Just about every good homeowner or shopkeeper needs a faithful 12 gauge shotgun in case of unwanted guests. But the weight and dimensions of many can prove impractical for smaller operators. Not everyone wants to invest in a short-barreled shotgun for cramped spaces. Enter the TriStar Arms Cobra III Tactical. It’s the little, affordable 12 gauge that can do what the bigger, costlier scatterguns can do.
TriStar Arms is a Turkish brand with a strong American presence. In the past I’ve handled both their handguns and hunting shotguns, and have been impressed with their quality and reliability. When a small-statured female showed up for a class with the marine (stainless) version of the Cobra III Tactical, I knew I needed to find out more about this little defense-purpose gun. Thankfully, TriStar’s marketing agent handily made that happen.
Tristar Arms Cobra III Tactical 12 Gauge Review
Features of the Cobra III Tactical
The Cobra III Tactical in this review sports a plain black 18-inch barrel that appears to have Parkerized or Nitride finish. In other words, it’s matte black and appears to be corrosion-resistant. The blade-style front sight matches. There is no rear sight, just a grooved channel. Attached under the barrel toward the front is a short section of Picatinny rail, enough to accommodate a light. Its forend and stock are synthetic, blue or black depending on finish choice. Convenient sling studs and a rubber shoulder pad are included. The Marine model of this gun features stainless finish on the barrel and receiver.
Operation of the Cobra III will be familiar to Remington 870 pump users. The safety at the rear of the trigger guard is the same. The magazine tube accommodates a wide range of shells three inches or shorter. Slug use is acceptable in this gun. The magazine holds five 2.75-inch or four 3-inch shells.
The chrome-lined barrel includes one removable improved cylinder choke. This is a good, versatile choice considering TriStar only includes one choke. But there is a hansdy wrench and choke storage case packaged with the Cobra III.
Unique Forend Design
What makes this shotgun unique is the design and operation of the forend. It includes a removable internal spring that compresses when pulled rearward. Let go, and it snaps back into place, loading the chamber if there’s a shell present in the slide assembly. In addition, the forend is longer on the receiver side as compared to most other tactical shotguns. This gives the operator a lot of choice as to the distance of their own foregrip from the stock.
Range Testing the Cobra III
Loading the Shotgun Magazines
Loading the magazine was as straightforward as with any pump gun in theory. However this gun seemed to benefit from a few “break-in” insertions for some reason. The first two rounds did not go in easily. But after cycling the action a couple times, loading became easier, if not as smooth-feeling as on, say, my Remington 870.
Cobra III Sights
Shots were fired from 15 yards during the initial test. I was pleased to find the relatively tall front sight blade is set for perfect elevation at this distance—especially because it’s not going anywhere! Groups were nicely right around my point of aim, with the front sight centered on the target.
Initial loading of the chamber was a little sticky until I got a feel for it. Some sharp edge on the rim of the magazine tube stung my finger at first. As with many guns, this amounts to a training issue. While loading requires a little more finesse than comparable Mossbergs or Remingtons, once I realized this it wasn’t difficult.
Ergonomics
Being five feet-and-change in height, my arms aren’t the longest. The training issue for me with those other tactical 12 gauges is remembering to stretch my support arm enough to reach and run the foregrip and not pinch fingers. In my opinion, what the Cobra III lacks in cartridge-loading fluidity, it makes up for with its extra-long forend. Without stretching, I can easily reach and operate it. It’s also very well-balanced and comparatively more controllable for me, for this reason. It feels lightweight but thanks to superior balance, recoil management comes easier for me with this gun.
Firing with that Unique Forend
What about that spring-loaded forend? It does work as described, snapping into place sharply and chambering a round if there is one. The user manual advises keeping fingers and loose clothing clear when loading. While this spring-back feature is unique, the only useful application I can find is when performing emergency reloads. Allowing the internal spring to move the forend into place by itself requires letting go and giving up control of the front of the gun. That doesn’t make much sense in most circumstances, and requires the user to maintain rearward tension on the handguard during said reloads. I acknowledge the possible advantage that I’m running the pump a little faster than I would another; perhaps a follow-up review would entail putting my Remington 870 and the Cobra III to the test with the addition of a timer.
On a separate day I took the Cobra III to the range with a plan to run the LE qualification a few times with dummy rounds, brushing up my own manipulation and reload skills as well as getting a better feel for the spring-loaded pump. The dry desert range quickly dirtied the gun, an inevitable annoyance of range time in our drought-stricken region. The added grit revealed a real difference in ease of loading the magazine. On high-brass dummies, the bottom edge of the brass would usually hang up when it reached the mag opening. At the same time the carrier can snap down too soon, resulting in a painful finger trap. This doesn’t happen with low-brass loads or plain plastic dummies. Lesson learned.
Back to that qualification: I went hot with the best-performing Federal LE 12 gauge OO Buckshot. The gun easily shot a 100% qualifying score from as far as 25 yards, keeping every single piece of shot not just in the shotgun-qualifying zone but in the much smaller, approximately 12×12-inch SWAT qualification square. That counts as my only 100 on the shotgun qual to date, a very pleasing result.
Is the TriStar Cobra III Accurate?
We fired a good assortment of possible defensive ammo choices, plus a box of birdshot. Every gun/ammo combination can be somewhat different, but results were both good and unsurprising, with the improved cylinder choke showing itself as a real advantage.
Testing Procedures
Firing for the ammo test was done from 15 yards, representing the outer limits of the average distance of civilian defensive use. It also happens to be the middle of three distances in my state’s law enforcement shotgun qualification, giving me an idea of how the Cobra III would perform in that test.
Ammo Tested
First up was Winchester 00 Buckshot, a 12-pellet cartridge. It put all pellets in the scoring zone of a torso target in an evenly scattered group, delivering accuracy with the most significant recoil of the lot. Sellier & Bellot’s 00 Buckshot 9-pellet load delivered similar results but with a smaller group. Remington #2 Steel Shot waterfowl ammo delivered some shot outside the target, but that could be attributed to my having fired five rapid-fire rounds instead of a single shot. Even so, shot was evenly distributed. The standout in terms of defensive effectiveness, as expected based on previous experiences with this load, was Federal Premium Law Enforcement with its controlled-flight wad and nine pellets. It delivered a tight cluster of shot with a wad hole so nearby that it’s impossible to tell which is which.
This ammo experience held no surprises, and that’s a good thing. In terms of accuracy, the Cobra III performs as well or better than any other tactical shotgun.
Worth Buying?
For anyone wanting a handy, no-frills, reliable defensive scattergun at a budget price, I highly recommend the Cobra III Tactical. It’s a gun that most anyone in the family can run with a little training. The included sling studs make it easy to make portable, a real advantage for anyone working property security who needs to work hands-free. Plenty of elastic, fits-all shell carriers are available to keep extra ammo on hand. Whether more permanent sidesaddle or other attachments will fit this gun is something I’m waiting to hear about from Mesa Tactical, the Nevada-based supplier of all things tactical shotgun.
Those who expect the frills and smoothness associated with upscale shotguns might be disappointed. The Cobra III is rough and ready, and has earned my respect in the reliability and handling departments.
Real-world prices for the Cobra III Tactical are a great value, in the mid-$200s, with the marine model usually commanding a $100 bump. It delivers what’s needed for personal/property defense with a shotgun, and includes nothing you don’t need. In other words, it’s worth every penny.
Read the full article here
