Why it matters: The list mixes a new SHOT Show 2026 entrant with a discontinued AK platform, and it doubles as a rundown of the legal lines — SBS, AOW, or neither — that decide which tax rules apply to a given short-barreled 12-gauge.
Classic Firearms hosts Ryan and Jason opened their latest video with a legal primer before ranking anything: not every compact 12-gauge is a short-barreled shotgun (SBS) under the National Firearms Act. A gun with a barrel under 18 inches and a shoulder stock is an SBS. A gun built on a receiver longer than 26 inches overall, with a bird's-head grip instead of a stock, is classified as an "other" and needs no tax stamp at all. A gun with a bird's-head or pistol grip plus a vertical foregrip is an "any other weapon" (AOW) — still NFA-regulated, the hosts said, but taxed differently than an SBS. The hosts noted AOWs carry a $205 transfer tax against zero dollars for an SBS; as of January 1, 2026, that gap has closed. H.R. 1, the budget reconciliation law signed in July 2025, cut the federal transfer tax to $0 for all four NFA item categories it covers, SBS and AOW included, alongside suppressors and short-barreled rifles.
PTR's Jack and a Mossberg family built around the magazine
Fifth on the list is the Jack, a short-barreled 12-gauge PTR builds on a Mossberg Maverick 88 receiver and introduced around SHOT Show 2026. Ryan and Jason were careful to distinguish it from a true breaching shotgun: the Jack lacks the hinged muzzle attachment that vents gas when the barrel is pressed against a door or lock, though they said it could serve in a pinch. PTR sells the Jack in AOW and SBS configurations; the SBS version's stock runs on a barrel as short as 7.25 inches, which limits the tube-fed magazine to two rounds. It lists under $1,100.
Third is Mossberg's 590 line, which the hosts framed around a different tradeoff: a detachable box magazine instead of a tube. The 590M and its military-contract Breacher sibling swap magazine capacity back in exchange for an extremely short barrel — the hosts cited roughly 10 rounds on a 7-inch barrel — at the cost of carrying spare magazines rather than topping off loose shells. They also pointed to the 990, a semi-automatic addition to the same family that includes the pistol-grip-only Shockwave-style variant.
An AK-pattern shotgun in limbo, and a Marine Corps-tested Benelli
Fourth went to the KOMRAD, the Kalashnikov-pattern 12-gauge the hosts still called by its unofficial nickname, "the Comrade." Kalashnikov USA's own product page lists the KOMRAD as out of stock, matching the hosts' account that the line isn't currently being produced; they said they'd heard rumors of a comeback. They pointed listeners toward other AK-platform 12-gauges already on the market, including Molot's Vepr line and newer builds from Dissident Arms.
“The gap between an SBS and an AOW used to run through the wallet; as of this year, it runs through the paperwork instead.”
J.D. Whitfield, The ReticleSecond is the Benelli M4 Entry, a 14-inch-barrel, gas-operated semi-auto built on the ARGO system Benelli developed for the M4 — the same design the U.S. Marine Corps adopted as the M1014. The hosts also flagged Benelli's M2 as a lower-cost alternative shown at SHOT Show, and used the segment to explain why Beretta's 1301, despite what they called excellent barrels, doesn't appear on the list at all: Beretta does not sell a short-barreled 1301 in the U.S. market. Owners who want one, they said, can send a 1301 to Langdon Tactical for a barrel-cutting service and trigger work.
Why a magazine-fed Derya took the top spot
The number-one pick is the Derya DY12Y, an AR-pattern 12-gauge new to the U.S. market with an 11-inch barrel and detachable box magazines in place of a tube. The hosts credited the format's AR-style manual of arms and magazine capacity, and noted competing AR-12 platforms exist at both ends of the price and barrel-length spectrum, including Genesis Arms' Gen-12. Reliability with an AR-pattern shotgun, they said, depends on matching the load to what a given gas system is built to cycle.
The hosts closed by noting a gun some viewers likely expected to see, the Remington 870, isn't easy to find on shelves right now, which they attributed to Remington's recent ownership changes; they suggested the 870-based Remington MCS breacher kit as an alternative worth a look for buyers set on that platform.
For context
- Under the National Firearms Act, a short-barreled shotgun (SBS) has a barrel under 18 inches and a shoulder stock; an "any other weapon" (AOW) has a bird's-head or pistol grip plus a vertical foregrip; a third category needs no tax stamp at all if it exceeds 26 inches overall and uses a bird's-head grip with no vertical foregrip.
- H.R. 1, signed into law in July 2025, reduced the federal transfer tax on suppressors, SBRs, SBSs, and AOWs to $0 effective January 1, 2026; the ATF registration and background-check process for those items is unchanged.
- The Benelli M4 was adopted by the U.S. Marine Corps as the M1014 Joint Service Combat Shotgun.
- PTR's Jack is built on a Mossberg Maverick 88 receiver rather than an original PTR design.
