Today we are going to New Jersey to examine their police shotgun qual. To be fair, I know two things about New Jersey, and both come from “The Sopranos,” so I really know nothing. I do know finding their various police quals are simple, and with that in mind, I’m going through their handgun, carbine, subgun, and shotgun quals. I figured we’d start with the scatterguns.
This qual involves a slug and buckshot phase. What’s interesting is the document that lists the quals lists the reasons for a slug qualification as having to do with black bears. The qual says they are a recent problem and has brought the slug back to the shotgun arsenal.
What You Need
First, we will need a total of 20 rounds: 10 rounds of buckshot and ten slugs. You’ll also need the means to carry extra ammunition. A side saddle, bandolier belt, or something similar. Reloads are a big part of this qual.
You’ll need a repeating shotgun of the semi-auto or pump variety. I went with the Mossberg 590A1. Don’t forget your FBI Q targets. Technically it calls for one, but I’d use at least two and switch between the slug and buckshot phase. You’ll need a shot timer as well as your eyes and ears to keep things safe.
Scoring
Scoring is pretty easy. Buckshot and slug portions are scored separately. You have to have an 80% in both to pass. With nine-pellet buckshot, you need 72 impacts, and with eight-pellet buckshot, you need 64 pellets to hit.
For slugs, you need to hit eight out of 10 to score 80%. It’s easy, but it might take some time to count the buckshot impacts.
Time to Shoot The New Jersey Shotgun Qual
This will be fairly quick. It’s a mere four stages for both the slug and buckshot quals. We’ll start with the buckshot qual first. To be honest, the qual repeats itself for the four stages, so if you feel déjà vu, it’s perfectly normal.
You’ll be doing what the qual calls a combat load. It’s a port load. Meaning with the action opened, you’ll insert it directly into the action and close the chamber on it. While it’s most commonly called a port load, it’s also been called an emergency load.
Buckshot Qualification
Stage One: 20-Yard Line
Stage one takes place at the 20-yard line. Start in the low ready with the gun empty, with four rounds ready to load. On the command to go, you will load the magazine with four rounds of buckshot. Shooters will then fire all four rounds of buckshot into the target.
With the gun empty, you’ll combat load a cartridge into the chamber directly, close the action, and fire that fifth round. You have a total of 25 seconds to load and fire all five rounds. I think you’ll find that’s plenty of time.
Stage Two: 10-Yard Line
Now that we’ve cut the distance in half, you should feel quite comfy. We will start with the gun empty, with the action opened and safety on. On the command to fire, combat load one round directly into the chamber and load two rounds into the magazine. Then fire those three rounds.
With an empty gun and an open action, you’ll combat load one round into the chamber and one into the magazine and fire both rounds. You have 35 seconds to shoot all of Stage Two.
Slug Qualification
I’d switch targets before switching to the slug course of fire. Ten rounds of buckshot will tear the hell out of a paper target. With a fresh target and 10 slugs, let’s start shooting slugs.
Stage One: 50-Yard Line
Oh man, if you have a bead-sighted shotgun, you’ll need to make sure you know how your slugs shoot. Fifty yards is a good little walk. You’ll start with an empty gun with four slugs ready to load. Just like before, you will load four rounds into the magazine, then fire the four rounds into the target. Leave the action opened at the last shot.
Now combat load one round directly into the chamber and fire the fifth round. You have 25 seconds to send those slugs downrange.
Stage Two: 25-Yard Line
We are a little close now, and slug work is a bit easier. Like before, we start with the action opened and have five rounds of slugs on tap. At the beep, you’ll combat load one round into the chamber and two rounds into the magazine, then fire three rounds.
Now, with an empty gun, combat load a slug into the chamber, followed by another in the magazine. Fire the two rounds.
You have a total of 35 seconds to shoot this drill.
My Thoughts
The New Jersey shotgun qual feels like a check-in-the-box qualification. Their pistol, rifle, and subgun qualifications are all much longer and much more intensive. The shotgun as a tool is clearly being ignored by the state. This qual ensures you know the basics of using a shotgun, but it’s absurdly easy to pass with generous times and doesn’t require much skill.
There is some benefit to being good at loading the shotgun, but there isn’t much to test here. No shooting on the move, no using cover, no multiple positions. Which is a shame. The subgun qual has tons of positions, the use of cover, and more. Why the shotgun is basically ignored is beyond me.
The New Jersey qual is about as bad as the Texas one, which is about the only thing those two states have in common.
What to fix?
Just scrap the qual and start over. It’s not a competent qual, and outside of the loading aspects, there isn’t much here. Give it a try. I can bet you can pass it on the first try with little stress. Am I wrong? Let me know below what you think of this scattergun test.
