Check out this tiny double barreled shotgun. The person manipulating it installs the barrel and the forend onto the shotgun. Loads it and closes the barrels. Then cocks the two hammers and uses a pencil to fire the first round.

I was looking at alternate Keltec Shotgun choke adapters and came across these somewhat ridiculous upgrades for the Kel-Tec Shotgun. Yes, that is a rail on a rail you see in the photo above.

Discussions about smart guns have been underway for some time now and has, in recent years, been actively pursued by a handful of tech companies. In fact, Jonathon Mossberg who is indeed part of the almost 100-year-old O.F. Mossberg and Sons company, started his own smart gun research a few years ago. His company, iGun Technology Corporation, first set its sights on shotguns. Their idea was to use magnetic spectrum token technology which works much like RFID. The 12-gauge shotgun was designed to fire only within a certain range of the token which was, in this case, a ring meant to be worn on the shooter’s trigger hand. In 2013 the National Institute of Justice called the gun “the first personalized firearm to go beyond a prototype to an actual commercializable or production-ready product.” And, of course, Jonathon Mossberg is not the only one involved in the smart gun race.

In New York, an Indian proprietor of a gas station foiled an attempted armed robbery by throwing his slipper at the gun man and shoeing him out of the store. Sorry for my bad pun. According to the news report, this happened in Salt Point, NY.  Singh refused to fill the bag and retaliated. I commend him for fighting back with what he had. Although acquiring a CCW for a business is not impossible in NY state. The gunman looks to be wielding a shotgun but I cannot make out what kind it is. Singh got very lucky that the gunman was a coward and did not use the shotgun.

Destructive Devices Industries (aka DDI) will begin selling a new shotgun called the DDI 12 in 2016. The new semi-automatic guns use a Kalashnikov-style action and will be chambered in 12 gauge.

Here is a not so scientific test, shooting a car door with a shotgun. I can’t quite tell what type of 12Ga round it is, but based on the lack of penetration to the door, I suspect it is bird shot. I am curious what Line-X will do against standard caliber rounds like 9mm, .40 S&W, .45acp. Why didn’t they try handgun or rifle rounds? They didn’t even try other shotgun ammo like buck shot or slugs.

For 2016, Chiappa will have a pair of new semi-automatic shotguns based on the CA612 line. The new guns are set up to run 3.5″ Magnum shells and are designated the CA612M Field and CA612M Turkey. The names should give you an indication of for what the guns are built.

Chiappa Firearms introduced the company’s Triple Barrel shotgun a few years back. In January, the company will unveil two new versions of the shotgun: one in 20 gauge and another in 28 gauge. The 20 gauge is called the Triple Threat while the 28 gauge shotgun is called the Triple Crown.

Chiappa Firearms will show a new Double Badger combo gun at the 2016 SHOT Show next month. The Double Badgers are double barrel long guns arranged in an over-under configuration. The top barrel is rifled and set up for a rimfire cartridge, while the lower barrel is a smooth bore and chambered for a shotshell.

Oleg Volk posted this on Facebook. It is a desk lamp of Kel-Tec Founder George Kellgren. According to Oleg, the lamp is activated by pumping the shotgun. If you look closely you can see the pull chain is routed into the pup grip. Very cool and simple. I want one. However I would not want to buy a KSG just to make it into a lamp.

I ran across this story recently, and at face value I found it hard to believe, but after some digging it turns out to be true. I’d certainly like some of our Mexican readers to weigh in on it, but within the entire country of Mexico there is one legally operating gunshop, from which qualifying citizens can purchase firearms. Of course I am aware that Mexico has a large illegal firearms problem, but this is about legal firearms. The gunshop is on a military base, in Mexico City, and by Mexico’s constitution, the shop cannot even advertise its existence to the Mexican public. It is completely run by the military, with even military clerks behind the counter. It sells around six thousand firearms a year, mostly handguns in .22 LR to .38 caliber, and sporting rifles and shotguns, of which most are single shot if I read correctly. The display cases also appear to hold a number of modern day battle rifles such as ARs and Galils, but these seem to be just for display and not for sale. The prices are much higher than in the United States for the same firearms. This is probably because of the import taxes and similar regulations. They also have optics and various other accessories for sale.

