While the l2-gauge shotgun can be one of the most versatile and effective tools in the tactical arsenal, its muzzle blast and muzzle flash can be a serious liability in many tactical scenarios. The sound of the shotgun's discharge can lead to "they shot first" scenarios when the shotgun is employed as a breaching tool. The muzzle flash of a shotgun can significantly impair night vision and give away the operator's position. When operating in explosive or combustible environments, such as when raiding clandestine drug laboratories, the muzzle flash obviously poses additional, potentially life threatening problems.

The obvious answer to these drawbacks has been the development of an effective sound suppressor for shotguns. Unfortunately, this has been easier said than done. The large bore diameter of the 12-gauge shotgun has been the major impediment to the development of an effective sound suppressor. Conventional sound suppressor designs of a practical size have allowed too much gas to escape to effectively silence the weapon.

After four years of research and development, Tactical Operations, Inc., of Beverly Hills, California, has developed what may be the first practical sound suppressed shotgun, the Clandestine 12. The suppressor utilizes ad advanced, patent pending design with proprietary artificial environment technology to provide performance that was previously unattainable.

According to TacOps, the suppressor will safely handle all commercially loaded 12-gauge ammunition - shot, slugs and special purpose. This is no small design feat. Handling slugs is one thing; handling shot loads and special purpose rounds is another, more difficult, problem to overcome, It took a special baffle design to allow this.

Specs
The Clandestine 12 package is built around the a customized Remington Model 870 shotgun. The 870 was selected since it is the most widely used police shotgun. As with all of Tac Ops weapon systems that I have tested or examined, the attention to detail on the Clandestine 12 is excellent.

The receiver is equipped with adjustable MMC ghost ring sights with a tritium bar, Tac Star® SideSaddle® shot shell carrier, and a high visibility fluorescent follower. All of the metal parts, except for the bore and chamber, are finished in Walter Birdsong’s proprietary matte NATO Green-T® and Black-T® finish. Birdsong’s finish was developed specifically for use on weapons. The finish has excellent corrosion resistance and lubricity. It’s also highly wear-resistant.

The shotgun has a SPEEDFEED® I polymer buttstock with Tac Ops’ special nonslip texturing on the grip. A SPEEDFEED III Tactical Stock is available as an option. The SPEED FEED III would be my choice over the SPEEDFEED I, as the III’s pistol grip design gives true one-handed control. The fore end on the Clandestine 12 is a Sure-Fire® Responder® weapon light system. Both the buttstock and the fore end are finished m green epoxy.

The suppressor was permanently affixed to the barrel on the prototype Clandestine 12. Production models have a removable, screw on suppressor and a 14 inch barrel which is threaded for the suppressor.

The Clandestine 12 will be supplied with an additional barrel (at an increased cost), if desired. The second barrel consists of a standard Remington 18 inch cylinder bore barrel with a Wilson Combat®/Scattergun Technologies front sight with a tritium dot. A Wilson Combat/Scattergun Technologies magazine extension tube is also supplied for use with the 18 inch barrel.

The suppressor has a stainless steel body and heat-treated aircraft grade aluminum internal parts. Taking into consideration the fact that it's designed to suppress a 12-gauge shotgun, the suppressor is exceptionally compact. It measures ten inches long and has an outside diameter (O.D.) of 2.75 inches. There's a tritium sighting dot on the top of the rear end cap.

The suppressor is a sealed unit and is designed to be user maintainable. All maintenance requirements are performed without disassembly. Cleaning is by immersion. Petroleum naphtha (safety solvent) is recommended for this purpose.

The suppressor does add a significant amount of weight to the muzzle. The Clandestine 12 suppressor weighs approximately 3.75 pounds, making the shotgun quite muzzle heavy. It's certainly not a weapon that one would want to lug around all day.

