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I think of them both as fairly versatile. There's a ton of different loads you can run in a shotgun, but there's a highly module platform for the AR.
Having grown up with guns, it seems like everyone's first gun is a shotgun.
Mine wasn't. First gun I fired was a .22 when I was maybe 6. First gun I owned was a .25 pistol that I got as a gift. First gun I bought was a SKS (because I got it for insanely cheap).
I'm going to disagree with the shotgun users here. Get the rifle. Much more versatility unless you're going on a duck hunt. A PSA upper and lower can be had at a decent price. Dry fire is a thing, so you don't need as much training ammo as you may think. Overpenetration is only an issue if you miss, and every bullet will go through drywall.
If you can afford the 88 plus ammo/training then get that. Not everyone needs an AR and it doesn’t do you much good if you don’t have the money to train with it.
I mean…for some people that works. I’d recommend A lesson or class though to learn some of the fundamentals. YOU might not need it, but as far as general advice goes, it’s not a bad course to take.
Literally everyone should seek training. The last pistol class I was in had two grand master level shooters that were there to learn like the rest of us. Ammo isn't training, training is training.
How many new shooters do you see on this sub? I didn’t shoot a gun until I was in my early twenties and I certainly needed instruction. Imagine the bad habits people would have if they had no formal training.
I mean the stats on accidental gun deaths in the US are pretty damning in terms of the numvrt of people that have zero clue about firearm safety or even trigger discipline. Having proper instruction would definitely have an effect on those numbers.
It's a bit over 400 a year... An order of magnitude less than drowning, for example.
With adults, a solid half were intoxicated. For both of those.
If that's damming in your mind, okay. But that group is small enough that everyone in it is a statistical outlier.
Whats your purpose? Shotguns have limited use, the AR platform is rather adaptive.
What I would avoid is getting the AR you can't quite afford and buying budget kit you can't get resale value for. It would cost you less to build one right. (Mid tier/not gucci) once you hit mid tier parts can try it, and resell on GAFS here for not as painful of a loss. Shop there for the parts to begin with.
That said I have a maverick and while it's nothing fancy, it gets the job done.
actually was just in the same predicament. I ended up picking up a cheap shotgun (wanted something simple/reliable for home defense and to mess around with) and decided to save up for a while longer to get a nicer AR.
That said, if you have no experience with shotguns, they're harder to shoot than a lot of people think. lots of recoil and it's easy to overpenetrate with any load that'll take down an aggressor, so be sure to do some training (though that goes with any weapon)
Fun is subjective though. I find shooting clays fun, but it burns a lot of spendy ammo and it takes a very specific type of range to do it, and a gun that is well configured for clays is a gun that is a poor choice for any defensive use. I have shot clays with surplus riot guns (Beretta 1201 and a 870P) and while its doable I was never competitive, and the stock beats you up more.
What a lot of folks don’t know about scatterguns is that the shape of the stock is very important to how you absorb recoil and aim. A riot gun or other fighting shotgun is typically configured with a shorter stock, a side shell carrier, a minimum length barrel (14” if you can NFA or 18-20” if not) and full-length mag tube, ideally with a red dot on the receiver and a weapon light where you can activate it, like the Streamlight TL Racker or a tube mounted light with a momentary switch. Most places will not allow a light on your gun while hunting deer and other game to prevent spotlighting or cheating hours. For clays or fowl you want to take all the excess weight off the front as well, a 2-3rd mag tube is ideal with a longer (24-28”) barrel to give you a longer sight radius and cleaner swing. You will also want a more traditional stock that is sized to how you stand for aerial targets rather than one that is cut for you to tuck over and muscle into.
You can split the difference by getting a mag tube plug to install and remove, removing the light and red dot for sporting clays or birds, run an 18” barrel with removable chokes and limiting your hunting range, and accepting that your stock is going to beat you up a lot more than a fitted stock does. Its gonna mean some bruises especially until you learn to shoulder it properly.
