Shotgun: Hunting to Tactical

	Is converting a sporting shotgun into a tactical shotgun a cost effective home-defense option?     By B. Gil Horman

Gun owners may run into the situation of needing a firearm to fill a particular shooting requirement at a time when money for a new gun isn't readily available. Recently I found myself in need of a tactical 12 gauge with an 18.5-inch cylinder bore barrel. This wasn't the first time a tactical pump would have come in handy, and it wasn't going to be the last. It was time to make the investment, but I wasn't ready to throw down more cash than I had to. So I turned to an idea that had crossed my mind before, namely, to see what it would cost to convert a sporting shotgun I already had into a tactical model using aftermarket accessories.

The base gun for the project would be a Mossberg 835 Ulti-Mag Waterfowl model I picked up several years ago. For those who are unfamiliar with this gun, it's a serious piece of artillery.

Designed to mimic the patterning properties of a 10-gauge shotgun, this version of the 835 is fitted with a 28-inch ribbed dual-bead barrel with a vented expansion chamber and oversized choke. This gun chambers 2 ¾-, 3- or 3 ½-inch 12-gauge shot shells. It's the 3 ½-inch shells that provide payloads comparable to the potent 10-gauge. The magazine tube, designed to hold four 3 ½-inch shells, will hold up to five 2 ¾-inch shells for a total of six rounds.

So for exactly what did I need this kind of firepower? The 835 was discounted as part of a seasonal sale at a local big-box store. It was priced for less than some of the 3-inch chambered plain-Jane 12 gauges I had under consideration as an all-purpose field gun. With the extra features and chamber cut for three shell lengths instead of two, the Mossberg 835 followed me home. Since then it has proved to be a reliable sporting shotgun. It certainly qualifies as over built for the light skeet loads that have made up most of its regular diet. With my shooting preferences leaning more toward handguns, this shotgun is broken in, but is far from worn out.

The conversion of the 835 for tactical applications was stymied before now because I was unable to locate a shorter barrel for this model. A search of the Mossberg catalog and website did not turn up factory-made, drop-in 18.5-inch cylinder bore barrels for the 835, although they are commonly available for Model 500 shotguns. Cutting the 28-inch barrel down to 18.5 inches was impractical, expensive and wasteful. I finally called the Mossberg service center and asked. To my surprise, I learned there was a plain (un-ribbed) blued 18.5-inch cylinder-bore barrel for the 835. Not only was it priced about the same as the Model 500 barrels, but it was designed to handle 3 ½-inch shells. When the barrel arrived it was easily swapped out with no gunsmithing required.

The next components installed were replacements for the wooden shoulder stock and forearm. Several tactical aftermarket shotgun stock options are available for the Mossberg, but not all of them are affordable. After doing a bit of homework, the Phoenix Technology Kicklite upgrade was selected.

The Phoenix kit includes a six-position AR-style shoulder stock with pistol grip, a stock mounted five-round shell holder and a matching polymer forearm replacement. The shoulder stock is fitted with a heavy-duty internal recoil reduction spring and a vented soft-rubber buttpad. Examining the stock reveals a shrouded ¾-inch gap between the pistol grip and shoulder stock to allow for stock movement along a steel support rod. The six-position adjustment allows the length of pull (LOP) to shift between 11.5 inches to 15 inches, which should successfully accommodate shooters of all sizes.

The company thoughtfully included the tool required to remove the forearm retention ring, which made installing the forearm a painless experience.

The stock's slim polymer pistol grip was a good fit in the shooting hand, but it felt even better with a Tuff 1 grip sleeve installed. These universal grip covers are designed to mold themselves to just about any firearm grip style available and they provide an excellent no-slip hold.

The last addition to the shotgun was a Hi Viz Shooting Systems MPB-TAC Tactical shotgun sight.

This snap-on fiber-optic sight arrives with a choice of four colors of light pipe to meet the user's preferences. Having used Hi Viz fiber-optic sights on other shotguns, this sight was simply too effective and affordable not to have one on board.

At the range, the newly assembled tactical 835 was both reliable and comfortable to work with. The accessories operated properly without any failures or breakages. The shorter barrel fit the receiver perfectly, and there were no ammunition related malfunctions. But would the 3½-inch chamber affect the tactical barrel's performance down range?

Most 18.5-inch unchoked shotguns, with 3-inch chambers, cause shot pellets to spread apart at a rate
of about 1-inch-per-yard of distance traveled. In other words, shells fired at 7 yards will usually produce patterns about 7-inches across on average. This is not a universal truth, but it’s a good rule of thumb. Would an extra 1/2-inch cause a measurable pattern change? Formal pattern testing was conducted with 12x18-inch targets posted at 7 yards using 2 3/4-inch shotshells. Winchester Super Target No. 8 birdshot loads yielded 11-inch patterns, with Federal Premium Heavy Game No. 4 birdshot producing 10-inch patterns. Federal's standard velocity and Winchester's WinLite nine-pellet 00 buckshot loads both produced 4-inch patterns.

