AR-style shotguns are fairly common. They look like ARs but aren’t really ARs. That is what you expect when it comes to an AR-style shotgun. However, American Tactical has produced an AR-15 shotgun that’s actually an AR-15. This semi-auto .410 shotgun is called the Alpha Maxx SGA, and it uses a standard AR-15 lower receiver. Mil-Spec, polymer, and more work, hell mill your own with an 80 percent lower jig, router, and make a ghost gun. American Tactical will sell both complete shotguns and uppers, mags, and buffers to allow you to use whatever lower you want.
Hands-On With the Alpha Maxx
We got hands-on with one at SHOT and got to send both slugs and buckshot downrange. The gun uses 2.5-inch rounds only since there isn’t enough room in an AR magwell for a 3-inch load. The magazines are limited to five rounds when you purchase a gun or upper, but American Tactical will produce and sell 15-round magazines as well. The guns have M-LOK rails, optics-ready uppers, and adjustable stocks.
The Alpha Maxx utilizes an adjustable gas system, which sets it apart from the other .410 AR-type shotguns we’ve seen. This adjustable gas system allows you to tailor the weapon to use buckshot and slugs, as well as lighter-loaded birdshot rounds. Another interesting feature is the ability to swap chokes, which is new for these types of guns.
The Alpha Maxx series of shotguns are fairly lightweight, and the recoil is very slight. Even with slugs, the gun worked without a big hit to the shoulder. The Alpha Maxx was also surprisingly accurate with slugs. I was hitting some of the further targets without much difficulty and with nothing but a red dot. With buckshot, the gun bucked and roared but proved easy to handle. Both loads were reliable without any issues observed in my shooting and in the observation of the people shooting before me.
Yeah, but .410
The .410 isn’t the mightiest round on the market, especially when it comes to shotguns. However, if you can fit 15 rounds in a semi-auto platform, the cartridge has a little more sell to it. The other problem with .410 is that it is hard to find, but American Tactical is now producing .410 in slugs and buckshot formats that fit into the Alpha Maxx. For a price point of 500 dollars you can call me interested.
