YouTube personality, Graham Baates, gives us a video review of the ATI Omni Hybrid AR-15 .410 Shotgun.
USA – -(Ammoland.com)- American Tactical, also known as ATI has been known for doing things a little differently. From hybrid polymer 1911s to MP-40 look-a-likes their lineup always has something interesting. Of note has been their continued experimentation with polymer AR lowers. Now entering their fifth generation, ATI continues to improve on the design and expand the application of modern polymers.
Another enduring endeavor of theirs was to create a true .410 AR upper. Not just a shotgun that looks like an AR, but an upper and magazine that could be mated to any standard AR-15 lower. That shotgun is here now in the form of the ATI Omni Hybrid AR-15 .410 Shotgun. That’s a long name, but a descriptive one.
ATI Omni Hybrid AR-15 .410 Shotgun Tabletop Video Look
A lot of physics and engineering had to go into the creation of such an upper, but ATI has done it. Their magazines are limited to 2.5″ shells, but thanks to guns like the Taurus Judge there are plenty of loads available in this size. They are so available in fact that we were able to find a variety of loads. Defensive loads, slugs, birdshot, and buckshot were all readily available including the surprisingly affordable options now being sold by ATI.
We wanted to test out the widest variety we could after experiences with other box-magazine-fed shotguns. It seems that shell-hull makers can’t agree on the texture and material that the hulls are made of, and in previous experiences some hulls tended to snag or drag when feeding. That was not the case with this shotgun. Another issue addressed by ATI was ensuring that the rimmed rounds would not snag on one another and prevent feeding.
Anyone with .22lr or 7.62x54r experience can empathize. American Tactical included clear instructions warning of this potential problem and even designed the magazine in a way to let the loader clearly see if they’ve slipped a rim.
Another clever and brilliantly simple design feature is the inclusion of small windows along the leading edge of the magazine to permit for quick referencing of the round count.
So how did the Omni Hybrid .410 do on the range? See the range test video and watch every shot. Count the malfunctions for each load type.
ATI Omni Hybrid AR-15 .410 Shotgun Shooting Impressions
Future testing will include patterning those loads at range, and perhaps attempting some groupings with slugs. That may prove to be more a test of the ammunition than the shotgun, but will be conducted none the less. We plan to also swap this upper onto one of our conventional AR-15 lowers. It should be noted that ATI recommends transferring the buffer and spring from their shotgun when mounting this upper to another lower. They’ve done the leg-work and found the right spring and buffer weight. We didn’t experience any trouble loading the magazines by hand, but a speed loader is available.
More information can be found on the product website. My question to the readers is what would you use this shotgun for?
About Graham Baates
“Graham Baates” is a pen name used by a 15-year active Army veteran who spent most of his time in the tactical side of the Intelligence community including tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. Post-Army Graham spent some time in the 3-Gun circuit before becoming a full-time NRA Certified defensive handgun instructor and now works as an industry writer while curating a YouTube channel on the side. Visit Graham on Youtube .