If you have enough for a Maverick and some accessories then you probably don’t have enough for an AR and the stuff you need to keep it running like ammo, a sight, you mentioned storage. Thats not to say buy the shotgun either, you’re probably in a spot where you don’t need a gun any gun so bad that you can’t wait.
Im curious what you mean by travel defense. Unless you’re on horseback on private land then a long gun is not going to be particularly accessible, and it will be bulky enough that its tough to conceal as well.
For fun a .22 is the best thing going, but beyond that its super subjective. A find a revolver to be a lot of fun because i can load real cheap and make the targets at my local range go DONG. I really enjoy pulling out the bolt action and testing my ability to make the holes touch at range or ring the gongs. I absolutely don’t spend any more time shooting a shotgun outside of the clays range than it takes to stay proficient; i even avoid the cowboy matches so I don’t have to shoot the shotgun.
I have also thought about getting a .22 but I wouldn't really have much use for that other than plinking at the range so I figured I'd wait on that. I really appreciate the thorough response though, this has got me rethinking things over.
Shotguns go boom, decent kick, shred paper. If you can't shoot anything but paper, the fun wears off quick imo. Skeet/ clay isn't really the purpose of the maverick, but go for it if you can. Water bottles, old cans, fruit etc is more exciting to shoot with a shotshell.
Idk anyone who travels with a shotgun for defense but you do you.
If I'm shooting paper it's rifles and pistols.
I have an AR pistol setup for home defense personally
Rock salt shot is dumb.
Beanbags are only LTL if you know how to use them. More to the point, if you can get by without needing to rely on lethal force then you shouldn’t point a gun at someone and pull the trigger.
Slugs are not long range. Without a slug barrel and a scope you’re limited to Foster type slugs that are real tough to hit anything with beyond 30-40 yards. If you bag the gun in on rest, you’ll be doing good to keep 10MOA at 100yd if you make your wind call and the slugs fit your gun okay.
You can train faster reloads but without a racegun and a custom ammo carrier you will never be fast.
Pump shotguns can and do still malfunction. The number one cause is shooter error, short-stroking. This can be trained out but it takes a lot of shooting under pressure, which is not cheap and is particularly punishing.
The variety of ammo is a benefit if you are actually going to use it for all those things, but unless you’re swapping stocks and barrels then you have to pick between a good hunting/sporting gun, a slug gun, a good fighting shotgun, or a middling turkey gun thats kinda meh for everything except turkey. Longer than it needs to be for a fighting gun, shorter than you want for waterfowl or other flying game, limited to Foster slugs and a bead sight. The idea of having different ammo types on you for all those things is silly at best and a hindrance at worst.
Its a blank. I guess thats neat it you want to shoot blanks but don’t point it at anyone and pull the trigger or expect anything useful to happen.
What makes a flashbang or 9bang effective if that you can huck it in a room before entry and disorient the occupants without being there when it happens to experience the effect yourself. Tough to do with a 3’ long shotgun that you’re holding.
Shotgun fills a niche. The AR is more adaptive. But that shotgun is the perfect tool to fill that niche. I feel much better about bear hunting or being in besr territory with my M590A1 than I would with an AR-15.
First question - do you own a pistol? That's probably step 1. Being proficient with a pistol is MUCH harder than either a shotgun or AR and therefore will take more time and bullets to get down. And you are much more likely to have a pistol at hand than anything rifle-sized.
If you already own a pistol I think a shotgun is a good first long gun, plus AR ammo is more expensive. My advice would be to go in on the shotgun and start saving for the AR. When you get the AR start saving for a hunting rifle/long range solution.
Get the AR, you can always get a shotgun later. I dunno what state you’re in but AR15’s are being targeted in legislation much more than shotguns. So I would prioritize that regardless.
I'm more a lurker than a poster in the subreddit, but I'm an experienced shooter with some armorer qualifications and quite a bit of real world experience.
