I just purchased a Standard Model Scattergun Tech from Wilson Combat. I took the weapon to a tactical shotgun course put on by Defensive Options Group out of Montgomery, AL. The weapon performed as advertised. There were many different weapons there, but the SC was clearly superior.

The most surprising thing was the group made by Hornady TAP OO buck shot. It left a single hole group out past 12 yards! At one point the winchester buck was about a 12" pattern and the TAP was about 2". I wouldn't have believed it had I not witnessed it myself.

Other students were getting cut by the sharp edges particularly under the receiver during loading. My only problems were a sore shoulder and fingers from a long day of shooting.

Also, surefire has a new fore-end system. I havent seen it in any pictures yet but it came on my gun. It has better grip with a rubber pad with ribs with a contant on/off switch on the left and a momentary switch on the right. It looks cool too.

Thank you Scattergun Tech!

FYI I purchased the 12 gauge standard model with the surefire light and armor tuff finish.

Ross, Great to hear a positive range report. Is the standard model a 870 or a 11-87?

Your experiences show how important it is to pattern any multipal pellet load before the end use. I am sure there are thousands of people out there with shotguns under their beds loaded with shotshells that don't shoot for shit out of their guns. MIKE.

Congrats Rossi. I got this shotgun photos.yahoo.com/bc/usmcrob700/vwp?.dir=/Rifles&.src=ph&.dnm=Scattergun+Technologies+870.jpg&.view=t&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/bc/usmcrob700/lst%3f%26.dir=/Rifles%26.src=ph%26.view=t as an early Christmas present from my wife last week. Unfortunately it has to sit in the safe until Christmas It's not one of thier production shotguns like you got but one they worked on and I am very impressed with the fit and finish. I can't wait to shoot it and hope I get as good of results as you did.

On the new Surefire, how do you like it. I've seen it and like the constant on/off switch better than the older model without it.

The shotgun is the 870 Remington. The surefire is great and I particularly like the constant on/off switch. The unit feels solid like it can take a real beating. I do have one minor issue and that is the pump is large in diameter. It probably needs to be that large with all the switches and such.

At least it has the improved grip, which I thought could have been glued on with greater care. The black plastic pump has a grey rubber ribbed pad glued to the bottom, which looks cool and is funtional, but I was not impressed with the finish work. That was a surefire issue and not Wilsons fault.

The one think that I really didn't anticipate was the severity of the fliers that the remington buckshot produced. If you are within contact ranges, say 25 feet, you may hit a family member while shooting an intruder. Also, and just as important the buckshot produces a doughnut pattern. At the 25 ft mark the head portion of the target took peripheral hits. It is possible that those pellets would have not penetrated the skull.

Conventional wisdom tells you a head shot with OO buck inside your house will end a fight. Well, maybe not. Now if you use the Hornady TAP your only concern would be your cleaning bill.

Rob01 I looked at your gun and it appears to be great. That is the same sights I have and I love them. Also the price seemed ok. All you need is a good sling, side saddle, and maybe a tach light.

I shot mine at night without the light on and the tritium front sight really worked great.

Ross, You should try different buckshot and heavy bird shot loads before picking your house load.

As you know buckshot is made in 000, 00, 0, #1, #2, #3, #4 and loaded in 3 1/2", 3" and 2 3/4" shells. Also try some of the bigger lead bird shot BB's and #2's.

Is it a fixed choke or does it have screw in chokes? MIKE.

I showed up at a skeet shoot that was part of a charity thing with a WWII Savage Trench. Funny thing is the gun actually did great. I was able to hit all the birds accept for the middle station, which always gives me trouble anyhow.

dont think I would have a similar experience with my SCT though.

mike
the standard model comes with a cylinder bore. It doesnt pattern very well with bird shot. Say 6-8" group at 12 yrds.

