10/30/2009

Charles Daly Defense, a division of the Charles Daly company, has been making a name for itself through its line of high-quality, U.S.-made CDD-15 AR-style rifles. However, the newest addition to the Charles Daly Defense line of firearms, the Special Purpose (SP) Shotgun series, hews more closely to the traditional roots of the division’s parent company, which itself has a long tradition of importing high-quality, often reasonably priced firearms.

The SP Tactical line, manufactured by Akkar Silah Sanayi in Istanbul, Turkey, consists of a semi-automatic and several slide-action 12-gauge variants. The model received for testing was the SP Pump Tactical, a 3-inch, 12-gauge slide-action shotgun. The shotgun holds either five 2 3/4-inch-length shells or four 3-inch shells in its tube and weighs in at a feathery 6 pounds, 7 ounces.

Mechanically, the SP Pump Tactical features a stressed-steel tilting block housed in the bolt carrier that locks up into a recess in the barrel extension. Because the bolt locks directly into the steel barrel, the shotgun can employ a lightweight 6061 aluminum alloy receiver hard-anodized in a matte-black finish.

The chrome molybdenum steel barrel of the SP Pump Tactical is 18 1/2-inches long and features an attractive black-chrome finish on its exterior. The bore is chrome-lined and the muzzle is threaded to accept RemChoke-type interchangeable choke tubes. The barrel features a slim exterior contour that helps keep the gun’s overall weight to a minimum.

As is to be expected with a slide-action shotgun, the controls are simple and straightforward. A crossbolt safety button is located at the rear of the plastic trigger guard and has a red annular groove on its left side that is exposed when the SP Pump Tactical is taken off “safe.” A large action-release button is in the forward left portion of the trigger guard.

The shotgun is quite businesslike in appearance, with a full host of enhanced features. The stock set of the SP Pump Tactical is one of the most visibly apparent of these enhancements, with the buttstock featuring an integral vertical pistol grip with molded-in horizontal ribbing. The body of the stock features an integral ambidextrous sling attachment point and a 3/4-inch-thick recoil pad.

Complementing the rear sling attachment point of the SP Pump Tactical is an included front sling attachment plate that fits around the magazine tube forward of the barrel ring. Held in place by the magazine tube cap, the plate is reversible for left- or right-handed use. Also included is a spare ring without a sling attachment slot.

The fore-end extends to the forward portion of the receiver when the action is closed, providing shooters with the ability to grasp it much farther back than with other pump guns.

An appealing addition to the SP Pump Tactical is its sights, which are made up of a ghost ring rear unit and a heavy-duty winged front sight post with a red fiber-optic insert for increased visibility. The aluminum ghost ring rear sight assembly features sturdy protective wings, and the sight itself is fully adjustable for windage and elevation.

Further adding to the flexibility of the SP Pump Tactical is a 4 1/2-inch aluminum Picatinny rail forward of the ghost ring sight assembly. The central portion of the rail features a recessed sighting groove. Considering the growing use of red-dot optics on tactical shotguns, the rail is a welcome feature.

The SP Pump Tactical comes standard with a specialized breaching/stand-off muzzle extension. To allow users to easily remove it by hand, the tubular device features three rings of integral knurling around its exterior. Within these three rings are two sets of alternating ports, and the forward face of the extension sports aggressive V-shaped “teeth” around its entire circumference.

The SP Pump Tactical received for testing featured excellent fit and finish, with all controls operating smoothly and the shotgun exhibiting an evenly applied and attractive matte-black finish. The first thing noted by several testers was the light weight of the shotgun.

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