Mossberg has taken a page from Stoeger’s ‘Double Defense’ playbook with their ‘Thunder Ranch’ edition of the HS2 over-under shotgun. Whatever influence Clint Smith actually had on this design is unknown, but whoever designed it had a great idea when they ditched the automatic safety that plagues most double-barrels . . .
That’s right: when you close the barrels the gun is instantly ready to fire, without any fumbling with the safety button. You can select which barrel fires first, but it won’t make a difference since both tubes are cylinder-bored for speedy pattern dispersion.
It’s got extractors (not ejectors), two muzzle-mounted side rails for lights and lasers (or bayonets, Joe), a fiber-optic front sight and a Picatinny rail scope mount that serves double duty as a rear sight notch.
MSRP: $549.
I have one. Its a great shottie. In a home defence situation my fn45 with blinding light does the job, but the shotgun is always ready. It and its stogger brother the double defence. The wife loves these things
I use this double for coyotes and have had excellent results up to about 40yds using a #2 shot . I also do some trapping in the winter and it fits my pack fine and is not a chore to hump through the snow. I have a automatic 12 and for winter use or for that matter home defense I would use the Maverick. You think a BG is going to stick around with a 12 gauge blasting away ? The noise alone will have him/her leave a brown trail .
“Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014”, they say? Sounds more like “Leave No Special Interest Behind Act of 2014.”
There are plenty of markets outside the US where pumps are banned…Australia for one. These weapons are viable alternatives for markets such as these. Sure id prefer a pump but at the end of day id rather two rounds of 00 buck heading down range in quick succession than none at all.
This gun is perfect for my 70 year old girl friend. I have a ton of guns (rifles, pistols (semi-autos and revolvers), shotguns, black powder, CF & RF) and a shooting range on my property. I reclaim all my lead for recasting. I do a ton of reloading. My 70 year old girl friend has shot all of my guns. Together, we put tens of thousands of rounds down range every year. She prefers the Ruger LCR (which she’s very proficient with) and this shotgun. Both have an extremely easy manual of arms (simple to operate), which she really, really likes. Ya just load m’ and shoot. No safeties, or hammers. Nothing to fumble with. Just pull the trigger and they goes – BANG – every time. Sure, I prefer my pump shotguns for home defense (and my Ruger GP100 over my autos for home defense), but this single trigger, double barrel shotgun definitely fills a niche. Reliability, reliability, reliability.
Great to keep behind the seat of the truck !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!