Nine .33 caliber projectiles or a 1-ounce slug can have devastating ballistic impact upon a criminal suspect bent on your destruction. Since most police gunfights are measured in feet not yards, and the majority of them happen inside 21 feet, a double-ought shotgun blast looks more like a large single “rat” hole than nine separate holes. The energy dumped into a target by a 12 gauge slug is awesome. Yes, it is more “high-speed / low-drag” to talk about tactical carbines today, but the 12 gauge shotgun has served the police and military for years and offers a large variety of options, from effective anti-personnel rounds such as the 00 buck and slugs, to less-lethal beanbag rounds and chemical munitions, to specialty door-breaching rounds and even the new TASER EXREP (Extended Range Electronic Projectile). The scattergun is not fading away anytime soon and with an updated shotgun from Nighthawk Custom the shotgun’s future is looking good.

Pump action 12 gauge shotgun designs have remained the same for years. The old Remington 870 shotgun that sat next to me in a rack was essentially the gun carried by my agency for decades prior to that. With a bead front sight and 18-inch barrel, these “alley sweepers” were limited to four rounds for up-close altercations. The Nighthawk 870 is about as close to that old patrol shotgun of 19 years ago as the six-shot revolver is to my high-capacity autoloader. Simply put, there is no comparison. Nighthawk Custom has revamped the tried and true Remington 870 design and the result is a shotgun that better fulfills its mission.