Pattern testing also allowed for an evaluation of the Phoenix Technology recoil-reduction stock, which the company says will reduce recoil by up to 50 percent. It proved to be quite effective with 2 ¾-inch shells. Birdshot loads, which tend to be the most comfortable of the 12-gauge shells to fire, produced modest levels of felt recoil with the Phoenix stock. Shooting the standard velocity buckshot load felt like a reduced velocity load. But the sweet spot for both stopping power and recoil reduction was produced using reduced velocity buckshot loads like the WinLite round. This stock and ammunition combination felt like firing a 20-gauge loaded with bird shot, which is a low and manageable amount of recoil for a 12 gauge. Was there a shell with enough punch to defeat the recoil reduction system? Yes, but it was a 3-inch hunting shell with a 2-ounce payload fired at 1,100 fps.

That would be a stout round in any gun, so stick to the standard defense loads and the Phoenix system will do nicely.

So in the end, was the Mossberg 835 At-Home Tactical Conversion worth the expense? It depends on how you slice the money invested over time and your current needs. If the project was started with a brand new Model 835 purchased at the current suggested retail price ($497), and the accessories tacked on at their retail value ($340), then the answer would be no, it's not the best option. If you have more than $800 dollars to spend on a tactical shotgun, then you have the resources to look into some very nice models with extended magazines, advanced sight systems and additional features.

In this situation, the cost savings were found in starting the project with a base gun that was already paid for. The 835 was purchased for about 40 percent of today's new gun price, and it's already provided years of casual shooting service. Shopping around to find the best prices for the accessories shaved off $20 dollars more for a final out-of-pocket expense of about $320 (before taxes and shipping).

Using $320 dollars as a comparison point made the conversion a worthwhile endeavor. The one off-the-shelf tactical shotgun I could find in the current Mossberg catalog with the most similar features set to this conversion was a six-shot tactical Model 500, sporting a six-position stock and pistol grip, with the suggested retail price of $593. The conversion came close to about half the cost of that new defensive shotgun, plus it has a recoil-reductions stock, fiber-optic sight and a three-shell-size chamber instead of two. Best of all, the 835 can be converted back into a top-notch field piece in under a minute by simply switching out the barrels. With all of the accessories working as advertized, this is an at-home project that will continue to provide a solid shooting value for years to come. The only problem I see with this shotgun is if I take it to a tactical shooting class, some smart-aleck is going to make fun of the shiny gold trigger.

Cool vs. Tool

Is that high-speed accessory hanging off your tactical shotgun a useful tool or a cosmetic enhancement to impress your friends?                          

By Chad Adams

The “Black Gun Revolution,” the explosion in popularity of all things black, semi-automatic and tactical—fueled by the growing abundance of AR-15-style rifles—has had a tremendous effect on shotguns as well. More companies than ever offer some sort of tactical or home-defense shotgun, both pump and semi-automatic. Whether black or some pattern of digital camo, many of these shotguns come direct from the factory with a wide array of what were once exclusively aftermarket accessories.
  And aftermarket accessories have continued to flourish, since shotgun owners never tire of finding new ways to hang seemingly anything and everything off their scatterguns. But for anyone taking their first foray into the tactical-shotgun market, some accessories have more practical merit than others. Here’s a quick rundown of some common shotgun accessories, weighing their tactical benefit versus their flat-out coolness.

                       

Tacticool: Heat Shields

I know you’ve seen these on old Winchester 97s and Model 12s from World War I, therefore many of you believe they are a necessity, as if use by our doughboys makes them divine. However, in my years as a Marine, whether in the field or aboard a ship, I never saw a shotgun fitted with a heat shield. Moreover, nobody puts as many rounds through a shotgun as do practical-shooting competitors—they don’t use them, so you don’t need one.

A crew-served, belt-fed machine gun is a great place for a heat shield. A shotgun is not. But hey, they look pretty righteous on your Mossberg 500, so if it’s all about the cool, I say go for it.

Tactical: Shell Carriers

Few objects look as mean as a line of 00 buckshot riding like a row of gnarly teeth on the receiver of a tactical shotgun. And few things are as useful. While we may gear up with all sorts of ammo holders when we go to the range, the fighting shotgun is the one gun above all others where you “fight with what you got.” That means the ammunition you have in and on the shotgun is all you can reasonably expect to use under stress.

There are several makes and models on the market that can collectively more than double the payload you carry into a fight. And if 16 or more rounds of buckshot don’t solve your problem, well, you’re probably in the “Red Dawn” remake. But don’t worry; you never have to reload in the movies.

Tacticool: Pistol Grips

I can see some of you physically recoil at the ludicrous notion of a pistol grip being anything but the most tactical of enhancements to a shotgun. But here’s the deal, unless you are law enforcement or active-duty military on a door-kicking entry team and use a pistol-gripped pump gun with a stand-off device to bring the pain, then you really don’t need a pistol grip. The simple fact is this: Pistol-gripped shotguns are more difficult to shoot well. Our accessories should enhance accuracy, not diminish our ability to hit the target.

