Mag Fed – Shorty 12G Shotguns

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Ice431

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Mag Fed – Shorty 12G Shotguns

What are Canada’s best options for mag fed 12G shorty shotguns?

Canadian Gunnutz have some awesome shorty shotguns as seen in the thread here. Reading through that thread I discovered a lot of shotguns that I suddenly wanted. I didn't however see many box mag fed shotguns. So, my question is, what are Canada’s options for box mag fed, short OAL, shotguns (i.e. backpack shotguns)? Right out of the box, the shotgun must be

  • Extremely Reliable (can the reliability of a tube mag / fed shotgun be matched?)
  • Lightweight and balanced
  • Consistently performs with 2 ¾” & 3” slugs and buckshot
Additionally, it would be ideal if the gun is,
  • Less than 30” (762mm) OAL
  • Several barrel lengths easily available
  • Adjustable or collapsible stock
  • Capable of handling a range of shells & Mfg. (i.e., 2 ¾” - 3” shells, slugs, birdshot, buckshot, various mfgs.)
  • Range of accessories/modifications available
The list that I currently know of is as follows with the order being related to the
1) SAP 6 – Dagger - $699 - $750
  • 6 & 11 round magazines
  • 11.4” barrel
  • 29.1” (740mm) OAL
  • Weight: 2041g
  • Readily available: Alternate barrels, solid stock, and front grip
LINK

2) PM-5 – Valtro (prev. Brixia) - $800 - $1000
  • 7 round, Rock and Lock mags
  • 13.5” barrel
  • 35.5” (902mm) OAL
  • Weight: 3 kg
  • Readily available: 20” barrel, folding stock, unknown what else
LINK

3) AS46 – Uzkon - $485 - $515
  • 3, 5, & 10-rd Magazines
  • 14” barrel
  • 31.5” (800 mm) OAL, unconfirmed retracted or extended
  • Weight: ??
  • Readily Available: four configurations available out of the box. AS46-02 has adjustable stock
LINK

4) Grizzly-mag – Dominion Arms (Norinco)
  • 5-rd Magazines
  • 8.5” barrel
  • 28” (711 mm) OAL
  • Weight: 7.6 lbs
  • Readily Available: Design mimics 870, tons of parts easily available.
  • Reliability of tube magazine is excellent but box magazine has less positive reviews
LINK

5) Mossberg 500 with Magazine conversion kit (sidewinder venom?)
  • Don’t know much about these, their reliability or functionality
LINK

My question for you is,
What other options are available to us for box mag fed shorty shotguns?
What are your experiences with the ones listed above?
Are there other setups, builds and / or modified shotgun that exist?
Has anyone used Tactical Ordanance to put together a box mag fed package?
 
Some others that didn't quite fit the bill
Six12 – Crye Precision - Semiauto bullpup, Not available
SKO bull – Semiauto bullpup – Not available
LA K12 Puma – Norinco - Very compact, 2 ¾ “ only
Derya MK10 – Length
Akdal MKA 1919 - Semiauto - Lightweight – 37.9 inches -> Too long
BR99 – UZK - Semiauto – Too long
VEPR-12 - Prohibited
All Mossbergs & Remingtons – No box mag variants availalbe
 
For a backpack 12g shorty I found that having a mag feed is a desavantage, I prefer a tube feed, it's taking less space for a ready to shoot backpacker shotgun.

My vote goe to the Grizzly , the 12.5" for more shells in the tube.
 
Grizzly Mag 8.5": As reliable as a pump from what I've found. (Disclaimer: you have to pump it with authority like you do a tube fed. If you treat it gentle it will jam - just like a tube fed). I wouldn't say lightweight and balanced, even though it's only listed at 7.6 lbs, when you hang a fully loaded 5 round mag off it it feels like a 12 lb dumbbell in your hand ( it's a lot of weight in a compact space). The natural balance point is occupied by the mag. And unless they have changed them recently, and contrary to the link: they are only good for 2 3/4 ". (The mags are only long enough for 2 3/4" and on my barrel it's only listed as a 2 3/4" chamber)

It is less than 30" definitely, but there are no interchangeable barrels. The barrel ring is much closer on the 8.5", and 870 barrels will not work. Other 870 parts will work-trigger groups, stocks, etc.