Rossi, the sling, side saddle ammo carrier and new Surefire like you have are going on order for Christmas. I figured the price wasn't too bad as the standard 870 Wingmaster runs over $300 and the rebuild with the tritium ghost rings is over $300 so the $495 seemed fair as the shotgun looks new except for some wear on the pump rails which will happen anyways as you have to pump it to make it work.

How do you like your sling you got from ST? Is it like a standard 3 point sling like on ARs? I haven't made up my mind which sling I want yet but that one is on the short list. I'd like to get an opinion from someone who has one. Thanks.

Ross, A shotgun is patterned by firing a shot into a 30" circle at 40 yards. The number of holes in the paper are counted and should come out to the following percentages:
Full Choke        - 70% at 40 yards
Modified Choke    - 60% at 40 yards
Improved Cylinder - 50% at 40 yards
Cylinder Bore     - 40% at 40 yards
Skeet choke       - 50% at 25 yards
The number of lead pellets per oz are as follows:
#9-585, #8-410, #7.5-350, #6-225, #5-170, #4-135
#2-87, BB-50

The pattern should be uniform, no large gaps.
12 yards is close, only 36 feet, that might be about right. Now you know how you can miss a person at close range. MIKE.

SGT came with a tactical sling. It can be used for African carry, but it is too short for use in the American carry provided you try present the weapon system correctly. I used the sling in the African and also the tactical configurations during the course. The African carry enabled extremely rapid presentation. The instructor and I got into a friendly competition of speed. we tied shooting a target where I had the shotgun from the African carry and the instructor had his .45 in his holster.

I cant remember the guys name that the sling is named after. Its something like jial or at least sounds that way. So far I like the sling and the tactical carry mode allows for fast presentation of a second weapon system like your handgun.

As for a patterning, I appreciate the correct method from mike. I have owned the weapon only a couple days and have only the limited experience of the tactical course which involved limited ranges. No question you must check these things out before you use your equipment.

Sounds like it was a Giles sling. They are good and basicly what other like them are based on. What is the African carry if I may ask? I use a 3 point made by Tactical Tailor which is like the Giles on my CAR. It works good for fast transitions to pistol as it lays right across the chest with the muzzle down.

Quoted: Hey another Scattergun Tech Fan...I gots me an Armor Tuff OD Green K9 myself. Love it for it's intended purpose(make bad people stop), go freak the "sportsmen" out one day and take it to the skeet/trap range like I did! Talk about a challenge.

You were actually cleaning up pretty well with at 18" barrel at the skeet range.

I found a browning a5 for 300 shipped.  We will see how it shoots next time

Hop, Don't be shy tell us all about that bad boy! MIKE.

African carry is where the weapon is slung barrel down on your shoulder. Typically it is put on your weak shoulder and tends to not interfer with your pistol holster. American carry is barrel up and is typically on the strong side and does tend to interfer with you pistol. During the class when the instructors tell the students to sling their weapon systems the method of their choice we all used the african method. It is very fast and when properly executed utilizes good muzzle control.

I carried my Franchi LAW 12 to the skeet range just to give it a try. Most of the shooters looked at me like I had pissed in the punch bowl. Bunch of p/c snobs. I did better myself in the eyes of some when I explained that the LAW 12s were bringing around a $1000 buck. When I started shooting well with it a few others even gave it a try.

Quoted: Quoted: Hey another Scattergun Tech Fan...I gots me an Armor Tuff OD Green K9 myself. Love it for it's intended purpose(make bad people stop), go freak the "sportsmen" out one day and take it to the skeet/trap range like I did! Talk about a challenge. You were actually cleaning up pretty well with at 18" barrel at the skeet range.

We call it "Tactical Trap" here in the Pacific Northwest.   Sometimes we get as many as 5 of us out there with our Benelli's (most are pre-bans with pistol grips.)  You should see the looks we get from the guys with the spendy over/unders.  Of course, our shotguns weren't cheap either.

The best part is, we usually shoot better than most of them!