However, there are some exceptions for civilians. If you have a reason to stow a shotgun in a small space or work in wilderness country where toothy critters roam and you’ve determined this is the size you need, then for you, the pistol grip is still very much a tool. But if you’re like me and your pistol-gripped 870 is relegated to obliterating soda cans with your buddies, then you have a tacticool shotgun my friend. Like Fonzie said, “Be cool,” and rock that pistol grip by shooting from the hip on your next range day.

Tactical: White Light

While it’s one of the most tacticool accessories you can add, it also happens to be the best decision-making aid. A high-output white light is, in my opinion, the best accessory you can add to any defensive firearm.

“In 1986 SureFire introduced the first light designed specifically for mounting on handguns,” said Derek McDonald, SureFire’s vice-president of marketing in a recent statement. “This light (equipped with remote switching) was quickly adopted by SWAT teams, including LAPD’s D-Platoon.”

Since then, we’ve seen the weaponlight portrayed on TV attached to pistols, carbines and shotguns.

More importantly, countless police officers, military personnel, training academies and tactical schools have codified the skills and doctrine that enable the white light to deliver a decided advantage against an adversary. Despite any reports to the contrary, until we all have night observation devices, the white light is here to stay.

So What?

It’s hard to argue civilians absolutely need a bayonet lug, stand-off device, pistol grip or seemingly miles of Picatinny rail. But the kicker is this: Who makes that decision? While I may subjectively question the merit of any one of these items for home defense, I will happily admit to owning guns with all of these accessories and more.

The point of this article is not to shame any one device, rather to get us thinking intelligently about the purposes for which our firearms and accessories are used. That makes us smarter consumers and therefore better advocates for firearms in general. While we may not “need” a bayonet lug, when is the last time you heard about a crime being committed at bayonet point? What is so “evil” about pistol grips and Picatinny fore-ends and the like? And if I want any one of those items, I believe the Second Amendment protects my right to have one.

Sling Up!

A sling is a must-have accessory for your self-defense rifle or shotgun, but you must know how to prevent it from getting caught and slowing your movement.                         

By Kenan Flasowski 
   May 13, 2013                                         

If you have a long gun for self-defense, the first thing you should mount on it is a good light. The second thing is a good sling. While my personal preference for ARs is a two-point sling like those from Viking Tactics or the Vickers Combat Applications Sling from Blue Force Gear, I think single-point slings are fine for shotguns. No matter which type you prefer, you need to think about what to do with the sling when the gun is not in your hands.

Most of you probably keep your long gun stored in a safe, closet or behind the door. Some keep one in their vehicle (most law enforcement officers have one in the trunk or in a rack). When something happens that requires you to grab the gun, the last thing you want is for the sling to get caught on something and slow your movement. This can also be a concern when you are moving or trying to take a standing shot.

A simple solution is to run a couple of heavy retainer bands (rubber bands) over the sling near the buttstock. Then “S” fold the sling loop and tuck it under the bands. This will keep the sling tight against the side of the gun. It won’t interfere with the operation, but it will prevent hang ups as you pull the gun out of storage. When it is time to “sling up,” simply grab the sling and pull—the S-folded excess will come out of the retainer bands and you can slip it over your head and support arm.

For single-point shotgun slings, I put the bands over the stock and tuck the sling against the stock opposite where my cheek goes, so when I get time, I can deploy the sling and slip it over my head and arm.

This only takes a second or two for either an AR or a shotgun, and it really pays dividends when you have to move and/or engage quickly as soon as you pick up the gun. It also prevents those embarrassing hang-ups on gear shifts, door knobs and all the other things out there waiting to grab loose straps and gear.

At the first opportunity, sling up and continue.

Empty Shotgun! Now What?

Learning how to reload a shotgun quickly might save your life. Here are some important tips.

By Kyle Wintersteen               
 February 26, 2013

The 00 buckshot made a satisfying clink every time it struck the metal plates, and they spilled over like blades of grass as I walked the 870’s barrel down the line.
It was the first time I’d ever handled a tactical shotgun, and I was feeling pretty good with my technique.

 

That is, until I ran it empty.
“Reload, reload!” my shooting coach barked.
But I didn’t have the training. I was just a bird hunter. So I turned the gun over to access the carrier port and clumsily stuffed a few shells into the magazine.
“Welp, you’re dead,” said my coach, a friend in law enforcement who serves high-risk search warrants and whose name I cannot mention. “Look, cops are trained to ditch our shotguns when they run dry and move to our sidearms. But a civilian defending his home doesn’t have that luxury.

Realistically you’re going to have one firearm—hopefully a shotgun—and there are two basic skills that need to be second nature: shooting the gun accurately and reloading it quickly. They’re almost equally important.”

Here’s what I learned that afternoon, and how it can make your home a more secure place.

Essential Gear

There is a crucial piece of gear for any home-defense shotgun that is too often overlooked: a sidesaddle shotshell carrier that rides along the side of the receiver and holds four to eight shells.

With this piece of equipment, you always have extra ammunition with your shotgun, ready for a fast reload. It also positions them perfectly for swift reloading.

