The shotgun has long been relied upon as a defensive tool; even the phrase “riding shotgun” harks back to the armed guard on a stagecoach, who’d ride next to the driver to defend the vehicle. True, it’s not much use for long distances, but it can be very, very effective at home-defense distances. Depending on what you chose to feed it, a shotgun can have much less penetrative qualities than a rifle or handgun can have, which can be beneficial in the home environment as projectiles will be less likely to go through walls to harm others.
Mossberg’s 940 Pro Thunder Ranch edition is a 12-gauge autoloader, designed for defensive work. Built with input from Thunder Ranch President Clint Smith, the 940 Pro Thunder Ranch is more than just a short-barreled semi-auto. With metalwork finished in Patriot Brown Cerakote finish, and a synthetic stock of matching color, the 940 Pro Thunder Ranch has a 3-inch chamber, is equipped with a barrel clamp with M-LOK mounting slots and is adjustable for length of pull and drop at comb. The receiver is drilled and tapped for optics and has a unique rear slot designed for use with the Shield Sights RMSc- pattern reflex sight. There is a fiber-optic sight on the top of the muzzle, which is bored for a cylinder choke.
The 940 Pro Thunder Ranch has a full-length magazine tube, which offers a seven-shot capacity (plus one in the chamber, if desired), and is equipped with Mossberg’s Quick-Empty magazine-release system, which is extremely handy for removing a whole bunch of shotshells at once. To use this, simply hold the bolt rearward and press the bolt-release button and the magazine will automatically eject all of its shells at once.
There is a tang safety mounted atop the rear stock with a standard red dot at the rear of the safety slot indicating the gun is ready to fire. There is also a cocking indicator button at the front of the trigger guard, which protrudes rearward toward the trigger when cocked, and is recessed into the trigger guard when the gun is not cocked.
Grabbing my Lyman Digital trigger scale, I found the 940 Pro to have an average trigger pull measuring 4 pounds, 3 ounces—light enough for accurate shot placement, yet stiff enough for a shooter in a stressful situation. The stock design makes the 940 Pro nearly ambidextrous, save for the right-sided ejection port. There are QD mounting ports on both sides of the fore-end and rear stock so a sling can be attached to either side of the gun.
The fore-end and pistol-grip area of the stocks have faux-checkered sections, to keep the gun in your hands even during stressful situations. Mossberg sends a package of spacers and shims to fully adjust the length of pull from 12.5 inches to 14.25 inches. There are also shims for the adjustment of drop at comb, and for cast, though I’m not sure I’d employ either of those options on a defensive gun. A pliable, one-inch-thick recoil pad and one spacer are installed on the gun when it is shipped; however, Mossberg supplies another 0.5-inch recoil pad and an additional spacer for length-of-pull adjustments. Additional longer screws are also supplied should the user want to have the longest length of pull. Essentially, nearly every size and shape of shooter can enjoy a proper fit.
When I took the 940 Pro Thunder Ranch to the backyard range, I appreciated the balance of the gun, even with seven shells in the tube. It came to shoulder nicely, and the positive feel of the safety let me know the status of the gun. With the cylinder choke in, I measured a few different buckshot loads at 21 feet (seven yards), which is what I consider to be about the farthest an in-home defensive situation would be stretched, and saw patterns averaging between six and seven inches. At 15 yards, the patterns doubled in size, averaging 12.5 inches, striking just above the point of aim, using Federal Premium’s Force X2 00 Buck load.
I tried to make the 940 Pro Thunder Ranch fail. I’d feed it a light target load, followed by a 3-inch magnum load, then a bird-shot load, but no matter the sequence, the gun fed the shells like a boss. While doing my best to emulate a pressured situation, and so trying to reload the 940 Pro in a hurried fashion, I found the bolt-release button to be a bit of a snag at first. I will attribute this to a lifetime spent with a Remington 1100, where the button is located on the load ramp, so the feeding of the first shell into the magazine sends the bolt home. Muscle memory aside, the loading routine of the Mossberg 940 Pro quickly became rote, and soon I was reloading the magazine while keeping my eyes downrange on the target. Tipping the scales at more than 7 pounds and equipped with an efficient gas system, the 940 Pro didn’t generate intolerable recoil, and I think this gun would make a great training tool for new defensive gunners, especially with lighter loads.
All in all, I found the 940 Pro Thunder Ranch a pleasure to shoot and I think it would make a worthy candidate for a home- defense tool. Though I didn’t adorn the shotgun with lights or reflex sights, it still makes an effective and efficient defensive tool for home defense.
