Mike Etienne — Turner’s Outdoorsman, 16 retail locations in So. Calif.

When it comes to defending home and hearth, there are many options.

For one Southern California retail chain, there has been one type of firearm that has won favor when it comes to personal protection.

“Home defense shotguns are our biggest sellers in the gun department, year round,” said Mike Etienne, merchandise manager for the 16 stores in the Turner’s Outdoorsman chain.

As for the top selling brand?

“Any flavor sells fast—Mossbergs and Remingtons at the top, then probably Benelli,” he said.

This past fall saw a surge in entry-level big game hunters, and they bought up Howa and Savage rifles in the $450 price range and under. Favorite calibers for those cutting their teeth on big-game hunting were .308 Win and .30-06 Sprg.

And there has been a notable trend when it comes to optics in recent years.

“By far, our most popular optics are red-dot models, mainly bought by the people who purchased the many, many black rifles we sold over the last 18 to 24 months,” Etienne notes.

Keeping to the tactical theme, the next most popular optics are the 1-4x tactical scopes. Leupold models, Bushnell scopes with illuminated reticles and the Nikon 1-4 options with BDC reticles are top sellers.

This brief originally appeared in the February edition of Gun Digest the Magazine.

Next Step: Get your FREE Printable Target Pack

Enhance your shooting precision with our 62 MOA Targets, perfect for rifles and handguns. Crafted in collaboration with Storm Tactical for accuracy and versatility.

Subscribe to the Gun Digest email newsletter and get your downloadable target pack sent straight to your inbox. Stay updated with the latest firearms info in the industry.