Having grown up with low recoiling carbines myself, I have always shunned shotguns because of recoil. It was barely tolerated only because of 3-gun competition. Symtac changed that with Rob Haught’s signature push-pull recoil reduction technique. I came away from the course bruise-free and with a new appreciation on the utility of a shotgun.

PUSH-PULL RECOIL CONTROL

Recoil forms the primary entry barrier to shotguns, causing some to shied away despite its undeniable terminal effects. Symtac’s push-pull technique tear down those barriers and unlock the closest thing to a one-shot-stop that you can buy over the counter. The theory is deceptively simple: push with the support hand while pulling with the dominant hand, as if one were stretching out the gun to absorb recoil with isometric tension. The devil is in the details: I learned to push a lot more than I think need, and to aggressively lean forward.

Pulling hard enough is easy with a field stock, and it is even easier with a pistol grip stock. I fell short on pushing with my triceps as well as grip strength. My Benelli M1 forend, carried over from a field gun, was too slick; this demanded an iron grip that tired my hand quickly. To solve this, I anchored my hand on the ramped portion for better purchase and bending my elbow to better push forward. At the end of my first day, my fatigued muscles were sore and required some physical therapy to finish the second day. Since then, I have added more tricep work to my gym routine and applied grip tape to the forend.

The second lesson learned is to aggressively lean into recoil. Light recoiling carbines have spoiled us all with forgiving shooting positions, and the shotgun now showed me the error of my ways. Once I pointed my toes towards the target and leaned forward into the gun, I better managed muzzle rise and decreased my split times. While I recognize that shot timing is dictated by the situation and not my body posture in real life, there is value in learning good body posture. Taking a half-step to lean into the gun for a plate rack in 3-gun is well worth the effort.

Contrary to initial fears, this technique did not induce any short-stroking malfunctions with my inertia driven Benelli M1 shooting 1 1/8oz #8 birdshot. Upon reviewing videos, I noticed the empty hulls were weakly dribbling from the gun, possibly due to the technique robbing some energy from the inertia system; gas systems (e.g., Benelli M4 or Beretta 1301) may be affected less. You can play the video above at 1/2 speed to see the shells slow ejection.

Two full days of shooting did not bruise my shoulder. Nine pellet buckshot (i.e., not a reduced recoil load) and slug shells felt no different than birdshot. After many repetitions, my jaw swelled slightly, presumably due to cheek slap. This was eliminated by mounting the gun from the side rather than pressing my cheek vertically into the stock. The lack of recoil was further confirmed by instructors demonstrating from less than supported positions, and students shooting from a seated position. Breaking down this barrier opened up the possibility of short-stocking a shotgun to manage its length.

SHORT-STOCKING

Taming recoil allowed me to short-stock the shotgun and flow through thresholds easily in close quarters battle (CQB). Excluding NFA controlled guns due to accessibility and excluding NFA driven innovations due to inefficiencies, shotguns (minimum barrel length of 18 inches) can be longer than the popular 5.56 mm carbine (minimum barrel length of 16 inches). For example, my Benelli M1 has nearly 20 inches of barrel.

To move through a threshold efficiently, Orion Training Group taught me to short-stock my rifle vertically over my shoulder to avoid catching the magazine on door frames. Despite proven terminal effects on target, I initially rejected shotguns because I did not know how to fire from this collapsed position. Symtac corrected my thinking.

Symtac taught turning the shotgun sideways, ejection port up for right-handed and down for left-handed. With no magazine to catch on door frames, my primary concern is to avoid cheek slap by placing the flat of the stock against my shoulder to maintain separation. My support hand thumb is wrapped over the barrel for a good pushing grip; I wore gloves to protect against a scalding barrel. Being left-handed, I did not experience any cycling issues with a semi-automatic despite pointing the ejection port down. However, the instructor did caution us to roll a pump gun 45-degrees before cycling to prevent gravity from pulling a fresh shell out the ejection port.

Shooting from the short-stock position requires point shooting, which was initially uncomfortable for me. My night vision experiences conditioned me to rely on a laser pointer, but repetition built my competence from bad breath distance to fifteen yards. Symtac also built my skills to quickly transition from point shooting to giving aimed fire from the shoulder. The importance of both point shooting and transitions were evident from their incorporation into the skills test: point shoot one slug from short-stock, transition to aimed fire from the shoulder for two slugs, perform emergency reload, then fire one more slug to the head. It is at the emergency reload where I learned my third lesson: the value of a match saver.

MATCH SAVER

Shotguns lack capacity and are slow to reload. An 18-inch barrelled gun has enough tube length to only hold six shells in a cruiser-ready configuration (tube full, lifter empty), and only eight if I load the chamber and ghost load. Some users even down-load the tube (i.e., load five if the capacity was six) to simplify a slug-select (not covered in this course). Low capacity, and the possibility of a shotgun being the only weapon in a grab-and-go scenario, drives home the need for a fast emergency reload.

For emergency reloads during this course, I placed a shell on my belt, brass up. While I muddled through, I learned it’s inefficient compared to a match saver because my hand must travel further. A match saver holds one shotshell horizontally on the gun, in-front-of and in line with the ejection port, with the brass end facing shooter. To reload, one just needs to palm the shotshell straight rearward, through the ejection port, then close the bolt and fire. Shorter distance makes this faster than reaching into my belt. Furthermore, this is easier to accomplish in the dark than searching my belt for a shell.

A match saver also has the advantage of always staying with the gun. In a grab-and-go scenario, one may lack the luxury to don additional ammunition sources. This is especially important as I eschewed side saddles to reduce weight. My match saver can carry either an emergency reload or a slug when, precision is required. I am grateful to learn this valuable, and easily applied, lesson in an academic setting.

CONCLUSION

Prior to this class, I relegated the shotgun to anti-avian warfare due to its recoil and length. With the push-pull recoil reduction technique taken to heart over many repetitions, Symtac then taught me to short-stock a shotgun for CQB. This unlocked its well documented terminal effectiveness, leading me to perhaps keep a shotgun handy for close encounters.

The U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) used flechettes in mini crossbows and handgun spigot launchers. Spigot launchers were a device that went on the muzzle of the M1911A1 pistol, rather like a rifle grenade launcher. A rod acted as the firing pin extension to transfer the blow to the primer in the device. The cartridge was self-contained, as ignition drove a piston which did not leave the cartridge case, thereby containing the expanding powder gasses so that the cartridge produced little noise. The piston drove a big flechette ahead of it, which shot from the launcher as a projectile dragging the cartridge case with it.

