The tactical shotgun market has had a nice explosion of new guns and gear aimed at bringing the scattergun back to its former glory. The semi-auto market has seen new and modern entries from Mossberg, Beretta, and now Savage. Savage released the Renegauge years ago as a sporting shotgun. It took them a good bit to release both 3-gun and Security versions. The Security version first caught my eye in 2018, and I’ve been wanting to give it a spin ever since.
A Renengauge Security fell in my lap early this year and I’ve been steadily depleting my stores of buckshot, birdshot, and slugs ever since. The Renegauge Security comes with an MSRP of $1,279 making it one of the pricier options out there, but is it worth the price?
Savage packages the gun with a hard case and custom-cut foam to accommodate the gun and the various accessories it comes with. I like the setup, and if I’m paying over a grand for the gun, I expect something besides a basic cardboard box. The Renegauge Security comes with a choke system and various inserts for cast, drop, and length of pull adjustment pads.
The Modern World of Tactical Shotguns
Modern tactical shotguns are gas-operated and the Renegauge Security is no different. The Security uses the Savage D.R.I.V. system. That stands for Dual Regulating Inline Valve. It’s a gas system that vents gas before the bolt ever moves. The gas is vented forward and helps reduce recoil. The D.R.I.V. system uses two valves and self-regulates to allow you to shoot a ton of different loads.
You can tell that gas is being vented by looking at the portion of the magazine tube that’s forward of the handguard. It’s dirtier that a New Jersey politician. Carbon coats the thing, but it’s not a big deal, you can wipe it right off. Or don’t. It won’t affect the gun’s function.
The Renegauge Security comes with adjustable ghost ring sights. The front sight is a high-visibility green fiber optic insert. The top of the receiver is tapped, so adding a rail and optic would be easy. The stock and handguard are a grey, breaking up the all-black nature of most modern personal defense shotguns. The Security holds six rounds of 2.75-inch rounds.
Barrels and extended magazine tubes should be best friends, and to make sure they stay close, Savage connects them with a metal clamp with M-LOK slots. The Pied Piper of shotguns must have swung by and fluted the barrel. It’s rare to see fluted barrels on shotguns, but I’ll take the benefits of faster cooling and a lighter gun.
Workable Ergonomics
There has been a huge move to make shotguns more ergonomic. Gone are small controls and tight loading and ejecting ports. The Renegauge Security wisely followed the trend and arguably helped start it. The controls and ports are fairly large for quicker and easier reloads. Gripping and ripping with this shotgun feels great.
The safety is behind the trigger and easy to access. The charging handle is large, and the bolt release is huge. The gun uses a more European-style design with a manual shell release in front of the trigger guard. For the first shot, you have to press the shell release. It will then be automatically pressed when the trigger is pulled.
Magpul exists to make the industry better. Their big contribution to shotguns is the SGA stock which featured a series of adjustable LOP inserts. The shotgun companies noticed the popularity of the SGA stock, and everyone jumped on the train to produce their own variant. On the Renegauge Security, the gun has a traditional stock but a more pronounced, ergonomic pistol grip that provides enough support to hold the gun with one hand.
The stock on the Renegage Security seems great, but the guy designing Savage stocks must be six foot eight inches tall. The shortest length of pull is 14.25 inches. From there, the gun only gets longer. You can swap inserts to make the gun longer, but why would you? Most modern shotguns max out at 14 inches with lengths of pull shrinking to around 12.5 inches at the shortest. This was a strange choice by Savage.
Ringing Steel With the Renegauge Security
The ghost ring sights are a good choice for ringing steel. Ghost rings tend to be a little slower than other options, but they’re also a bit more precise. Out of the box, the sights were set somewhat high, and I peppered the bar that held my steel target at first shot. Not a problem. It was easy to adjust my point of aim and the point of impact was dead-on after a turn of a screw.
I launched a few rounds of buckshot and observed the pattern. The FliteControl stuff patterned like FliteControl. It gave me a fifty-cent-sized pattern at 15 yards. The pattern was about 8 inches at 15 yards with your average Monarch 00 buckshot load. Winchester Defender patterned about a half-inch tighter.
I went back to 25 yards with slugs, and once I was assured they were on target, I stepped back to 50 yards and began shooting. With the ghost ring sights, I put three Federal Tactical slugs into a B-8 target with ease. At 100 yards, I used a rest and launched slugs into a steel IPSC target, and they had that heavy thing swinging. You have to love the raw power of slugs.
The Renegauge Security can put lead where you need it. With a red dot, I feel I’d have been faster with the same amount of precision. Ghost rings are great at slug ranges and even at 25 yards with modern buckshot loads, but they can be a little slower to get on target at the five to fifteen-yard ranges.
Shoulder Thumper
The Savage Renegauge does a good job of taking some of the sting out of shooting a shotgun. Your normal 2.75-inch 00 buckshot loads moving at 1,350 feet per second are reduced to a comfortable recoil impulse. Low recoil tactical loads are a summer breeze when it comes to comfort and speed. That all assumes you do your part and use good push/pull recoil mitigation technique and good form. I feel like I’d have more control over the gun if the LOP was a quarter inch shorter.
I shot a number of drills with the gun to test its effectiveness. From the low ready, I could put two rounds of reduced recoil buckshot on target in less than two seconds. I scored as fast as 1.6 seconds with two solid hits to an IPSC target. I practiced the same drill with one round on two targets and kept my time consistently hovering right around two seconds from the low ready.
I conducted a few reload drills as well. I found the large loading and ejection port to be more accommodating than me with a pack of Swiss rolls. I could conduct two emergency reloads with shots on target in four seconds from a King Competition Pineshot. The Renegauge Security’s ergonomics really lend themselves well to quick reloads, which is important for a gun that holds six rounds.
Shucking Hulls
The Renegauge Security ate through a ton of buckshot without issue. The same goes for a variety of birdshot and those Federal Tactical slugs. It cycles the low recoil stuff without a problem, too. This is a very reliable firearm. The rotating bolt does a fantastic job of ejecting and extracting shells.
Just for fun, I tried to fire some 2-inch 900 FPS mini slugs through the gun. It would fire and lock the bolt back to the rear, but sadly, wouldn’t feed the next round. You’ll want to stick to standard-size shotgun loads with the Renegauge Security (and really all semi-auto shotguns).
Overall, the Renegauge Security has very good bones and potential. I will probably put a red dot sight on it to make it a little faster. The only big change I’d make is addressing the length of pull adjustments. It might take a total stock rework to get that done, but would take the shotgun to top tier in my opinion.
Specifications
Caliber: 12 gauge
Magazine Capacity: 6+1
Barrel Length: 18.5 inches
Length of Pull: 14.25 to 15.07 inches
Overall Length: 40 inches
Weight: 7 pounds
Chokes included: IC, M, F (Beretta/Benelli)
MSRP: $1,279 inches
One Response
What?
No ion-bonded bolt carrier, Mr. Wick?