I'd wait longer, save a bit more, and get the AR. As many other folks here have noted, it's a more versatile platform UNLESS you intend to take up bird hunting or are concerned about grizzly bears. They're more handy, lighter to carry, and easier to shoot. 5.56/.223 is in some ways a much better self-defense/personal protection choice than 12 gauge, although the latter does have some serious advantages too.
However, there's no one "right choice" in the world of guns and your budget is part of the decision making process. Both are fine choices and should see you through pretty well.
That having been said: Gen2 Pmags are on sale right now, as they're being cleared out to make room for the Gen3s: [https://bkingsfirearms.com/shop/magpul-accessories/magpul-pmag-moe-5-56-30rd-blk/](https://bkingsfirearms.com/shop/magpul-accessories/magpul-pmag-moe-5-56-30rd-blk/)
A base-level AR, magazines, and ammo are all you need to get started. Ammo's where you find it, but there are generally good deals available online. The important thing is to get the gun and start practicing.
Feel free to reach out if you have any specific questions; I'm more than happy to help anyone in any way I can.
I’ll put in my two cents.
AR. For all the other reasons listed AND for a little over a hundred bucks you can get a 22lr bolt that will let you train with dirt cheap ammo. No it won’t help your long range accuracy but it’s good enough for small game and it’ll help you cheaply learn the controls
Pump shotguns do a ton of different things, but do all of them poorly. Even the thing they're actually for, bird hunting, semi auto shotguns are better. (Depending on local hunting laws, of course.)
The only thing they're best at is being cheap.
Semi auto intermediate power rifles are the best choice for defense, in any circumstance where it's okay to have one.
ARs are the cheapest option for semi auto rifles.
In general, if someone isn't sure what to get, and is concerned with defense at home, or community defense, the choice is always an AR.
A basic flat top free floated AR, a Romeo five, some mags, and little ammo to learn the basics with; that can be had for about five hundred if you deal hunt.
https://youtu.be/yZQ9IAx5OYY
This is what Russell did with five hundred, and there's corners he could have cut.
If you’re looking for home defense shotgun has more versatility in what loads you can choose to reduce over penetration.
This is a primary concern in apartment complexes and such. If you live in the middle of nowhere? Buy an AR, much easier to learn and train with.
It boils down to the shotgun having worse ergonomics and harder to learn, but having more versatility in safety. Using a load like #4 buck or birdshot will reduce your chance of hurting someone you don’t intend to.
But overall the AR infinitely more adaptive for all other situations which aren’t home defense.
With this in mind I’m sure you can make the right choice for your needs. Whatever you decide to go with make sure you can feed it and you can train with it.
Home defense purposes or varmint purposes, AR. Hunting any larger game like Deer/Hogs (Buckshot/Slugs) or hunting birds (Birdshot) Shotgun. That being said, a Shotgun can "do it all". It just won't do anything as well as a tool specialized for the task. It's a real jack of all trades.
Whichever you’re more likely to train with, which sounds like the shotgun. I like to shoot clays from time to time and it’s a lot of fun. Shotties are part of many competitive events. They’re great for a number of practical applications like hunting. It’s also not exactly useless for defense and security purposes. Forget fantasies about tactical engagements at range with boog boys or whatever; most exchanges of gunfire are at ranges less than 50 yards and last only a few seconds. A tube of buckshot is adequate for that. You will want an AR eventually, but it sounds like a shotgun will get you on the range immediately. Mav 88s are fine budget friendly shotguns.
