Any suggestions or opinions on the most versatile shotgun will be appreciated.

Since I'm up I'll be the first in a long line to suggest the Remington 870.

Remington 870
Mossberg 500
winchester 1300
All cheap, all good, all right.

I'm also partial to the 870. But, not the "Express" model. The Mossbergs always felt a little "cheap" to me. They do function, though.

Go with the 870 Wingmaster and don't bother to look back...there is nothing better at any price.

Both of the shotguns I will recommend would not be the best for hunting, but since home defense takes priority over hunting, I will recommend them anyway....the Tactical Response 870 or Mossberg 590 with ghost ring sights. Both of these seem to work well (my preference with the TR-870)and the ghost ring sights get you on target fast and work well with slugs also if they are needed.

For ammo, my pick would be Federal's Tactical low recoil 00 buckshot and perhaps some low recoil slugs from the same company in a side saddle. Both are available from ammoman as well as J&G Sales.

I'm not a fan of birdshot size loads for self defense because most do not penetrate deep enough to provide reliable stopping power. A load of #6 shot will create a nasty wound, but most of the shots will probably not penetrate deeper than 4". The low recoil buckshot penetrates well and still has plenty of power. Plus the recoil is tame enough to allow for very rapid follow-up shots. These pellets may actually penetrate deeper than they would from a max dram load because the pellets suffer less deformation and therefore penetrate deeper. If you are worried about overpenetration, use a load of birdshot as your first round or two, but back it up with buckshot if these fail to stop the threat. Hope this was helpful.

Well we certainly have a lot of Mossy fans here. The 870 is definitely a good choice. I have the 590 something or other Mariner version. What a bad-ass shotgun. I also have a Winchester 1300 Defender. That is also a bad-ass shotgun. I gave it to my dad for home protection.

I agree with 3rndburst. All three of these series are damn good shotguns for a reasonable price. Just get two barrels and then you can use it for either function.

Since you mentioned both hunting and home defense I would suggest the Mossberg 500 combo which come with a decent barrel with interchangable chokes for a variet of hunting/shooting applications and a smooth bore sighted deer barrel which would be ideal for home defense as well an hunting white tail deer.

                    My .02

Quoted: Go with the 870 Wingmaster and don't bother to look back...there is nothing better at any price.

Wingmaster if you want nice wood.

I'd go with an 870 also and 00B

an 870 or 500 is the only way to go. I would prefer the 870 due to ejector design though. My buddy had the ejector in his 500 fall out while we where shooting trap! He had shot the heck out of that gun though.

I have the 870 marine magnum and it is a great shotgun. I also have a Winchester pump defender model 1200 (1300 today) from way back in the eighties and I have put a lot of shells through it (00,000, and slugs) and it is still going strong, it is not as smooth as the 870 but it can be had for less money, and if you go used you will save even more dollars. Both guns are great for home defense and both chamber 3" mag.

I like the 1187 because it is a semiauto.  No need to rack the slide.  Of course the tradeoff is that it supposedly needs to be cleaned more often than the pump guns.  I've never had an 870 so I don't know for sure.  I don't shoot the 1187 a lot, just for hunting & the hunting isn't that good around here, so it doesn't need to be cleaned very often.

The other advantage to the 1187 is that you can mix loads & it's supposed to eject the hull regardless of whether it is a light, low brass load or a heavy 3" mag.

Benelli Nova 12ga