I am a former LEO and was always told if you want something reliable get a pump. In addition, I rather buy American but I did get one of these shotguns and think it is the buy of the decade. No misfires even with low velocity cheap ammo. Shoots everything fed into it. I would consider it reliable for home defense. Great gun and thanks for the video. Not sure about any other Black Aces shotgun model but the S Max is great.
Hey, how did you break in this shotgun? I just got one and heard I need to disassemble and clean/lube before firing, then run 100+ rounds of heavy loads before “relying” on it for home defense. What was your process? Thanks!!
Excellent update. I doubt that I’ll ever get near to 1000 rounds so I feel confident that it’ll be good to go for me. Got mine for $259 so I consider that an awesome deal. I’ll continue to watch for any further updates in the future. Thanks for doing all the hard work for us.
Paid a bit more for my natural walnut version. Put a Bennelli M2 rail mount up front, keeps stock nut from lossening. All in all, a great Tactical gun and I still have $1500 in my account where the M4 would be! 😆
I also did the same! Added a gel pad to the butt also! Talk about an entirely different gun. Put about 350 various shells through it and it runs great. Maitenence is key!
Oh yeah, the totally unbiased TFB reviews? Where he intentionally tries to screw things up? Watched him try to break a Citadel 1220 Warthog- including running high brass 3" with the low power gas pistons in- he managed to get it to blow off it's o-ring (with a Remington 3" mag slug that was clearly defective- all the other 3" ran fine). The o-ring was undamaged. After badmouthing gunsmiths (wtf?) he put it back in and the gun was unharmed. He's managed/tried to damage a lot of cheap shotguns-- but he also managed to screw up one of his beloved $$$ Italian guns, so I think he just doesn't know how to use a shotgun. TFB is a joke.
OP, thanks for the videos, I appreciate them, and would enjoy more. --- Had my S Max for a couple of years. I think it has between 600 and 800 rounds through it. I know for certain, that the first 100 shells for break-in were all 00 and heavy #04 buckshot loads. It seems eager to eat anything I feed it. But I have no use for light bird shot, so haven't had any around for years. My S Max strictly for home defense. I ran several boxes of Winchester #6 buckshot, 1325 fps with not one failure to feed and eject fully. The lightest loads it's seen. I've come to enjoy and trust this shotgun for home defense. I also have a Remington 870 12 gauge, for similar purpose. I would like to know if there is a larger 'charging handle end' that could be added to the BAT S Max charging handle? I've had no luck finding alternatives, and would appreciate anyone who can lead me to one. Thanks Don
I have the same one and I don’t have 1000 rounds through it but I have shot it a bunch and same thing it just eats whatever you put in it low brass Walmart stuff zero issues I have only ran the federal Walmart special stuff I have heard the Winchester can be finicky but I haven’t tried it personally I have to laugh I have the same issue with it coming loose. The stock also but it is reliable for a cheap gun I don’t know if it would be a fight with shotgun but if it’s all you can afford for home defense it’s going to go bang. Haven’t shot slugs or 3 inch through it but a variety of buckshot I think it’s more pleasant to shoot recoil wise over my 500.
I am thinking about picking this gun up. What problems have you had from the time of this video until now? and is it possible to mount something to attach rail for a red dot?
No issues whatsoever other than the end cap coming loose on the mag tube. A little purple loctite fixed that. Around 1500rds total now. As for mounting, there may be options. Black Aces makes a line of rails but none of them are specifically compatible with the S-Max. You may want to look at a different option if this is a requirement.
I have not had any problem with any shells. Maybe contact Black Aces. These guns should work with anything and I mean anything. Not sure what problem you are experiencing but maybe field strip it and reassmble.
Most likely it has some metal flashing or sharp edge somewhere in the receiver! Keep shooting it and it will more than likely work itself out. Or I disassembled mine immediately n used some elbow grease in it to clean up rough edges!
