What Is A Riot Gun?
If it comes to a fight at close range, say, within 50 yards, there’s nothing more dangerous than a 12-gauge shotgun with a magazine full of slugs or buckshot. Very soon after the introduction of pump-action and semi-automatic shotguns, the law enforcement/military versions of these guns appeared. Among the first was the famous “Trench Gun” version of the 1897 Winchester, with its 20” barrel, heat shield, and bayonet lug, to mount a blade that could double as a sword. These were, during the Great War, called “Trench Sweepers” and “Trench Brooms,” even though there’s very little evidence that they were ever used in the trenches. Most were used for guarding prisoners. Not that an American doughboy leaping into a German trench and slam-firing six rounds of 00 buck down the length of the trench wouldn’t make the German troops maladjusted.
But the short-barreled guns, often with extra-length magazines, quickly became popular with police departments, and the United States Army and Marines used them in World War 2 to good effect in combat, mostly in the jungles of the South Pacific. I have one myself, a recent purchase; mine is a Mossberg 590, the "Retrograde" version with a walnut stock (that's appropriate, being rather retrograde myself), heat shield, and a magazine that will hold 9 rounds of 2-3/4” 00 buck or slugs. Oh, and it also has the bayonet lug, because you never know when you might have to bayonet a moose.
Now, I’m not expecting to go into battle any time soon. But I’ve wanted one for a long time, mostly just because they’re cool. But if the Russians ever cross the Bering Strait and start some trouble, this just gives me one more tool with which to go all Red Dawn on them.
Read More: Sunday Gun Day XL: The Legend of the Trench Gun
So let’s take a look at the interesting history of these guns.
The Great War And More
These are the shotguns known to be used, or have been used, by the United States military; I won’t go into all the various models that have been used by thousands of police departments, sheriff’s offices, and other law-enforcement agencies around the country.
Winchester Model 1897. This is the original, out of the brilliant mind of the DaVinci of firearms, John Browning. Not only was it the first shotgun issued by the American military, but it was also the second pump-action shotgun ever made, coming in second only to an earlier effort by the same designer that produced the Civil War-era Spencer repeating carbine. The Model 97 was in production for over sixty years, and it led, indirectly, to a successor – the Model 12.
Winchester Model 12. This gun is rightly called the Perfect Repeater, and its designer, Winchester engineer T.C. Johnson, accomplished something nearly impossible: He took a John Browning design and improved on it. With its enclosed receiver, the Model 12 also made a better weapon for the field. Most of the examples I’ve seen have just had short barrels, and while I’ve seen a few copies with heat shields and bayonet lugs, I was never able to confirm they were originals. The definitive book on the gun, George Madis’s The Winchester Model 12, is mute on the topic, making me think that Model 12 full-up riot/trench guns were the product of postmarket modification.
Remington Model 11. This is Remington’s version of the famous John Browning Auto-5, and was similar to that gun, lacking only the magazine cut-off. Again, I’ve only ever seen these in relatively tame trim, usually sporting a 20” barrel.
Ithaca Model 37. This is one of the handiest guns ever made, and while the Pentagon reportedly bought some, I’ve only ever seen them in the short-barrel trim. I’ve never seen one with a long mag tube or with a bayonet lug. You see guns with those options on online auctions, but again, I suspect they are aftermarket efforts. I’ve never seen anything that convinced me that Ithaca turned them out that way. The bottom-ejection Model 37 does have one big advantage: It’s much friendlier for left-handed users.
Stevens 520-30 and 620A. Now these guns were apparently built with the full-up military heat shield and bayonet lugs. Again, a Browning design, these guns saw use in Korea and Vietnam, as well as plenty of use all over the Cold War world by camp guards, MPs, and the like. These guns are plain but tough, with the classic Browning all-steel design.
Savage Model 720. This is the Browning Auto-5 again, built under license by Savage. See the notes for the Remington 11, above.
Remington 870. One of the finest pump shotguns ever made, as well as one of the most popular, from its inception to date, the immortal 870 has come in more variations of barrel length and other trim that it’s certain that almost anything you can imagine was available at one time or another.
Read More: Sunday Gun Day Vol. II Ep. XXI - The Immortal 870
Mossberg 500/590. When I was in Uncle Sam’s colors in the last years of the Cold War, MPs routinely had the Mossberg 590: A tough, durable, 9-shot monster with a heat shield and a bayonet lug. As noted above, I have one of these in my own safe, along with two other Mossbergs, both 500s in 20 and 12 gauge. They are the AK-series of shotguns: Plain but tough, almost unbreakable.
Benelli M1014. These were adopted by the American military well after my time, coming into the service in 1999. I’ve head good things about them, and Benelli is a grand old name in shotguns, but I’ve never handled one.
M26 MASS. Because who doesn’t want a shotgun that one can hang under the barrel of an AR-15 or AR-10 pattern rifle? Whether it be a civilian version or the full-up milspec M16/M4 family, this gives the enterprising grunt an entirely new option in un-aliving bad guys at short range.
There may be others, and there are rumors of soldiers bound for places like Vietnam, bringing their own scatterguns along with them. The Army later prohibited that practice. When we were deploying in 1990 for what would become Operation Desert Storm, my first question was whether personal arms would be allowed, intending to bring along my Mossberg 500 12-gauge pump gun with its 18” cylinder bore barrel attached, along with some 00 buck rounds. To my disappointment, the Army said no.
Police Service
The primary difference between military shotguns and police riot guns is that the police version is less militarized; at least, they used to be. Police shotguns tended not to have the heat shields and seldom had a bayonet lug. Most of them are just the standard shotgun with a short barrel, usually 18” or 20”, although in recent years (by recent, I mean after about 1970 or 1980), you see more long-magazine 8- and 9-shot versions in police photos and videos.
And a bad guy on the street is no less subject to having his day ruined by a load of 00 buckshot than a bad guy on the opposite side of a battlefield. But here’s the advantage of a shotgun: It can also launch non-lethal rounds, like beanbags. That’s a good option for civil law enforcement to have.
What About Now?
Well, I’ve got mine.
When it comes to differences of opinion that can involve an exchange of gunfire, it’s hard to beat a good old 12-gauge. I can attest from personal experience that absorbing a round from one of these guns is a jarring experience, and you can pretty much expect to spend the rest of your day getting patched up – and then from several days to several months recuperating, assuming the experience isn’t a final one.
So, I’d expect to see military shotguns, as well as their law-enforcement counterparts, in regular use for the foreseeable future. And if you live in a jurisdiction that makes owning a semi-auto or a handgun an onerous task, bear in mind that the idiotic laws in a lot of those (Democrat-run) places don’t often cover a pump shotgun.
To this day, there are few things a goblin likes less than the distinctive sound of a pump shotgun being racked. That’s a good thing.
