Bruised, battered and scarred—no, I’m not describing myself, although after 30 years of playing this game that about sums it up. Rather, bruised and battered describes the 12 gauge shotgun that was mounted between my partner and I in the front seat of our patrol car.
Oh, there were better shotguns and accessories out there to be had. I had a Smith & Wesson 3000 that I had privately purchased while in the employ of the county sheriff. As a deputy, I carried this scatter gun, which was outfitted with an extended magazine. Mag tube extensions were new at the time; mine was made my Choate Machine and Tool and upped my 00 buck shell count to seven in the tube. The 3000 had rifle sights and a leather six-round spare shell scabbard by Tex Shoemaker laced to the stock. I usually loaded the stock scabbard with six rifled slugs. The total onboard 12 gauge round count was 13—something that gave me a little comfort on lonely nights working the northern end of the county as the only deputy on duty. On patrol, I carried the 3000 in a zippered gun bag on the floor in front of the bench seat.
The municipal agency-issued shotguns were older Remington 870s that had seen better days. Be that as it may, in short order I had deployed mine on multiple bad guys to gain compliance.
Does the Shotgun Still Have a Place in LE?
You bet. During my tenure, my agency has had a few officer-involved shootings with the 12 gauge police shotgun. In addition, I have seen the outcome of buck and birdshot when bad guys have shot each other. Buckshot, when fired within normal armed encounter distances, is devastating. With an approximate one-inch pattern spread for every yard from target, at close range the wound can be described as a “rat hole” with tremendous destructive power. Soft tissue and bone are literally blown apart.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the patrol carbine and have trained hundreds of law enforcement instructors and officers in its use. But I still like the shotgun as well, and when it is properly modified and loaded with the right fodder in the hands of a well-trained officer, it can be very effective in a shooting.
Modern Shotguns
My own agency transitioned to Mossberg 590A1 shotguns a number of years ago. These six-shot scatterguns feature the excellent Marinecote finish, ghost-ring sights, Davis SpeedFeed stocks that are normally loaded with four rifle slugs, and slings. We originally deployed SureFire forearms on the shotguns but a decision was made (that I didn’t agree with) to remove these. Our shotguns sport 14-inch barrels to facilitate mounting in modern (can you say smaller) patrol cars.
When properly maintained, these shotguns have been excellent. However, when they’re tossed in the trunk and not lubed, it’s another story. Recently a patrol officer brought one to my office and I had to slam it down on the floor several times to be able to disassemble and lube it. Manufacturers can make great guns, but cops can break or ruin about anything.
I’ve had the good fortune to shoot the most modern shotguns Remington now fields. New designs include expandable stocks, better sights, the aforementioned SureFire integral white light forearms, sidesaddle spare shell holders that can be mounted on the receiver, and more efficient sling systems. I have tested new package designs, such as the Remington R870 MCS—Modular Combat Shotgun, which offers multiple barrels and stock/pistol grip configurations with different chokes, spare shell and sling all in one case, providing LE personnel options for everything from effective deadly force to ballistic breaching.
The Dream 870
A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to ship off a well-worn 870 that had been sold to a police firearms distributor on a trade to master gunsmith Hans Vang at Vang Comp Systems (VCS). Hans and his staff worked their magic and transformed an aged scattergun to a modern, high-performance marvel. My Vang Comp 870 has had the barrel back-bored, which vastly increases accuracy and pattern tightness by reducing deformation to the pellet group. Hans’ patented porting process drills holes in the barrel on both sides of the top, reducing recoil and also improving group patterning.
The VCS ghost ring sights are awesome, as is the big dome safety which improves performance. The finish is a matte black durable and the action is smoother than snot. A polymer detachable side ammo carrier on the left side of the receiver gives me six additional 00 buck rounds, slugs or a combo. The DEA goes to Hans for all their shotguns and it’s easy to see why.
With my favorite LE load, the Federal Tactical Buckshot nine pellet 00 buck in the Vang Comp Systems 870, I can keep all nine pellets in a standard silhouette target out to 40 yards. That’s impressive to say the least.
Outfitted with a Blackhawk three-point sling, the VCS 870 was almost complete. I finally picked up a SureFire new generation DSF-870 LED weapon light. This integral forearm light provides 600 lumens for 1.5 hours or 200 lumens for 3 hours at the touch of a button. 600 lumens is more than enough light to search the darkest dope house and disorient any suspect found therein.
Shotgun Training
Like all things hardware- and software-related, shotgun performance is drastically improved by solid training. Unfortunately my state shotgun qualification course has been reduced to all of eight rounds (six rounds if the agency doesn’t shoot slugs). As a firearm instructor I cringe at the thought of patrol and DB personnel only training once a year and firing just six rounds to become “qualified.”
When I run a shotgun instructor course, the students are going to learn to maximize their performance with the scattergun. Operation and patterning tests are followed up by loading, unloading, speed loading and select-loading the shotgun; snap shooting; 90- and 180-degree facing movements; moving off the X; shooting on the move; use of cover; pistol transition drills; skip shooting; close quarters battle and more.
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These skills are put to test in line scrambler, scrambler and moving/move drills integrating with partners. Scramblers and moving-move drills may start at 50 yards, with a select load to a rifled slug for a shot, then move forward and rearward through a course of fire while utilizing cover and the developed skills—all while communicating and covering a partner.
The idea is to develop street-relevant and realistic skills, teaching officers to not stand in one spot and shoot. As firearm instructors we want to build problem-solvers who can think, move, get accurate fire on target and communicate.
Final Shot
The venerable smoothbore shotgun will be relegated to mothballs in the storage vault if we only do six- or eight-round qual course shoots and nothing else. The 12 gauge is an impressive firearm that can bring devastating damage to bear on a deadly threat. To maximize its effectiveness we only need to update and modernize the design from an unadorned “trench broom,” which was used effectively in WWI and since, to a modern law enforcement shotgun. We then need to train our folks to make the alley sweeper sing.
The shotgun has not and will not fail law enforcement, but we have failed to update and train with it. Fix that, and this devastating tool can help officers make it home at night.