Having said all of that, I love mine and do not see a time where I will be selling it.
 
Debur and polish the front inner edge of the grizzly mag and it will feed reliably, adjust the feed lips till it holds the shell just enough to keep it in place but let it easily slide out. My 12.5" feeds fine, I polished the feed ramp and any rough edges on the slide etc. Really smoothed out the action.
 
My Valtro is amazing. The action is buttery smooth, and I've had ZERO issues through a ton of rounds.

It meets all your essential criteria.

Only two drawbacks:

1) the stock sights suck. I mounted a micro RDS and it's dead on
2) the LOP on the stock is crazy... Italians must have giraffe arms, because I'm 6 foot tall and it's too long for me. I remedied it with some machine work and an 870 stock adapter to mount a collapsible M4 stock. When collapsed it reduces the OAL as well.

Before:



After (sans mag):


It has been a dream after those two fixes.

My brother has an Uzkon AS46. It's "ok", but a LOT of craptastic plastic. I HATE the spring assisted slide too. Same holds true for the SAP-6.

The Grizzlies are solid for an inexpensive scattergun, but IME the mags take a fair bit of tuning to run smooth. I certainly wouldn't want to rely on it around a grumpy Grizzly of the genus ursus.

My friend tried installing a Sidewinder, and it wasn't reliable at all. He is fairly experienced and still couldn't make it run well. Maybe a professional could do better, but I wasn't impressed, especially as it was quite expensive.

For your purposes I think I'd stick with a 14" tube fed Grizzly rather than a box fed. Less to snag upon when carried in the bush, and if you can't get it in 5 rounds...
 
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I'm opting for a Valtro. The SAP 6 looked neat but there is too much potential of me riding the pump or getting the timing off and it not firing or jamming. The Valtro is the only one on your list that has real world police/ military use.
 
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Owned a few mag fed shotguns and the PM5 with a different stock (that's the catch) is the winner IMHO; the magazines are key to any system and the PM5 mags are solid!
The PM5 is actually easier to chamber/extract/eject a shell/hull than a tube fed (no gate to work and the magzine placement is right in front of the chamber.)

To give you an idea on smoothness, you can "whip up" the shotgun one handed and the bolt can strip & chamber the shell (centrifugal force). Very smooth.

Magazines also will not puke shells with abuse (they can be dropped/shook/hit, then then inserted to no ill effect.)
 
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Sniper_485 said:
This seems a good place to ask, has anyone tried getting SAP-6 11rd mags to work in a Norinco Grizzly?
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Dimensionally they fit the NorK receivers ,from what I was able to see it a matter of the locking lug not being in the right place ( would have to be relocated/ fitted ) I have one and had intended to fit it, just haven't as of yet, back burner project.:wave:
 
buzzmagoo said:
Dimensionally they fit the NorK receivers ,from what I was able to see it a matter of the locking lug not being in the right place ( would have to be relocated/ fitted ) I have one and had intended to fit it, just haven't as of yet, back burner project.:wave:
Click to expand...

Very cool, I'll have to pick on up to play with then. Thank you.
 
enefgee said:
Is anyone making mag pouches for 12 gauge mags yet? Wake me up when they do.
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Any .308/7.62 mag pouches should work. I have a First Spear chest rig that was issued to SEALs for their Mk17 mags and it fits Turkish shotgun mags perfectly. Another good option would be to use HSGI long Tacos if you're using mags bigger than 5 rounds. I have seen people use them with Saiga 10 rounders so they should work with the Turkish pump action mags as well as mags for the SAP 6, or even Mossberg DM mags.

Speaking of the Mossberg DM, would it be possible to drop a 14" barrel kit into a Mossberg DM?
 
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