Citadel's New BOSS25 AR Shotgun: Full Review

AR handling, 12-gauge power.

June 20, 2025 By Patrick Sweeney

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If you have grown up as an AR-15 shooter, handling a shotgun built in the traditional pattern can be an awkward experience. Where’s the pistol grip? The
magazine? The safety is where? And why does the stock have that funny bend to it? No, you want an AR-15 layout, and since this is America of course you can (unless you live behind enemy lines in states like California and New York). Well, you could for a long time, but the Citadel BOSS25 is a smoking deal and a neat setup.

Okay, the basic layout. The BOSS25 looks like an AR-15 that vacationed near a nuclear reactor, and grew to Godzilla size. Except, it doesn’t feel as bulky in the hands as it might appear it would be in photos. When I opened the box, I thought, “Oh, this will be a brick” but it wasn’t. Now, an eight-pound 12-gauge shotgun could be good, could be bad, depending on the power level of the rounds you feed it, and your recoil sensitivity. The BOSS25 is a gas gun, with a piston that operates under the same principles as other gas-operated shotguns, but with a difference.

On the traditional shotgun, one with a magazine tube under the barrel, the piston, carrier, action spring, all that rides on the magazine tube. As in, under the barrel and as a result making the whole assembly taller and bulkier. Us old-timers grew up with that and just accept it. But new shooters haven’t, won’t, and don’t. As a gas-operated shotgun, it will have less felt recoil than an inertia-powered one of the same weight. Forward of the aluminum upper receiver, the aluminum handguard has a short section of pic rail on the top front, and a matching section on the bottom. The sides and the lower panels of the octagonal cross-section of the handguard feature rows of M-LOK slots.

Left side view of BOSS25 — At first glance, the BOSS25 might pass for an AR-10. (Photo provided by author.)

And as if that wasn’t enough, the six o’clock panel of the handguard features a row of Keymod slots. If you have an accessory you want to mount, and you can’t find a way to do, it, it is an odd piece of gear indeed. Since the BOSS25 is fed by means of box magazines (it comes with two five-rounders, and you can buy more five-shot mags on the Legacy page or jump up to the ten-shot mags if you wish). So, the gas piston, the carrier, and the action spring are all around the barrel itself. This allows the handguard to be so slim you might not notice it, you might not be thinking “where’s the parts?” as you handle it. I know I didn’t at first.

The layout is familiar. The magazines insert just like an AR-15, and they are “straight up” not “rock and lock” like an AK has. The pistol grip uses the same attachment system as your AR-15, so if you have a particular pistol grip that you favor, you can simply swap off the BOSS25 grip for yours. The safety is the same, a rotating lever on the left side (if you want an ambi setup, then move on over to the BOSS30, which has ambi everything) and the bolt hold-open and magazine button are also the same as on your AR-15, they might be located just a bit differently.

After all, the 12-gauge shell takes up more space than a 5.56 round does, so things have to shift a bit to accommodate its bulk. The reinforced polymer lower receiver, because of the need for a 12 gauge-sized magazine is more along the lines of an AR-10 than an AR-15, at least in size. But all the controls are where you’d expect. The charging handle is not like that on an AR-15, the one big divergence. Instead of a charging handle on the rear of the upper, the BOSS25 uses a handle attached directly to the bolt, protruding out the right side. It reciprocates along with the bolt, so make sure you keep your hands inside the vehicle at all times. (Again, old-timers know the drill, new shooters might not.)

Charging handle on bolt — The charging handle is on the bolt, not at the rear of the receiver like on the AR-15. (Photo provided by author.)

Above the ejection port, on the upper receiver there is a half-length Picatinny rail. This is a useful place to mount optics (make sure your glass is rated to take 12-gauge recoil) or BUIS (back-up iron sights), lights, etc. The BOSS25 comes with a set of Magpul flip-up sights, on this shotgun they came in black, contrasting with the FDE the BOSS25 shipped has. (Very cool, at that.) The last of the neat things on the BOSS25 is the stock. While it is not adjustable for length, there is an adjustable cheekpiece, so you can raise or lower where your face rides. This is important if you plan on using optics, either red-dot or magnifying. The back end has a rubber recoil pad on it, always a useful item on a shotgun.

The barrel is eighteen and three-quarter inches long, it has the last section forward of the handguard covered by a slotted shroud, (the shroud extends back underneath the handguard for another couple of inches) and the barrel is threaded for screw-in choke tubes. The BOSS25 comes with five choke tubes, one of which is a muzzle brake. The four choke tubes fit flush, and offer various constrictions to control pattern. The muzzle brake is also a choke tube, but it is a modified constriction. So, if the load you want to use works and patterns well in the modified choke tube then you can add that recoil reduction to the gas system reduction and be comfy.

