Description
The Citadel Coach 12 Gauge Side by Side is a short-barreled double built the way stagecoach guards carried them, updated with modern steel and a three-inch chamber. Two barrels, two triggers’ worth of firepower under one crisp single trigger, and a case-colored receiver that looks like it came out of a frontier gun shop. It is simple, fast to load, and about as intuitive as a shotgun gets, which is exactly why the pattern has never gone out of style.
Why the Coach Gun Format Still Works
A break-action double has no magazine tube, no bolt carrier and no gas system. You open it, drop in two shells, close it and you are ready. There is nothing to short-stroke under stress and nothing to jam on a light load. With the barrels cut to 18.5 inches the whole gun handles like a large pistol in a hallway or a truck cab, and the side-by-side layout keeps the sight picture low and wide rather than stacked. For cowboy action shooters the format is mandatory equipment; for homeowners it is a shotgun that a family member can be taught to run in an afternoon.
Citadel Coach 12 Gauge Side by Side Barrels and Action
Both blued barrels are chambered for three-inch shells, so buckshot, birdshot and slugs all feed without any change in setup. A single trigger fires both barrels in sequence with a barrel selector to choose which goes first, which means you can stage a lighter load ahead of a heavier one. Extractors lift the spent hulls just far enough to grab, keeping brass in your hand instead of scattered on the ground at a match. A brass bead rides the top of the right barrel for a quick reference at defensive distance.
Wood and Receiver
The stock and splinter-style forend are Turkish walnut with cut checkering at the grip and forend, and the buttstock wears a black recoil pad. The receiver carries a heat-tempered case-coloring treatment, the mottled blue-and-straw pattern that gives this version its character and sets it apart from the plain blued and nickel models in the same family. Citadel shotguns are imported by Legacy Sports International.
Specifications
- Model: Coach (CITSBS1218HT)
- Gauge: 12 gauge, 3 in. chamber
- Action: break action, side by side
- Barrel: 18.5 in., blued
- Capacity: 2 rounds
- Receiver: heat-tempered case coloring
- Stock: Turkish walnut, checkered grip and forend
- Trigger: single, with barrel selector
- Extraction: extractors
- Sights: bead front
- Hand: right
- UPC: 682146897449
Why Buyers Choose the Citadel Coach 12 Gauge Side by Side
Most of the people who buy this gun want one of two things. The first group shoots cowboy action, where a hammerless or hammered coach gun is required gear and reload speed off the belt is what wins stages. The second group wants a home defense shotgun with no learning curve and no manual of arms to memorize. Both get a gun that costs a fraction of a hand-fitted English double while doing the same job at across-the-room distance.
The obvious limit is capacity: two shells and a manual reload is the whole story, so anyone who expects to need volume is better served by a pump or semi-auto. Trap and skeet shooters will also want longer barrels for a smoother swing.
Who Should Buy It
Cowboy action competitors, home defenders who value simplicity over capacity, truck and ranch owners, and collectors who like traditional wood-and-color-case guns will all get their money’s worth here. High-volume clay shooters and waterfowl hunters should look at a different barrel length and action.
Learn more from Legacy Sports International, or browse the rest of our firearms selection.
Every firearm we list ships to your chosen FFL and is transferred there after a background check.
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