Think you’ll just grab a handful of shells in the heat of the moment? Good luck when some degenerate is shooting at you. Almost as importantly, the sidesaddle carrier enables you to keep your eyes and your shotgun barrel directed toward the threat as you reload.

Shells are positioned within the sidesaddle’s holders either brass up or brass down, depending upon which loading technique you decide works best for you.

Tactical Reloading Techniques

Before we begin, let’s clarify this is a discussion of efficient, practical reloading techniques for home-defense situations. It is intended to assist the average shotgun owner to develop the skills necessary to engage a threat, reload and get back in business. Reloading for shotgun competition, i.e. the violin method, use of speedloaders, etc., is different.

For the first technique, insert the shells into your sidesaddle carrier brass down (primers facing the ground). When it’s time to reload, keep the gun pressed to your shoulder with your dominant hand, which allows you to re-engage threats quickly.

With your left hand (for a right-handed shooter), remove a shell from the carrier by pulling down.
Next, simply cup the bottom of the receiver with your palm, slide your fingers along the right side of the receiver, and plop the shell inside the chamber. It takes some practice, but if my first experience with it is any indication, anyone with average shotgun skill can learn to do it adequately with a few repetitions.

At this point, your left hand is cupping the receiver and there’s a shell in the chamber. All that’s left to do is push the bolt release (on a semi-auto) or slide your left hand forward and return the fore-end to battery—voila, you just chambered a round.

If there is an immediate threat, by all means, use the chambered shell to let the bad guy know he victimized the wrong house, rather than pausing to top off the magazine. My friend in law enforcement is so proficient with this technique, he can grab shells from his sidesaddle carrier and fire them one at a time almost as quickly as the average guy can pump rounds from a magazine.
For most situations, it’s time to stuff some shells into the magazine tube. Again keeping the butt of the stock against your shoulder, pull down on a shell to remove it from the sidesaddle, slide it under the carrier and use your thumb to push it inside the magazine tube. Practice until you can do so smoothly based on feel and muscle memory.

“That’s my favorite technique, because it doesn’t require the use of fine motor skills, and the more you practice, the more that’s the case,” my friend says. “That’s important, because in high-stress situations, fine motor skills tend to break down. You want your shotgun-reloading technique to be a simple, second-nature routine.”

There is another method with some advantages of its own, however. For this technique, shells are loaded into the sidesaddle brass-up. The key difference is that instead of “under-handing” shells into the chamber by reaching below the receiver, you pull a shell up and out of the sidesaddle, reach over the receiver, and place the shell inside the chamber. As a result, your palm should be sitting atop the receiver. Next, slide your hand forward and, with your left thumb on the left side of the fore-end and your other fingers on the right, slide the fore-end forward to chamber the shell. Now you’re ready to engage the threat with one shot or to lift more shells from the sidesaddle and slide them into the magazine.

“It’s not that I don’t like this technique,” my friend says, “In fact, the guys who prefer it are probably faster getting that first shell into the chamber, and that’s the most important part in terms of being able to quickly re-engage a threat. There’s very little movement required for them to insert the shell and, boom, fore-end’s forward. However, I think that reloading the gun using an underhand technique is the easiest and most reliable.”

Try both techniques. Notice how much more precise you need to be with your fingertips to cycle a pump using the overhand technique. It’s difficult to get solid purchase on the fore-end, because it just wasn’t designed to be cycled with an overhand grip. But plenty of guys reload their shotguns this way, and they do so quickly.

Determining which technique works best for you—and practicing until it’s second nature—is as important as perfecting your accuracy. After all, even the best shot in the world can’t win a gunfight with an empty gun.

Remington Model 887 Nitro Mag Tactical

 

Remington's newest tactical shotgun uses top technology to reinvent the utilitarian pump, while making it tougher.

By Chad Adams (RSS)
                                           

I, as much as anyone, can appreciate a good hunting gun. Few things are more enjoyable to me than a hot duck blind. However, from the gun’s launch to my first shots with the new pump gun, two things jumped to my mind: First, I couldn’t believe Remington was building something to compete with the 870. Second, I wanted to see a tactical version.
Discussing the new pump gun with Remington personnel, I’ve come to understand the 887 is not meant to replace or compete against the seminal 870. Sure, any 887 purchase is potentially robbing Peter to pay Paul, so to speak, but after walking through the factory, seeing the production and gaining more understanding of the immense customer base the 870 enjoys, it’s very clear the 870 isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

 

The 887 has its own merits. It’s a different animal, if you will—a new idea in shotgun making. Its lines are contemporary and its construction is a bit radical, a perfect concept for the utilitarian defensive shotgun.

Remington answered that call this year with the 887 Nitro Mag Tactical, making several key changes to the field version that result in a very solid out-of-the-box entry gun in the tactical shotgun market. With a shorter barrel, magazine extension and sections of Picatinny rail atop the receiver as well as along the barrel clamp, the 887 Nitro Mag Tactical offers considerable value at $498.
However, the heart of the 887 is still very much what caught the industry by storm last year: Remington’s proprietary ArmorLokt coating. The 887 starts with a steel receiver and a hammer-forged barrel of 4140 steel reminiscent of the 1100 and 870 platforms. However, that’s where the similarities end, as the 887’s metal components are fully encased in a 0.041-inch glass-filled nylon overmold the company claims is impenetrable by water and fully protects the gun’s metal surfaces from corrosion.

