FN Herstal makes a variety of tactical shotguns which are designed for the rigors of police use, but are available to ordinary citizens. These shotguns are durable, reliable, and highly recommended by this author. My review of the FN Herstal pump action tactical police shotgun is below:
Basics
The FN Herstal pump action tactical police shotgun is based upon the Winchester 1300 action, which is a time tested and reliable pump action system. This shotgun comes from the factory with a variety of features that make it well suited for both police work and home defense. Those are a collapsible stock, a pistol grip, ghost ring sights, a ported barrel, improved cylinder choke, an accessory rail, and an an 8 round magazine. The gun is coated with a corrosion resistant material, similar but not identical to that used on the Remington 870 XCS Marine Magnum. Basically, this is a feature packed, reliable shotgun that is well suited for home defense and police use.
Build Quality
The build quality in the FN Herstal pump action tactical police shotgun is high. The action is smooth, and the parts of the shotgun fit together perfectly. The only issue I experienced was that the pistol grip became lose after I fired a few dozen 3″ magnum slugs and a similar number of 00 buckshot shells. Upon inspection, I found that the screw which attaches the pistol grip to the shotgun was loosening, so I tightened it. The same thing happened after about another 70 shells, so I applied a couple drops of thread locker and the problem has not repeated itself. Since I bought this shotgun used, I can’t comment as to whether it came from the factory with thread locker properly applied, but either way the $5 for a large tube of thread locker and 2 minutes it took to apply was not a big deal.
Reliability
I have fired about 500 shells, and every one has fired properly. I have had no problems with ejecting shells, except for one time when I purposely pumped the shotgun very slowly to see what would happen. A shell jammed in the elevator, and it took me about a minute to clear the jam. I would stress that this was me intentionally seeing if I could get it to jam, rather than a defect with the gun, although I was unable to get my Remington 870 XCS Marine Magnum to jam under similar circumstances. Compared to my Remington 870, the FN Herstal pump action tactical police shotgun also seems slightly more prone to “short shucking”, which is when the shooter fails to pull the slide back far enough to eject the spent shell, and ends up just chambering that spent shell again. Again, properly pumping the shotgun, which is not hard to do by any means, prevents such an issue, and should not be seen as a shortcoming of this shotgun.
Accessories
The FN Herstal pump action tactical police shotgun comes with pretty much every accessory you would want for home defense, except a light and a laser sight, but you can add more accessories should you so wish. It is based upon the Winchester 1300, so many of those accessories will fit the FN Herstal pump action tactical police shotgun. A discussion of home defense shotgun accessories can be seen here.
Length of the Stock
The is designed as a police shotgun, and since police tend to wear bulky bullet resistant vests, the stock is shorter than some people may find comfortable (note that in the above image, the stock is fully collapsed to its shortest position, and does not include a recoil reducing pad). Even fully extended, the stock was about an inch too short for my rather long arms. The solution was to simply apply a recoil reducing pad to the stock, which added about an inch of length. The recoil reducing pad can be bought online and simply trimmed to fit. Double stick tape is all that is needed to attach it (yes, I was at first skeptical that double stick tape would be sufficient, but it is, and the recoil helps bond the tape to the gun and pad).
Conclusion
The FN Herstal pump action tactical police shotgun is a great gun for home defense, and the price is quite reasonable, especially considering the accessories it comes with. It is designed for police use, but can be purchased by civilians too.
Purchase the FN Herstal pump action tactical police shotgun online here.