Home defense
is becoming more and more of a concern to folks who are coming
to realize that, when trouble starts, no one is coming to help,
and it is left to the individual to defend himself and his
family, or in many cases, herself and her family. Most police
agencies in the US are pretty good, and when they receive a
call, they will get to you as soon as they can. Other police
agencies have been turned into rolling tax collectors, more
concerned with traffic violations for which they can increase
revenue than in protecting the citizenry. However, most are
still good cops, and do everything that they can to protect the
community. The problem is, that many agencies are stretched too
thinly, and there is a backlog of calls. Still, if an emergency
call goes out that there is a home invasion in progress, they
will do the best they can to get there. Unless you live next
door to the police station, they will not arrive soon enough.
This is not a slam upon law enforcement, it is just pure
logistics. The police cannot be everywhere at the same time. If
armed thugs kick in your front door, you are own your own. For
more on that topic, I refer you to my article titled “Can
You Reach Your Weapon?”
Keeping in mind that the punks who just
crashed through your front door have taken some time to plan
this action, even if only for a few minutes, you will be taken
by surprise. You actions will be reactions to theirs. They have
the advantage already, and your reaction must be swift and
violent. I keep a pistol within reach of my hand twenty-four
hours per day, unless I am on an airplane. There, I have no
firearm. I am not defenseless on an airplane, but that is a
topic for another time. For now, unless in that situation, I am
armed. In addition to the pistol, when possible at home, I have
a shotgun within reach or just a couple of steps away, and that
brings us to the subject of this piece: the Sultan P1 fighting
shotgun.
Up close and personal, a shotgun is likely
the most effective weapon that most of us can legally own.
Across a room, I would rather have a good shotgun than even a
submachine gun. I do not know their current training, but at one
time, the FBI trained its agents to, if faced with multiple
opponents armed with a pistol, a rifle, a sub-gun, and a
shotgun, to take out the shotgunner first, as he is the one most
likely to do the most harm. At close range, a shotgun is
devastating. Even using a load of birdshot, a 12 gauge will put
a fist-sized hole in flesh across the distance of a typical room
in a home. With buckshot, it is very effective out to around at
least fifty yards, but here, we are dealing with home defense,
and the distances are more likely measured in feet instead of
yards.
First, let's forget the oft-spouted myth that
the spread of a shot load will kill anything in the general
compass direction in which the weapon is pointed. That is not
true. With an open-choked or non-choked shotgun, at twenty-five
feet, the spread of shot can usually be covered with the palm of
your hand. That is a good thing. If someone has forcefully and
violently entered your home, chances are that they are not there
selling Girl Scout Cookies. You want to take them out of action
immediately. You want them on the floor, without the ability to
wiggle their trigger fingers. Even if down, if they can pull a
trigger, they can ruin your day. The shotgun delivers a
devastating blow, with at least one full ounce of lead shot,
preferably more. One of my favorite general purpose defensive
loads for a shotgun is the Winchester PDX1. It throws a
one-ounce lead slug and three plated 00 buckshot. It is
effective down a very long hallway. Even better, I think, for
close range is a load of number four buckshot. If over
penetration of walls is a concern, which often is in a
residential dwelling, number five or six birdshot is a very good
choice. If you miss your target, those small pellets lose energy
quickly after penetrating a wall, and will not kill your
neighbor in the next apartment or house next door. That makes
for very serious legal problems. You are responsible for every
pellet that leaves the bore of your shotgun, so choose your
ammunition to best suit your particular situation.
Choice of shotgun usually comes down to
semi-auto or pump for most people. A good two-pipe is very
effective, but slower to sustain fire over multiple shots, so
most will choose a pump or an auto. Both have their advantages.
A good gas-operated auto softens recoil, but suffers reliability
problems in some designs. Like a good defensive handgun, the
shotgun must be reliable, and for this reason, lots of folks
choose a pump. The pump gun also has the advantage of being
inexpensive. Most good autoloaders cost twice as much as a pump
of equal quality. Still, I prefer an auto myself, but again, it
must be reliable. The auto has the advantage that it can usually
be operated faster by most shooters, and even more importantly,
it can be operated one-handed if necessary, such as if one arm
is disabled and taken out of the fight. With the auto,
especially if it is light enough and handy enough, it can be
used with only one hand.
One good autoloader that I have recently
discovered is the subject of this review; the Sultan P1 from
American Tactical Imports. The Sultan is made in Turkey, as are
many shotguns these days, for the Turks build some quality
weapons, and building there keeps the cost low. For many who
need a good shotgun for home protection, paying well over a
thousand dollars is just not possible. While I advocate buying
the best that you can afford, sometimes spending more does not
get you a better shotgun. The Sultan is not only a good shotgun
for very little money, it would still be a good shotgun for a
lot of money. The main reason for this, and of paramount
importance, the Sultan P1 works. Reliability is first priority
with a defensive weapon. Everything else comes after. The Sultan
is a gas-operated shotgun, using a traditional gas system with
twin action bars. The Sultan can fire either 2 ¾ or 3 inch
twelve gauge shells, and I tried a variety of both in this
shotgun. The first shell fired from the Sultan did not eject,
and I attribute the fault to me. I pulled the gun out of its
box, assembled it, loaded it and fired it. It was pretty heavily
oiled, and most likely had oil in the gas ports. After that
first shot cleaned out the oil, the Sultan functioned perfectly
for the duration of all shooting.
The Sultan P1 has a very good trigger pull,
measuring just three and one-half pounds, which is just about
ideal for a fighting shotgun. The barrel is a handy eighteen and
one-quarter inches long, and the overall length measures just
thirty-nine inches. The length-of-pull measures fourteen and
one-quarter inches. The weight is a light and handy six and
one-half pounds. The stock is black synthetic, and wears a very
comfortable pistol grip. There is a short post sight up front,
with no rear sight. The aluminum receiver is machined for a
scope mount, for those who prefer an optical sight. The Sultan
wears a matte black finish of stock and metal, with the bolt and
operating controls left bright. The operating handle is easy to
grasp, even under stress or while wearing gloves. The Sultan
holds four shots in the mag tube, giving a loaded capacity of
five. Another advantage of using a tube-magazine gun instead of
a double barrel is that the mag can be topped off, without
taking the weapon out of the fight. Anytime there is a lull in
the action, another shell or two can be thumbed into the
magazine, while keeping the weapon pointed in the direction of
the danger, and the shooter's finger ready to engage the
trigger. The Sultan P1 has no constriction at the muzzle, and is
not threaded for choke tubes. This shotgun is built for
fighting, and is not meant to double as a hunting gun, but it
does pattern well enough for close range bird hunting, but
again, this is a fighting shotgun, and excels in that role.
The Sultan P1 is short, light, handy,
reliable, and easy to use. At close range, it is a very
effecting weapon. It is also very affordable, being priced lower
than many pump guns. I usually do not list suggested retail
prices, as guns usually sell for less, and prices change over
time. However, price is a very important feature of this weapon.
Suggested retail price as of the date of this writing is only
$307.95 US. That price is lower than most pump guns, and is the
lowest-priced semi-auto twelve gauge shotgun of which I am
aware. Most importantly, the Sultan P1 works, and it works well.
Check out the Sultan P1 and other firearms
from ATI online at www.americantactical.us.
To buy quality shotgun ammo online, go to www.luckygunner.com.
For the location of an ATI dealer near you,
click on the DEALER LOCATOR at www.lipseys.com.
Jeff Quinn