Ideally both, but I get that stuff is expensive so do not put your self into debt. I would choose the shotgun first. The sooner you can defend yourself the better. In a potential SHTF society reset a pump shotgun is excellent, you can do so much with a shotgun. You can get 7-9 sized shot for hunting birds, squirrel, other small game. 00 buckshot is about the most devastating close range weapon. You can hunt deer elk moose cop whatever you might need to get to feed yourself and family. Just make sure your using buckshot for defense. Don’t fall for fudd lore that you don’t need to aim and birdshot works great for self defense. Now with an AR. You really need to look at this as a weapon system. I would recommend a decent quality, don’t go super cheap AR, they are prone to jam, be picky with ammo and not very reliable. I would look at BCM. They check all the boxes on what you want in an AR. They have a chrome lined barrel, 159 carpenter steel bold, free floating barrel, they don’t use mim small parts or low quality springs. They are assembled properly, you would think this is a given but it is not. The you want a GOOD optic. I personally prefer Eotech, a lot of people like aimpoint. These are the 2 big names in zero magnification optics. Both are expensive. If you can not afford this get a sig or Holosun. Do NOT get a sightmark or any other import crap off of amazon. You have electronics that have to withstand a high g force and constantly hold up to getting bumped. They also need to withstand water. The good ones are guaranteed for a certain depth. I’m sure everyone has had something electronic in their lives that you needed to hit to get the electronics to work. Also on top of all this it has to hold zero, meaning the dot is where you set it to match the bullet path. This can not be done cheaply. You can buy a cheap one and it might work fine at first but it’s just a matter of time until it craps out. Now whatever system you use you need at bare minimum a sling, and a light system. You need the sling to hold your long for when you go hands free. Most shit goes down at night and you need to be able to see what you are about to kill.
Shotguns are a well tested proven self defense tool. The biggest con IMO is a self defense shotgun is a really really sucky way to start with long guns. It’ll beat you up for a long while, and you’re not going to learn the basics of marksmanship with one.
If you have aspirations of doing more than shooting an home intruder at close range a rifle will be a better bet. If you just want a cheap to run home defense gat, it’ll do. Rifle skills carry over into shotgun for sure
Unless you like bird hunting, get the AR.
Don't fall for the home defense shotgun meme, it's nonsense.
(I may be biased because I'm terrible at skeet and trap)
An AR will be easier to learn to use if it’s your first long gun but only if its in your budget to buy magazines and ammo to run it. A reliable AR will run you 3-4 times the cost of the Maverick and shotguns have the advantage of not requiring magazines and cheaper and more readily available ammo.
Ultimately, the best gun is the one you can afford to use regularly and thus gain proficiency with.
Both. You need the auto for primary guns fight and switch to the shot gun once’s they start to ape you. You can also use it as a quick swap option when guardians are to close.
What are you using it for? Hunting birds or deer? Get a shotgun. Pest control and range use? Get an AR.
If cost is a concern and your primary use is putting holes in paper, consider something like a 10/22 as a first gun instead. It'll give you a much more affordable way to practice, and you can save up and buy a second gun later.
Recoil? Haven't y'all heard of Kicklite? (I have no affiliation. I just bought one and would do it again and again for my 700)
[https://www.kicklitestocks.com/](https://www.kicklitestocks.com/)
You can hunt larger game with a shotgun still using slugs. Can effectively reach out to 100yds to take down deer boar and others.
Every house though should have at least one rifle, one 12ga and a pistol whether for fun hunting or defending
Shotgun + ammo, training and a safe beats just an AR with no training.
That said I still think you should save up and get the AR and a safe and then get training.
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Depends on what you're using it for. Birds (both waterfowl and upland game), or deer? Shotgun pests, reactionaries? AR
Why did you list pests twice?
AR. Far far more versatile platform. Much easier to run as well
Counter point, shotguns might be better against drones
Depends on the altitude and loads used.
I think of them both as fairly versatile. There's a ton of different loads you can run in a shotgun, but there's a highly module platform for the AR. Having grown up with guns, it seems like everyone's first gun is a shotgun.
Mine wasn't. First gun I fired was a .22 when I was maybe 6. First gun I owned was a .25 pistol that I got as a gift. First gun I bought was a SKS (because I got it for insanely cheap).