A few years ago I found myself embroiled in an ammo debate – okay, an argument – with someone about .40 S&W versus 10mm. No, this was not a discussion involving name-calling of the .40 S&W or a talk about wound cavities, recoil, or, well, anything. It actually had to do with the cartridges themselves and the dimensions of the barrels of guns chambered in them. I finally abandoned the argument, but I’ve never forgotten. You guys have undoubtedly had numerous “discussions” about ammo and its interchangeability – or lack thereof – over the years, with varying degrees of success.

Recently, I had the pleasure of shooting with a red-dot on a handgun for the first time in earnest. Sent a G40 by Glock for review, we immediately started sourcing red dots for the review. With various companies booked up (or potentially concerned about the recoil), Pride Fowler Industries stepped up to the plate with their SOPS Compact Red Dot.

I came across this on accident, but there is a Facebook Group, based in Libya that is completely centered around the illicit small arms trade in that country. There is nothing surprising about the huge trade of illicit small arms in war torn countries, but the absolutely blatant exist of such a group is what really got me. The group has almost 9,000 members and is completely public on Facebook, not even secret or a members only section, just all out there for the world to see. It is almost as if Lord of War has entered the social media age in the form of online buying and selling. Everything from rare FN FALs and suppressed Beretta Model 70s, to complete rocket launcher systems and RPGs are sale. The posts read exactly like many of the legal and local firearms selling groups in the United States that I am apart. From places of sale, negotiable prices, bump posts, and reposts of items not sold. Except that potential customers are clamoring for M240s or Benelli M4s instead of Remington 700s or mint 1911s. I find it to be an extremely fascinating look into just what is out there on illicit small arms trade in other countries, almost a case study just by scrolling through all the for sale posts. I’ll attach some of the more interesting stuff I saw on it, but anyone with a Facebook account can log on and see every post in its entirety. If you can’t read Arabic, use google translate to work through the whole thing, and you’ll get a pretty good gist of what is being said.

It’s not every day I come across a firearm that leaves me baffled and confused the way this one did. Usually when I find a gun that’s been modified, or is in an odd configuration, I can at least immediately identify the type of firearm that was modified, but the, err, weapon Max Popenker posted to his blog really threw me for a loop:

Two nationally renowned contributors to the shooting sports have recently passed away this week. Ed Shilen, founder of Shilen Rifles Inc. and an exceptional precision barrel maker passed away recently. Jim Clark Jr. continued his father’s legacy with his Clark Custom Guns business in Lousiana, also making a number of precision parts for a variety of firearms in addition to working custom firearms.

Most gun owners are always interested in new ways to conceal their firearms whether around their homes or in their vehicles. There has been a definite upswing in the storage market lately with products ranging from the popular hinged American flag wall hanging to coffee table safes to shelves with compartments. Although the ability to truly secure your gun by locking the item it’s contained in is best, there is certainly a time and place for an unlocked storage method. Enter the Skinner Sights’ Skinner HTF Garment Bag.

Many hunters see the value in a hunt with the benefit of quiet – or at least quieter – shots. The combination of suppressor and subsonic ammunition is a fantastic one for hunting. Of course not all subsonic rounds are created equal. If you’re in the market for subsonic ammunition you might be interested in this. Engel Ballistic Research – EBR – is now going to be selling their subsonic and frangible rounds on the commercial market.

FAB Defense expanded its line of gun stocks with three stocks for the  Molot VEPR 12 shotgun. Two of these are already listed on the company’s website, while the third has only appeared in the 2016 printed catalog obtained at the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers expo in October.

