Shotguns have been used for hunting, defense and law enforcement at least since the blunderbuss. In the past two centuries, shotguns were often used by law enforcement, the military and security guards to neutralize threats by multiple individuals during riots, attacks by enemy soldiers and armed robbery attempts targeting vehicles ranging from stagecoaches to armored trucks. Often referred to as "scatterguns", short-barreled shotguns that fired open patterns of buckshot were a powerful "equalizer" when a person was face-to-face with multiple assailants who had less than friendly intensions.
Today the situation is different. Shotguns using conventional buckshot and slugs aren't the best choice for enforcing the law in modern high-density urban and suburban communities where most people live. Officers working in highly-populated cities and towns need shotguns and rifles that are capable of more accurate shot placement to avoid collateral damage. The scattergun may be a thing of the past, but the shotgun isn't. That's because many modern tactical shotguns have interchangeable choke tubes which allow the user to select the degree of choke that patterns best in his or her gun. This is especially the case when a shotgun is used with tactical ammunition that contains improved wading. In addition, recently developed slug ammunition like Federal's Truball can maximize the accuracy that can be obtained from the non-rifled barrel of a tactical shotgun.
Modern tactical shotguns are very different than the side-by-sides used in Westerns. This Remington 870 Tactical has choke tubes, a Nikon P-Tactical Spur red dot and a Crimson Trace Railmaster Pro light/laser combination.
For example, a Remington 870 Tactical shotgun loaded with Federal's Personal Defense 8-pellet low-recoil load of 00 buckshot can produce a pattern that's up to 40% tighter at 15 yards compared to the same gun firing conventional 12 ga.00 buckshot. These tighter patterns are the result of Federal loading hardened copper-plated shot and using its proprietary FliteControl wad in its Personal Defense tactical buckshot.
It's much the same story with slugs. Federal makes five different 12 gauge tactical slugs, two HydraShoks, and three loads that use the company's proprietary Truball system. This system is composed of a polymer shock absorbing wad and a polymer Truball which fits in the hollow base of a 1 ounce Foster-type slug. The slug is .730" in diameter, providing a very close fit and good gas seal with the bore. When the gun is fired these components all work together to produce tight groups. At 50 yards a three-shot group from a Remington 870 Tactical shotgun equipped with a 3 MOA red dot sight can be as small as 3.5" Federal tactical slug loads contain either a soft lead slug that expands to about one inch in the target providing controlled penetration for urban environments or a hardened lead copper-plated slug that offers the deep penetration needed for roadblocks and rural wildlife enforcement.
Federal makes a variety of modern 12 gauge law enforcement slug and buckshot ammunition for both duty and training.
Many of these modern tactical loads from Federal are offered in both reduced recoil and in high velocity loadings. The low recoil tactical loads in both slugs and buckshot reduce felt recoil in lightweight pump action guns with synthetic stocks like the Remington 870 used to test ammunition for this article. High velocity loads are particularly useful in those semi-automatic guns which function best with this type of ammunition. These loads perform well in cylinder bore barrels, so agencies equipped with shotguns that have fixed cylinder chokes do not need to trade in their guns or buy new barrels for their shotguns to benefit from using this ammunition.
