Thank you folks for the responses.

Since I live in a suburban area with close neighbors, I am extremely concerned about overpenetration. The many threads on this forum about caliber choices and their effects left me feeling uneasy about the idea of pistol caliber rifles and powerful handguns. So I'm going to stick with the shotgun, and judging by the responses, the Mossberg will be a good choice.

It looks like I should check out a stock pad and lower-recoil ammo first, and look for a good gunsmith in my area to ask about porting the barrel.

I have a couple of follow-up questions, though. Benjammin, does the increased porting significantly reduce muzzle velocity and add to noise generation? Utspoolup and MedB, can you tell me more about the speedfeed stock and the surefire forend? What advantages and disadvantages do they provide?

Thanks again.