Barrel shroud on BOSS25 — The barrel shroud both keeps your hands and carry case from a hot barrel and is the first step in disassembly. Read the manual, you’ll need it. (Photo provided by author.)

If your desired load works best with one of the other choke tube, you’ll have to forego the muzzle brake. Them’s the breaks. Curiously, the owner’s manual parts list refers to the shroud as a “muzzle break” but since there’s no way for gases to reach it, it clearly isn’t and can’t be. In the disassembly section, it is described as a shroud, so that part is clear. And, the shroud is the first step in disassembly. It is involved, so I won’t go into it here but it does take up more than a dozen steps in the owner’s manual. My suggestion is to read the manual, as disassembly is not intuitive.

screw in choke tubes — The chokes screw in at the muzzle, which you might not notice at first because of the barrel shroud surrounding the barrel. (Photo provided by author.)

In testing, I ignored the break-in schedule that Citadel posts for the BOSS25, partly because I’m a gun writer and can’t be bothered, and partly to see what would happen. In a word: nothing bad. (Okay, two words.) The BOSS25 break-in process involves starting with shells of 1,450 to 1,500 fps and then only using shells with one ounce of shot or more, and 1,300 fps or more. Citadel includes a heavy gas piston in the box with the BOSS25, for use with the top-end loads. (1 ounce slugs at 1,600 fps anyone?) After a quick look at the disassembly procedure, I left the regular piston in and went to the range, leaving the 1,600 slugs ammo behind.

There, I of course started with plain old regular skeet loads, and on a sunny but slushy day (ankle deep, my gun club ranges flood when it thaws) and through several boxes of shells had no problems. I also included the use of buckshot, since this is one of the options for defense, and finished with some “low-recoil” slugs. (No such thing in the 12-gauge world, but some do recoil less than others.) The BOSS25 is chambered for both 23⁄4" and 3" shells, but since I am not a glutton for punishment I did not try any of the big magnums. Those of you who simply must use the “biggest and best,” regardless of return on investment will have to do that on your own and report back.

Accuracy of BOSS25 — Federal ForceX2 delivered more-open patterns, and you can always change choke tubes to adjust pattern size. (Photo provided by author.)

One comment I got when slogging around in the slush (besides “Why?”) was on the five-shot magazines. “I can get eight in my old shotgun, why settle for only five?” I agreed, and when I told him there were ten-shot mags to be had, he was happy. So, why a box magazine? Reloads and payload changes are fast is why. One thing we found out right away back in the earliest days of 3-Gun competition was that the fastest shotgunner was the fastest reloader of shotguns. Shoot fast and reload slow, and you’d lose. If you have birdshot, or even buckshot in your shotgun, and need a slug, getting a slug chambered is a multi-step minuet. If you needed more than one slug you were in a world of hurt.

With the BOSS25, just swap mags and work the charging handle and you’ve got five. Or ten, or stuff a drum full and you’ve got twenty rounds of 12-gauge goodness to call upon. I had a package arrive from Centerfire Systems (CenterfireSystems.com) with a Global Defense skeletonized drum magazine inside. The loading procedure does require that you read the owner’s manual, but once you know how, it loads easily. And if you thought shooting a shotgun was fun, shooting one with a twenty-round magazine in it is even more fun. I reverted to the days when I was shooting at the range with Dad: no going home while there was still ammo to be fired.

Five-shot mag and ten-shot magazines — You can get ten-shot magazines for the BOSS25 as well, but they are noticeably longer than the five-shot ones are. (Photo provided by author.)

The big deal with the BOSS25 is that with the top rail you can install optics, magnifying or red-dot, so I took advantage of that opportunity to clamp on one of the EOTech holosights I keep on hand for just that sort of use. One big reason to go with the EOTech is that the 65 mil circle gives you a good reference guide to your group size. You’ll have to test the chokes and your favorite buckshot load, but you can get a good idea of group size to target size, through the circle. And since there’s a central dot, you have your group center impact point.

The EOTech does add a bit of weight to the BOSS25, and a light adds more, but they are what, a pound and a half at most, to the eight pounds of the BOSS25? As I remarked in the beginning not an anvil. And with the slim handguard, not a too-big-to-grab handful either. So, you have a shotgun that handles like an AR-15. (Or AR-10, given the size.) You have magazines for a fast reload, and since it is gas-operated the recoil is manageable. There are choke tubes included, as well as a muzzle brake on one of them. And you can have it in various colors and even an American flag coating. The best part? The starting price for the plain model is a listed $309, which as we all know, will be less than that at your local gun shop. Hard to get a better combo than that.