The Shotgun Skills Gauge developed by Symtac Consulting is a quick way to test your shotgun chops at the range with only five shells. Today, we’re going over the course of fire, and offering a couple of tips for pulling off a coveted coin run. Details are in the video below, or scroll on down to read the full transcript. Hey everybody, I am Chris Baker from LuckyGunner.com. We almost got through the whole year without doing any shotgun videos. And that would be no good. So today, I’ve got a shotgun drill to share with you. This one is called the Symtac Skills Gauge. It’s from Symtac Consultin ..read more

With the release of the Smith & Wesson M&P12 earlier this year, it looks like bullpup shotguns are finally making their way into the mainstream. Is it a viable concept for home defense with legitimate benefits over conventional shotguns, or just a passing fad that will become meme-fodder in a few years? Using the KelTec KS7 as a test platform (with the hope of side-stepping the mechanical complexity issues of the multi-tube models), we try to examine some of the pros and cons inherent to shotguns with a bullup configuration. Details are in the video below, or scroll down to read the fu ..read more

A bunch of people are buying their very first gun right now, so we thought it would be a good time to revisit our Shooting 101 series. This time, we’re doing pump-action shotguns. Like most of our “how-to” type videos, a lot of the demonstrations don’t really translate well to text. As always, we’ve provided the full transcript below, but a lot of it won’t make much sense unless you watch the video. This one ended up being pretty long, so we cooked up some handy timecode references for easy navigation: 0:02 – Introduction 1:46 – Safe Gun Handling 4:33 – Demo Guns and Nomenclature 6:20 – Shotg ..read more

Within just the last few years, 1 3/4″ mini shotgun shells have gone from quirky novelty status to an ammo option that firearm and shotshell makers seem to be taking seriously. Mini shells offer reduced recoil and increased ammo capacity — ideal features for a lot of shotgun users. But are these pint-sized 12 gauge loads just as effective as the standard 2 3/4″ shells? Or is there some kind of tradeoff? We measured and tested four different mini-shells to find out their muzzle velocity, how they pattern at home defense distances, and their performance in ballistic gelatin. Details are in the v ..read more

Today, we’re looking at a shotgun reloading technique called the violin reload. A popular technique among 3-gunners for twin and quad loading, it can also be adapted for a defensive context for strong-hand loading of single shells. Once you get past the initial awkwardness, the violin load may be one of the overall best methods for stuffing shells into a shotgun tube Details are in the video below, or scroll down to read the full transcript.   Hey everybody, I am Chris Baker from LuckyGunner.com and today I’m going to show you a method for reloading a tube-fed shotgun called the violin re ..read more

We asked Steve Fisher of Sentinel Concepts a few shotgun related questions. He had answers. Details are in the video below, or scroll down to read the full transcript.   Hey everybody, Chris Baker here from LuckyGunner.com. A couple of months ago, I had a chance to take the Sentinel Concepts Practical Shotgun course taught by Steve Fisher. Since the 90s, Steve has offered training on handguns, carbines, shotguns, low light shooting, and law enforcement tactics, among many other topics. Very few still-active instructors have taught the defensive use of the shotgun for as long as Steve. At ..read more

A few years ago, we published a now-infamous video about why the Mossberg Shockwave is probably not an ideal home defense shotgun for most people. The tone of the article may have been a bit more emphatic than that, but that was the gist of it. But thanks to some new techniques and accessories, I’ve since done a 180 on the birdshead grip-style “firearms.” Today, we’re talking about why I’ve come to embrace mini-shotguns like the Mossberg Shockwave and the Remington Tac-13 and Tac-14. Details are in the video below, or scroll down to read the full transcript.   Hello everybody, I am C ..read more

Most shotguns with 18 to 20-inch barrels have a plain ol’ cylinder bore with no choke. Is that a problem? There is some debate about whether defensive style shotguns loaded with buckshot can even benefit from choke tubes. We fired some test patterns to find out. Like… a whole bunch of ’em. Four different buckshot loads, four different choke sizes at five-yard increments from five to 25 yards. Details are in the video below, or scroll down to read the full transcript.   Hey everybody, I’m Chris Baker from LuckyGunner.com. Today, I’m going to talk about using choke tubes in home defense sho ..read more

How hard is it to turn an old hunting shotgun into a compact home defense shotgun? Is it cheaper than buying a new shotgun? Is the end result “just as good” as a new shotgun? We bought an old 12 gauge pump and broke out the hacksaw and Dremel to find out. Details are in the video below, or scroll down to read the full transcript. (There was a lot of “show, not tell” in this video while I’m going through the process of modifying the gun. Much of the transcript has been paraphrased for clarity rather than the word for word approach we normally use.) Today, we’re going to look at how I turned th ..read more

Find out if your defensive shotgun skills are up to par with this simple test. All you need is a shotgun, a shot timer, and 11 rounds of buckshot. And some targets. And, I guess, a shooting range, too. And eye and ear pro. So actually, you kind of need a lot of stuff. But you can do it. I believe in you. Details are in the video below, or scroll down to read the full transcript. Hey everybody, I’m Chris Baker from LuckyGunner.com and it’s been far too long since I’ve done a video about shotguns. So today, I’ve got a shotgun skills test for you to try out at the range. It’s designed with a hom ..read more