The SAP-6 shotgun is a magazine-fed short-barrel shotgun manufactured by Dagger in Turkey and imported to Canada by Tactical Imports . I’ve had one in my safe for the past 3 months and have enjoyed tinkering with it. After first being introduced in the summer of 2014, it is seeing additional manufacturer support in the way of new stocks, barrels, and magazines.

In Canada, short barrel shotguns are not controlled the way they are in the US, while handguns of any kind require an Authorization to Transport. A semi-auto shotgun falls under different legislation when it has a barrel under 18.5″ and will always have a 5 round capacity limit, but a manually operated firearm is only bound by over-all-length requirements. (26 inches) This means that in the great white north, any discussion of wild-life protection will always revolve around a short barrel shotgun.

Both the barrel and magazine system lend the SAP-6 a distinct advantage in this arena. Depending on where you are and what time of year, you may need to carry your firearm unloaded. A box magazine means you are able to go from “completely empty” to “full-up” in a single action and vice versa. If one were so inclined they could argue this shotgun would do well in the roles of 3 Gun, home-defense, tactical operators operating shotguns in hostile CQB environments, or for anyone who just likes compact guns. I’m not here to tell you what you can and can’t do with a firearm.

The SAP-6 ships with a telescoping pistol grip stock installed, with the option for a traditional shotgun stock. The telescoping stock has space for four spare shotshells, which I found were held quite tightly. This is either a good thing, because you won’t be dribbling live rounds after you put a slug through the gun, or a bad thing because you have to actually push hard to work the shells out.

The factory 11″ barrel is a fixed cylinder choke, but new 14″ barrels threaded for Remington chokes are available for an extra $200.

Tactical imports is now also selling larger 11 round magazines, which gives the SAP-6 the largest factory capacity for a shotgun in Canada.

This shotgun does not use a rock-and-lock system like some of the Norinco Grizzly’s , but is instead a straight insertion with a rear release lever. Magazine insertion is a little stiffer than your average AR-15, but all 4 of my magazines did drop free. As an added bonus, a 7.62 Magpul fits tightly onto the base of the magazine. It’s worth noting that I tried all kinds of crappy and quality ammunition, primarily target load, buck, and slugs. The only failure I experienced was that pulling the pump back slowly can mean your expended shell might not eject properly. No surprise there, pump guns aren’t made to be babied.

The flattop picatinny rail comes with a hooded front sight installed, which works fine, but the gun appears to be built for red dots. Any additional accessories need to be mounted at an offset that puts them out of the way of an optic, but also clears the action of the pump.

The base gun retails for $699, with additional magazines an extra $45. Which puts it above the Chinese clones at the $400 mark, but below the $900 price tag on most mag-fed semi-autos.

There are a few odd things about the SAP-6 that keep it from being my “do everything” shotgun. Specifically, the pump does not lock in the forward position. The spring assist keeps the chamber closed, but it can be opened again just by pulling back on the pump.

The good news is that I have (with some trepidation) attempted to cause an out of battery discharge by applying varying degrees of pressure to the pump and pulling the trigger (first dummy rounds, then live with protection ). The firing pin cannot clear the bolt face unless it is fully seated. However pulling the trigger while out of battery will close the action and cause a failure to fire, forcing the shooter to rack the pump to reset the hammer.

Unfortunately, this issue is compounded by Dagger’s second design failing: The forend of the SAP-6 is slick, and round, and flush with the end of the barrel. This sort of gun begs for a forward handstop, or a fully contoured forend like Magpul’s 870 offering. Unfortunately, I could see it being all to easy for someone to follow through on the forward motion, come off the end of the gun, and blast something they shouldn’t. Having a sling tied in at the end of the tube can help this, but the sling mounts on the SAP-6 shotgun are somewhat small.

Tactical Imports does bring in a contoured pump with a forward rail section , which looks like it’s built specifically to solve that problem. It doesn’t surprise me a bit that they’re sold out.

Adding to some of the pump confusion is the spring assist. While this is arguably a feature for some, I find it odd in this sort of firearm. A spring wrapped around the otherwise unused mag tube means your pump is always trying to slide forward. That means some good things, like if you remove your hand the action will still close. But also bad things with additional resistance to open the action, and the fact that your action cannot be left open. There is no last round bolt-hold-open on the magazines, and I could not find any method to lock the bolt back. That could be a problem in 3-gun depending on your local rules for ditching a firearm, and unless you’re very good at counting shots you’ll likely shoot till you click before knowing it’s time for a new magazine.

I think this shotgun has a lot of potential for both a backpackers and Canadian 3 gunners. The compact, non-restricted, high(ish) capacity gives it a certain niche. However, anyone buying should be informed and prepared for the hurdles they face surrounding the action itself.