Blackwater / Iron Horse Firearms Sentry 12 pump action shotgun (USA)

The Sentry 12 pump action shotgun is manufactured in USA by Iron Horse Firearms company, and distributed by the Blackwater Worldwide private military and consulting company. Introduced in 2020, the Sentry 12 shotgun is intended for so-called “tactical” market, which means that it is optimized for home defense, security and police applications, rather than sport or hunting.

Sentry 12 pump action shotgun

It combines modern, AR-15 like ergonomics with proven and versatile manually operated pump action, with added benefit of quickly changeable box magazines. However, for a tactical shotgun the Sentry 12 lacks several important options, at least for a time being. For one, available magazines can hold only five rounds, while competing weapons like Mossberg 590M or Saiga-12 have magazines that contain ten or more rounds. Second, Sentry 12 shotgun has a fixed, non-adjustable stock, which could be OK for a firearm designed in the last century, but not for a weapon that was introduced in 2020. Third, it has no iron sights, not even a simple back-up bead.

Sentry 12 pump action shotgun

The Sentry 12 shotgun is a manually operated, pump action firearm. It features an aluminum alloy upper receiver, and a lower receiver, made from polymer along with integrated pistol grip and magazine housing. Upper and lower receivers are connected by a single captive cross-pin at the rear. Fixed stock is made from plastic. Single stack detachable box magazines are also made from plastic and can hold five rounds each. Magazine release buttons and manual safety levers are similar in layout and operation to the AR-15 rifle, and are ambidextrous. Sights and other accessories can be installed by the user using an integrated Picatinny rail above the upper receiver.