I shoot my shotgun the least of all my guns. However, each time I do, I always come away really satisfied and wondering why its been so long since I shot it. Magpul Dynamics Shotgun Employment class was no different. Last time I picked this gun up was at a 3 day Morrigan Consulting (Bill Jeans) Shotgun class about 2 or 3 years ago (maybe more). I immediately remembered how much fun that was as we got into this class.

I did not plan to shoot much, but had so much fun once I started shooting, I wound up shooting through almost the entire course. It was a single day crash course on the use and manipulation of the combat shotgun. Class was small, not too small though. Good size to make a lot of use of the range and get a lot of trigger time in.

There were a variety of guns to include three Benelli M4’s, a Benelli M3, one HK/Fabarm Tactical semi auto, one Remington 870 Express worked over by Scattergun Technologies, a Mossberg 500, a Mossberg 590 Mariner, one Mossberg 930 SPX and yes, even a Maverick 88.

The Moss 930 SPX did not make it through the morning. It became plagued with feeding issues almost immediately. The owner dumped it for his back up, a Maverick 88. Even with the trigger guard which was chewed up by his dog, the Mexican made inexpensive gun ran the whole day. The Benelli M3’s magazine tube cut off also would not work. The owner made use of the gun for the entire class without the use of that feature. One of the M4’s lost its charging handle on the very last shots of the very last drill.

The semi’s ran well all day. There were a few cycling issues when the running some weaker powered bird shot, but probably no more than the few instances of short stroking the pumps. All in all I was pretty impressed with the semi’s. Thanks to Alan (JaxBushmaster) for suggesting appropriately powered ammo to many of the guys running semi’s.

Hopefully someone else will be along to post an AAR. I just wanted to share some of the gear and hardware observations I made through the day. Thank you Billy-B for taking many of these photos. It allowed me to shoot some more!

Begin the day with talk of the Shotgun and its employment


After initial zero check, started with a simple method to load the shotgun. Keep it in your workspace


Quickly got into the combat load.


Sean tries the over the top method


Dave with the HK/Fabarm Tactical


Alan showed up with a Magpul logo on his stock. You will see this catch on quickly as the photos progress


Shooting


Loading


And loading


And MORE loading


What about when the gun goes dry? (another sticker on the stock…)


Getting into the transition


David with the M3


Costa starts to screw with us… In this drill we shot a few, loaded a few, shot to empty, transitioned, loaded until he said shoot again, shot with the shotgun till it went dry, and transitioned again…

Shoot…


Shoot…


load…


load…


shoot…


to empty…


transition…


And shoot…


Combat load…


AND QUICK!!!! SHOOT AGAIN!


Empty again, transition!


And shoot!


Crap, secondary is empty… speed reload, mag out - mag in! Keep the gun up in your workspace


Shoot the pistol (do you see him laughing while he is screwing with me?!)


Soon as I think he is done screwing with me I start loading the shotgun back up…


Don’t get too far before I get the command to shoot again!


But go empty and have to transition (yes - again!)


I’m glad that one is over. My man Dave is on the far left suffering with me through this drill!

Now we’re shooting and moving


And transitioning


Calling for “check”, and then reloading on the “OK” command


Costa probably shoots and demo’s more than any other instructor I’ve seen



Backing it up a little and making head shots with slugs


More big ‘effin FL bugs. I did not get a pic of the snake we saw!


Separating the quick and the dead. The timer doesn’t lie, a rusty Mossberg 500 pump and Maverick 88 pump with a chewed trigger guard bested all semi auto’s and had the best times on loading and firing two slugs from a gun loaded to capacity with buck. Just under and just over 7 seconds.

Here I go…









The challenger… (notice another Magpul sticker made it on Costa’s gun… that makes 3!)







David runs it (another sticker makes it on a stock!)









Dave steps into the ring (and sports another sticker)










Doc’s turn










Go Sean!