The big flechette had enormous killing power due to its size, which was important when only one shot can be made. The large flechette was more deadly than a small caliber handgun but produced similar or audible less report. This made the spigot launcher a single-shot weapon of great value for covert assassinations where the sound of a gun firing could alert the enemy forces and hinder escape.

This system was used in Vietnam with Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum revolvers bored out to accept this sort of cartridge except that in these, the piston drove a conventional bullet out ahead of it. In these, the case stayed in the gun. These were well appreciated by the “tunnel rats” who had to fire in tightly confined spaces where the noise of a normal gun was greatly magnified to a permanently deafening level. A silent weapon was a necessity if you wanted to avoid deafness. The U.S. Navy also had a revolver firing one large flechette on this principle for underwater use. The Russians copied this design to work with smaller cartridges in a compact automatic pistol also adapted the design for use in an underwater gun.

The need for an improved cannister round for tank guns led to research in flechettes loaded in artillery shells as an alternative. This research bore much fruit during the Vietnam War when flechettes were used in 12-gauge shotguns, 40 mm grenade launchers, 2.75-inch and 5-inch aircraft rockets, 81 mm riverine mortars, 90 mm and 106 mm recoilless rifles, 105 mm howitzers, 120 mm cannon, and in 90 mm, 105 mm, and 152 mm tank guns.

Anti-war protestors, championing the communist side in the Vietnam War, attacked the use of flechettes vehemently as these munitions were devastating to the communist forces attacking American soldiers. The political pressure they brought to bear resulted in a decline in the fielding of flechette systems, which left American forces more vulnerable to communist human wave assaults.

Today, Israel makes a copy of the U.S. 105 mm tank flechette round and both Russia and China reportedly maintaining large inventories of flechette ammunition for their major caliber artillery.

Current U.S. fielded flechette munitions include the 70 mm Hydra rocket (a modernized version of the 2.75-inch rocket), 84 mm Carl Gustov recoilless rifle munitions, and classified defense systems. Both the 70 mm Hydra rocket and the 84 mm Carl Gustov recoilless rifle flechette loads have been used in the Global War on Terror that began in 2001.

FLECHETTE SHOTGUN SHELLS

The use of flechettes in shotgun shells is the most common small arms employment of flechettes and the application of most interest to civilians. Credit for being the first to apply this concept to small arms goes to Irwin R. Barr of Aircraft Armament Co. in the early 1950’s. Originally, the idea was for one flechette per round and this led to the Army’s SPIW program. The first shotgun shells were loaded in 1953. These 32 flechettes-per-round loads were of a smaller size than those of today.

During the Vietnam War, flechette-loaded shotgun shells made kills out to 100 yards, proving their worth as a military weapon. Whirlpool Corporation had done development work on them, also loading many shells. Federal Ammunition made them, loading 25 flechettes per round while Western Cartridge Company’s load held 20 flechettes per round. Both of these rounds had their flechettes in a plastic cup buffered with granulated white polyurethane powder to maintain bore alignment. There was a metal disk at the rear of the cup the prevented the wad from being driven through the sharp tail fins of the flechettes. The tips of the flechettes were exposed and were visible at the mouth of the cartridge case These rounds would ruin a choke if fired through one, and they were only used in cylinder bore riot guns.

SPECIFICATIONS

Sometimes at gun shows, I have seen shotgun shells loaded with surplus artillery flechettes. Typically, some are loaded forwards and some backwards. Do not fire these in anything. They will tear up the inside of a shotgun barrel, as the hard steel of the flechettes will plow furrows in the bore and destroy any choke that gets in their way.

Properly loaded flechette shotgun shells are available from Sabot Designs LLC. The current loads are safe to use in any shotgun and will not hurt even a full choke, as the bore and choke are protected from the hard steel flechettes by a patented sabot that prevents any metal-on-metal contact. This was the invention of the firm’s oner, John Flannigan, and enables them to be used in any shotgun, not just cylinder bored riot guns.

Considered by many to be the greatest expert in flechette design and manufacture, much of Flannigan’s work remains classified, but what we can divulge is impressive. He made experimental tantalum flechettes for the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Cargo Round. He designed and manufactured tungsten flechettes for the NSWC EMRG electro-magnetic rail gun sub-munition. His collaboration with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems on the development and testing of the “High Density Packing” (HDP) cannister for the M1 Abrams tank resulted in his patent for the HDP Cannister round. Lockheed-Martin engaged him as a consultant for the fin design of the flechette projectiles for the Hydra-7 mine clearing system. The Marines Corps had him develop a flechette round for shooting down drones. That’s about all that we are free to talk about though.

FLECHETTES COMPARED TO BUCKSHOT

Comparing flechettes to the old standard, buckshot, reveals the strengths and weaknesses of both. Buckshot depends on its size, weight, and momentum to produce casualties. Of all projectiles, buckshot’s round ball deflects the least when hitting foliage and twigs. For this reason, it was often favored in jungle encounters.

Flechettes have 211% more projectiles per shell than buckshot which greatly increases the chance of a hit at longer ranges. They have 19 projectiles compared to just nine in the military buckshot load. Flechettes are a near perfect aerodynamic shape, whereas the round ball is the least aerodynamic. Furthermore, lead balls tend to deform when fired so they are not even perfectly round anymore. At longer ranges this becomes more of a factor. Additionally, flechette loads weigh about half as much as an equivalent buckshot load, so combatants can carry more ammo into the fight.

The stopping power of flechettes is a result of their velocity, penetration, and energy. Each flechette has the same energy signature as a 9 mm Parabellum round. It will shoot through a car door and produce a casualty on the other side, or it will go through over 20 inches of ballistic gelatin. Its energy is transmitted to a casualty by creating a supersonic cavitation wound channel. It will yaw off course as it penetrates, creating a wound channel approximately 800% larger than the flechette. This averages about .58 caliber for each flechette. Flechettes may also bend or break, creating secondary wound channels. They also typically shatter bones on contact.

ENGAGEMENT RANGES

* This being the longest range that a single flechette will produce a casualty.

CIVILIAN USE

12-gauge shotgun flechette loads are extremely useful to civilians. I’ve heard of a person taking out the heart and lungs of a wild hog at seven yards that was chasing and about to overtake his friend. Flechettes will penetrate the thick skull of an enraged bull or a 1000-pound hog when buckshot may fail. Flechettes have proven effective on deer, turkey, wild hog, and bear and are earning a devoted following among hunters. People depending on a shotgun for home defense are looking to flechette rounds for increased effectiveness.

