Praxis: "The M-26 Shotgun Is A Handful of Violence."
The new shotgun is replacing the Army’s long-serving Mossberg 500. Unlike the Mossberg, the MASS is a hybrid weapon that can attach underneath the Army’s standard issue M4 rifle, or can be fitted with a stock and pistol grip to be a weapon of its own.
1st Lt. Anthony Frisone, 2nd Platoon’s leader, said he first saw the weapons last year in Afghanistan. The Pentagon ordered 9,000 of the attachable shotguns as of 2013. That number is likely to grow. Soldiers can use the M26’s bolt action handle right or left handed. And its ability to connect to an assault rifle or be a standalone weapon is a feature soldiers particularly like.
The choice is important, because there are pros and cons to both configurations. As an add-on to a rifle–its original intent–a soldier wouldn’t have to switch between weapons during a fight. But Frisone explained that the combination makes the rifle incredibly heavy. To be sure, carrying a rifle and shotgun separately is still heavy, but a soldier can manage the weight by slinging whatever he or she isn’t using to the side. The switch is fast and carrying both allows a soldier to focus their attention. It’s all a matter of preference for each unit. In any case, the M26 is lighter than the Mossberg 500.
See also: M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System
Specifications
- Caliber: 12 gauge
- Operation: Straight pull bolt-action.
- Capacity: 3 or 5 round detachable magazine.
- Ammunition: 2.75 and 3 in lethal, non-lethal and breaching rounds.
- Barrel length: 7.75 in (197 mm) with integral breaching stand-off adapter.
- Under-barrel version:
- Overall length: 16.5 in (419 mm)
- Weight: 2 lb 11 oz (1.22 kg)
- Stand-alone version:
- Overall length: 24 in (610 mm) (stock collapsed)
- Weight: 4 lb 3 oz (1.90 kg)
9 comments:
I agree and I really want to like it but it looks super akward. Having carried a M203 fo a year, it was very manageable as the weight was close to the barrel. It looks like the weight of the shotgun plus the magazine would throw the ergonomics off. As soon as someone sends me a free one to test out, I'll come back and report my findings.
12 guage 3 inch rounds....8 inch barrel...3 pounds...this thing will rattle your cage for sure...the recoil must be increadable
I think there is a tendency to push a "if you had just one gun" idea like it is reality. It is not like you have just one knife in your cutlery block or one tool in your tool box. Guns are tools. A rake rakes. A mower cuts grass. An AR/M4 does its job pretty well up to and sometimes beyond 300 meters. A stubby shotgun does its job too when it comes to opening up doors in a hurry. It does seem useful to have a all-in-one urban rifle but I would hate to be the guy who has to lug that thing around.
Looks like it uses VPER/Saiga12-derived magazines.
I guess that settles (again) who designs the best combat firearms.
Well, now that the US Army is issuing short-barreled shotguns, doesn't this change the US v. Miller decision? Miller's chopped shotgun was ruled unprotected under the 2nd Amendment because there was no corresponding military arm, rendering it useless as a militia weapon.
Actually, Kevin Davis, the Supreme Court DID NOT say short barreled shotguns were not protected. What they did say was that in the absence of any information presented to them, they could not make that determination.
"In the absence of any evidence tending to show that possession or use of a "shotgun having a barrel of less than eighteen inches in length" at this time has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia, we cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear such an instrument. Certainly it is not within judicial notice that this weapon is any part of the ordinary military equipment, or that its use could contribute to the common defense. Aymette v. State, 2 Humphreys (Tenn.) 154, 158."
They then remanded the case back to the lower courts to obtain information on the relationship of short-barreled shotguns to the preservation or efficiency of a militia. But by the time the case reached the Supreme Court, Miller was dead, and his partner, Frank Layton, had pleaded guilty to another charge. So the question was left open at the time.
I am not a pack mule for crap, I don't need. Never had issue getting folks to leave a bldg that I was task to clear, 50+ years ago. One frag then a single willy-peter and those that came out were, pigged. Those that chose to stay were crispy critters, but that was their choice. Lawyers and war and like oil an water, I have no rules once it starts. Lite is right, always has been, always will be! Get some 1/8th Cav.
Meh. The only home defense shotgun I would care to use (in place of my AR) is one of these.
http://www.tromix.com/saiga-shotguns.html
It seems a messed up way to go about having a shotgun. Why not inline tubular magazines next to the bbl, and self loading or even automatic rather than bolt action?
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