Remington Model 17 Police Special: The Shockwave a Century Ago

[Bob Riebe]

         

          Remington introduced the Model 17 as a lightweight 20ga pump shotgun in 1921. In addition to a variant of sporting grades and a 20? barreled riot model, they also offered the ?Police Special? configuration. This was a 14.5 inch barrel with a 4+1 capacity and a Shockwave-style pistol grip in place of a normal shoulder stock (although the guns were generally supplied with a spare stock as well). These were intended as a very compact option for special police requirements ? stakeouts, undercover work, or a need to conceal a shotgun on an officer?s person. Only a few hundred were sold, and they are a very interesting side of fighting shotgun history.

[Lloyd Smale]

ive got a moss 500 12 and an 870 20. it surprised me how effective the are. ive taken grouse and rabbits with both and with buck shooting off the hip they will decimate a silhouette target at 20 paces. funny how stuff from way back becomes relevant again. first one i shot was a 97 win that dad cut the stock off and wacked the barrel off just ahead of the tube. i know its about sacrilegious but his drunken brother was out violating with it and wounded a deer and decided rather than waste ammo hed club it on the head and when he did it bent the barrel to badly to straighten. dad destroyed it when he found out he could go to prison for owning it.