Ever since the American Derringer Co. first invented the pistol chambering both the .45 Colt and the 2.5-inch .410 shotgun shell in 1980, there have been more companies making pistols that chamber these rounds interchangeably. Sabot designs makes a 2.5-inch .410 flechette load with seven flechettes for these.

Standard flechette rounds may not function reliably in automatic shotguns. Rounds that will reliably function a semi-auto are available under special order from Sabot Designs LLC.

Like birdshot, slugs, and buckshot, the flechette shotgun load has taken its place among the standard loads available for shotguns today.

Unlike the U.S. Air Force, which thinks a hard-to-hit with skeletonized zip gun is a survival weapon, the German Luftwaffe went all-out, offering its pilots the ultimate survival weapon: a high quality, high priced, traditional German drilling-type rifle made by the illustrious J.P. Sauer and Sohn. This masterpiece of the gunmaker’s art had two 12-gauge barrels, with the right barrel designed for birdshot and the left barrel regulated for the famed German Brenneke shotgun slugs. Underneath the 12-gauge barrels was a 9.3x74R rifle barrel. This caliber is often preferred to its rival, the .375 H&H Magnum, which at the time, had seen numerous cases of poorly constructed bullets breaking up and failing to perform satisfactory on African game. The German ammunition makers made sure that ALL their bullets met standards and never failed to perform correctly. Not just most of them, like the numerous makers of .375 H&H Magnum cartridges did.

The utility of a 12-gauge shotgun on all sizes of birds and small game needs no elaboration. It has long been a favorite meat-getter around the world. The German Brenneke Torpedo Slug is not only super accurate, but it has also killed all African big game. A man armed with this drilling was able to take any game in the world while decisively dealing with any animal that attacked him. This is in sharp contrast to the U.S. Air Force survival guns which are chambered for the smallest and weakest small game cartridges and are virtually useless against many attacking big animals. It’s worth noting that after the war, I had a friend in Norway whose father was a commercial pilot flying the polar route. The airline had the same sort of drilling in the cockpit of every plane in case they went down. Being able to shoot seals and birds to feed the downed passengers and defend them against hungry polar bears was something that required this exact sort of gun. Once again, the value of human life was placed above the high cost of a top-quality weapon. They accepted the price for the ultimate subsistence and survival gun; a gun that was easy to make hits with and that they could be sure would provide sustenance and safety.

DEVELOPMENT

The survival drilling was the brainchild of Hermann Göring, the head of the Luftwaffe, Nazi-Germany’s air force. In addition to being a WWI fighter ace, Hermann had also taken over Baron Manfred von Richthofen’s command after the great ace was killed in combat. Göring was an avid hunter and quite an expert on sporting firearms. A former fighter ace himself; he wanted the absolute best for his fellow pilots in the Luftwaffe. He was keenly aware that the German drilling was the most versatile gun available, as it offered the ability to kill anything from birds to deer to elephants without changing the load in the gun. The word “drilling” comes from the German word “drei” which means “three”, hence it means a three-barreled gun.

For the contractor, he chose J.P. Sauer and Sohn, one of the finest drilling-makers of all time. They did not disappoint him. The Sauer Luftwaffe drillings were made to the highest German standards. They were lively and accurate pointing as shotguns and steady when sighting as a rifle. If you couldn’t make hits with the M30 drilling, then you couldn’t make hits with anything.

SPECIFICATIONS AND OPERATION

The finished gun delivered to the Luftwaffe was 7.5 pounds and 42 inches in overall length with a 25.6-inch barrel. It was a blitz action, having the mechanism mounted on the trigger plate. There is a forever-unresolved dispute over whether the trigger plate action was first developed by the Scottish “best quality” gunmaker John Dickson and Son of Edinburgh, or it was developed in Germany. John Dickson and Son employed a lot of German workmen making his guns at the time, and there’s no way to know if they took the design to Germany or if they brought it from Germany. John Dickson and Son also made 3-barreled shotguns in all barrel positions, as the trigger plate action allows this. Again, we don’t know whether they or the Germans were the first to make a three-barreled blitz-action gun. One thing we do know is that John Dickson and Son patented the trigger plate action.

To give you an idea of the high standards required of a three-barreled gun I knew a man who had to choose between building both a best quality double shotgun and a best quality double rifle, or one drilling (all with hand tools) as a capstone project before he could be accepted into the Belgium Gunmaker’s Guild. He chose to make the two doubles. Drillings are hard to make.

The Sauer drilling has a Greener-style crossbolt, as well as the traditional double locking lugs under the barrels. A Greener-style safety on the side is used as the normal safety position for a double barrel gun is taken up by the barrel selector on the drilling. To fire the rifle barrel underneath the two shotgun barrels, you push the selector forward which causes the V-notch 100-meter rear sight to pop up and the front trigger to engage the rifle barrel. Pulling the selector back causes the rear sight to fold down and activates the two side by side shotgun barrels. The front trigger fires the right barrel with birdshot while the rear trigger fires the left barrel with the Brenneke slug.

The barrels have side clips and there are gold-plated cocking indicators on the top of the receiver. The receiver is case hardened, and the blued barrels are made of the best Krupp steel.

There are three ordnance marks on the M30 drilling. The stock and the barrels both have the Luftwaffe Eagle, and the Luftwaffe ordnance stamp of Eagle 2 is on the front locking lug.

CASE

A gun without ammo and accessories is useless, so the M30 Luftwaffe Survival drilling came in a green-painted aluminum case. It weighed 32 pounds, fully loaded, and it was intended that the pilot would remove it from the plane after a crash landing. The case contained the drilling with the barrel and forearm separated from the action and stock in the European manner of trunk cases. It also contained a cleaning kit, sling (supremely important for an exhausted and possibly injured pilot in a survival situation), a 20-round box of 9.3x74R soft point hunting ammo, a 25-round box of 12-gauge Brenneke Torpedo slugs, and a 25-round box of 12-gauge birdshot shells. You can live off the land for quite a while with this kit.

USE

The M30 was standard issue for Messerschmidt BF109 fighter planes and Stuka dive bombers during the North African campaign where it was well appreciated by pilots flying over the Dark Continent. It also was used for trap shooting, as this training was mandatory for fighter pilots. Hermann Goring also presented some of them to Luftwaffe heroes. The Knights Order of the Iron Cross may have been a great honor for a Nazi pilot, but this was a practical gift that promised many days of peacetime pleasure. Since the drilling is a traditional German sporting gun, these could expect to see a lot of use.

