Ok now in that case what's the difference between the remington 870 and the mossberg 500? Seems to me their about the same gun?
Sorry... have to weigh in here. The answer is no!! If given the choice myself, I will always choose a Remington (or Browning) over a Mossberg. They are MUCH better in make and fit and the 870 has been the prefered choice of LEOs for decades... although most large city Po-po have been switching to the AR platforms (sooooo you should be able to find surplus 870's cheap
if you look around).... Also, in a self defense situation, simply the
sound of cycling the round in a pump is enough to deter even
multiple threats, because they know what's coming next!!

The Mossy's are cheaper and plentiful, and they do have their fans... but so does a 1970's Harley and I wouldn't own one of those either.
Save that 1100 (BTW... my personal single favorite semi-auto model) just the way it is for the field and the range!! OH ...and one more bit of advice, if you're left handed (or someone else in the household is who
might need to use it) get an Ithica model 37.
http://www.ithacagun.com/defense37s.html It loads AND ejects from the bottom (an old John Browning design) so the porting/ejection won't be a problem.