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I took my new 1300 Defender with an 18" barrel and 8 round mag out to the range the other day, and put a few dozen rounds through it.
I shot 20 Aquila mini-shells with a mix of 7 #4 and 4 #1 pellets, and 10 Federal low recoil tactical 00 buck (9 pellet).
Everything worked like a champ. I'll have to put a lot more rounds through it to get my confidence up, but so far, so good.
It's pretty light at 6.5 lbs, which is good for handling, but can be bad for recoil. The balance seems good to me, but I don't shoot shotguns a lot. The stock's just a bit short for me, and the 00 buck made my thumb bonk me in the nose, which is really irritating, so I may hunt up a longer recoil pad to give me another inch or so and tame it a bit more.
The action was fast and very smooth, with a pretty short pump. The Defender has a feature they call "Speed Pump" that unlocks the action with the recoil and lets you pump it faster, but I didn't do speed tests, since I was at the indoor range. It's a little disconcerting to have it partly unlocked after the mag's dry, but it didn't cause any problems for me.
The slide release button is pertty small and behind the trigger guard. I found it harder to get at than on an 870, and it'll take some practice to get used to it. I may not have discovered the right technique for it yet.
I loaded the Aguilas 10 rounds at a time, and they fed and ejected flawlessly, with very light recoil - much like a .410. Each shell gave a 10 yard pattern about 4" wide, but a bit patchy in coverage. I'm a bit recoil shy, and I really enjoyed shooting these.
Ejection was not super strong on them, and they didn't fly very far, so I've got a bit of concern that they may not clear the chamber in a tricky situation. I have some minishell slugs, too, but didn't try them out yet.
Next I put 10 Federal low-recoil tactical 00 buck rounds through it. These had a good punch to them, low-recoil or not, and my shoulder was starting to complain by the end. Groups were about 4" with these too, but were more evenly distributed, despite fewer pellets.
Ejection was a lot stronger with the full-size shells, and cleared the chamber lots better.
Overall, I like it a lot. I think I'll buy a bunch of the mini-shells and work on reliability and technique for them, because I have a hard time practicing enough with full-load 12 gauge. I'd like to do some tests on pumpkins, water jugs, and such, but I have no doubt they're reasonably effective rounds for home defense.
I don't really use a shotgun in my home-defense planning, as I like to have a hand free, but it's still a good thing to have on hand, tested and ready.
max
I shot 20 Aquila mini-shells with a mix of 7 #4 and 4 #1 pellets, and 10 Federal low recoil tactical 00 buck (9 pellet).
Everything worked like a champ. I'll have to put a lot more rounds through it to get my confidence up, but so far, so good.
It's pretty light at 6.5 lbs, which is good for handling, but can be bad for recoil. The balance seems good to me, but I don't shoot shotguns a lot. The stock's just a bit short for me, and the 00 buck made my thumb bonk me in the nose, which is really irritating, so I may hunt up a longer recoil pad to give me another inch or so and tame it a bit more.
The action was fast and very smooth, with a pretty short pump. The Defender has a feature they call "Speed Pump" that unlocks the action with the recoil and lets you pump it faster, but I didn't do speed tests, since I was at the indoor range. It's a little disconcerting to have it partly unlocked after the mag's dry, but it didn't cause any problems for me.
The slide release button is pertty small and behind the trigger guard. I found it harder to get at than on an 870, and it'll take some practice to get used to it. I may not have discovered the right technique for it yet.
I loaded the Aguilas 10 rounds at a time, and they fed and ejected flawlessly, with very light recoil - much like a .410. Each shell gave a 10 yard pattern about 4" wide, but a bit patchy in coverage. I'm a bit recoil shy, and I really enjoyed shooting these.
Ejection was not super strong on them, and they didn't fly very far, so I've got a bit of concern that they may not clear the chamber in a tricky situation. I have some minishell slugs, too, but didn't try them out yet.
Next I put 10 Federal low-recoil tactical 00 buck rounds through it. These had a good punch to them, low-recoil or not, and my shoulder was starting to complain by the end. Groups were about 4" with these too, but were more evenly distributed, despite fewer pellets.
Ejection was a lot stronger with the full-size shells, and cleared the chamber lots better.
Overall, I like it a lot. I think I'll buy a bunch of the mini-shells and work on reliability and technique for them, because I have a hard time practicing enough with full-load 12 gauge. I'd like to do some tests on pumpkins, water jugs, and such, but I have no doubt they're reasonably effective rounds for home defense.
I don't really use a shotgun in my home-defense planning, as I like to have a hand free, but it's still a good thing to have on hand, tested and ready.
max
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