To back that claim, Remington’s engineers cross-sectioned barrels after submersion and salt-corrosion testing, and also endurance-tested the gun to more than 10,000 rounds. In all the tests, ArmorLokt held up to the abuse and it did not separate, making the 887 an ideal shotgun for less-than-ideal conditions. Duty use will prove how indestructible the 887 Tactical truly is, but after a few weeks’ use, I like its chances under the harshest conditions.

A sling swivel stud is found on the clamp that holds the extended magazine tube and it can be mounted to either side.

Manufacturers have come up with a host of treatments to protect a gun’s metal surfaces, but overmolding the barrel and receiver with polymer is a unique concept. Remington first cold-hammer forges the 887’s barrel blank from 4140 steel and then, in a process similar to the receiver construction, fuses the ArmorLokt to the blank’s exterior via injection molding. The polymer envelops the blank in a protective shell, with the integral barrel rib and rectangular design impressions also formed in the mold. A green HiViz LitePipe front bead tops the shotgun’s rib, which is plenty adequate for close-range defensive work.

Internally, the 887 Tactical utilizes a robust rotary breechbolt with dual lugs locking into the barrel extension. A massive claw extractor and blade ejector ensure reliable cycling. Dual action bars actuate the bolt when the fore-end is manipulated.

Like the field model, the 887 Tactical’s modular trigger-plate assembly completely drops out of the gun via two push pins. This unit contains all fire controls, the carrier and the shell latches. The left latch, similar to the 870, allows manual unloading of the shotgun. Instead of cycling the pump, one can depress the latch to unload. The shells are under spring tension, so maintain control of the shotshell while unloading.

I found the 887 Tactical extremely intuitive in operation. Running through a variety of loading, handling and shooting drills, I found several key advantages to this platform.
First, the bolt-release button, both in location and size, is the best I’ve seen on a tactical pump gun. Instead of the traditional tiny, metal lever poking out from the bottom of the receiver, the 887 uses a large, polymer button located on the front of the trigger guard. With training, this button should excel in promoting better gun handling through the manual-of-arms typical during defensive use.

In law enforcement, pump guns are commonly staged “patrol ready.” Whether in a keeper on the dash or in the trunk of a squad car, officers typically load the magazine full with the bolt closed on an empty chamber. In theory, this method gives ample firepower, yet locks the gun for safe storage and transport during their patrol. This means when it’s time to employ the pump gun, the bolt release must first be depressed before the fore-end can manipulated to work a round into the chamber.

Obviously, training is required to automatically perform this task under duress. However, the bigger button, located in what I feel is a more obvious location, should only complement that training. During testing, I ran through drills loading the gun patrol ready, then laying it on a staging table, forcing me to acquire the gun and depress the bolt release before engaging targets. The drill further reinforced that the button’s design is well suited for the scenario.

Once the firing began, I also appreciated the contour of the fore-end. While it delivered ample purchase, it also gave the added advantage of leverage. Larger in circumference toward the receiver, then sculpting down in width toward the muzzle, this “fatness” on the receiver end provided leverage on the rearward stroke. This is important, because it requires more force to unlock the bolt, cock the mechanism and extract the round than it does on the forward stroke.

During firing and loading, the loading gate would often remain in the upward position after the first shell was loaded into the magazine tube. I appreciated that, as it makes loading subsequent rounds much easier. However, it didn’t do so every single time, and I was never sure if it was my technique or the design that made the difference. Like all new shotguns, some material could be removed to smooth the edges around the loading port, a task easily accomplished by a gunsmith.

The rail attachments on the 887 Tactical are both contemporary and well done. The obvious addition of the receiver-mounted Picatinny rail has become almost standard for defensive/practical shotguns, with tiny reflex or red-dot sights becoming more rugged and affordable in recent years. The additional Picatinny strip affixed to the barrel clamp was a welcome addition, one usually found only as an aftermarket accessory. Since a weaponlight is the single best addition to your home-defense toolkit, this rail is well-suited for a SureFire M300A Mini Scout or similar high-energy, high-output light source.

In function, the gun handled well, and perceived recoil seemed very mild. I even mixed in 3 1⁄2-inch turkey loads to see how the gun ran; it digested the mix well, with no failures to feed or extract. Perceived recoil was also surprisingly mild, a tribute to the effectiveness of the SuperCell recoil pad.
Using Remington’s new Home Defense loads, a No. 2/No. 4 duplex load, the pattern densities were absolutely devastating at 21 feet, a common self-defense distance. Fired offhand, in high wind that surely blew my point-of-impact off center, the combo averaged more than 80 pellets in a 21-inch circle on the pattern board. At 25 yards, under less-than-ideal wind conditions, I still managed nearly half the pattern density achieved at close range, with pellet counts ranging from the high-30s to high-40s, depending on the wind gusts.

