The most versatile long gun one can have is probably some type of pump-action shotgun, very reliable, can cycle any type of ammo, less than lethal or lethal, fast swap your type of ammunition on the fly and very deadly even when not all pellets hit the target. While it suffers from a lot of myths and fuddlore itself, such as "point and shoot, don't need to aim" (you'll still need to aim in the general direction at the very least), "the racking sound will scary anyone" (you're giving away your position and the type of weapon you have, an expert burglar/thug will know you lack range and rate of fire for example) or "the pellets will spread wide in a few meters" (still can hit a human shaped target in 20 meters, and that's with something like 00 Buckshot or not using specific chokes), a pump-action shotgun is still one of the most common and easy to obtain weapons in most countries, even countries with very draconian gun laws such as the UK or even Japan you are able to own a shotgun of some sort, ammo is not expensive and you get so many different types of ammo for any specific needs, it's a must have in the inventory of any serious concerned citizen or collector.

Boito is a small gun manufacturer from Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brasil, they've been making exclusively shotguns for decades, with a small run of PCP Pellet Rifles in the last year, the BSA 5T 84, or commonly called the "Boito Pump" since it's their only pump-action model, is Boito's only shotgun that isn't some sort of Over/Under or Side-by-Side shotgun, a licensed-produced clone of the widely famous and proven Mossberg 500 design, it features a double extractor, 3" chamber (older models before 2013 featured only 2 3/4" chambers), aftermarket compatibility with any Mossberg 500 parts and exchangeable chokes, this being a Boito exclusive compared to Mossberg original models, which as far as I know of and the timing of this article only offers exchangeable chokes in 28" barrel hunting models, while any Boito Pump will come with them, regardless of barrel length.

Boito also offers some aftermarket of their own and several finish options, stainless, engravings, rosewood stocks, heat sinks, pistol grips, collapsible stocks, flashlight mounts besides importing some FAB Defense aftermarket parts and selling them with their products, you can actually order them directly from Boito's factory through their sales representants and ask for any parts to come installed or a specific combination of parts and finish, I've wanted to keep it simple and on a budget myself, I've only asked for it to come with the heatsink because it replaces the single bead sight with a 3 green fiber option sights, and it looks better in my opinion, avoiding burning my hands in long range sessions or training courses too, but I've personally never shot it so much and so fast that I felt I'd burn my hands, though the barrel did get warm after throwing a dozen shells down range in a minute.

Boito's very 90's internet catalog shows the different combination of parts:


Flashlight Rail mounted on the tube, featuring an external choke (picture courtesy of a friend):

Since barrel length isn't as important in shotguns as they are for rifled barrels, and my plan for this shotgun was to use it mostly for hiking in thick rainforest conditions, I've opted for the 14" barrel, while you do get a smaller magtube that's able to carry up to 5+1 regular 2 3/4" in" shells or 4+1 3" Magnum shells, the exchangeable choke will still make a big difference in the spread in longer distances even with a short barrel, swapping the barrel itself is also very easy and is done like in any Mossberg 500/590 or Maverick 88 series, Boito does sell spare barrels, but local legislation in Brasil makes you register even a spare barrel, so I didn't order one and neither felt the need to for a shotgun I'd be using mostly for personal defense, hiking/camping, fun or as a possible SHTF firearm.

I've shot mostly CBC Magtech ammo out of it, either cheaper "F150" or "D200" Birdshot loads, "SG" Buckshots, "3T" No4 Buck, but also some Fiocchi and Federal ammo, a kinda common complaint you hear about the Boito Pump is that due to its aluminum receiver and lighter build you'll feel the kick of stronger shells more, that was the case shooting CBC Magtech hunting slugs, the little rubber pad on the stock wasn't enough to prevent my shoulder from being sore for the evening after shooting 20-ish slugs in an afternoon in fast succession.

Handloads I've shot the most were Brass Shells, with a few makeshift plastic shells, but lacking tools such as the Swage tool and a Resizer, using wine corks to seal:

I've shot Brass Shells through it without many issues once I figured the correct pace you need to work the action and to keep the gun lined up horizontally, if you work the action either too fast or too slow, or with the gun tilted up or down you might run into feeding issues where the brass shells are hitting the walls while entering the chamber, still it was a very cost-effective way to train with it and a very nice experiment for DIY handloads and shells without any tools, exactly what you'd expect to use into any crisis or times of need, during World War I and II the US Military famously issued the Winchester Model 1897, the "Trench Gun", and often they were issued brass shells with crimping, I've never done that on my brass shells because I lack the tools and believe that would make the brass life shorter making it crack faster, so far I've reloaded the same 25 shells I have at least 6 times with no cracks at all.

WW2 Issued Brass Shells would have a small crimping to help with feeding issues:

Brass Shell handloads, groupings at 10 meters using 9 SG (00Buck) pellets, using a full choke:

For aftermarket parts, I kept my Boito very simple, besides the heatsink that came installed on it, I've used a 2-point nylon sling, a leather shellholder mounted on the stock, and glued an Aliexpress velcro side saddle, which it's elastic shell loops unfortunately didn't seem to be strong enough to prevent the shells from falling during shooting, the leather shellholders on the stock however proved themselves to be much stronger, I thought about getting Boito's own flashlight mount, which is a small Picatinny rail section that attaches to the end of the magazine tube, allowing you to mount any Picatinny compatible flashlight, despite having the shorter 5-shell tube there is still room enough for it, but never got around doing it yet, an external choke is also a good idea, for example to buy an external cylinder or full choke, so you can visually tell which one you have installed and know if you are good to use slugs or not.

Cut Shells, made popular during the Depression era, while lacking the penetration and weight of a real slug, are a good training method for shooting more expensive slugs later on, groupings at 10 meters using the 3-dot fiber optic sights seems to be on point:

In general, the Boito Pump is a solid Mossberg 500 clone, in my opinion it beats a Maverick 88 for having the Mossberg 500 style safety and with the extra of exchangeable chokes, while some argue that the finish and blueing of some Maverick 88 models is superior, I live in a very humid area next to the sea and my Boito hasn't gotten any rust spots or worn off even after camping with it a couple of times, it's an affordable and versatile shotgun with much potential for aftermarket parts to cover any needs, its double extractor makes it more reliable and after Boito finally upgraded them to come with 3" magnum chambers it's hard to get a better deal, they come with a cylinder choke and two more of your choosing when you order directly from their sales representative, I've picked the "4*" (Improved Cylinder) and "1*" (Full Choke) options, the tool to exchange them is included, it's a fast and easy swap done in a minute.

Pros

1. Very Reliable
2. Versatile choices in shells, Buckshot, Slugs, Birdshot, anything you can make pretty much
3. Wide choice of aftermarket parts, both from Boito or any parts compatible with Mossberg 500 series
4. Exchangeable chokes makes it possible to fire all sorts of slugs or pellets with better groupings
5. Very easy to field strip the barrel and tube for cleaning

Cons

1. Very complex disassemble of the bolt
2. Extracting unfired shells can mark their brass due to the strong double extractor
3. A bit of difficult learning curve for more complex reloading operations such as emptying a shell to swap the shell type

Back