CONCLUSION

Issuing such a high-quality weapon is the ultimate expression of the high value that a military places on its members. This was a situation where only the very best would do. Having been a licensed Alaskan trapper and a subsistence hunter, I consider this the ultimate subsistence hunting gun. I would love to have a drilling like this stocked to my measurements. The last thing I would want is one of the American Air Force skeletonized “survival” guns. I have never seen a real subsistence hunter using such garbage. They sought after the best gun they could get for their pilots, and the Germans got it right with the M30.

Any Mesa Tactical telescoping stock kit can be upgraded with a KynSHOT adjustable or non-adjustable hydraulic recoil buffer which replaces the receiver extension tube, converting the AR-15 telescoping stock into a recoil-buffered stock assembly. The products combine KynSHOT’s time-tested hydraulic recoil buffers with Mesa Tactical’s precision-machined, investment cast aircraft grade aluminum stock adapters, meeting the stringent standards of military and law enforcement users. The new adjustable hydraulic recoil buffer offers the greatest upgrade by allowing professional operators to reduce recoil by up to 90%. The recoil reducing hydraulic buffer kits are available for both LEO and High-Tube telescoping stock systems, or the hydraulic recoil buffers can be purchased separately. These recoil buffers accept Mil-spec collapsible buttstocks only.

Zuly Rivera, Marketing Manager at Mesa Tactical, expressed her excitement about the new agreement stating, “KynSHOT has been a great vendor for many years and has been devoted to reducing recoil since their inception. The chance to partner with KynSHOT and combine their adjustable and non-adjustable buffers with Mesa Tactical’s American-made, quality stock adapters is something we are excited about. KynSHOT’s hydraulic recoil buffers offer customers a robust and precise recoil management system that will rival anything on the market.”

“We are very excited to have taken our partnership to the next level with Mesa Tactical. For years we have had a successful working relationship with Mesa Tactical, starting with the launch of our non-adjustable shotgun buffer in 2020.” said Jacob Spyche, Sales Manager at KynSHOT. “With Mesa Tactical’s experience in the firearms industry, and success with our non-adjustable shotgun buffer, we thought it made total sense to have them distribute our entire shotgun line, handling many of the major names in the firearms industry. By taking our partnership with Mesa Tactical to the next level, we are very excited for what the future has in store, and we look forward to providing the industry with the highest quality products together.”

Mesa Tactical’s telescoping stock adapter kits replace the factory buttstock with an adapter that accepts AR style collapsible stocks and pistol grips. LEO Gen II stock adapters have a stock height that allows use of open or bead sights; High-tubestock adapters feature an optional optics rail and are designed for AR height optic systems. Complete telescoping stock kits include a stock adapter, M4 carbine buttstock, Mesatac® Trego® pistol grip and a push-button sling swivel. Hydraulic recoil starter kits include the stock adapter and a hydraulic recoil buffer, plus installation hardware (no stock or grip). No gunsmithing required for installation. These hydraulic recoil buffers are exclusive to Mesa Tactical and will arrive to customers with or without the AR stock adapter.

KynSHOT Adjustable Hydraulic Recoil Buffer (Mil-spec) $200

The KynSHOT RB5100 (SKU: 91320) is a patented adjustable shotgun buffer that fits in any Mil-Spec style thread on the Mesa Tactical shotgun adapter or tactical shotgun. The RB5100 comes with three adjustable damping settings (low, medium, and heavy damped), weighs 13.5 ounces, and can be used with any mil-spec collapsible stock. As each adjustable setting is increased on the RB5100, the hydraulic damping force increased approximately 15% (from low damped all the way up to heavy damped). The RB5100 reduces felt recoil up to 90%, allowing users to stay on target, reduce muzzle rise, and increase target acquisition speed, making this one of the most effective recoil reduction solution you can put on a shotgun.

KynSHOT Non-Adjustable Hydraulic Recoil Buffer (Mil-spec) $186

The KynSHOT RB5103 (SKU:92240) is a non-adjustable shotgun buffer featuring the latest advances in recoil management, at an economic price point. The buffer is permanently set at the medium damped setting (featured on our adjustable buffer) and offers the same dramatic recoil reduction, without the adjustability feature. The RB5103 can fit any Mil-Spec style thread on the MESA Tactical shotgun adapter or any tactical shotgun and can be used with any mil-spec style collapsible stock. The RB5103 reduces felt recoil up to 70%.

BERETTA IS BRINGING BACK THE CLASSIC 380 WITH EXCEPTIONAL COMFORT & STYLE.

The 80x Cheetah reimagines the legendary platform, with a new sleek design and enhanced features. Ergonomically redesigned for modern day carry, the 80X Cheetah includes a smaller Vertec style grip profile, the X-treme S Double/Single trigger, skeletonized hammer, a13+1 round capacity, and comes optics-ready out of the box.

Beretta knows the importance of training when concealed carrying and has made a carry gun that is actually comfortable to carry and enjoyable to shoot. With an easier-to-rack slide, lightened recoil from tuning of the slide weight, spring rates, and chambering in 380, the 80x Cheetah is designed with an enhanced fit and style for elevated speed and control.

For those looking for something different, the 80x Cheetah comes in a premium assortment of color options with limited edition multi-tone variants and market-leading finishes. 

Before we made it the most comfortable and controllable pistol available, we made it a Beretta. The Beretta 80x Cheetah– Style in EVERY detail.

Beretta 92XI Pistol, Cal. 9mm

Introducing the new frontier for the 90 Series – the 92XI. The 92XI brings the long-awaited frame mounted safety to the standard 92 family of products, as well as a single action only variant and various ergonomic enhancements. The frame mounted safety offers an ambidextrous solution, bringing the safety lever more in reach with natural ergonomics. 

The 92XI features the X-treme-S single action only and flat faced trigger, performance DLC coated trigger components and a lightweight skeletonized hammer, allowing for a crisp trigger pull with the option to go cocked and locked.

The 92XI carries forward the Vertec style frame, both high and low-capacity magazine options, a fiber optic front sight for faster sight acquisition, and the option for MRDS optics mounting making this a high performing, reliable choice for personal defense and competition.

Available in a new line of colorways with standard and limited edition variants, the long-awaited 92XI brings classic design with modern innovation. 

Beretta A300 Ultima Patrol Shotgun, 12 Ga.

