#Shotguns

Akkar USA is a fully owned subsidiary of Akkar - a premier shotgun manufacturer founded in Istanbul, Turkey in 1985 - and now that they are stateside, Akkar USA is looking to bring affordable and serviceable shotguns to the masses in the US. Their newest releases are the Ranch Hand  and Meat Stick pump-actions for upland bird and waterfowl hunting. 

Back when I was a young boy and just getting into hunting, I would borrow many of my grandfather's firearms. As I grew older, I began to really enjoy hunting birds, and my favorite shotgun for the job was my grandfather's Browning A500R. To me, it was a fairly lightweight semi-auto shotgun that fit my needs as a bird gun perfectly throughout my high school and college years. Last year, I became the owner of this particular shotgun after my grandfather passed away, and that got me thinking about the fact that I know barely anything about this shotgun I have been using for years. I did a little bit of digging on the internet and to my surprise found that most people actually really dislike the A500R.

Drones. One of the most challenging tactical threats to emerge in recent years were unsurprisingly a key element of this year’s DSEI exhibition in London. Dozens of companies were offering their answer to the challenge; electronic warfare systems which could jam drones, lasers which could burn them out of the sky, medium caliber auto cannons which can shoot them down from a mile away and small missiles which can neutralise drone targets a couple of miles away.

Today, Kirk F. joins us on his commute home via the ferry to talk a bit about shotguns. Shotguns, while extremely popular, often take an almost permanent seat on the back burner for many firearms owners. Despite being arguably more versatile than most handguns or even the fabled AR-15, shotguns also present their own set of operational and user challenges that need specific training to overcome. Today Kirk and I talk about some of that, as well as some of the latest releases in the shotgun world that everyone in the gun community is talking about.

A few years back I decided to modernize my defensive shotgun game, and purchased what I believe to be at the time the best of the best- the Benelli M4. Specifically the M4 H2O with a standard stock configuration. Out of the box the gun functioned flawlessly, even before the ‘break in’ cycle was complete it could handle lighter trap loads making it more fun to shoot on the range, as well as cheaper to train with.

Welcome to another edition of Fudd Friday! Today we're tackling one of the most notorious shotguns ever made: the Winchester Model 1911 SL, infamously known as the "Widowmaker." Is this reputation deserved, or is it just another tall tale from the gun shop counter? Let's rack the... well, not the charging handle (because there isn't one), and dive in!