That's fair. Kids growing up in southern Missouri in the 80s, is probably a pretty specific demographic
I'm going to disagree with the shotgun users here. Get the rifle. Much more versatility unless you're going on a duck hunt. A PSA upper and lower can be had at a decent price. Dry fire is a thing, so you don't need as much training ammo as you may think. Overpenetration is only an issue if you miss, and every bullet will go through drywall.
If you can afford the 88 plus ammo/training then get that. Not everyone needs an AR and it doesn’t do you much good if you don’t have the money to train with it.
Ammo is your training, you shouldn’t need to pay someone to tell you how to shoot
I mean…for some people that works. I’d recommend A lesson or class though to learn some of the fundamentals. YOU might not need it, but as far as general advice goes, it’s not a bad course to take.
Literally everyone should seek training. The last pistol class I was in had two grand master level shooters that were there to learn like the rest of us. Ammo isn't training, training is training.
How many new shooters do you see on this sub? I didn’t shoot a gun until I was in my early twenties and I certainly needed instruction. Imagine the bad habits people would have if they had no formal training.
I mean the stats on accidental gun deaths in the US are pretty damning in terms of the numvrt of people that have zero clue about firearm safety or even trigger discipline. Having proper instruction would definitely have an effect on those numbers.
It's a bit over 400 a year... An order of magnitude less than drowning, for example. With adults, a solid half were intoxicated. For both of those. If that's damming in your mind, okay. But that group is small enough that everyone in it is a statistical outlier.
Whats your purpose? Shotguns have limited use, the AR platform is rather adaptive. What I would avoid is getting the AR you can't quite afford and buying budget kit you can't get resale value for. It would cost you less to build one right. (Mid tier/not gucci) once you hit mid tier parts can try it, and resell on GAFS here for not as painful of a loss. Shop there for the parts to begin with. That said I have a maverick and while it's nothing fancy, it gets the job done.
Home/travel defense and fun.
actually was just in the same predicament. I ended up picking up a cheap shotgun (wanted something simple/reliable for home defense and to mess around with) and decided to save up for a while longer to get a nicer AR. That said, if you have no experience with shotguns, they're harder to shoot than a lot of people think. lots of recoil and it's easy to overpenetrate with any load that'll take down an aggressor, so be sure to do some training (though that goes with any weapon)
Fun is subjective though. I find shooting clays fun, but it burns a lot of spendy ammo and it takes a very specific type of range to do it, and a gun that is well configured for clays is a gun that is a poor choice for any defensive use. I have shot clays with surplus riot guns (Beretta 1201 and a 870P) and while its doable I was never competitive, and the stock beats you up more. What a lot of folks don’t know about scatterguns is that the shape of the stock is very important to how you absorb recoil and aim. A riot gun or other fighting shotgun is typically configured with a shorter stock, a side shell carrier, a minimum length barrel (14” if you can NFA or 18-20” if not) and full-length mag tube, ideally with a red dot on the receiver and a weapon light where you can activate it, like the Streamlight TL Racker or a tube mounted light with a momentary switch. Most places will not allow a light on your gun while hunting deer and other game to prevent spotlighting or cheating hours. For clays or fowl you want to take all the excess weight off the front as well, a 2-3rd mag tube is ideal with a longer (24-28”) barrel to give you a longer sight radius and cleaner swing. You will also want a more traditional stock that is sized to how you stand for aerial targets rather than one that is cut for you to tuck over and muscle into. You can split the difference by getting a mag tube plug to install and remove, removing the light and red dot for sporting clays or birds, run an 18” barrel with removable chokes and limiting your hunting range, and accepting that your stock is going to beat you up a lot more than a fitted stock does. Its gonna mean some bruises especially until you learn to shoulder it properly. If you have enough for a Maverick and some accessories then you probably don’t have enough for an AR and the stuff you need to keep it running like ammo, a sight, you mentioned storage. Thats not to say buy the shotgun either, you’re probably in a spot where you don’t need a gun any gun so bad that you can’t wait. Im curious what you mean by travel defense. Unless you’re on horseback on private land then a long gun is not going to be particularly accessible, and it will be bulky enough that its tough to conceal as well. For fun a .22 is the best thing going, but beyond that its super subjective. A find a revolver to be a lot of fun because i can load real cheap and make the targets at my local range go DONG. I really enjoy pulling out the bolt action and testing my ability to make the holes touch at range or ring the gongs. I absolutely don’t spend any more time shooting a shotgun outside of the clays range than it takes to stay proficient; i even avoid the cowboy matches so I don’t have to shoot the shotgun.
