Favored for its firepower and intimidation value, the tactical shotgun is the most effective close-quarters weapon available to both armed citizens and police professionals. Multiple-projectile weapons have the obvious attribute of spreading their lethality over a wider area, but perhaps the main benefit of the combat shotgun is not its trench-clearing fusillade of pellets, but it's sheer wickedness. The Germans howled in protest when the U.S. deployed shotguns in World War I. The Kaiser called the guns "barbaric" and wanted them banned from the battlefield, a classic case of the mustard gas calling the cyanide black. But there is no mistaking the effectiveness of the combat shotgun. Even when it's never fired, the scattergun can quell the aggression of even a mob of rioters. Rack the action on a pump shotgun if you want to hear the second most intimidating sound known to man.

From the legendary Winchester Model 97 to the latest Benelli Super 90, the tactical shotgun has evolved substantially from those heat shielded, bayonet lugged, stubby barreled trench guns of The Great War. While the basic mechanism and functioning has remained the same- not much can ever be done to improve a classic John Browning design - the accoutrements and accessories for the tactical shotgun have improved greatly. Extended magazine tubes have increased the payloads, and a variety of barrel modifications, such as lengthened forcing cones and special chokes, have enhanced the accuracy and patterning of the big smoothbores. Sights have dramatically improved, with tritium inserted front sights and ghost ring rears being factory-spec on many of the better models.

But the most important of all upgrades to a combat shotgun is the development of SureFire's dedicated forend WeaponLight. The U.S. Border Patrol, among others, specifies a SureFire WeaponLight on their custom-order Remington 870s from Scattergun Technologies. The reasons are simple - target identification and a non-lethal force option of white light. The shotgun, perhaps more than any other type of firearm, needs a WeaponLight because the fundamental role of the tactical shotgun is a close-range weapon often deployed in high-risk situations. The handgun is essentially a reactionary weapon, often drawn unexpectedly and in haste when a sudden and unpredictable attack happens. Shotguns are only plucked from a police cruiser when a known threat has materialized. Similarly, people often use a shotgun for a home defense weapon because of its formidable firepower and intimidating presence. It only makes sense, then, that if a home owner most likely anticipates using a gun in the dark, that a weapon-mounted light would be a good addition to the armory. Policemen, of course, have no choice. They must utilize the utmost care in identifying a hostage from a kidnapper, a robber from a clerk. SWAT teams are under the same constraint of needing to ID friend from foe. No one is under greater pressure to do so than the point man on the entry team. And guess what is the favored weapon of most point men? A combat shotgun.

WeaponLight Features
SureFire's shotgun lights are of a type the company calls a "dedicated forend." A SureFire dedicated forend replaces the stock forend on the weapon and the light itself - what SureFire calls a "lamp module" - is contained within the forend housing. Thus, it is a dedicated forend because it is dedicated to the weapon itself and it contains the WeaponLight. SureFire first patented its dedicated forend WeaponLight for shotguns in the late '80s, however, there have been numerous improvements and upgrades since the original design. In fact, SureFire totally redesigned their entire line of shotgun forends in 2002, resulting in the best version yet. The key thing to understand about putting a light on a shotgun is that the recoil of a 12 ga. is the most severe of any firearm that would reasonably ever be fitted with a WeaponLight. Shooters who cringe at the idea of firing a .375 H&H Magnum think nothing about running a box of slugs through their 1187. Ignorance is bliss, I guess, for a .375 H&H doesn't kick any worse than a 12 gauge with slugs. SureFire had to tackle the recoil problem first. The solution was an ingenious design for cushioning the lamp module called "shock isolation." Shock isolation is essentially a method of shock absorbing the actual lamp from the effect of recoil. The shock isolation system is excellent, but a long, hard practice session with 00 buck or slugs still takes its toll on the light. For extensive practice or training, SureFire offers a screw - in plug to replace the lamp module in the dedicated forend. No point in subjecting the light to more pounding than necessary.

The next issue, after solving the recoil problem, was the switching mechanism. Obviously the WeaponLight has to be operated with a momentary-on tactical switch, but there were other switching considerations. Taking the obvious hurdle first, SureFire engineers incorporated a relatively long "tape switch," a pressure-sensitive rubber sealed pad, that contains two strips of beryllium cooper contacts. When the tape switch is pressed, the contacts are brought together and the light activates; releasing pressure separates the contacts and the light instantly extinguishes. All shotgun WeaponLights come with two metal tabs, called "switch blockers," that are self-adhesive and can be positioned anywhere on the long pressure pad, at the user's option, is deactivate part of the pad. I like the block the rear portion of my pad, preventing me from accidentally lighting during a vigorous, adrenalin-surged pump of my 870. The pressure pad is on the right-hand side of the weapon, positioned to be activated by the fingers of a right-handed shooter's support arm. Truly ambidextrous, the pad can easily be operated with a left-hander's thumb. All shooters should train to fire bilaterally, from either shoulder, depending on tactical conditions, so the ambidextrous aspect of the switch was not a mere nod to the 17 percent of the population that is left-handed. Additionally, some law enforcement customers wanted a constant-on switch so that once a threat has been located, the light can be permanently switched on, freeing the officers support hand for other purposes. SureFire has a long history of taking user-feedback and upgrading its designs to meet the real-world needs of those who go in harm's way, so the "F" option was created. The "F" option is a rocker switch on the left side of the dedicated forend, on and off. The switch requires a conscious effort to press to minimize the chance of accidentally lighting your teammates or otherwise comprising a tactical situation.

