Mossberg 500 Cruiser

There exists some debate as to the feasibility of a shotgun with a pistol grip as opposed to a conventional stock, especially for prolonged use.  My personal experience is that no, you really don't want to be shooting one for more than a couple of rounds, counter to what the latest zombie movie or the gloriously over-the-top action movies may imply.  They do look pretty cool, though.

The big advantage of a pistol grip on a shotgun is one of maneuverability.  With roughly a foot gone from the back end you generally don't run into as many obstacles, which is great if you're doing the kind of shooting that involves confined spaces and short range - say, across an average room, or hunting rats in an air duct, or fending off zombies from the comfort of a dumpster - and doesn't place a great deal of importance on accuracy. 

They're also a good way to tenderize the wedge between thumb and forefinger on your dominant hand, which after a while can diminish the accuracy of what one of my friends generously calls 'more a hand-held claymore mine than a firearm'.

But for shooting minute-of-Volkswagen across the range of an average barroom?  Pure epic fun.  I hear the intimidation factor can be pretty high, too, although I don't care to check personally. 

The animal here is the fairly commonplace Mossberg Cruiser model which, along with its breacher-model cousin, is as short as you can get a shotgun without venturing into NFA territory.  The 500/590 series are the company's counterpart to the Remington 870 and - to a much lesser extent - the Winchester 1200/1300 family.  The Cruiser designation implies the pistol grip, shorter magazine, and 18-inch barrel, while the heat shield seems to be optional.  Either way, it's a shotgun built for the purpose of being easily handled inside a close environment (such as a patrol car, if the name is any indication). 

Not something that much appeals to me (I'm an 870 fan, and I much prefer a Speedfeed birdshead as an alternative) but probably one of the more recognizable whippet guns out there.