The tragic events of this past Wednesday’s Terrorist attack were committed by cowards with the sort of sick mentality that causes all sorts of violence in the world, not just in San Bernardino, CA. However the Law Enforcement reaction to the heinous shooting was extremely swift and ended with the solution of removing these sick individuals from the equation of life. The media coverage of that response was very thorough, and unfortunately is one of the only ways we at TFB get a chance to show some of the interesting firearms being used by Law Enforcement these days. I wish we had more media coverage of cops training, that equally showed what they were actively using, instead of having a traumatic event take place, that allows us to see what they have.

A venture that has been talked about for some time now, is set to launch on January 20th, during SHOT this upcoming year. GunTV is going to be a 24/7 live auction channel where viewers can call in (maybe an online process as well?) and place bids on firearms on the TV screen. Winners will then go through a distributer called Sports South in Louisiana, where the actual firearms will be shipped out from, to their respective dealers and FFLs, where the typical NICS checks and forms will be filled out. The Social Responsibility Network will be hosting it as well. It also seems that it will have a presentation component where there will be various programs about training, firearms safety, and other such topics in between programming. Other products will be auctioned as well, that are not firearms: camping gear, concealed carry equipment, range gear, etc…

Talo Group Distributors teamed up with Mossberg and Advanced Technology International (ATI) to design and release the Mossberg 500 ATI Scorpion shotgun.

I used NICS (FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System) checks instead of gun sales, because in all honesty the news is about NICS, and not gun sales per say. I don’t know, there could have been a number of firearms traded or bought used last Friday as well. But regardless, this very closely correlates to gun sales, and if that is so, then this years Black Friday sales seem to have made the record for the most gun sales ever conducted with the help of a NICS check (not private purchase, CMP, or gifting). I’ve read somewhere on the news that some companies or people were expecting up to 190,000, and that estimate was pretty close to the actual numbers of 185,345 checks that actually took place. This exceeded last years Black Friday NICS checks by around 10,000 checks/purchases at 175,174 and was higher than the previous record in 2012, at 177,170 checks.

Winchester Repeating Arms is set to launch a new line of SXP shotguns called the Universal Hunter. The new Universal Hunter joins other SXP hunting shotguns such as the Waterfowl Hunter and the Turkey Hunter.

Over the past month my good friend Max Popenker has been focusing on adding shotguns to his World.Guns.Ru database. The most interesting new gun added is the  VPO-208 semi-automatic shotgun manufactured by Molot. It is essentially and SKS shotgun with a smoothbore barrel. The end of the barrel has rifling, making it technically a “paradox” barrel not a smoothbore. It is chambered in .336 TKM, which is a 7.62x39mm case necked up to .336 TKM, essentially a small shotgun slug in a rifle case.

Expanding on an already impressive product line, RamRodz now offers their RamRodz Barrel and Breech Cleaners sized for 12 and 20 gauge barrels.  Like other RamRodz, the Shotgun sized Barrel and Breech cleaners feature industrial grade, low-lint cotton and bamboo handles. The RamRodz Shotgun and Barrel Cleaners include an adapter that mates the RamRod with a standard cleaning rod.

Steve Fisher, aka Yeti, of Sentinel Concepts and Jeff Bloovman of Armed Dynamics, compare different loads in three different shotguns. They use a Robar Remington 1100, Benelli M1 Super 90, and a NEF H&R Pardner Pump. They show how the same loads can have different patterns out of different shotguns.

Not content to be called “cheap (insert choice east-asian country here) sh*t” UTG, has been rapidly expanding its USA based manufacturing capabilities. Products manufactured in their US facility have picked up the “Pro” moniker.

Holland and Holland posted this up last month. A beautiful video showing some of the manufacturing and hand made craftsmanship that goes into their guns.

One of my competitive shooting buddies texted me that his friend is looking to get rid of some of his family’s firearms. Most of them were some form of shotgun and two lever guns. What caught my eye was this side by side 20 gauge shotgun. The forwarded text I received was “I have a sawed off double barrel shot gun registered as a hand gun for sale”. Without a picture I was concerned that some how this guy registered a Short barrel shotgun or AOW as a pistol. I told my friend to measure the barrel length. It was over 18.5 inches in length. Ok then it is just a pistol grip shotgun, like the Mossberg 500 JIC models.