ULTIMATE RELIABILITY AND CONTROL.
Elevate your tactical set-up with the new Beretta A300 Ultima Patrol – engineered to be ultra-reliable and easy to manipulate. Featuring the classic mechanisms of the venerable A300 platform, this new tactical shotgun includes enlarged controls, an enhanced loading port, a thinner forend design with multiple M-Lok and QD sling mounting points, and a 7+1-shot extended magazine tube secured by a custom barrel clamp with integral M-Lok capability.

Shotguns are great. They are powerful, fast-handling and offer an instant beaten zone. Unfortunately for recoil-averse shooters like this author, 12-gauge shotguns come in two forms: “too heavy” and “kicks too much!” With a massive, box-fed, autoloading tactical shotgun, I can run reduced recoil loads all day long so long as I don’t have to walk far with it. With a sleek, lightweight field gun, I can venture far and then miss my intended, gave due to flinching at the thought of touching off a heavy hunting load. The Savage Renegauge was designed in response to this contradiction.

Painful felt recoil is comprised of two components: the actual strength and abruptness of the kick and poor fit. Savage endeavored to eliminate both culprits. The gun ships with an impressive array of parts designed to fit it to the individual shooter. Two taller cheekpieces are included to provide correct sight picture—no matter what sighting method is used. Sighting out-of-the-box is with a vent rib and a fiber optic bead. While the horizontal portion of the rib is textured against glare, the ramp at the back of the rib isn’t—it reflects bright sky above quite prominently. Replacing the red fiber optic light pipe with a brighter green one would help bring the front bead into proper prominence, but texturing of that ramp surface would help even more. For the fans of heads-up displays, Evolution Gun Works (EGW) just came out with a Picatinny optic mount compatible with all Renegauge models. So anything from a micro red dot to a holographic sight with a wide window may be employed.

Two longer recoil-absorbing buttpads with spaces are also in the box, providing correct length of pull and very effective recoil reduction. Going even further, Savage includes four cast adjustor plates—plastic spacers that help center the gun within the shooter’s natural stance. All these modification options make it possible to create a “bespoke but factory” firearm, a shotgun with perfect fit for a mass-produced price of a little over $1,000.

The second element of comfortable shooting is minimizing the actual recoil impulse. A long-stroke piston action spreads recoil over a longer time. I’ve seen reviews call it a short-stroke action, but the piston is rigidly laser-welded to the bolt carrier and recoils with it the entire length of the cycle. A patented DRIV (Dual Self-regulating Inline Valve) is a clever way to make the action smoother and less prone to beating the receiver and the shooter’s shoulder alike when heavy loads are fired. Instead of one gas port, the barrel has several to add gas to the piston tube gradually. With light loads, all of the gas is used to drive the piston, with subsequent venting out. With higher pressure ammunition, like 3-inch magnums, the gas pressure forces two valves in the front of the gas block open, venting the excessive pressure out of the front of the forend. This way, light and heavy loads can be mixed in the same tube without any manual regulation required. The system works great for all but the most wimpy promotional ammunition. The rotating bolt has two lugs, so it’s fairly tolerant of a fouled barrel extension.

The Renegauge is a gray 8-pound shotgun with slightly angular forms. It’s also available in three camo patterns and with barrels from 24 to 28 inches. My test gun is gray with a 26-inch tube. The entire design is industrial and purposeful rather than decorative: I don’t have to worry about it rusting from the outside humidity or fret over small scratches in fine walnut furniture. The receiver is aluminum, and all the steel parts feature a Melonite finish. Helpfully, the shotgun comes with sling swivels already installed. Less helpfully, the swivel openings are not the same, with the standard one on the underside of the stock and a smaller one on the front of the magazine tube cap.

The barrel is fluted, unusual for expedient for shotguns. Three Benelli-pattern chokes are supplied with the shotgun: Modified (installed), Improved Cylinder and Full. The key for swapping them is under the foam in the same case. Renegauge comes with an excellent trigger—smooth and around 4 pounds. The push-through safety is in the back of the trigger guard, which this author prefers: I’ve seen more than one accidental discharge from the index finger slipping off the safety placed on the front of the trigger guard.

The magazine holds four shells. A limiter rod is included with the shotgun but isn’t pre-installed. The limited rod is notched for easy trimming to provide various degrees of capacity reduction. At this time, no tube extension is available. Once extended tubes are offered, the smooth-shooting Renegauge would do well in a three-gun competition.

With the Improved Cylinder choke, the Renegauge shot accurately with slugs, easily keeping them on a silhouette at 60 yards. Past that distance, I would need something more than a bead sight, like a HI VIZ adjustable rear sight or a micro red dot. One-ounce Federal Top Gun #7.5 sporting clay shells cycled reliably, and Rio 1 ¼ ounce high-velocity Texas Game loads shot without hurting my shoulder.

Made in America, the Renegauge benefits from better support and likely longer parts availability. Turkish-made shotguns often have problems with parts availability due to undocumented dimensional and design drift over time. All of the controls operate smoothly; all the surfaces are nicely radiused. Overall, the shotgun comes across as well-conceived and an equally well-executed product.

Krebs Custom S12 is a serious alternative to more U.S.-centric combat shotgun designs that are tube fed and typically pump action. Krebs Custom S12 Tac-18 is all business, especially when viewed back towards the muzzle.

By Todd Burgreen

The U.S. standard for the combat shotgun has been pretty well confined to the “pump-action fed via tube magazine located under the barrel;” John Browning showed the way with the Model 1897. There have been lever and bolt action shotguns as well, but these did not impinge on the pump action’s status, to which all others are compared. This is based on its simplicity to operate, reliability, and ability to handle a multitude of ammunition types. While semiautomatic shotguns have showed capability, few have demonstrated the “hell and back” reliability necessary to gain the confidence of users in life or death situations. Leave it to the Russians to adapt their ultra reliable AK operating system to the combat shotgun; thus challenging assumptions to what a combat shotgun should be with the Saiga S12 – a scaled-up AK-style action fed from detachable magazines.

The Saiga S12 uses a rotating bolt operated by gas-piston ala AK. For clarities sake, Gennady Nikonov is the Russian designer responsible for taking Kalashnikov’s AK design and adapting it into shotgun form. Obviously, a 12 gauge shell is much larger than a 7.62×39 rifle round. The 12 gauge’s flat hull design further compounded design adaptation issues, especially in terms of magazine design. In brief, the Saiga S12’s rear and forward trunnions were reinforced with the op-rod piston shortened and bolt carrier modified allowing for shell clearance during the ejection process in the firing cycle. The bolt head was enlarged to accommodate the larger 12 gauge shell face along with the top cover opening to provide clearance for the larger 12 gauge shells compared to the original rifle round size.

