BROWNING’S THIRD ITERATION | The Auto-5
In my last two shotgun columns I wrote about John Browning’s first two shotgun designs: the lever-action Winchester 1887 and the Winchester pump-action 1897. This month we’ll take a look at his third—the world’s first semiautomatic shotgun, the Browning Automatic 5, most often called the Auto-5 or simply A-5. The name of the shotgun designates that it is an autoloader with a capacity of five rounds, four in the magazine tube and one in [...]
POTENT PERFORMERS | 20-Gauge Combat Shotguns
I’ve written before about the advantages of a 20-gauge combat shotgun, but I decided it was time to revisit the issue in this column. Up front, I’ll admit that the #3 Buckshot load normally used in the 20-gauge shotgun is not as devastating as the 00 Buckshot load standard [...]
SHOTGUNS | Mossberg 590A1 Retrograde
Back before the colors of Flat Dark Earth, Ranger Green, Coyote, camouflage du jour, etc., all the cool kids used Scorched Earth, commonly called black. I was as cool (guilty?) as everyone else and I clearly remember the day I replaced the walnut stock on my Remington 870 with [...]
GUNS ACROSS THE BORDER | What Border Lawmen Used a Century Ago
Twice a year gun writer Dick Williams organizes a three-day theme shoot. Recently I attended one of these events at Gunsite. The theme was what handguns peace officers working on the Southern border used in the period of 1900-1917. The class would cover single and double-action revolvers and semiautomatics [...]
BALLISTIC BREACHING WITH A SHOTGUN
Speed is essential in any dynamic entry. Breaching must be both rapid and effective. There are a variety of methods mechanical, thermal, explosive and ballistic that may be employed depending on what is to be breached and the tactical situation. SHOTGUN BREACHING From a military perspective, since combat has migrated [...]
SEMI-AUTO ON STEROIDS SRM Arms 1216 Shotgun
Most fighting shotguns are descendants of hunting shotguns modified for use in a defensive/offensive role. Many, such as the Remington 870 and Mossberg 500/590 series, have served with distinction. But due to their genealogy, they share the common complaint of minimal ammunition capacity. Even “tactical” shotguns are somewhat limited. For [...]
SHORT-BARRELED 12-GAUGE REVOLUTION Mossberg 590 Shockwave
Introduced in 2017 the Mossberg® 590® Shockwave™ was, and remains, one of the hottest firearms to hit the market. That’s not at all surprising since the Shockwave offers shooters a compact, 14-inch-barreled 12-gauge reminiscent of the legendary Witness Protection Shotgun of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) but with no NFA [...]
Lever Action Shotgun A Throwback To The Wild Times
Century Arms PW87 lever action shotgun is reminiscent of the old west and John Browning's Model 1887. View More Quick Hit Videos Here