Tac Ops is currently working on the prototype of a lighter and smaller suppressor for the Clandestine 12. Although I agreed not to go into the details, it's quite revolutionary. While the performance of the suppressor won't be reduced, the new suppressor will be about one pound lighter and several inches shorter. The O.D. will also be reduced by nearly an inch. The new suppressor design is nearly completed and may even be available by the time you read this.

The Clandestine 12 is the first practical sound suppressed shotgun. It is built around a highly customized Remington 870 shotgun. The suppressor is shown in photo without the muzzle standoff attached.	Close-up of the Clandestine 12 muzzle standoff. The standoff screws onto the end cap of the suppressor and vents muzzle gasses when the shotgun is used for breaching.

Its Main Use
The Clandestine 12 will probably see a great deal of use as a breaching tool. Tac Ops is having special subsonic frangible breaching rounds developed specifically for the Clandestine 12. The shotgun is an extremely effective breaching tool that can offer a number of advantages over other methods of breaching during dynamic entries. It can do double duty, providing safer and faster tactical forced entries (with the appropriate frangible breaching ammo and proper training) while remaining effective as a defensive weapon.

Breaching shotguns do require a three inch long standoff device (commonly called a "breacher") affixed to the muzzle for safety. The standoff vents muzzle gas pressure, allowing the shotgun to be fired with the muzzle standoff in direct contact with the jamb or door without any possibility of the barrel or suppressor bursting.

Tac Ops developed a special two inch O.D. stainless steel standoff for the Clandestine 12 suppressor. The muzzle cap of the suppressor has a threaded extension on the front for the standoff. The standoff can be unscrewed and removed when not needed, reducing the overall length of the Clandestine 12. The muzzle of the standoff is serrated to reduce the likelihood of slippage during door contact.

Because of the suppressor, there isn't any need for the standoff to also serve as compensator. The Tac Ops standoff is ported 180 degrees on the bottom. The ports are quite large and serve only to vent the gasses. The lack of ports on the top of the standoff is intended to reduce the likelihood of debris being blown upward towards the operator during breaching operations.

Testing and Evaluation
This past spring, I met Tac Ops President, Mike Rescigno, at the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department's Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) Special Weapons Team range for a demonstration of the capabilities of the Clandestine 12 and an opportunity to test and evaluate it. The LASD SEB Special Weapons Team is one of the tactical teams now using the Clandestine 12.

While at the range, an assortment of rounds were fired, both standard (supersonic) and subsonic. The muzzle sound signature with subsonic ammunition was reduced to a level that was the same as that produced by a .22 shot fired from a rifle. Others that were present likened the sound signature to that of a .177 caliber RWS pellet rifle. Put another way, the manual cycling of the 870's pump action was actually louder than the sound of a subsonic l2-gauge round being fired from the Clandestine 12.

Close to 30 rounds were fired through the Clandestine 12 while at the range. The suppressor wasn't cleaned throughout the duration of the testing. No additional artificial environment fluid was added.

The performance of the suppressor throughout the testing speaks highly of the design. There wasn't any noticeable increase in the sound signature. The Clandestine 12 was as quiet at the end of the testing as it was at the beginning. Muzzle flash was completely eliminated with all of the loads that were fired throughout the testing.

There wasn't any noticeable recoil or muzzle climb at all with any of the loads, even the heavy loads that would be real kickers in a standard 870. This actually wasn't all that surprising given the overall weight of the Clandestine 12 with the suppressor.

The Clandestine 12 is certain to see considerable use in the law enforcement and military SpecOps community. Agencies can arrange for a demonstration of this unique weapon by contacting Tac Ops directly.

For more information, agencies should contact Tactical Operations, Inc., 433 N. Camden Drive, 4th Floor, Suite #239, Beverly Hills, CA 90210; phone (310)275-8797, fax. (323)933-3521, or visit theTac Ops Web site at www.tacticaloperations.com.

Tactical Operations, Inc.
433 North Camden Dr. 4th Fl. #239
Beverly Hills, Ca 90210
Phone 310 275-8797
Fax   323 933-3521
Email: blackops2@earthlink.net