Though modified to meet import requirements via sporter stock with no pistol grip, the heart of the Saiga shotgun is an AK operating system. The process to modify the Saigas back into the more familiar AK profile, albeit with much larger hole in the barrel, is well known and a relatively straight forward process involving moving the trigger guard forward to make room for pistol grip, replacing fire control group, and installing AK stock of choice. Krebs Custom was one of the first AK “smiths” of note in the U.S. with pioneering work on AK rifles and Saiga shotguns. The Krebs Custom portion of the S12 shotgun equation is crucial and is a significant upgrade over a standard Saiga S12 shotgun as it arrives in the U.S.

The Krebs Custom ghost ring rear sight is clearly evident and mates up to a front sight that Krebs extends out to end of barrel.

The Krebs S12 is all business with its black finished receiver, 18 inch barrel with a Kreb’s muzzle device, foldable rear stock, SAW-type pistol grip, and black synthetic forearm giving an overall length of 40.5 inches weighing 7.5 lbs. empty. Krebs installs and tunes a G2 trigger along with dehorning and smoothing the Saiga S12’s edges. Krebs smoothes and polishes the bolt carrier group and receiver guide rails. Even without firing a live round the Krebs S12 superiority over a standard Saiga S12 is easily detected in the smoothness of the action, trigger pull, quality of re-finish and overall weapon feel. A Krebs Mk VI safety is fitted to the S12. The Mk VI safety features a manual bolt hold open notch in an effort to provide one possible solution to the Saiga magazine change conundrum, which we will go into more detail about below. A Kreb’s ghost ring rear sight finish off the Krebs S12 package moving the front sight assembly to the barrel’s muzzle area thus extending the effective sight radius beyond the standard notch and bead provided from the factory.

The AK operating action is the benchmark for reliability in assault rifles with the Saiga 12 gauge following in this pattern. We should guard against being biased toward the Saiga S12 with our proclivity for tube fed shotguns. The magazine fed Saiga S12 positively impacts handling by locating the ammunition at the center of the weapon allowing for faster handling. The Saiga changes previous instilled training centered on tube fed shotguns such as shoot 2 reload 2 tactics. The Krebs Custom Saiga S12 is fed via 5, 8, 10, 12-round stick magazines along with drum magazines with capacities as high as 30 rounds. AGP stick magazines of different capacities combined with high capacity 20-round drums from MD Arms and Alliance Armaments were utilized during this T&E. The drums represent performance enhancement in a big way. A nuance discovered with using the drum magazines is that your hand placement on the forend needs to be pushed forward slightly more than normal to get around the drum’s circumference. The Saiga S12 12 gauge is closer to an assault rifle in its manual of arms versus a tube fed shotgun most are more familiar with.

A definite nuance with operating the Saiga S12 is the magazine change technique. This is a twofold issue in terms of making sure magazines fit and function as well as manual of arms for running the S12 shotgun most efficiently. The Saiga S12 has its own manipulation techniques that need to be accepted and not resisted. The Saiga S12 shotgun does not have a last round hold open feature. The size of the 12 gauge rounds make full capacity magazines problematic to lock in place with the bolt forward. Magazine changes are definitely different in nature; even if you are already familiar with the AK “rocking” method via rifles. The girth and weight of the Saiga magazines take time to get used to when performing reloads under speed compounded by the need to keep the Saiga’s bolt held open allowing for the magazine insertion. The Kreb’s Mk VI safety with bolt hold open notch proved a worthy addition to the Krebs Custom S12 in this regard by allowing the operator to lock the bolt rearward allowing for smoother insertion of loaded S12 magazines.

In terms of combat or personal defense, shotguns fire two primary types of shells—slugs or buckshot. There are various types of each. This ability to handle different styles of projectiles is at the root of shotgun effectiveness and popularity. The Krebs Custom S12 was tested with Wolf Ammunition, Hornady and Federal Premium #00 buckshot 2 3/4 inch. The Federal Premium FliteControl and Hornady Critical Defense buckshot load utilize special wads for tighter buckshot patterns – thus longer effective range. Federal Premium, Winchester, and Wolf 1 ounce slugs were also tested with the Krebs S12. The recently introduced Winchester PDX 1 12 gauge loading combining a 1oz slug and three-#00 pellets was also tested. The Winchester PDX 1 load harkens back to the “buck-n-ball” loads used by our forefathers against the British in the Revolutionary War and each other during the Civil War.

The Krebs Custom S12 generated spreads of 5-10 inches at 10 yards with the tested buckshot loads. This indicates that a shotgun must be aimed to ensure accurate shot placement at close ranges. The buckshot spread increases to 12-22 inches at 25 yards with the Federal Premium and Hornady loading being on the tighter side and standard buckshot more dispersed. The Federal Premium and Hornady #00 buckshot load is the epitome of the new age tactical buckshot taking advantage of advances in wad technology to keep patterns tighter and thus extending effective range of #00 buckshot.

Many would comment that past 30 yards one should resort to slugs. Testing with the Krebs S12 combined with Federal Premium and Hornady buckshot indicated otherwise. The combination was able to place the majority of its pellets on IPSC style silhouette targets out to 40yards. Slugs performed in the 4 inch range at 50 yards with the Kreb’s ghost ring sights proving their worth. Steel man sized targets were hit regularly at 100 yards with a certain amount of satisfaction derived witnessing the 1 ounce Federal and Wolf slugs rocking the target back on its base.

The Saiga gas-operated action is simple, effective, and reliable as expected considered it is derived from the AK operating system. Nearly 300 rounds of various loads were fired in this T&E, including light birdshot. The Saiga S12’s gas system has two settings allowing for it to be adjusted to ammunition type used. This system allows for use of most any ammunition type including low brass shells and aids in recoil management by restricting gas flow setting when firing full powered buckshot or slug loads. Low recoil buckshot or slugs need to be proofed as to which setting works the best. The Krebs S12’s gas setting was not moved during testing and worked with everything from low brass birdshot to slugs. Credit for this is given to Marc Krebs asking ahead of time what loads I would most likely be using. Disassembly for maintenance is simple and allows for effective cleaning in minimal time. Anyone that is familiar with the AK rifle will be right at home on the Saiga S12 shotgun.