Because the "F" option was considered such an important tactical advantage, SureFire incorporated the on-off rocker switch into its new design. The designation is now "FA" and all dedicated forend WeaponLights now come standard with this option. Better still, the price remained the same as the older non-"F" model. The last option that some users prefer is the ability to totally disable the light, render it completely inoperable. This is important in some tactical situations where the chance of a white light AD must be completely blocked. Accordingly, SureFire adapted the rocker switch to be a disable switch. Engaged, the disable switch deactivates the momentary pressure switch; disengaged, the disable switch allows the pressure switch to function. The disable option on the newly designed forends is now only available on a special order basis from SureFire.

Power Choices
There are two SureFire lamp modules available with shotgun WeaponLights, a 6 volt and a 9 volt. The former produces 65 lumens with a standard P60 lamp assembly and 120 lumens with a high-intensity P61 lamp assembly; run-time is 60 and 20 minutes respectively. The 9 volt lamp module produces 125 lumens with the standard P90 lamp assembly, good for 60 minutes of run-time, or 225 lumens with the high-intensity P91 lamp assembly, offering 20 minutes of run-time.

The choice in lamp modules is easy to make, even in the sometimes confusing nomenclature of SureFire. If the model number starts with a 6, like in Model 618FA, then it's a 6 volt system; if it starts with a 9, like in Model 918FA, then it's a 9 volt. Those are the standard factory model choices, available for Mossberg 550 and 590, Remington 870 and 1187, Winchester Defender and Benelli Super 90s. However, my favorite shotgun WeaponLight is a non-standard version that must be ordered separately, by components. The best version of a shotgun WeaponLight, in my opinion, is to utilize the LM90 lamp module. The LM90 is part of the Millennium Series of WeaponLight designs that are the absolute latest from SureFire. Utilizing the new Millennium Series lamp design - called the "best lamps we've ever made, and are likely to ever make" by one of the senior engineers - the LM90 is a 9 volt system that offers a standard and a high-intensity Millennium lamp in either 125 or 225 lumens, using the MN10 and MN11 lamp assemblies respectively. An LM90 comes with both lamps, by the way. Additionally, the LM90 boasts a slightly larger diameter reflector than either of the standard models. A larger reflector focuses the center spot of light more intensely than a small reflector. Translation - a noticeably brighter sweet spot to blind an adversary. Also, the Millennium design of lamp is more robust for withstanding recoil since it fits more securely into its shock-isolation system than the standard spring-cushioned lamps. All of which adds up to the optimum shotgun WeaponLight, with one drawback. The negative is either trivial or considerable depending on your priorities. The problem is simply this- the forend housing is black and the LM90 is gray-green. The standard lamp modules, by contrast, are a nice, shiny, matching black.

The LM90's finish is the natural color of a Type III Mil-Spec hard anodized finish on aluminum alloy. The pretty black finish of the standard modules is the result of Type II black anodizing with a bright dip finish. The LM90's hard ano finish is much more durable and long lasting, even if it is gray-green. Since the LM90 version of a shotgun WeaponLight doesn't exist as a stock model, you have to order a plain housing (H18FA at $117 for a Remington 870) and the Millennium lamp assembly (LM90 at $125). The retail price of this parts-built system, using a Remington 870 as an example, is $242. This compares to $210 for an off-the-rack 6-volt (model 618FA) and $225 for a 9-volt system (model 918FA). After you add in the $24 for a recoil-proof 9-volt battery for the non-standard WeaponLight, you're looking at $266 versus $225 for a factory 9-volt model. Many operators think the extra $41 is more than offset by the increased performance of the Millennium Series lamp assembly and large 1.625" reflector of the LM90-based system. Either way you go, a SureFire dedicated forend WeaponLight for a tactical shotgun is the most practical way to maximize the fighting power of the combat smoothbore, the dreaded "barbaric" weapon of the trenches.

Cameron Hopkins was the editor-in-chief of American Handgunner, GUNS Magazine and Shooting Industry for 17 years before coming to SureFire. A respected expert on the firearms industry, he is the vice president of sales and marketing for SureFire.