You really had to be there to know how funny this was! Sorry Brad…





WTF?

The beginning of the end




Costa starts begging for mercy


Showing us all how its done making the best time on a $200 pump made in Mexico with a chewed up plastic trigger guard. Who was it that said it’s the singer… not the song?








Now we got into loading what you shoot while moving. Shoot 1, load 1. Shoot 3, load 3, shoot 2, load two. If you run out, transition.



Shoot


Load


Whose thumbs are getting tired?


Shoot a couple


Load a couple


Alan mid-recoil. The M4’s shot fast and smooth…


Shooting lateral



Going empty

And then transition

Call for “check”, reholster and load primary when you hear “OK”.

But wait shoot again!

You’re empty, transition


Alan does it







Bust ‘em Dave!









Sean runs it (by now his stock is marked with the Magpul logo)












Put me in coach!











Doc is up!








A growing trend


Drill before last had us working and communicating with another shooter. We used cover, switched to slugs, made 50 yard shots, advanced on targets, load what we shot both stationary and on the go, called for movement and for check. Good, fast paced drill which made use of most of what we had done throughout the day.

Chris and Sean






Brad and David




Doc and Dave





Alan and I







Alan and Costa





Last drill had us all in a line, 3 or 4 shooters moving, loading and shooting at a time. By the end of this we were all pretty beat the hell up!


Of all the Magpul Dynamics classes I have been to, here is the first class photo we have taken. Bunch of tired but happy shotgun guys!!!! A;; the <agpul logos on the stock!

Quoted: Thanks for sharing these photos! Yeah I wish I owned a shotgun so I could have taken this class. Looked like a lot of fun.

I thought we offered to loan you one? I can understand if you would have rather not borrowed one and shot your own. But there is certainly no lack of guns around here and many of us are happy to loan them at no cost to people taking classes. That goes for anyone...

Oh, and here is a link to all of the Shotgun Employment pictures. To see them in full size, just click on the picture and then find the "all sizes" button.

Great Pics, great post.

Friend of mine who just saw the thread was asking me about the class and a couple of the methods people used to carry and employ ammo. Here's a couple things I noticed.

The large belt speed loaders seemed to be working well. I did not have one, nor have I used one. I talked to a couple guys who did and what they said was this. If you get them, dont get the ones that hold 6. They're too big and you cant bend at the waiste when you're wearing them. The ones which hold 4 were favored because they allowed them more body movement and they could grab all four shells at one time. You cant grab all six unless you have large hands and 8 fingers on each hand.

The small double shell belt carries you see Alan and Costa wearing worked pretty great. I've had a couple sets of these for a long time and used them in classes a lot. However, I seemed to have lost the ones I had somewhere between the 6 and 8th places I've lived in the last few years!!! Thinking I had them I didn't get any, and I was looking for them the day before the class and realize they are gone. Those carriers are a fast way to get ammo in your hand quickly in a consistent manner.

Consistency is the disadvantage of the dump pouch. Lots of us had them at the class, but when you are feeding ammo into the gun through the dump pouch, the shells will be face up, face down, facing left, facing right, diagonal.... Its quick enough to reach but sometimes slow to get the shell positioned in your hand before loading the chamber or the tube. Having said that, the dump pouches were invaluable to those of us on the line. Those who did not have them, and even Doc who had a very small one, had to have spare ammo boxes at their feet or get off the firing line to get more ammo more often than everyone who did have one.

Alan and Chris wore a pretty cool large pouch from ATS Tactical. This pouch attached to your belt and leg. It was great because it didn't bounce around nearly as much as the Specter pouch I was wearing. I was thinking through most of the class how I wanted to get one. However, when we started doing a lot of moving and kneeling, squatting and loading from those supported positions, I noticed the guys with the pouches strapped to their leg struggle at times. The opening for the pouch would not remain vertical because of that leg attachment. Those of us who wore pouches which attached only at the belt seemed to have easier access during those drills.