Range time consisted of the patterning described above along with other exercises trying to get a better appreciation of how the Krebs S12 shotgun handles and performs. The drills involved moving between barricades engaging shoot and no-shoot targets. Another drill used was based on engaging several shorter range targets out to 30 yards before having to engage a designated target placed 90 yards away. The Krebs S12’s “ghost ring” sight come into its own during this type of work. The “ghost ring” gives nothing up in terms of CQB ranges with front sight as easy to place on target as bead and ultimately proved better at accurate placement of fire. This necessitated a switch from buckshot to slug before engaging. This is accomplished by switching magazines in the Krebs S12. The relatively limited capacity of shotguns compared to high capacity magazine fed rifles is often listed as major detriment of choosing a shotgun over another weapon type. One of the most crucial things to learn when choosing a shotgun for defense is how to keep it from running empty of ammunition. U.S.-centric tube fed shotgun methods must be avoided when deploying the Krebs S12. The Krebs S12 is best operated as a magazine fed assault rifle.

A great test for any shotgun especially one to be used in a quick reacting CQB setting is shooting thrown clay targets. This also verifies reliability with ammunition with less recoil impulse than slugs or buckshot and helps get more rounds fired to verify operating soundness. Low brass Wolf Ammunition and Federal Premium #7.5 shot was used with no issue. The ghost ring sight was no problem at all with the rear sight “disappearing” naturally as eye focused on flying clay target and front sight leading it. The low brass shells were a welcome relief in terms of recoil. Yes, the Krebs S12 is semiautomatic, but it still is a 12 gauge and anyone telling you any different should be scrutinized. Recoil was not prohibitive and one gets used to it, but do not start using a shotgun
after a day of firing an AR or AK as it is significantly more.

The Krebs Custom S12 combined with drum magazine or stick magazines is a different beast entirely than a tube fed shotgun, especially in a personal defense or LE environment. The combat shotgun’s utility should not be doubted or held in disdain once its role is understood. Not wanting to employ sideways math, but 20 rounds of buckshot in the MD Arms or Alliance Armament drum magazines translates into 180 projectiles sent downrange in a few seconds. My time with the Krebs Custom S12 convinced me that the Saiga S12 is worthy of consideration as an alternative to the tube-fed shotgun.

Sites of Interest

Krebs Custom, Inc.
1000 Rand Road
Wauconda, IL 60084
(847) 487-7776
www.krebscustom.com

MD Arms, Ltd.
PO Box 237
Casstown, OH 45312
(937) 552-9383
www.MDArms.com

AGP Arms, Inc.
1930 East 3rd Street #12
Tempe, AZ 85281
(480) 983-6083
www.agparms.com

Alliance Armament
1077 Mt. Gilead Rd.
Boonville, IN 47601
(812) 897-4908
www.alliancearmament.com

Echo Valley Training Center
www.echovalleytrainingcenter.com

Vang Comp Systems, named for its owner Hans Vang, is a company specializing in custom upgrades to the combat shotgun, both pump and semi-auto of various marques, intended to give police officers and hard-core self-defense oriented citizen shooters more efficient weapons. I recently had Vang Comp do up one of their MMC Ghost Ring model custom shotguns for my review. Let’s take a closer look at this gun:

I shipped to Vang Comp a plain Jane, inexpensive Remington 870 Express and they shipped me back an exquisite custom scattergun. As part of the Vang Comp package the 870’s standard wooden furniture has been replaced with a black composite forend and stock fitted with thick rubber recoil pad, both these from Speed Feed, Inc.

The heart of this gun is the Vang Comp Systems (VCS) modification, which both tightens shot patterns and decreases felt recoil. This system consists of back boring the barrel and lengthening the forcing cone. “Back boring” refers to actually opening up the diameter of the bore .002” along its entire length except the last 1-1/4”, which in effect creates a choke to tighten shot patterns, and also make the gun more accurate with slugs.

To understand the concept of lengthening the forcing cone and its advantages, picture a standard cylinder bore barrel which what most “riot guns” have. The forcing cone is the portion of the barrel that transitions from the chamber to the bore of the gun. Think of it as the on-ramp to a freeway. In a standard factory gun the forcing cone is about 1/4” long and very sharply angled. By the time Vang Comp is through with it the forcing cone is 1/1-2 to 2” long, and thus has a far more gradual taper. The number one advantage of this is that when the shot begins to leave the shell it won’t instantly hit the “wall” of a sharply angled forcing cone and deform. Rather the shot is “babied” as it’s guided into the barrel far more gently. Since the shot is not deformed, it flies more accurately, thus you get better patterns over longer distances.

Lengthening the forcing cone also gives you the perception of less felt recoil. In a normal shotgun, almost as soon as the shot begins to move it hits the forcing cone and you instantly get whacked with all that recoil. The lengthened forcing cone extends the recoil impulse out over a longer period of time. That doesn’t really lessen the amount of recoil, it just makes it seem lighter, which makes the gun far more pleasant to fire. Recoil perception is a very subjective thing. My personal take on it, from firing this shotgun both before and after modification: I would say that running Federal Tactical Loads though a VCS’ed 12 gauge feels like firing a stock 20 gauge.

There are two versions of VCS, the Comp and Non-Ported models. Both of these systems feature the same internal modifications to the barrel (back boring, lengthened forcing cone) the only difference being that the Comp model has ports drilled toward the front of the barrel, to vent expanding propellant gases upward and thus hold down muzzle flip during recoil, and the Non-Ported version, naturally, doesn’t. Both systems have their virtues:

The Comp model offers enhanced control of barrel rise during rapid fire. Another positive trait is that the ported barrel has about half the muzzle flash of a standard barrel. You’d expect a ported barrel would vent burning powder gases upward across the line of sight and give you more muzzle flash than a non-ported barrel (that’s certainly what happens on compensated auto pistols) however this data was gathered by Larry Nickols of the Burbank PD and apparently that’s the truth. The porting does make the gun louder, since noise also travels up and back toward you as well as simply out the front of the muzzle and away. Hans Vang reports that about 90 percent of his customers opt for the Comp model VCS.

An advantage to the Non-Ported system would be if an individual or police department didn’t want any outwardly visible modifications to the barrel. And the gun is a bit quieter. Also, if officers were going to do an entry in the “stacking position” with one officer right above the other, it’s possible with a ported gun the guy right above it might get some muzzle gas in the face when the lower man fires.

