Remington V3 TAC 13: DIY Improvements of a Short-Barreled Shotgun

The Remington V3 TAC 13 is a short-barreled tactical shotgun with a stock that places a tremendous amount of firepower in your hands.

Stocking Up the New Remington V3 TAC-13

For the last couple of years, Remington and Mossberg have been going tit-for-tat with their scattergun options. Both have 12-gauge “firearms” that we featured in Concealment Issue 8. Then came 20-gauge versions. Then magazine-fed pump guns. The latest in this Cold War is the Remington V3 TAC-13, the first semi-auto offering in the “firearm” category for Remington.

Given recent history, you bet your ass Mossberg will have something coming down the pipe too.

Remington chose to use the V3 shotgun as their base for the Remington TAC 13 — not only does it lack a recoil spring assembly extending into the buttstock, it has a VersaPort gas system that’s very compact and generally regarded as reliable.

Curiously, the TAC-13 includes a barrel with a vent rib betraying its V3 origins. Somehow it’s befitting. Other features we liked were the slightly enlarged controls that have become more common in recent years and a red, highly visible follower that shows your gas tank’s on empty at a glance.

Remington V3 TAC-13 Modifications

But of course, we certainly couldn’t leave well enough alone. We started out with the basics: lights and sights. Remington included a short Picatinny rail that attaches to either side of the barrel clamp, just the perfect length for a weapon-mounted light.

If it might possibly be used to ID a threat, it’s damn well getting a light. We opted for a SureFire M300 body with a no-longer-produced Cloud Defensive head from the parts drawer.

If you don’t know what a Versamax looks like, the initial breakdown may look a little weird.

We added a rail (any 870 top rail fits) and a Trijicon RMR for easy aiming. Oh yes, and also a buttstock. Non-NFA? Not anymore. No way.

Our number-one issue with these stubby shotties is how much harder they are to control. Certainly, the TAC-13 has been the easiest of the bunch; a gas-operated semiauto beats a pump any day. And the fact you can blow through shells rapidly doesn’t hurt either.

Just a few bucks of tools results in custom screws for life.

The turnaround time for an electronic BATFE Form 1 to manufacture an NFA item is measured in days, not months. If you live someplace where a short-barreled shotgun is legal, there’s very little excuse left. Leave hip-firing to awful ’80s action movies where it belongs.

Believe it or not, attaching the stock itself was the hardest part of the process. Conveniently, Remington included a V3-to-870 adapter with the TAC-13 so that piece of the puzzle was taken care of. The screw was the issue. The included short screw for the shockwave grip was too small for our purposes. But because the adapter adds to our length of pull, you still need something longer than an OEM screw.

After staring at the shelves at a hardware store for an hour, a solution was apparent: just make our own. Using a piece of ¼-inch cold-rolled steel, a ¼x28 die, a ¼x20 die, and some small parts and pieces any length of screw can be easily fabricated for around $10.

Stock screw too short? Make your own.

Another note on stocks: Skip the pistol grip ones — that added length of pull makes them look more silly than an M14 in a SAGE EBR chassis.

To keep more ammo on hand, we picked up some shotgun cards — but buyer beware, our first set had useless Velcro that came undone under recoil. Skip the cheap stuff and go with Esstac or HSGI — or something fancier like the Airdus Industries QD-C.

Unlike the TAC-14 (but like the Mossberg Shockwave), there’s a strap for your support hand included with the TAC-13.

We absolutely applaud the use of this piece of safety gear with any stubby shotgun — it’s far too easy for your hand to slip off the front and inadvertently earn you the nickname “Stumpy.” However, the placement wasn’t ideal for us.

Not only did it place our support hand further to the rear than we’d like, but it also made it extremely difficult to activate the mounted light.

Stock handstrap locations on the Remington V3 TAC 13 are less than ideal. A Dremel will fix it in under 5 minutes.

A little bit of Dremel magic relocated the strap right where we want it. Our hand stays away from the blasty part of the barrel, and we can still flick on the light. Win-win.

On the Range

Just as we expected, it was far easier to shoot the V3 TAC-13 than its pump brethren. And add in a stock and a red dot? No contest. We were pleasantly surprised that it greedily gobbled all manner of el-cheapo birdshot with no complaints.

We even tried out some of the Aguila Mini-Shells, but they wouldn’t cycle the shotgun; sources tell us that we may be able to get them working with some gas and spring tuning. Maybe for a rainy day.

This is a 13-inch barrel, so we weren’t expecting miracles, but Hornady TAP Reduced Recoil 00 patterned well at across-the-house distances.

Our normal advice with any shotgun, in general, and a semiautomatic shotgun, in particular, is to keep notes about what loads run properly and which ones pattern the best. A simple trick once you find a good load is to rip off the top label of the box and toss it in your range bag for future reference.

Unfortunately, the V3 TAC-13 doesn’t come threaded for chokes from the factory, so testing with a SilencerCo Salvo-12 will have to be saved for a later date.

Loose Rounds

Admittedly, I’ve never been a huge fan of shotguns outside of gun gaming or breaching — but if you’re going to own a shotgun, own cool ones. And a short-barreled-and-stocked Remington V3 TAC-13 fits that bill perfectly. Fun and actually practical? We’ll do that all day.

870 Top Rail $79.99 brownells.com Trijicon RMR $499.99cabelas.com Mesa Tactical Side Saddle $96.99 brownells.com Surefire M300 $350.99 brownells.com

Visit https://www.remington.com/

This article originally appeared in RECOIL Issue 42

Corey Graff contributed to this article.

NEXT STEP: Download Your Free Target Pack from RECOIL

For years, RECOIL magazine has treated its readers to a full-size (sometimes full color!) shooting target tucked into each big issue. Now we've compiled over 50 of our most popular targets into this one digital PDF download. From handgun drills to AR-15 practice, these 50+ targets have you covered. Print off as many as you like (ammo not included).

Get your pack of 50 Print-at-Home targets when you subscribe to the RECOIL email newsletter. We'll send you weekly updates on guns, gear, industry news, and special offers from leading manufacturers - your guide to the firearms lifestyle.

You want this. Trust Us.