It may look radical in approach, but the ArmorLokt technology is really just keeping in step with Remington’s well-known tradition of experimentation with unique material. From the Nylon 66, to the short-lived 105 CTi and the 887, Remington has never been shy about experimenting with new materials and approaches—or bringing them to market when they will provide an advantage for the shooter.

Able to digest any load and operate in any environment, the 887 Nitro Mag Tactical is a solid, high-tech pump gun worthy of consideration by any self-defense shooter. With the addition of aftermarket components, the gun is ready right out of the box as a mid-level pump for duty, home defense or practical competition.

SRM M1216

This radical design puts 16 12-gauge shells in your shotgun, making it a formidable choice for self-defense.

By Gary Paul Johnston (RSS)
September 24, 2012

Traditionally, semi-automatic shotguns have been limited to tubular magazines holding from four to six rounds of ammunition. More recently, box and drum magazines holding eight or more rounds have been growing in popularity. Now there is a new self-loading scattergun in town. It is called the M1216 and it is made by SRM Arms, of Boise, ID.
This 12-gauge holds 16 rounds in four magazine tubes in a cylindrical fore-end. Molded of strong, glass-filled polymer, this magazine fore-end is manually rotated to bring each four-round tube in line to feed. The magazine is instantly removable and is inserted under the 18-inch barrel with the help of a funnel on the front of the receiver to guide it into place. Removal is accomplished by depressing an ambidextrous lever at the front of the mounting housing. Ambidextrous levers above and behind this release lever pivot down using the shooter’s thumb to unlock and rotate the fore-end.

 

Incorporating a roller-delayed action in the shotgun’s design facilitates fast cycling while reducing felt recoil.

The M1216 uses a locking system unique among shotguns. It employs a roller, “half-locking” system, much like the Heckler & Koch G3 and its many offspring. The rollers of the SRM M1216 differ mainly in being held in recesses at the rear of the M1216’s hardened-steel receiver.
When loading a full (four-tube) magazine into the M1216, if one of the tubes is in line to feed, the shell retainer will automatically trip to release the shells, with the first shell feeding onto the carrier in the receiver. If the bolt is in battery, it will be necessary to retract and release it to chamber the first round. However, if the bolt is locked back in the open position when the magazine is inserted, the first shell fed into the receiver will trip the bolt hold-open lever and the round will be automatically chambered. When the last shell from that tube is fired, the bolt automatically locks back until the next loaded tube is rotated into position, causing the M1216 to load immediately after rotation. In this system, shells in all four magazine tubes can be fired in fast succession with minimal practice.
An ambidextrous thumb safety on either side of the M1216’s pistol grip is marked in Heckler & Koch fashion and is pulled back for safe and rotated forward for fire, making this easy to remember—back means shells stay back and forward means shells can go forward.
The M1216’s reciprocating charging handle comes mounted on the left side, but can be changed to the right side. The ejection-port cover is then changed to the right side, leaving the port open on the left. Because this steel port cover contains the fixed ejector, the shells will then automatically eject from the left side. However, changing these parts should be done by a trained armorer.

Integral Picatinny rails spanning the shotgun’s 3-, 9- and 12-o’clock positions adds to M1216’s adaptability by allowing the mounting of optics, weaponlights and lasers.

On top and on both sides of the M1216 are steel accessory rails on which the owner’s choice of open sights and/or optics, as well as lights and lasers, can be mounted. Since sights and optics are personal choices, the M1216 comes without them. Many makes of flip-up iron sights can be mounted on the top rail, such as the polymer options from A.R.M.S. and Magpul. SRM also offers optional steel flip-up sights. Ambidextrous sling mounts are also included. Shorter 12-round and eight-round versions of the M1216 are offered for military and law enforcement.
Because of its extra weight, a fully loaded fore-end is more easily inserted into the SRM M1216 than when it is empty. I found it preferable to hold the front of the fore-end for better control. Just push it into place, and the gun automatically feeds. With a small amount of practice, this became almost second nature.
The SRM M1216 will fire either 2 3⁄4- or 3-inch 12-gauge shells, but my test sample would not cycle low-brass shells, and with less-lethal rounds it became a fast repeater using the cocking handle. With all high-brass 12-gauge shells, however, the M1216 functioned flawlessly. Recoil was typical of a 12-gauge shotgun of this size and weight, but the gun’s straight-line design helped to keep the muzzle down. The M1216 comes with a flat, smooth buttplate and a length of pull that may be too short for some, but heavy clothing or body armor will remedy that problem. A good non-slip rubber buttpad might make operating it even more effective.
Patterning with many varieties of shot out to 25 yards was excellent and virtually identical to that of the 12-gauge Remington 11-87P I used for comparison. With an Aimpoint CompM4 red-dot optic mounted, hits with slugs were easily made off the shoulder from 100 yards on full-size silhouette targets. Because there is no gas system in the M1216, the gun remained very clean, and disassembly for maintenance proved utterly simple.

