Commentary

The modern-day shotgunner is now waking up to the benefits of back-boring in certain sporting applications. This may be just the common cycle of the trend, or perhaps this feature has finally found a permanent place in our list of optional features for the shotgun bore. Both Remington and Browning now offer this feature in their target guns. This may fool some gun owners into thinking their trap guns are obsolete; indeed, many will trade in perfectly good and serviceable guns and barrels to obtain this "new" feature.

In the April 2012 issue, Gun Tests magazine tested three semi-automatic rimfire rifles that showed promise of being more than just plinkers. They were the $325 Savage Arms model 64 TR SR V Savage, CZ-USA's $465 model 512, and the $595 Remington 597 TVP. Following is an excerpt from that test, used with permission:

We compared four 12-gauge pumpguns in in the October 2013 issue. They were the Benelli Super Nova Tactical No. 29155 pump-action 12 Gauge, $559, and the recently introduced Stevens Model 320 Home Defense No. 19495, $270; the CZ Model 612 Home Defense No. 06520, $290; and the CZ Model 612 HC-P No. 06510, $349.

At a reader's request, we selected several new models of self-defense shotguns that carry low to moderate price tags and pitted them against one of the popular veteran self-defense shotguns to see how they would perform.