Benelli’s M4 Tactical Defensive Shotgun
The AR has blossomed over the last couple decades, moving from its bare-bones military roots to a platform that has more variations on the theme and more applications than most of us would ever have imagined. From humble 5.56mm-chambered rifles scarcely removed from their combat-mission predecessor, the AR has morphed into a long-range hero, a big-game and varmint hunting rifle, a pistol, a fast-action competition rifle, and pretty much everything in-between.
All well and good, but through the innumerable metamorphoses, the core of the AR held fast in the minds of most shooters. Strip away the gadgetry and whizmos and you have a defensive platform at heart and the reason for its continued popularity. When personal defense advocates consider a rifle, it is the modern AR that jumps to the front of the discussion almost every time.
Why?
Content courtesy of Shoot ON

Marines engage targets with a Benelli M1014 semi-automatic shotgun during a training and qualification event aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C. Photo by Lance Cpl. Ashley Phillips. [The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.]

Sgt. George M. Frasier uses a combat stance to absorb the recoil of an M1014 joint service combat shotgun at Landing Zone Wren in the Central Training Area. Photo by Lance Cpl. Mark Stroud. [The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.]
