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- Location
- Mountains, Alberta
From my blog.
As part of my preparation for the MGM Ironman it was easy to identify my shotgun skills as a weak spot. Juggling shells into a tube isn’t something I’ve trained for in the past, but I’m much more accustomed to indexing magazines and activating bolt releases.
Enter the Akdal MKA 1919: A semi-auto, magazine-fed, 12 gauge shotgun that replicates the controls of an AR-15. These Turkish shotguns have come in as an alternative to the Saiga so popular in 3 gun matches, but of course prohibited here in Canada (deadly ak.) With some love and elbow grease, the Mka 1919s can be made into pretty stellar competition guns.
I bought this one from IrunGuns, and after a few weeks of dithering around it showed up last night. I'm pleased that they're bringing in the XN model, which apparently has a number of small improvements.
The first thing I would encourage any new owner to do is strip the junky plastic sights off and dispose of them. They're hideous, and poorly made, and aren't even a real AR-15 peep sight. Just an weird glock-ish dovetail. There is a proper flattop rail underneath where your optics can find a home.
I opted for a Vortex Razor red-dot, as its got excellent brightness, weighs essentially nothing, is tough enough to take slug recoil, and I already had one sitting in the safe. It also sits and nice and low on the rail, which pairs well with the Mka 1919′s slightly angled A2 stock. The cheek weld is right where I want it.
That simple change is enough to drastically change the feel of the gun. But the stock 5 round magazines won’t get you far in US competition. I picked up a pair of pinned ten rounders to practice with. These are larger than any AR-15 mag you’ve ever used. The single stack 10 rounders are bricks, that extend well below the gun. I shudder to imagine how the custom 25 round magazines must feel.
I’m looking forward to testing the reliability of this, and putting slugs, buck, and target all through it.
My initial impressions are that I made the right choice with the Mka 1919. It’s the kind of shotgun I can get excited about pouring rounds through. But! It is restricted, so its a gamer gun for sure. We'll see what sort of ATTs I get issued in the future.
As part of my preparation for the MGM Ironman it was easy to identify my shotgun skills as a weak spot. Juggling shells into a tube isn’t something I’ve trained for in the past, but I’m much more accustomed to indexing magazines and activating bolt releases.
Enter the Akdal MKA 1919: A semi-auto, magazine-fed, 12 gauge shotgun that replicates the controls of an AR-15. These Turkish shotguns have come in as an alternative to the Saiga so popular in 3 gun matches, but of course prohibited here in Canada (deadly ak.) With some love and elbow grease, the Mka 1919s can be made into pretty stellar competition guns.
I bought this one from IrunGuns, and after a few weeks of dithering around it showed up last night. I'm pleased that they're bringing in the XN model, which apparently has a number of small improvements.
The first thing I would encourage any new owner to do is strip the junky plastic sights off and dispose of them. They're hideous, and poorly made, and aren't even a real AR-15 peep sight. Just an weird glock-ish dovetail. There is a proper flattop rail underneath where your optics can find a home.
I opted for a Vortex Razor red-dot, as its got excellent brightness, weighs essentially nothing, is tough enough to take slug recoil, and I already had one sitting in the safe. It also sits and nice and low on the rail, which pairs well with the Mka 1919′s slightly angled A2 stock. The cheek weld is right where I want it.
That simple change is enough to drastically change the feel of the gun. But the stock 5 round magazines won’t get you far in US competition. I picked up a pair of pinned ten rounders to practice with. These are larger than any AR-15 mag you’ve ever used. The single stack 10 rounders are bricks, that extend well below the gun. I shudder to imagine how the custom 25 round magazines must feel.
I’m looking forward to testing the reliability of this, and putting slugs, buck, and target all through it.
My initial impressions are that I made the right choice with the Mka 1919. It’s the kind of shotgun I can get excited about pouring rounds through. But! It is restricted, so its a gamer gun for sure. We'll see what sort of ATTs I get issued in the future.
