Remington 870 Tac 14
Last year, when I first saw that new Mossberg 590 Shockwave, I was hugely interested in getting one. But since it wasn't a high priority, I kept putting off buying one. Remington then came along and brought out their short version of the 870 and called it a Tac 14. Since the Tac 14 weighs about a half pound more and holds one less shell in the tube magazine than the Mossberg, I was leaning towards buying the Mossberg when I was ready. Last week my friend Mark told me he could get a new Remington Tac 14 in the box for only $300 total. I bought it.
Yesterday I took it out to the gun club to test fire it. I read all kinds of reviews on both the Shockwave and the Tac 14, but I needed to see and feel what it was like in my own hands. In comparing this to the very popular Mossberg Cruiser pistol grip shotgun, the Tac 14 wins. The pistol grip on the Cruiser makes it painful to shoot more than a box of shells in a short time, while the grip on the Tac 14 was pretty comfortable. In fact, I noticed that my left hand, holding the fore end absorbed most of the recoil.
I shot fifty shells with size 8 bird shot, your basic 12 gauge skeet load. All my shooting yesterday was holding the gun at my hip, instead of out in front of my face. Not only did the gun shoot well, I noticed that I was hitting a human torso sized target regularly at fifty yards away. I'm sure there are lots of self proclaimed experts who will say that I can't do that, so I'm glad I never listened to them. I then tried some 2 3/4" magnum buckshot loads. Those were louder, but the recoil didn't feel any worse.
The biggest problem when you shoot from the hip is that you have a natural tendency to hold the barrel at an upward angle. It took me a box of 25 shells to finally figure out where the shot was hitting at fifty yards away, and what was the best spot to hold the pistol grip to hit the target accurately. Once that was done, it was fun time. I could fire four shots accurately in about one second, which is pretty good with a semi automatic pistol, and not bad at all with a small pump shotgun. Yes, I know, legally the Tac 14 is classified as an "other firearm", but we're all gun people here, and we all know that a pump shotgun with a different name is still a pump shotgun.
In conclusion, if you're looking for a short home defense weapon with a lot of firepower at a distance of fifty yards or less, and most likely within ten yards, find someone who has a Tac 14 or a Shockwave and get a chance to shoot it. You'll probably end up getting one. It might not be your number one shotgun, but it will definitely be in the top two or three.
Yesterday I took it out to the gun club to test fire it. I read all kinds of reviews on both the Shockwave and the Tac 14, but I needed to see and feel what it was like in my own hands. In comparing this to the very popular Mossberg Cruiser pistol grip shotgun, the Tac 14 wins. The pistol grip on the Cruiser makes it painful to shoot more than a box of shells in a short time, while the grip on the Tac 14 was pretty comfortable. In fact, I noticed that my left hand, holding the fore end absorbed most of the recoil.
I shot fifty shells with size 8 bird shot, your basic 12 gauge skeet load. All my shooting yesterday was holding the gun at my hip, instead of out in front of my face. Not only did the gun shoot well, I noticed that I was hitting a human torso sized target regularly at fifty yards away. I'm sure there are lots of self proclaimed experts who will say that I can't do that, so I'm glad I never listened to them. I then tried some 2 3/4" magnum buckshot loads. Those were louder, but the recoil didn't feel any worse.
The biggest problem when you shoot from the hip is that you have a natural tendency to hold the barrel at an upward angle. It took me a box of 25 shells to finally figure out where the shot was hitting at fifty yards away, and what was the best spot to hold the pistol grip to hit the target accurately. Once that was done, it was fun time. I could fire four shots accurately in about one second, which is pretty good with a semi automatic pistol, and not bad at all with a small pump shotgun. Yes, I know, legally the Tac 14 is classified as an "other firearm", but we're all gun people here, and we all know that a pump shotgun with a different name is still a pump shotgun.
In conclusion, if you're looking for a short home defense weapon with a lot of firepower at a distance of fifty yards or less, and most likely within ten yards, find someone who has a Tac 14 or a Shockwave and get a chance to shoot it. You'll probably end up getting one. It might not be your number one shotgun, but it will definitely be in the top two or three.
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Got to fire one of these myself. OO buck patterned well at 15 yds and saw no need to shoot further. PSA had them on sale for $275 or so with free shipping not that long ago.
The recoil was not bad. I fired from the hip. This shotgun is very compact and would be easy to move around in the house.
The only thing negative is it is a Remington. Their QC has been in the toilet for some time, but seeing this new shotgun and the fit, finish plus it functions well gives me hope big green is going to make a comeback.
I too want one0 -
You're right, their quality control is not what it used to be. While shooting my Tac 14, I tore a small piece of skin off the top of my right hand index/trigger finger. It turned out that the trigger guard is now molded plastic, instead of machined steel, and on the inside of the trigger guard there was a ridge of sharp plastic that wore off the skin during recoil. When I got home, I got out my Dremel with a small round stone, smoothed off the inside of the trigger guard, and then used a piece of steel wool to make it nice and smooth. Nothing major, but somebody at the factory should have noticed that during test firing. 0 -
As much as I am not a Mossburg fan I think I would want the Mossburg more.
Lighter and holds one more shell.
Remington QC has been bad in the last few years like stated above.0 -
I think I am more interested in a 20 ga., would be easier for my wife to shoot, inside a house the difference in effect would probably be negligible. I load home defense loads for 20 ga, primer, powder, shot cup, 50 caliber round ball, topped off with #6 shot, crimp. At 15 yards, it makes a nice 1/2" hole surrounded by a bunch of painful small holes. 0 -
I purchased a Tac 14 and installed a Knox Breachers grip like this:https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.opticsplanet.com/blackhawk-knoxx-breachersgrip-gen-iii.html%3f_iv_amp=1/]url
It maintains the minimum 26" length and makes the firearm much easier to control. I have a plus 1 mag extension ordered.
I bought the firearm on Gun Broker for $255 plus shipping.
Personally I prefer the Remington over a Mossberg because of the Remington's steel receiver.0 -
While handling the Tac 14, I took a close look at the fore end, and I was thinking that if I had one hand available, I could still eject a shell and load a new one into the chamber due to the lip on the front of the fore end. I would push the lip against something to eject, and then pull to load. So if you had a wounded arm, or were holding two guns, you could still use the Tac 14. I'm going to test this out later this week at the gun club, as well as look at shot patterns on big paper targets from 5, 10, 20, and 50 yards away. I'm really liking this gun now. 0
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