this shotgun started life off as a field/security combo, which means that it originally came with a wood forend and buttstock. The 28-inch vent rib barrel is great for dove hunting or hunting pheasants or anything you might use it for in a hunting roll. The 18.5-inch barrel that I have installed now is much more capable of getting around corners or using in a tight space for home defense purposes. Barrel swapping on a Mossberg 500 is very easy to do, so it’s not a problem to switch back to a longer barrel to use this shotgun for hunting. I think a field/security combo is an excellent way to start out because it's really all you need in a 12 gauge shotgun.
Stock
One of the first things I did to upgrade this shotgun a little was added a Magpul SGA Adaptable stock. It gives me a couple of different pieces of utility. First, it allows you to attach a sling on the side of the stock, which I like because of how I like to carry the shotgun. Second, it allows you to adjust the length of pull thanks to integrated spacers in the buttstock. I find that very beneficial because now I can set the stock up perfectly for what I need based on my body type. It also has a butt pad that is squishy, really helps with recoil, and is very textured so it doesn’t slip off your shoulder. The aggressive texturing on the stock feels good on the hands too. I think the stock is an excellent upgrade. It makes the shotgun more comfortable to shoot and carry.
Tactical Light
I wanted a way to get a tactical light on this shotgun and there are a lot of different approaches you can take to accomplish that, but one of the best ways to do this is to get a Streamlight TL Racker Weapon Light. It replaces the forend on the shotgun and then positions a weapon-mounted light right underneath the magazine tube. What's nice about that is that this is very intuitive, very ergonomic, and the switch is just a large strip on both sides of the TL racker, so it doesn't matter where you push it. It will activate the light either side at any point of the activation switch. That makes it very intuitive to use, and easy to reach without having to search for switches or any other type of pressure device. It’s right where your hand's going to be anyway. It puts out 1,000 lumens, so it's very bright. It also has a hand strap, which is nice for just maintaining and securing the shotgun during firing, so you don’t slip off as easily. All in all, I like having this light. If you're going to have a shotgun set up for self-defense or home defense purposes, being able to identify a target in a low-light conditions is pretty important. You don't have to use it, but if you need it, you'll be glad you had it.
On my property, I might have some kind of nuisance outside at night or be dealing with an animal threat or who knows what else. I need to be able to see exactly what it is I'm looking at before I decide whether to take a shot. It’s one of the best upgrades I've made to this shotgun, in all honesty, because it really helps a lot when it comes to the ergonomics of the forend itself and the ability to activate a weapon light intuitively.
Sling Attachment
Earlier I was explaining that I like this stock quite a bit, especially because it allows me to attach a gun sling on the side of the shotgun. For that to work the way that you want it to, you must have another sling attachment point on the opposite side. What I found for that is the GG&G Front Quick Detach Sling Mount Adapter for the Mossberg 500. What's great about it is that it allows you to use a Quick Detach sling swivel, and now you have a second attachment point. You get to orient your sling very similarly to how you would use a sling on an AR-15. It also gives you the ability to have QD, so, if you need to take the sling off quickly, or if you need to just attach a different sling, you can now do that much more quickly. It interacts with the cap of the magazine tube and is very easy to install.
Shotshell Carrier
This is not the typical ammo carrier you see installed on a lot of shotguns out there. I’m using Esstac Shotgun Cards. These use a hook and loop-backed caddy that allows you to have, in this case, six additional shot shells attached right on the side of the receiver. You attach a hook and loop patch to the shotgun where you want to attach the card. You can then easily stick on shotshell cards, swap them out, remove them, etc. I prefer that over some of the standalone permanently installed carriers because of the ease and speed of swapping cards. With traditional shotshell carriers, you must load each individual shell into that shotshell carrier before it's ready to go. The cards can also be carried in pockets or even pouches made for AR-15 magazines quite easily.
In the video above, I demonstrate how I like to stage the shells with some right side up and others upside down to make loading into the magazine tube and receiver smoother, especially for emergency reloads.
Front Sight
Usually, the security barrels that come with these shotguns have a front bead site, which generally works well, but I wanted something a little bit easier to use, especially in low-light conditions. So, enter the Meprolight Tru-Dot Shotgun Front Bead Sight for the Mossberg 500. It has a 5-40 thread pitch. They have other versions that are for other shotgun models that have a different thread pitch, so make sure you get the right one for your shotgun. It’s an excellent way to get a sight on the gun that has a Tritium insert and allows you to see it in the dark. If I'm in a low-light situation and I can't necessarily use a light for whatever reason in the moment, I can still see my bead sight without having to broadcast my location. I like that quite a bit as a very simplistic upgrade to the security barrel, specifically because a lot of bad things happen at night, and we need to be able to see where we're shooting.
Receiver Rail
I've yet to commit to putting an optic on this shotgun because the bead site works well, and it keeps things very simple. However, I do have a Picatinny rail on the receiver, which would allow me to mount anything that's Picatinny-compatible. I can use that for mounting a red dot sight or a scope if I decide to. Any of the cheaper rails that you can add to a Mossberg 500, or a Remington 870 generally work well, and it allows you to have that versatility of deciding if you want to try an optic or just test different things out based on what you think you're going to use the gun for. So, I would suggest maybe just grabbing one because they're very inexpensive. The TRUGLO Scope Base Mounting Adapter would work well, for example. It's a simple upgrade that allows you to try out a lot of different things, such as a red dot sight if that works better for your eyes.
Sling
The only other non-factory addition to this shotgun is the sling. I’m using a generic two-point tactical sling that has an adjustment loop. If you prefer a simple, lower-cost option similar to the one I'm using, the Strike Industries S3 Lite Rifle Sling is a good choice. If you prefer something a little fancier with more quality-of-life features, a Magpul sling or Blue Force Gear sling would be a good choice. Whichever way you go, having a sling that's two-point and adjustable has made this shotgun a lot more usable for carrying it in the way I prefer to carry a self-defense firearm.
I'm not a huge shotgun person, but I do appreciate the utility of the platform. I'll always have a 12 gauge shotgun in my inventory, just because it's ubiquitous in the sense of what it can accomplish. Hopefully this has given you some things to consider. If you're thinking about upgrading your Mossberg 500 or even your Remington 870, this might be a good place to start.
--Magic Prepper