Side Saddles. Some people like them, some don't. I have one, it was loaded. I was not using it much, I don't know why. When I started using it, I noticed my reloads were much faster. I happen to like them but they only really helped me on the first reload. After that it was empty and I didn't really get a chance to load it again until the drill was over. They have their weaknesses as well. I have seen a lot of them come loose. The Mesa one on Sean's 870 got loose in the class. Honestly, this is usually user error due to improper install. Use locktite (I use blue). Shells also have a tendency to work themselves loose at times. I saw at least one shell fall from a side saddle at this class. This is why I load mine brass up. They seem to fall loose less frequently this way.

Speedfeed stocks that hold ammo. Eh... I have one. It was given to me, I probably would not have bought it. I have it and used it frequently in the class. Its where I usually store the slugs. Without my belt pouches, I used it the speedfeed stock more often than I normally do. Its not bad, but its not great. The ammo on my cheek side are the only ones I even consider readily accessible. I can get to them quick enough, but you sort of have to push the shell in and then claw it out to remove it from the stock. It usually went ok, although it can be easy to fumble, and I did a couple times. I concede practice may fix this and its true I don't practice A LOT with my shotgun. But I have been shooting this gun in this configuration a pretty long time so I'm up in the air about how fast I'll ever be with it. Getting the shells from the opposite side is awkward and not so "speedy" for me at all. Never has been I doubt it ever will.

While I'm not so sure they are the best items for a person who is using a shotgun as a primary, I like the side saddle and Speedfeed on a Home Defense gun. Pick up the gun at zero-dark-thirty and you have a reload for your tube on the saddle and two pairs of slugs in the Speedfeed. Right here right now. In just your underwear even. I believe there is certainly some value in that.

posted an answer to your question in the training forum.

Great pics, looks like y'all had fun.

How were they teaching the "select slug drill" with the SG fully loaded?

Quoted: Great pics, looks like y'all had fun. How were they teaching the "select slug drill" with the SG fully loaded?

The answer to that depended on the shotgun you were running. Some were easier than others. Some were faster than others. Because so many different shotguns operate differently, this drill proved to be one of the most time consuming of the class. What worked on the Benelli, would not work on the HK/Fabarm. What worked on the Mossberg 500, would work on the Remington, but you could save a step on the Remington if you wanted. What shotgun do you run?

An 870 and an M1 Benelli. I'm squared away on the Benelli.

But I'm having a hard time visualizing the 870.

When you say the SG was fully loaded does that mean the mag was full with one in the chamber?

If so are you dumping the one in the chamber and also dumping the one on the lifter at the same time? That's the most efficient way I can think of.

Yesm Shotgun is loaded to capacity with a full tube and one in the chamber.  On the 870, bring the pump back partially. The one in the tube will start to feed, but you can push it back in the tube. Then eject the one in the chamber, combat load the slug and youre good.

If you need to load two slugs, bring the pump all the way back quickly. The shell that was in the chamber will fly out, roll the shotgun to the ejection port side and dump the shell that just fed from the tube. Combat load one slug, load another into the tube. This method also works for the Mossberg and is very quick.

Thank you! What was the best thing you took away from the class?

Quoted: Thank you! What was the best thing you took away from the class?

Kicking Alan (JaxBushmaster) and his new Benelli M4's ass up and down the range with my 12 year old, fighting rust spots, Mossberg 500.

Seriously though... well, no, I am serious. That really was the best thing!

But as far as what I learned, making an improvised slug was interesting and something I hadnt seen. Applying Magpul Dynamics universal loading procedure (keeping the gun up in your workspace) was great with the shotgun. They use this technique for handgun, rifle, and shotgun. And in all of the classes I have taken with Chris and Travis, they do a lot to build your confidence in the weapon, what it can do, and what you can do with it. I think most people left the class having done things with the weapon system they may have previously believed they were not capable of.