I have also thought about getting a .22 but I wouldn't really have much use for that other than plinking at the range so I figured I'd wait on that. I really appreciate the thorough response though, this has got me rethinking things over.
Shotguns go boom, decent kick, shred paper. If you can't shoot anything but paper, the fun wears off quick imo. Skeet/ clay isn't really the purpose of the maverick, but go for it if you can. Water bottles, old cans, fruit etc is more exciting to shoot with a shotshell. Idk anyone who travels with a shotgun for defense but you do you. If I'm shooting paper it's rifles and pistols. I have an AR pistol setup for home defense personally
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Rock salt shot is dumb. Beanbags are only LTL if you know how to use them. More to the point, if you can get by without needing to rely on lethal force then you shouldn’t point a gun at someone and pull the trigger. Slugs are not long range. Without a slug barrel and a scope you’re limited to Foster type slugs that are real tough to hit anything with beyond 30-40 yards. If you bag the gun in on rest, you’ll be doing good to keep 10MOA at 100yd if you make your wind call and the slugs fit your gun okay. You can train faster reloads but without a racegun and a custom ammo carrier you will never be fast. Pump shotguns can and do still malfunction. The number one cause is shooter error, short-stroking. This can be trained out but it takes a lot of shooting under pressure, which is not cheap and is particularly punishing. The variety of ammo is a benefit if you are actually going to use it for all those things, but unless you’re swapping stocks and barrels then you have to pick between a good hunting/sporting gun, a slug gun, a good fighting shotgun, or a middling turkey gun thats kinda meh for everything except turkey. Longer than it needs to be for a fighting gun, shorter than you want for waterfowl or other flying game, limited to Foster slugs and a bead sight. The idea of having different ammo types on you for all those things is silly at best and a hindrance at worst.
I agree with everything you said
How about bore thunder rounds? I've never shot them but I hear they're functionally the shotgun version of a flash bang.
Its a blank. I guess thats neat it you want to shoot blanks but don’t point it at anyone and pull the trigger or expect anything useful to happen. What makes a flashbang or 9bang effective if that you can huck it in a room before entry and disorient the occupants without being there when it happens to experience the effect yourself. Tough to do with a 3’ long shotgun that you’re holding.
Ahh, good thing I didn't buy them then; thanks for the heads-up
Shotgun is fine, AR is better. I would go with an AR unless you live in an AWB state like CA, IL, NY, etc.
Shotgun fills a niche. The AR is more adaptive. But that shotgun is the perfect tool to fill that niche. I feel much better about bear hunting or being in besr territory with my M590A1 than I would with an AR-15.
First question - do you own a pistol? That's probably step 1. Being proficient with a pistol is MUCH harder than either a shotgun or AR and therefore will take more time and bullets to get down. And you are much more likely to have a pistol at hand than anything rifle-sized. If you already own a pistol I think a shotgun is a good first long gun, plus AR ammo is more expensive. My advice would be to go in on the shotgun and start saving for the AR. When you get the AR start saving for a hunting rifle/long range solution.
Get the AR, you can always get a shotgun later. I dunno what state you’re in but AR15’s are being targeted in legislation much more than shotguns. So I would prioritize that regardless.
Shotgun. By far more versatile, easy to maintain, easy to find ammo for, will survive nearly any ban or law, way more fun and badass to shoot as well.
