Wait, What?
I’ve always been a fan of pump-action shotguns. I own several, including three Mossbergs and three varying examples of the Perfect Repeater, the Winchester Model 12. Furthermore, I’ve long offered the advice that if anyone can afford only one gun, buy a pump-action 12-gauge shotgun.
Why? They are reliable, they are rugged, they can digest any ammunition that they have chamber-length for, and you can find 12-gauge ammunition almost anywhere. And a 12-gauge shotgun, with the right ammo, can handle anything from quail to moose, within its range limitations.
Most pump shotguns (there are exceptions) work the same way as the great old Model 12 and the Model 1897 Winchester it descended from: They have a tubular magazine under the barrel; cartridges are fed in from the underside of the receiver. The fore-end comprises a slide that is attached by one or two action bars to the gun’s bolt. Pulling the fore-end slide back opens the action, allowing a live round to leave the magazine and rest on a shell lifter. Pushing the slide forward into battery chambers the live round, following which the shooter is ready to commence operations. Then, the slide is racked back, the empty hull ejected either through a port on the side of the receiver or out of the loading port under the receiver, and the process repeats.
That’s how John Browning decreed it; thus shall it be.
Except now there’s something completely different. It’s called a butt-pump shotgun.
Yes, really.
There is just one of these, the Tokarev TSP-12, made in Turkey and sold in the United States by SDS Arms / Tokarev USA, based out of Knoxville, Tennessee. And it’s an oddball indeed.
How They Work
On the surface, the TSP-12 looks like a normal pump shotgun, but the similarities are only superficial. Instead of the fore-end being attached to a slide that operates the action, the TSP-12’s buttstock is so attached, which doesn’t seem intuitive; but then, most Americans in modern times are so thoroughly accustomed to standard pump-guns that it’s hard to wrap your brain around something like this.
Here’s how they work – or so I read; I’ve never had the chance to handle one.
On the TSP-12, the fore-end is fixed. The shooter cycles the gun by pulling the entire buttstock (or a pistol-grip stock) straight back. When it’s released, a spring then drives the fore-end forward again. The stock slides on a frame attached to the receiver. That motion operates the bolt.
There are reports from some shooters who have handled this oddity indicating that when the gun is shouldered, the practical motion is more like holding the stock in place and pushing the front of the gun (receiver, barrel, and fore-end) forward. Either way, your non-firing hand stays planted on the fore-end.
I have to admit, I don’t get it. But our friend Scott at Kentucky Ballistics has given it a go. Here, watch:
It still seems awkward to me. To someone newer to shooting, without the deeply ingrained muscle memory that comes from half a century handling and shooting traditional pump-guns, maybe it becomes easier.Tokarev also produces a semi-auto shotgun, that being the TSA-12. It uses a gas-regulated piston system to fire automatically, but keeps the same awkward stock-actuated charging handle for loading and clearing malfunctions.
Are They Practical?
Tokarev USA describes this piece thusly:
The Tokarev TSP-12 is an innovative 12GA pump-action shotgun built for versatility and fast handling. Featuring an 18.5" barrel, synthetic stock, optics-ready drilled and tapped receiver, fiber optic front sight, and 4+1 capacity, the TSP-12 stands apart with its unique stock-actuated pump system that cycles the action by pulling the buttstock or pistol grip rearward.
Designed for home defense, range use, and practical applications, the TSP-12 features a durable anodized finish, aluminum receiver, M-LOK® compatible forend, ventilated heat shield, and compatibility with Benelli® Mobil choke tubes for added flexibility.
That all sounds fine. I’m not so certain that the handling is any faster than a traditional pump-gun; in fact, I’m pretty sure if home-defense chores were suddenly required, which out here usually means a bear trying to get into the kitchen, that the standard, honest old nine-shot Mossberg 590 I keep stuffed with buckshot could be brought into play more easily than something like the TSP-12, which goes against all my ingrained instincts on slide-action shotguns. I like the notion of it being optics-ready; until quite recently I wasn’t a fan of optics on short-quarters guns like thumping big-bore lever guns or shotguns, but my aging eyes have different ideas, and I find I’m growing fonder of red-dot sights for these applications. And the Benelli choke tubes are a good idea, too. They make the gun more able to handle a wide variety of chores for all of the ranges for which a shotgun is suited. As far as capacity, 4+1 isn’t bad, although I would note that my Mossberg 590 holds nine rounds, and what am I to do if nine bears try to get into the house all at once?
I do prefer a steel receiver, but there’s a large portion of “get off my lawn” there; although the receivers in my Mossbergs, my Ithaca Model 37s, and my Model 12s are all steel, most of them are over half a century old, and they are holding up very well, thank you very much.
But here’s the thing: With guns, there’s very little new under the sun. Most basic gun designs were set in place many decades ago, from pump-action shotguns to lever-action and bolt-action rifles; even semi-autos are derived from guns first made in the late 19th century. Did Tokarev just intend to break some new ground here?
Well, there are worse reasons to try a new design.
Still Wondering Why
And that would be the question: Why?
Ay, that’s the rub. I can’t quite see the need to mess about with a system fiddled with for many decades, designed by John Moses Browning and refined by Winchester’s T.C. Johnson. Pump-action shotguns are popular and have persisted for so long because they are simple, tough, versatile, and they work every time. You have to really work at it to mess one of these guns up; the ones I’ve seen suffering jams usually turn out to be a problem with bad ammo rather than the gun.
Still, there’s a place for something that’s just different. Showing up on the trap range with a TSP-12 is sure to provoke comments and people wanting to try it, if you’re into that sort of thing. But other than that?
I’ll stick with my Model 12s. But as for the TSP-12, sales will tell the tale. If American shooters like it, they’ll buy it. Otherwise? They won’t. And you can’t argue with success — or failure.
