The Masterkey is a
door breaching
Door breaching is a process used by military, police, or emergency services to force open closed or locked doors. A wide range of methods are available depending on the door's opening direction (inward or outward), construction materials, etc., ...
shotgun
A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small pellet-like spherical sub- pr ...
system manufactured by
Knight's Armament Company.
The Masterkey project was initiated during the 1980s to provide
assault rifles with a potent built-in door breaching tool. Individual soldiers were often forced to carry a breaching shotgun in addition to their standard issue rifle, but the Masterkey removes this need. The system consists of a
Remington 870
The Remington Model 870 is a pump-action shotgun manufactured by Remington Arms Company, LLC. It is widely used by the public for shooting sports, hunting and self-defense, as well as by law enforcement and military organizations worldwide.
...
12 gauge pump-action
Pump action or slide action is a repeating firearm action that is operated manually by moving a sliding handguard on the gun's forestock. When shooting, the sliding forend is pulled rearward to eject any expended cartridge and typically to co ...
shotgun mounted on an
M16
The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-roun ...
or
M4 assault rifle in an underbarrel configuration, much like the
M203 grenade launcher
The M203 is a single-shot 40 mm under-barrel grenade launcher designed to attach to a rifle. It uses the same rounds as the older stand-alone M79 break-action grenade launcher, which utilizes the high-low propulsion system to keep recoil forces ...
. It has a 3-round internal magazine and can carry a fourth round in the chamber.
The shotgun can only be awkwardly operated independently because it has no grip behind the trigger—when firing the Masterkey, the rifle's magazine must be used as a makeshift pistol grip. Independent stocks and grips for the 870 are available for use, but they are incompatible with the M16 barrel mount. KAC makes an independent stock for the Masterkey that also can be used with the
M203 grenade launcher
The M203 is a single-shot 40 mm under-barrel grenade launcher designed to attach to a rifle. It uses the same rounds as the older stand-alone M79 break-action grenade launcher, which utilizes the high-low propulsion system to keep recoil forces ...
.
The Masterkey inspired the
M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System
The M26-MASS (Modular Accessory Shotgun System) is a shotgun configured as an underbarrel ancillary weapon attachment mounted onto the handguard of a service rifle, usually the M16/ M4 family of United States military, essentially making the host ...
, an attachable shotgun in use with the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...
. The M26 was chosen by the Army over the Masterkey as a breaching tool.
The weapon is named "Masterkey" in reference to its ability to "unlock" virtually any standard lock.
Users
* :
Delta Force
The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), referred to variously as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), Army Compartmented Elements (ACE), "The Unit", or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Task Fo ...
See also
*
Ciener Ultimate Over/Under
The Ciener Ultimate Over/Under system is a modified shotgun designed by Johnathan Arthur Ciener. It is mounted under an M16 variant in order to facilitate CQB combat. It is similar to, but uses a different mounting system than the Knight's Armam ...
*
Combat shotgun
A combat shotgun is a shotgun issued by militaries for warfare. The earliest shotguns specifically designed for combat were the trench guns or trench shotguns issued in World War I. While limited in range, the multiple projectiles typically ...
*
M26 MASS
References
External links
Knight's Armament Masterkey Page
Pump-action shotguns
Shotguns of the United States
{{Shotgun-stub