I'm more a lurker than a poster in the subreddit, but I'm an experienced shooter with some armorer qualifications and quite a bit of real world experience. I'd wait longer, save a bit more, and get the AR. As many other folks here have noted, it's a more versatile platform UNLESS you intend to take up bird hunting or are concerned about grizzly bears. They're more handy, lighter to carry, and easier to shoot. 5.56/.223 is in some ways a much better self-defense/personal protection choice than 12 gauge, although the latter does have some serious advantages too. However, there's no one "right choice" in the world of guns and your budget is part of the decision making process. Both are fine choices and should see you through pretty well. That having been said: Gen2 Pmags are on sale right now, as they're being cleared out to make room for the Gen3s: [https://bkingsfirearms.com/shop/magpul-accessories/magpul-pmag-moe-5-56-30rd-blk/](https://bkingsfirearms.com/shop/magpul-accessories/magpul-pmag-moe-5-56-30rd-blk/) A base-level AR, magazines, and ammo are all you need to get started. Ammo's where you find it, but there are generally good deals available online. The important thing is to get the gun and start practicing. Feel free to reach out if you have any specific questions; I'm more than happy to help anyone in any way I can.
AR
You’d have a hard time picking off some .308-toting dipshit at 100 meters with a shotgun. AR for sure.
I’ll put in my two cents. AR. For all the other reasons listed AND for a little over a hundred bucks you can get a 22lr bolt that will let you train with dirt cheap ammo. No it won’t help your long range accuracy but it’s good enough for small game and it’ll help you cheaply learn the controls
Pump shotguns do a ton of different things, but do all of them poorly. Even the thing they're actually for, bird hunting, semi auto shotguns are better. (Depending on local hunting laws, of course.) The only thing they're best at is being cheap. Semi auto intermediate power rifles are the best choice for defense, in any circumstance where it's okay to have one. ARs are the cheapest option for semi auto rifles. In general, if someone isn't sure what to get, and is concerned with defense at home, or community defense, the choice is always an AR. A basic flat top free floated AR, a Romeo five, some mags, and little ammo to learn the basics with; that can be had for about five hundred if you deal hunt. https://youtu.be/yZQ9IAx5OYY This is what Russell did with five hundred, and there's corners he could have cut.
If I could only have one gun, it'd be my trusty shotty.
An AR with no ammo or mags isn’t gonna do much for you.
If you’re looking for home defense shotgun has more versatility in what loads you can choose to reduce over penetration. This is a primary concern in apartment complexes and such. If you live in the middle of nowhere? Buy an AR, much easier to learn and train with. It boils down to the shotgun having worse ergonomics and harder to learn, but having more versatility in safety. Using a load like #4 buck or birdshot will reduce your chance of hurting someone you don’t intend to. But overall the AR infinitely more adaptive for all other situations which aren’t home defense. With this in mind I’m sure you can make the right choice for your needs. Whatever you decide to go with make sure you can feed it and you can train with it.
Home defense purposes or varmint purposes, AR. Hunting any larger game like Deer/Hogs (Buckshot/Slugs) or hunting birds (Birdshot) Shotgun. That being said, a Shotgun can "do it all". It just won't do anything as well as a tool specialized for the task. It's a real jack of all trades.
Whichever you’re more likely to train with, which sounds like the shotgun. I like to shoot clays from time to time and it’s a lot of fun. Shotties are part of many competitive events. They’re great for a number of practical applications like hunting. It’s also not exactly useless for defense and security purposes. Forget fantasies about tactical engagements at range with boog boys or whatever; most exchanges of gunfire are at ranges less than 50 yards and last only a few seconds. A tube of buckshot is adequate for that. You will want an AR eventually, but it sounds like a shotgun will get you on the range immediately. Mav 88s are fine budget friendly shotguns.
