Utas-15 road show

[Grumpy Wolverine]

We received the UTS-15 back from Stevo after it was put through its paces at the 3 gun shoot. The shotgun was returned in excellent shape and all lubed up and ready to go, so bright and early this morning the UTS made it's way into the Wolverine Shipping Department. It will be winging its way out to the 2nd tester on the list. We are looking forward to pictures/videos and updates as it makes it way around our fair country.

I would ask everyone that receives this shotgun to carefully read the rules etc that are included in the case with the shotgun and to have a lot of fun testing it and please be safe. Always make sure you have your hearing and eye protection on.

[Stevo]

Glad to hear it arrived safe and sound and in the expected condition.

[Mr Wolverine]

Glad to hear it arrived safe and sound and in the expected condition.

Thanks Stevo, when I am back in the office next week I will see that you get the $100 Wolverine store credit.

[Stevo]

Cool. Thanks!

[Cavs42]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I get selected for the Northern testing. Any idea when that decision may be made?

[Grumpy Wolverine]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I get selected for the Northern testing. Any idea when that decision may be made?

I know John has put a partial list together and will finish off the list when he gets back. Once you have been selected John will be contacting you.

[BetterNotBeTaken]

If I wasn't away from home I'd love to volunteer for this. Unfortunately I don't have any ammo or know of any ranges nearby, and I won't be going home till mid december.

[Dave Mishchenko]

The gun arrived here on Monday. At a minimum I'll be out in Mission Thursday night and Saturday. If anyone is interested in trying it out, please PM me.

Arrival condition: overall very clean. Some crud in the magazine and build up on the release gates. Some crud and looks like rust in the barrel extension.

Overall impression: my six year old summed it quite well: That looks sweet baby!
By bias: I own a KSG. I'm relatively new back to shooting so these are the only two shotguns I've dealt with in a while. When I was looking for a shotgun I wanted a bull-pup so I considered both the guns. Given the lack of supply for both guns I had to make my decision based solely what I could find on the Internet.

Likes:
It both looks and feels very solid, but doesn't weigh as much as one might expect. From just doing a visual inspection, it looks like a quality manufactured gun.
Manual - I really like it for both the content and quality of it. Lots of diagrams so to pull the gun completely apart and put it back together would be fairly simple. The manual might seem like an odd thing to mention, but if a company is putting effort into the manual, both in content and in quality of the material, then they're probably doing the same with the gun.
Access to resolve feeding issues - I really like how easily it is to pull up the stock to deal with any feeding issues. I haven't shot the UTS yet and have had one feed issue with my KSG (my KSG is still fairly new and I don't consider it broken in yet). But the UTS would win out in providing easy access to fix a serious feed issue.
Swapping a choke / barrel extension - so easy and quick.
Integrated light / laser option - I hadn't seen this until recently, but you can get a laser/light combo that fits into fore-end and the switch would fit inside near the trigger.
Position of the tube selector - on the UTS it's up top and on the KSG on the bottom reflecting the differences in barrel / magazine placement between the two guns. With both guns I'm reaching back with my right hand (I shoot left) and I find the switch up top easier to find.
Ability to feed from both tubes. I really like that you can select to feed from both tubes. When I was first looking at the UTS and KSG I saw mention that you could load one tube with one type of shell and the other with something else. But if you ever need to unload 15 rounds quickly, not have to switch tubes half way through gives the UTS an advantage.
Cycling the action: I find it very smooth, better than my KSG. As stated I don't consider by KSG broken in yet so I'm hoping it'll get better. I had my 10 year old try with a dummy shells and the UTS was easier for him. It was more of a reach for him, but I think that since the UTS has an extra 5 inches of room up front (see image) I think it may be inherently easier to cycle. I'll get a better idea once we take it out.
Fore-end (lack of picatinny rail) - before I got the gun I thought this might be a disadvantage (i.e. lacking the ability to mount a grip). The fore-end on the UTS is thinner than the KSG and I find it very easy to grip. There is an extra 7 inches of rail up top over the KSG for mounting stuff.
Pistol grip - can be easily swapped with another AR-15 grip.



Shooting left:
I haven't seen much about shooting this gun left. I had seen this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihNIeiu-W2E - but it seems that he's always standing left foot forward which is not naturally how I would want to shoot.
Shell ejection - when I'm holding the UTS my chin is right above the ejection port and my right shoulder is straight across from it. I'll know better in a few days if this is an issue. 5 people in my house shoot right and I'm the only lefty - sometime is sucks to be me.
Gun controls - on both the UTS and my KSG I have to use my trigger finger to disengage the safety. It's a bit quicker on the UTS. One could fashion a right hand latch for the gun on the current design. UTAS could also make a minor molding change and then make an ambidextrous safety. I'm not able to reach the area for the light switch without moving by left (trigger) hand or my right hand off the fore-end. If I had this model, I would just drill through the left side and mount the switch on that side.

Dislikes:
Bolt release - it's right near the back of the gun. With my KSG it's on the trigger guard and reachable without moving my hands.
Balance - the UTS is front heavy. With the KSG I can hold it with one hand against my shoulder and reload it. I can do that with the UTS, but it's much more effort to hold it up with one hand.
Trigger guard - I find it a bit too big (especially when try to hold the gun with one hand). It looks like it would be pretty simple to machine another.

Undecided:
As discussed above, shooting left is a bit of concern for me.
Parts count - I did a quick count of parts from the exploded parts diagram - 186 for the UTS (I subtracted 17 parts for the sights) vs 138 in the KSG. Don't quote my on the number because I could have miscounted a few, but roughly 35% more parts in the UTS. More parts is potentially more problems down the road.
Loading - top loading (UTS) vs bottom loading (KSG). I'll find out this week which feels better. From a reliability perspective, it seems better mechanically to have the shells feed down from the magazines into the chamber rather that up.

[Sinasta]

Neat idea.

[Mr Wolverine]

Good morning Dave
Thanks for the detailed initial report. I also shoot left handed, I found I had to shoot with my head held a little higher than normal and had to keep my shoulders a little "squarer" to the gun than normal, not ideal. No one has ever claimed that right hand eject "Bull pups" are ideal for left handed shooters, in fact this is criticism of Bull pups in general, unless they have reversible bolts.