Tactical Shotgun Recommendations?

blaxsun

blaxsun

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So I've been humming and hawing about a shotgun for the past year now. I'd like to get something for backpacking, etc. with the following requirements:

• Non-restricted, compact (short barrel)
• Lightweight, reliable, durable
• Short picatinny optic rail and cheap $$ = bonus

Two that I saw that perked my interest were the Dominion Arms Grizzly and the Fabarms Martial nickel.

Any suggestions or recommendations from those more knowledgeable would be greatly appreciated (dealer inquiries also welcome). Thanks.
 
Seeing a lot of used receivers and 870 barrels on the EE these days. If I was doing it again right now, I'd snap up a 12-15" barrel and build my own gun from parts. If its going in the bush, send it off to TacOrd for park/teflon finish and you're good to go.


Okay so its not the CHEAPEST route, but you'd have a wonderful gun in the end.

Other suggestion is maybe for a mag-fed.. Valtro PM5 or Grizzly Mag? Although the Grizzly mag doesn't sound like the most reliable thing...
 
I picked up a DA Grizzly a few years ago, from the first batch that CanAm brought in, and I've gradually done (or had TacOrd do) all kinds of upgrades to it. It's been parked and Teflon painted, Mesa stock with recoil buffer, new follower, big safety, dimples removed and mag extension added, got a 18.5" barrel and had the forcing cone lengthened, Wilson tritium ghost ring sights, Surefire fore end, and a shell carrier.

My one minor regret at this point is that I started with the Grizzly. While great value, the action isn't as nice as a well used Wingmaster, and I've had to have the shell stops replaced, because they were weak and would occasionally double feed. I see the odd used Wingmaster come up for sale on the EE, and if I were starting over again, that would be my base gun. The only slight advantages of the Grizzly is that you get a 12.5 barrel for a great price with the gun, and it can handle 3" shells, while some Wingmaster models cannot. It also comes with synthetic furniture, which for camping makes sense.

For your planned usage, I think I would stick with a tube fed gun, as it is more streamlined for a pack, and ammo can be carried on the gun more easily while not necessarily being loaded. I'm guessing a tube gun is lighter, but I'm not certain.
 
I was looking for the same thing you are and after looking at most everything except the grizzlys and fabarms(none local) I wound up with a benelli supernova tactical with a collapsable stock and 14" barrel. GREAT gun, one of the few I wouldnt part with.
 
Used Wingmaster and put the parts on it that you want. You will have a better shotgun than the 2 choices you mentioned, built to your specs. I wasn't impressed with the Grizzly I shot.
 
I have a older 870 wingmaster with CanAm's 12.5 barrel on it. Great gun. A 14" Benelli Supernova would be a pricier but excellent choice as well.
 
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Get a used 870 Wingmaster or Police with a barrel of 18.5" in length ...no more, no less...with a simple bead sight and keep the original stock. Picatinny rail and optics are needless extra weight as is a mag extension! If it can't be downed within the time needed to fire 5 shots, the extra 2 or 3 shot capacity is gonna be useless anyway.
 
You can usually find a complete wingmaster for about $225, although they are almost always 2 3/4 only if thats important to you. You usually get a 28-30 inch barrel, which you can cut to 18 and re bead or sell for about $100 and get a short barrel or even keep it for hunting and buy a short barrel. I personally don't like the DA barrels (or shotguns either) but they do the job although the one I did buy would fit my one wingmaster but wouldn't let the action close on my other one. The nice things about wingmasters is that you can get just about anything you want to put on it, and parts from a wingmaster made in the 50's will fit a wingmaster made yesterday. To me that says they got it right the first time.
 
14" Supernova collapsible. Nothing can match the performance in anything close to the same price range. You get excellent LPA style ghost ring sights, super comfortable, grippy pistol grip, collapsible stock, huge trigger guard with big safety button, big loading gate the locks in the up position for easy loading, extreme reliability and big, simple and easy to clean parts along with a chrome lined bore. Not to mention the rotating bolt head and smooth chromed chamber that extract like a bolt action and ejector that flings shells like a semi. Or buy an 870 and spend double the purchase price trying to make it perform...your choice :D
 
fabarm fits the bill for you methinks. for hiking Id go with the standard stock, 14" bead sight version. (I did)

uses 870ish action which is proven reliable, but with a chrome bbl and aluminum receiver, nicer finishing. aluminum receiver makes it the lightest option vs the grizzly(cheap 870) and even the supernova(expensive). has a 3" chamber which is great- less likely to short stroke vs the supernova 3 1/2" chamber.

shooting edge/target sports can certainly fix you up with a top rail- the guns are set up for it.

as an added bonus the thing is threaded for chokes so you can put a few hundred rounds of cheap bird shot through it shooting clays to prove its reliability

only thing I dont like about that gun is the feed ramp, without that my supernova would barely get any attention
 
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250px-Shotgun_in_training_US_military.jpg

Enough said.
 
supernova said:
14" Supernova collapsible. Nothing can match the performance in anything close to the same price range. You get excellent LPA style ghost ring sights, super comfortable, grippy pistol grip, collapsible stock, huge trigger guard with big safety button, big loading gate the locks in the up position for easy loading, extreme reliability and big, simple and easy to clean parts along with a chrome lined bore. Not to mention the rotating bolt head and smooth chromed chamber that extract like a bolt action and ejector that flings shells like a semi. Or buy an 870 and spend double the purchase price trying to make it perform...your choice :D
Click to expand...

Yep, the 14" supernova Tac is sweet.

Or the Benelli M4s90 if you don't mind the extra length.



I pulled a "get both" :D
 
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