I'm looking to buy an easy to use and handle shotgun for the wife. I was looking for a 20 gauge, semi-auto with an 18" barrel. I'm also looking for the shotgun to come without a stock but with the pistol grip configuration. If anyone know of any shotguns that fit this description then please respond.

Thanks.

What you need to do is go to Wal-Mart and buy a Remington 870 Express pump in 20 gauge. I think they come with an 18.5" barrel with bead sights and 20" barrel with rifled sights. You can probably get this gun for no more than $250 and generally they are great shotguns. Locate her some #3 buckshot and she should have the home defense set-up she needs.

And forget taking off the buttstock. A shotgun with only a pistol grip is about as close to worthless as you can get. They look cool but you lose the ability to aim the thing. Even at home defense distances, a shotgun still needs to be aimed to be effective.

The autoloader in the set-up you want is probably gonna be hard to locate. You might get lucky and find a nice 1100 Remington or an 1187. But finding one with the shorter barrel will be a real chore. I would still suggest the 870 because of this. Good luck.

1100 20 deer...synthetic....has 20" rifled rifle sighted bbl......mossy USED to make the 500 in 20 in exactly the configuration you`re looking for......but i believe it is only in 12 now......cruiser....but this is easy to make........MY suggestion.....get a 1100 20 lt or synthetic and buy a deer bbbl for it....smoothbore.......next best is what charge hdl said...or the mossy 500.....parts are easy to find and replace......P-S...if it is srtictly for h-d....no hunting....you can always chop the vent rib bbl.....just be aware of legality....dpms used to sell a mag extension in 20....but i don`t see one anywhere now

I went through this a couple months ago and ended up with a used Remington 1100 LT.  It will only take the 2 3/4" shells but that's fine for our uses.  I think I gave $240 for it.  There are plenty of accessories for them, they've been around a long time.  It came with a very long barrel but I picked up a ribbed 22" barrel for $50 at a gun show.

Thanks guys for the responses. After I posted this I realized that the stockless shotgun was more for me to brag to my friends on what I was going to give to my wife. I definitely think I shotgun with a stock is the only option for her. But I was thinking a semi-auto would be a better choice for a woman or man because she could just aim and keep pulling the trigger.

Aimless, why do you think a 20 gauge is a bad option? I welcome your comments I just heard that they were around 40-50 less recoil than a 12 gauge. Having shot both the 20 gauge almost feels like a toy compared to a 12. Also a 20 should be more than enough with 00 shot as the round.

I had a Winchester 1300 defender 20 gauge a couple of years back (7 years ago) and I love that little gun. I just wish I could get the same configuration in a semi-auto.

BlackandGreen I'm going to talk to my local gun dealer about that setup.

Shooting standard ammo out of mine, I would compare the recoil to that of an SKS, maybe a little bit more.

Hey leadfoot......a few years back.....I tried to figure out what would be a real good all around shotgun that would fit just what you`re trying to do.....i thought the 20 gge autowas it.....i did use a 20 for deer hunting for a couple years.....with very good results.....but that`s really a different subject....i relly thought that if you wanted a defensive type shotgun.....that could also be a hunting gun ....the 1100 could be configured to that end......shop all of the out lets you can think of......that 20 is a very viable means to anything you need it to do.....short of getting bigfoot.........take care......B&G