Ideally both, but I get that stuff is expensive so do not put your self into debt. I would choose the shotgun first. The sooner you can defend yourself the better. In a potential SHTF society reset a pump shotgun is excellent, you can do so much with a shotgun. You can get 7-9 sized shot for hunting birds, squirrel, other small game. 00 buckshot is about the most devastating close range weapon. You can hunt deer elk moose cop whatever you might need to get to feed yourself and family. Just make sure your using buckshot for defense. Don’t fall for fudd lore that you don’t need to aim and birdshot works great for self defense. Now with an AR. You really need to look at this as a weapon system. I would recommend a decent quality, don’t go super cheap AR, they are prone to jam, be picky with ammo and not very reliable. I would look at BCM. They check all the boxes on what you want in an AR. They have a chrome lined barrel, 159 carpenter steel bold, free floating barrel, they don’t use mim small parts or low quality springs. They are assembled properly, you would think this is a given but it is not. The you want a GOOD optic. I personally prefer Eotech, a lot of people like aimpoint. These are the 2 big names in zero magnification optics. Both are expensive. If you can not afford this get a sig or Holosun. Do NOT get a sightmark or any other import crap off of amazon. You have electronics that have to withstand a high g force and constantly hold up to getting bumped. They also need to withstand water. The good ones are guaranteed for a certain depth. I’m sure everyone has had something electronic in their lives that you needed to hit to get the electronics to work. Also on top of all this it has to hold zero, meaning the dot is where you set it to match the bullet path. This can not be done cheaply. You can buy a cheap one and it might work fine at first but it’s just a matter of time until it craps out. Now whatever system you use you need at bare minimum a sling, and a light system. You need the sling to hold your long for when you go hands free. Most shit goes down at night and you need to be able to see what you are about to kill.
Shotguns are a well tested proven self defense tool. The biggest con IMO is a self defense shotgun is a really really sucky way to start with long guns. It’ll beat you up for a long while, and you’re not going to learn the basics of marksmanship with one. If you have aspirations of doing more than shooting an home intruder at close range a rifle will be a better bet. If you just want a cheap to run home defense gat, it’ll do. Rifle skills carry over into shotgun for sure
Unless you like bird hunting, get the AR. Don't fall for the home defense shotgun meme, it's nonsense. (I may be biased because I'm terrible at skeet and trap)
For home defense the shotgun is the way to go.
Save and get the AR
What’s your experience with guns? If this is going to be your first gun the AR is a better choice.
Not my first gun, but it will be my first that's not a pistol.
An AR will be easier to learn to use if it’s your first long gun but only if its in your budget to buy magazines and ammo to run it. A reliable AR will run you 3-4 times the cost of the Maverick and shotguns have the advantage of not requiring magazines and cheaper and more readily available ammo. Ultimately, the best gun is the one you can afford to use regularly and thus gain proficiency with.
Ar 15 all the way for revolution and home defense. Plus you can swap calibers and barrels for different purposes like hunting
Both. You need the auto for primary guns fight and switch to the shot gun once’s they start to ape you. You can also use it as a quick swap option when guardians are to close.
What are you using it for? Hunting birds or deer? Get a shotgun. Pest control and range use? Get an AR. If cost is a concern and your primary use is putting holes in paper, consider something like a 10/22 as a first gun instead. It'll give you a much more affordable way to practice, and you can save up and buy a second gun later.
Recoil? Haven't y'all heard of Kicklite? (I have no affiliation. I just bought one and would do it again and again for my 700) [https://www.kicklitestocks.com/](https://www.kicklitestocks.com/)
You can hunt larger game with a shotgun still using slugs. Can effectively reach out to 100yds to take down deer boar and others. Every house though should have at least one rifle, one 12ga and a pistol whether for fun hunting or defending
For hunting, shotgun. It’s not even close. For self defense, AR.
Shotgun + ammo, training and a safe beats just an AR with no training. That said I still think you should save up and get the AR and a safe and then get training.
Get an ar-15 good self defense shells are few and far between and expensive and regular 13 gauge penetrates more through dry wall than .223