At the heart of the M1216’s versatility is the company’s four-tube magazine that can hold 16 rounds of 2 3⁄4-inch and 3-inch shotshells without sacrificing compactness.

The SRM M1216 amounts to a major advance in self-loading shotgun technology with the ability to carry more ammunition in the gun, where it’s needed. As such, it has great application for military and law enforcement agencies, as well as for home defense.
Specifications

Manufacturer: SRM Arms; (888) 269-1885, srmarms.com

Action Type: Roller-locked, semi-automatic

Gauge: 12 gauge 23⁄4- and 3-inch shotshells

Capacity: 16 shells (four tubes of four shells)

Barrel Length: 18 inches

Finish: Matte blue

Sights: None. Top rail for mounting optics

Stock: Black polymer

Length: 34.5 inches

Weight: 7.5 pounds

MSRP: $2,399

Remington 870 Shotgun Versus M4 Carbine

 

Can a 60-year-old scattergun deliver as much energy to a target as today’s trendy carbine?

By Wiley Clapp 
September 21, 2011

It’s late in the afternoon. All across the nation, the evening shifts of countless police agencies are assembling their gear, getting briefed and uniformed to start their patrols. When the sergeant finishes his instructions and turns them loose, the boys in blue (or green, tan, brown, gray or endless combinations thereof) walk to their assigned vehicles and hit the road. With only a few exceptions, there is a long gun racked up in the front seat. More often than not, that gun is a Remington Model 870, the 60-year-old 12-gauge pump shotgun that has been the mainstay of police forces for decades.
But in some places, there is a different gun in place. It is a version of the AR-15 with a short barrel and a long magazine. The service version of this rifle is called an M4—although technically that term applies only to the Colt-produced gun. In law enforcement, the guns are almost always semi-autos with 16-inch barrels. The use of these .223 Rem. carbines is a fairly recent phenomenon that stems from situations where greater range capability than that of a shotgun is required.

 

Although there are still countless thousands of short police shotguns like the 870 in use, it is clear M4s are making big inroads. I have to wonder how many M4s made it to the front-seat rack on the basis of careful reason and how many came by way of the understandably human desire for change—or even because of the M4’s greater cool quotient. After all these years, the venerable old trouble gun—a short shotgun—is often augmented, if not replaced, by the modern .223 carbine. The carbine is often viewed as a better weapon due to greater accuracy and range, a perception that is undeniably true. A spin-stabilized spitzer-type bullet traveling at very high velocity is much more likely to arrive where it is aimed when the target is distant. However, a charge of #00 or #000, or even a 1-ounce slug, has a greater chance of completing its mission—to stop the fight immediately—than a 55-grain, .22-caliber bullet.

There are advantages and disadvantages to the 870. The author’s test indicates the shotgun delivers more stopping power out to 25 yards—with different loads. After that, the AR takes over.

I could take either side of the argument and make a good case. No matter what conclusion I might reach, however, there is no scientific measurement involved. So, I decided to try to actually measure the effectiveness of the two guns in a side-by-side shootout. For my shootout to have any validity in its results, the playing field would have to be as level as possible—the same challenges needed to be presented to both guns. Since the crux of the matter was effectiveness at range, I determined each gun should be fired at the same target and at the same range. Because the idea was to ascertain some kind of combat effectiveness under stress, I put a time limit on each stage. To establish a baseline from which to compare guns, I used plain, uncustomized versions of the 870 shotgun and M4 carbine. In recent years, the 870 shotgun has come to be heavily customized by individual shooters and the AR is like the 1911 pistol in being one of the most heavily user-modified guns in the arsenal. Brownells devotes endless pages to thingamajigs and whoozits for the AR in its catalog.
To do the shooting, I went to Gunsite Academy near Prescott, AZ, where I engaged the assistance of Operations Manager Ed Head. I was fortunate a 260 Shotgun course was in progress, as well as a 223 Carbine course. For the purposes of the test, I needed a really good shooter for each gun. Head suggested Bill Murphy as the shotgunner.

At long distance, the shotgun became a challenge because of its lack of sights. Despite the hurdle, two slugs hit the target at 100 yards.

Murphy is a friend from my first visit to Gunsite many years ago. He is still a working police officer with a Southern California agency and has been involved with SWAT, felony arrest and other police special operations work for his entire 20-year career. A Gunsite Rangemaster, Murphy is a highly skilled tactical shooter who has actual police shooting experience with several platforms. Vince Morgan, his counterpart with the M4, is a Midwestern police officer who was at Gunsite polishing his instructional and tactical skills. Morgan is also a longtime law enforcement officer with considerable field experience—another shooter who has seen the elephant and heard the owl.
The actual course of fire for our experiment was as follows. Each shooter faced a single Gunsite silhouette, first at 15 yards, then 25, 50, 75 and 100 yards. On the whistle, they had 3 seconds to get as many hits as possible on the target. Obviously, the shotgun has the potential for many more hits, but the carbine was more likely to get hits at the greater ranges. Since we used stock guns—a plain 18-inch, cylinder-bore 12-gauge 870 and a Smith & Wesson M&P15—that neither shooter had handled or fired before, there was no advantage to shotgunner or rifleman.
Murphy was at a tremendous disadvantage, because in its stock configuration the 870 didn’t contain a rear sight. He had to shoot using the rear edge of the receiver for a sighting reference. It might seem unfair, but most patrol-car shotguns just don’t have rear sights.

