Editor’s Choice: Savage Renegauge

Savage Arms is charging into the rough-and-ready shotgun category with the Renegauge, an upscale, U.S.-built semi-automatic with a unique, home-grown gas operation that stifles recoil, plus a stock incorporating custom-fit features from the company’s AccuFit rifles.

In development for nearly five years, the D.R.I.V. (Dual Regulating Inline Valve) system siphons just enough propulsion gas to cycle the action reliably regardless of load, from the lightest to the stoutest.

This unique system relies on eight pinhead-sized ports located on the underside of the bore where they link directly to the pair of spring-loaded valves. Incoming gas opens the valves just long enough to punch a short-stroke piston that in turn gives a hard shove to the action bar assembly on which the bolt and its rotating locking head are fixed.

After admitting the finite amount of gas needed for that operation, the valves close, and any remaining gas escapes forward through the ported fore-end.

Recoil is also softened with a stock-mounted buffer that cushions the bolt’s rearward stroke. It acts as a shock absorber when the action mechanism completes its rearward travel. And by then, the action return spring (which encircles the magazine tube) has fully compressed, providing yet another brake on felt recoil.

The stock will custom-fit each user’s anatomy and shooting style. Interchangeable inserts make it easy to adjust length of pull and comb height, and further adjustments can be made to the buttpad’s vertical position and pitch (angle).

In all, the Savage Renegauge shotgun that truly fits eases target acquisition by aligning the shooter’s eye with the sighting rib, encourages proper cheek weld, and directs recoil laterally into the shoulder. In the opinion of every NRA editor who's fired it, it might be the softest-shooting 12-ga. shotgun ever made.

Owners will also appreciate a consistent trigger set to break at 3 lbs., 8 ozs., overall balance that promotes smooth handling and enduring metal finishes, including chrome-plating on reciprocating parts and Melonite-coated barrels.

For 2020, three 12-ga., 3"-chambered variants are offered: the Field, with a black synthetic stock; along with the Waterfowl and the Turkey, both decked out in Mossy Oak camouflage patterns. savagearms.com