Shotguns

Sometimes you just must stop and go, “Have I seen everything?” As I got a chance to look at Adler Arms at SHOT Show 2017, I realized that they were not another me-too company. They had shotguns for hunting, sporting and tactical purposes. This included various schemes of Cerakote, wood and all manner of bolt-on products and accessories. You could pick any length barrel you wanted from 10 to to 28 inches., Oh, and they are all lever actions.

This past year Century Arms figured out a way to get a classic externally hammered coach sized side by side into the hands of American shooters for under $300. As you can see from the video, the gun has a bunch of ugly markings on it, but it works great.

It would be easy to dismiss this gun as novelty. With a standard capacity of 25 rounds — 40+1 with mini-shells — the KSG-25 is a beast.

Shooters on tight budgets are always looking for a great deal. So, it was welcome news when Stevens announced the addition of three compact models to expand out their popular value line of 555 shotguns. Already, the flagship 555 in 12-gauge has earned high praise from shooters and outdoor writers alike for its modest beauty, solid performance and ridiculously wallet-friendly price (under $700) for an over/under shotgun. These three new compact models (in 20-gauge, 28-gauge and .410-bore offerings) only build on that reputation and provide a host of options for the sub-gauge fan.

If you’ve fired different types of shotguns, it’s obvious that recoil can be all over the map. Some load and gun combinations are relative pussycats, allowing one to fire hundreds of rounds per day with no ill effect. Others make you want to start sticking safety pins to your shirt and run for the nearest safe space. With recoil in mind, I got an itch to check out a 20-gauge pump shotgun for home defense. That brought me to the Stevens 320 Pump in 20 gauge.

Introduced earlier this year as the company’s first-ever semi-auto shotgun, the Stevens S1200 is powered using a very smooth, fast Benelli-esque inertia recoil system but comes with a very unBenelli-esque price—starting at well under $600, for a semi-auto shotgun.

There are few firearms as versatile as the shotgun. The modern shotgun is a work of engineering prowess, but one seemingly insurmountable issue has been developing a semi-automatic that can fire the full range of loads. In these cases, you usually must revert back to a pump action. But what if you want one that can do everything?

Shotguns have always suffered one common weakness: Capacity. Although substantial when measured by either weight or diameter, the amount of ammunition that can be loaded into the gun is limited. Right? Wrong. SRM Arms has stepped up to the plate to take a swing at solving the capacity and reloading problems inherent in a 12-gauge shotgun with its 16-shot, semi-automatic Model 1216.

So which is right for you? An NFA short-barreled shotgun (SBS), or a traditional 18-inch or longer-barreled tactical shotgun? Well, thanks to Nighthawk Custom, you have some great options on both sides of the debate.