The AR-15 takes over in stopping power after 25 yards according to the author's tests.

Scoring was interesting. In a sense, we were trying to evaluate the performance of two vastly different weapon systems, and computing the energy each gun delivered to the target at each range was the best means of comparison. To accomplish this, I had to determine the weight of the bullet or pellet and the speed at which it was traveling when it struck the target, calculate the energy at impact, then multiply by the number of hits the shooter produced. Thus, Morgan’s first stage at 7 yards saw his four, 55-grain bullets traveling at 3,240 fps produce 1,282 foot-pounds each, for a total of 5,128 foot-pounds. Yet, I remain a shooter who is distrustful of energy as a definitive index of stopping power. In my view, the means of energy transmission to the target should always be considered.
I also gave the shooters the option of choosing their ammunition and several types were available. This was most important to the shotgunner, who could use either buckshot or slugs. The slugs available were Federal Law Enforcement 1-ounce slugs of the Foster type. A slug load in a fighting shotgun is a much underappreciated piece of ordnance. It is essentially a .73-caliber, soft-lead hollow-base bullet weighing 437 grains, traveling 1,325 fps at 25 yards.



Close in, a slug generates more than 2,000 foot-pounds of energy, about five times that of a .45 ACP. Even at 50 yards, one of Murphy’s slugs had about three times the energy of one of Morgan’s 55-grain .223s. It is well understood in combat shooting circles that a solid torso hit with a shotgun slug instantly stops the fight.
My definitive shoot had a lot of warts on it, but the test crew plunged enthusiastically forward. I guessed Murphy would probably use buckshot at 15 and 25 and slugs the rest of the way. I was wrong. He used slugs at 15, getting four hits in 3 seconds. So did Morgan with his .223. Murphy was well aware of what he could do with slugs at close range, so he shot for as high an energy level as possible. At 25 yards, he hedged his bets a bit. Knowing a cylinder-bore shotgun will reliably keep almost all of its pellets (in a nine-pellet #00 load) on a silhouette at 25 yards, he used buckshot. Firing four rounds and getting 35 hits out of the 36 possible, Murphy did not risk a miss with slugs.
At 50 yards, Murphy went back to his slugs and stayed with them the rest of the way. He only managed two hits at 50 yards, one at 75 and then two at the 100-yard line. But, Morgan—as solid and reliable a shooter as I have ever watched—got five hits at 50, then four at 75 and finished with three at 100 yards.

Bill Murphy (left) and Vince Morgan were relieved when they finally got a chance to shoot their own guns, which have been heavily customized, using the author’s stock-gun test parameters.

Slugs are amazing projectiles in many ways. Even in an unchoked or unrifled barrel, they can be remarkably accurate all the way to 100 yards and beyond. But, that big old punkin’ ball has a poor excuse for a ballistic coefficient and drops in velocity fast. Since energy is calculated using the square of velocity, when a projectile quickly sheds velocity, energy decays even faster. In plain terms, the shotgun put more energy on target than the rifle, at least inside of 50 yards. But at that range, the rifle started to excel. Basically, that’s because the nature of rifle ballistics are such that rifle bullets retain energy much longer and are markedly superior in the accuracy department. Compound the shotgunner’s problem with a nearly non-existent sighting system and he doesn’t have much of a chance.

Does my shootout prove anything? Actually, it does not. A statistician would tell you there is insufficient data. All we really have here is a suggestion that the conclusions are meaningful. Murphy was aware of this and wanted to see what he could do with slugs in his own gun, a Mossberg auto-loader with a modern red-dot sight. I asked Morgan to shoot against him using his own AR, a Colt M4 with another red-dot sight. They fired the 3-second drill at 50 yards. Murphy’s shotgun delivered three hits for 4,266 foot-pounds of energy, but Morgan was able to speed up thanks to his red dot, getting seven hits for 8,218 foot-pounds. As it was with the uncustomized guns, the rifle got more power on target. This will not come as a big surprise to any experienced field shooter. The scattergun would seem to have lost, but because inferior sights caused a severe limitation on getting hits.
I would not argue for dumping all 870s. It is relatively easy to put a set of rugged ghost rings on the Remington and it does wonders for the gun’s accuracy—even at close range. Also, I remain convinced a hit with a shotgun slug or a charge of buckshot is a better hit than one from a .223 Rem. bullet—it tends to traumatize more tissue. At 100 yards, the delivered energy from a 1-ounce slug is about 970 foot-pounds. The .224-inch-diameter bullet is more than 1,000—not a lot of difference. If anything comes out of this experiment, it is a strong recommendation to police agencies to put better sights on their shotguns and investigate the wider use of slugs in police service.