Sights are from MMC, a high visibility ramp front mated to a fully adjustable ghost ring rear. Says Hans Vang, “As far as I’m concerned, MMC makes the best ghost rings sight available today. I’m of the old school, I like things machined from billeted steel.” These sights feature tritium inserts for low light shooting, consisting of a dot up front and a bar beneath the rear ghost ring aperture.

The 870 Express started out with a simple round barrel. Hans takes a standard Remington 26” or 28” vent rib barrel and cuts it down to 18-1/4 or 18-1/2”, then installed the sights. Combined with the MMC ramp/ghost ring set-up, the vent rib configuration on this gun really looks nice.

Out-of-the box the gun came with Remington’s “shorty” four-round magazine tube. Fitted with a Scattergun Technologies (SGT) tube extension, mag capacity jumps from four to six 2-3/4” shells, making this a seven-shot gun with one in the chamber. The stock magazine tube follower of black plastic has been replaced with a follower in high visibility day-glo orange, also from SGT; this makes it much easier when inspecting the gun to visually verify the magazine is empty.

The gun has been fitted with an SGT magazine cap with quick detachable sling swivel. The swivel holds the sling off to the left, which could be a very nice thing if you ever wanted to put a tactical light on this gun; with the sling off to the side it won’t get in the way of the light. The sling itself is the Giles Tactical Sling, which is considered by many experts the best tactical sling available. One of the nice things about the Giles sling is that it doesn’t require a sling swivel on the butt, being instead affixed with a Velcro loop. When worn by a right handed operator the “loop” of the Giles sling goes over the right shoulder; when the gun is released the gun simply hangs across the chest, barrel angled downwards. This allows you to have both hands free but not lose instant access to the gun. The Giles unit can also be used as a conventional carry sling.

One of the most common upgrades among serious defensively minded shotgunners is finding some way to carry a spare ammo supply that is fixed in an accessible manner to the gun. Probably the best system existing is the side saddle ammo carrier, and one of these is included in the Vang Comp custom package. Mounted on the gun’s right side aft of the ejection port, this unit holds six 12-gauge shells ready to hand.

The Remington 870’s standard small safety button, located on its right side behind the trigger guard, has been upgraded with the installation of a greatly oversized part for more positive manipulation.

Trigger pulls on an out-of-the-box Remington 870 tend to be around 4-1/2 pounds. Vang Comp doesn’t really lighten the trigger pulls, just makes them crisper by very lightly touching up the sear. If the gun needs it, Vang Comp also polishes the slide rails and hones internal parts so the gun cycles very smoothly.

For my testfiring of the Vang Comp Systems custom Remington 870, Hans Vang recommended Federal’s Tactical Load as the best choice. Since this is an extremely popular load for the tactical 12 gauge both among police and serious citizens, limiting my buckshot testing to this load was no great hardship. The Tactical Load carries the familiar nine 00 buckshot pellets traditional in a 2-3/4” 12 gauge shell, but with velocity downloaded from 1,600 to 1,400 feet per second. This is Federal’s approach to giving police and other shooters 12 gauge stopping power with less recoil.

Let’s compare the accuracy of the gun both before and after Vang Comping. We’ll refer to the gun’s performance as BVC (Before Vang Comp) and AVC (AfterVang Comp).

BVC at seven yards the 870 printed a nicely centered 4-1/8” pattern. AVC at the same distance pattern size shrank in half (actually a bit less) to 2”. Lengthening the range to 15 yards, BVC pattern size was a mediocre 9-1/8”.

AVC pattern size again at 15 yards was only marginally larger than at seven yards, a quite impressive 2-13/16”. Perceptive readers will recognize this means the VCS equipped 870 actually printed tighter patterns at 15 yards (2-13/16”) that it had at seven yards (4-1/8”) before being Vang Comped!

When I received the customized shotgun back from Vang Comp, they included a test target fired at 50 feet, marginally farther away than my own 15 yard shooting. On this target were five different patterns fired with the Federal Tactical Load. Average group size hovered right around five inches, a bit more or less, with one superb though anomalous group of 2-3/4”. Also on the target was a three shot group fired from the bench with Brenneke low recoil slugs. All three slugs went into a tight 1-1/8” cloverleaf that bears an amazing resemblance to Mickey Mouse.

Back to my own testing; at 25 yards BVC I wasn’t able to measure pattern size because the gun couldn’t put all nine pellets on paper. AVC it could, albeit barely, in a group of 12”. Hans Vang has commented, “For decades the 12-gauge shotgun has been characterized as being a 15-yard gun, if you want to be safe. With the Vang Comp it’s a 25 yard gun!” Vang Comp Systems literature states, “The VCS modification increases the effective range of the 12 ga. shotgun using 00 Buck to an excess of 50 yards.”

I’m not sure I can buy that. Even at 25 yards, pattern size is loose enough to pose an unacceptably high risk of several pellets from even a well-centered group missing the target and whizzing past to endanger innocent bystanders. This is simply unacceptable in an urban environment. As far as I’m concerned the Vang Comped 870 is still a 15 yard gun…but it’s a far safer 15 yard gun, since compared to a stock weapon its condensed patterns give you a much better chance of keeping all nine 00 buck pellets inside the thorax area. The tighter the pattern, the safer things will be for noncombatants during the gunfight.

Moving ever to the rear, and switching to slugs as we traveled far, far beyond prudent buckshot range, another target fired by Hans Vang was sent to me along with the gun, this one bench rested from 50 yards. On this target the first two sighting-in shots went low, approximately two inches below the bull’s-eye. After the adjustable ghost rings were fine-tuned, of the five shots fired for record four went into a slightly vertically strung group measuring 2”. The final, fifth shot was alas a flyer opening up overall group size to 4-1/2”. Still, four shots into 2” at 50 yards is not too shabby for a slug loaded 12 gauge!

There were no malfunctions of any kind encountered during my testing of the Vang Comp Systems custom Remington 870, just perfect operation.

The cost of this weapon from Vang Comp Systems is $815 (plus shipping & handling, of course) and that’s not a “done up on your gun” price but includes the base gun. There are also several other custom packages available from Vang Comp that are less expensive than the one reviewed here. Simply having the VCS modification and nothing else done to your gun costs $195 for a ported barrel and $145 for a non-ported one, and you don’t need to send them the entire gun, only the barrel. For more information you may write to Vang Comp Systems, Dept GAH, 234 Orange Avenue, Goleta, CA 93117 or phone (805)964-7956. The fax number is (805) 964-6467. The web-site address is www.vangcomp.com.