It’s a changing world out there and the challenges we face today are different from just a few years ago. Just look at the headlines. Terrorist attacks or natural disasters, coupled with slow or poor response from the government, often leaves thousands to fend for themselves. Also, the looming threat of a man-made disaster, war or economic collapse poses a huge potential for social unrest. It can all result in large gangs of looters or worse, which can mean that you may be facing multiple attackers to keep yourself and your family safe.
So why not follow some advice from one of our leaders in Washington?
“Buy a Shotgun!”
That was V.P. Joe Biden’s advice while on the ABC News network in response to a question from a reader of Parent Magazine. Of course taking self-defense advice from Joe may be like taking career advancement advice from Lindsay Lohan. He is a joke, a buffoon, whose primary function is anti-impeachment insurance for BO. But he did at least get one thing right. You can never go wrong with a shotgun as part of your home defense strategy.
The downside of a shotgun is that, compared to a magazine fed rifle or handgun, a shotgun has a very limited ammo capacity and is extremely slow to reload. The loading issue is tough to resolve, as removable magazine fed shotguns have proven to be unreliable. But clearly, if you increase the magazine capacity of the shotgun, much of the problem will be solved.
Based on its fifteen shot capacity alone, the new UTS-15 pump action shotgun is a good choice for civilian defense situations.
The name is derived from the two-country collaboration. The U is from the United States, the T from Turkey, the S from shotgun and 15 is the shotgun’s ammo capacity. The UTS-15 is a bullpup style shotgun using a two-tube magazine system, with each tube holding 7 shells. Add one more shotshell in the chamber and the total capacity is 15 shots. The magazine tubes can be used together, alternating feeding from one then the other, or isolated to use only one tube at a time. That means you could have buckshot in one and slugs in the other and selectively decide which to use, depending on the situation. Selecting the magazine is as simple as moving the lever on top of the gun, which takes a fraction of a second.
The bullpup design creates a gun that is short, only 28.3 inches long, so it’s easy to maneuver in close quarters, such as inside a building or when exiting a vehicle. The shotgun has a pistol grip so that it can be held, aimed and fired with one hand if necessary. This keeps the other hand free to open doors, turn on light switches, throw a punch or any other task it may be called on to do, all while the gun remains in control and operable. It also provides a more positive grip on the gun if it is grabbed by a bad guy trying to take it away from you.
The UTS-15 has an 18.5-inch smoothbore barrel that is threaded for Beretta style screw in chokes. The gun comes with a flush fit, cylinder bore choke and a cylinder bore, ported tactical “breeching” choke with a serrated face is available as an option.
The gun’s comb is straight and in line with the top rail, so it raises the shooter’s eye well above the line of the barrel. (Think AR15.) As a tactical shotgun the UTS-15 is designed to be used with sights, either optical or iron, mounted on the top rail. Any sighting system that is designed for an AR15 style rifle should work fine, as the rail and the comb height are similar.
The gun has optional, adjustable sights which are machined from a solid billet of 7000 series ordnance grade aluminum and has a matte black anodized finish. The UTS-15 also has an optional, integral light and laser system to illuminate the target and help aim in poor light.
The UTS-15 only weighs 6.9 lbs. The length of pull is short at 12-inches so the gun can be used while wearing body armor. The buttpad is held in with just a couple of easy to remove pins and the plans are to offer longer options for a longer length of pull. The buttstock opens on a hinge to access the feeding mechanism.
The gun is operated by sliding the forend, just like any other pump action shotgun. The grip is close to the line of the barrel, which aids in point shooting. There are vented covers on both sides of the gun. These are marked with numbers indicating how many shells remain in each magazine tube, so the shooter can tell at a glance how many rounds remain in the gun.
The gun is loaded by opening a door on the side and pushing the follower into the magazine, where it clicks into place. Each magazine tube holds seven 2-3/4 inch shells or six 3-inch shells. With the selector switch on top set in the center, the gun will alternate magazine tubes as it feeds. The switch can also be pushed to one side or the other to isolate a magazine so the gun feeds off one magazine only.
The slide release button is located underneath the buttstock. The two position safety is right hand only and is mounted on the left side, similar to an AR style rifle. The right side has a selector for the light or laser. The pistol grip is plastic with a rough gripping surface. The metal trigger guard is large enough to operate the trigger while wearing gloves.
I put more than 1,300 shells through three different UTS-15 shotguns, both in Turkey and here in the U. S. While that was hard on my ammo supply, it did give me a lot of insight into what this gun can and cannot do.
This shotgun needs to be run hard and depends on a high slide speed for positive ejection, so it’s best to “run it like you want to break it.” It will run split times of 0.4-seconds, which is very fast shooting with two shots in just over ¾ of a second. The UTS-15 is a high capacity defensive machine that may well be the future of defensive shotguns and I promise it will draw a crowd at any shooting range.
Look for more great things from UTS. They are working on a removable magazine semi-auto shotgun that will probably change everything.
