For Those Who Live in an Urban or Suburban environ, THIS is for YOU!

A shotgun gives one a certain piece of mind when outnumbered or when one really wants, no NEEDS, to bring the hurt on bad actors.  It's kinda why the po-po still carry them in their cruisers along with their M4's.  If it's good enough for them, wellllllllll, I'm thinkin' it's good enough for us, in the right application.  

Don't get me wrong; I still have my 'go to' AR, pistol, and semi-precision SART (Surgical A$$hole Removal Tool).  The shotgun rounds things out nicely, though.

The picture below is an inertia driven Stoeger M3000 Defense Freedom Series 12 Gauge 'Up Close and Personal' Mutant Raider Deterrent.  I'm likin' it!  

It's got a pretty nice pedigree, too!  STOEGER is owned by Benelli, which is owned by Beretta.  This particular model is the closest thing you can get to a Benelli M4 without paying for the Benelli name.  I've seen them as low as $599, if you watch for sales.  I saw a Benelli M4 just a week ago on sale for $1,800!  Some might not blink at that price, but I not only blink, I start to get vertigo....I digress.  Various reviews show the STOEGER M3000 in all configurations to be very, very reliable, and the inertia recoil system (no longer exclusive to Benelli due to patent expiration) means it stays very clean as it does not, 'crap where it eats,' like a gas gun does. It comes with a fixed cylinder choke because the barrel is 18.5 inches and it's designed for 'crowd' control.  That's why it's a 7+1 magazine tube, and if you Ghost Load it, you can get another round in it safely, giving you a total of NINE rounds!  You could also buy another mag tube extension (I've seen some guys' STOEGERS who've done that), which if you had the 9 round, would give you a total of 11 (1 ghost loaded).  That's a LOT of 00 Buck or Slugs!  Personally, though, I think the addition of a barrel clamp with a rail to mount a light is a good option, should you decide you gotta have one.

Here's a nice video review of the STOEGER model pictured above.  It's over 30 minutes, and it's aimed at the tactical shooter, but it really lets you know what you're buying.  

One thing Benelli does state unequivocally about it's inertia driven system:  NO MAINTENANCE REQUIRED!  All the fouling that ends up, in say, a Remington 1100/1187 or other semi-auto gas gun's chamber goes out the barrel.  That's a pretty tall claim, but they stick by it, so if the STOEGER is essentially the same system as the Benelli (and it is), it stands to reason that a subsidiary of the parent company would have the same operating system.  I'll be finding out soon.

I am also impressed that the STOEGER takes Benelli parts, and there are companies out there to turn your M3K into a 'John Wick' version, and still be well under the base price of the Benelli M4.  Speaking of 'John Wick,' here's the man himself training on a Benelli.  You DO know that Mr. Reeves can run the guns he uses in his movies, right?  He's a shooter, not a poser, when it comes to trigger depression.

Directly above is one of the hunting versions; this one comes with, I believe, 3 chokes, which makes it very versatile.  From what I understand, a lot of guys turn the above model into a '3 Gun' competition model.  One of the companies that does it at reasonable rates (in my mind, anyway) is called, 'MOA' (Mission of Accuracy).  They have AR upgraded parts as well, but more shotgun than anything, and it's focused on the STOEGER line, and fixes little things like larger bolt handles and releases, magazine tube extensions and the like.  PS - I know of one guy who's used them and he's waaaaay satisfied.  I, on the other hand, have not purchased a thing from these guys.  Nor do I get any slack for writing good things, either.  So, do your research.

Let me know your experience with the STOEGER or Benelli M4 in the comments.