Alpharms SA15 shotgun review .. Sorta... Update post 32

Received my SA15 earlier in the week and today was the first range trip to run it through its paces and see what's up. Basically straight out of the box after generous oil bath.

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Mags I sanded down with 150 grit sand paper to ease the sticky Magwell issues. All the mags are smooth to insert and easy removal, pretty close to dropping free which I'm sure will come with more use. Springs are super tight so I recommend leaving them loaded. After use today I think any issues with this shotgun are going to be mag related, but I'll get into that later.

Size and weight of the shotgun I don't think is a big deal, it feels fairly comfortable to shoulder , retractable stock is good, definitely removed the folding mechanism. Grip is ok, a little larger than a typical AR grip but doable. Forend is .. Well time will tell. The sights are pretty accurate but the carry handle is very cheap all plastic. I'll be running a red dot next time. Ran it with the flash hider installed.

Oh, and the charging handle... Uncomfortable to say the least. This needs to be beefed up like a GG&G for the Benelli.

Ammunition used in this highly scientific review as follows:

Imperial special long range 2 3/4" 1 1/8 oz #6 high velocity 1450 fps

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Remington sportsman hi speed steel 2 3/4" #4 1350 fps

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I think Winchester 3" 1 1/8 oz slug

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Winchester super target 2 3/4" 1 1/8 oz #7.5 shot

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Dominion arms low recoil 2 3/4" round ball slug.

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Winchester 2 3/4" 00 buck 9 pellet standard

So after blowing a few minds on the range with it being NR I commenced my ammo testing

I started off with one Mag of each round to see how they would perform without any specific break in.

First up was the Imperial which was difficult to chamber on a full mag.
Once chambered it would eject the round and jam on a near stove pipe in the loading ramp or just fail to chamber with the round parallel but top front of round stuck at the top of the chamber. Ammo would fire and cycle the action but not feed next round.

Second up was the Remington. These rounds actually cycled through nicely on this mag, but had a few fail to feeds on subsequent mags.

Next up was the Winchester 7.5 shot which I didn't think would work... And as suspected it would cycle the action and eject the spent casing but it just didn't have enough juice to do the job. But stay tuned folks...

Next was the Dominion arms 2 3/4 low recoil slugs. Again I didn't expect them to work but thought I'd run them anyway. My mistake here was only bringing 5 rounds. Dumped that mag like a champ, smooth and problem free. Damn I had 200 more sitting at home. My Benelli m4 wouldn't run them.

Next was the Winchester 3" slugs. Not much to say here except there was no way in hell I could chamber a round. Mag would insert but I couldn't pull the charging handle back and when locked back the bolt wouldn't drop to strip a round off the mag.

I ran 5 rounds of Winchester 00 buck which was a fiasco of fail to feeds with the rounds getting caught at the top of the chamber.

So I started looking at the mags and one issue I discovered is that when loading your mags the top round can have its case rim on the outside of the rim on the lower round in the magazine. Wish I had taken a picture. So be aware when loading rounds. I swapped up the mags and ammo and for the most part the imperial and Remington shells started running better with more use and the shotgun getting broken in. After 40 rounds of the imperial and Remington I went back to the Winchester target loads and surprisingly enough it ran smooth. I managed to run 20 rounds without much issue. Clearly the breaking in of the gun was moving along.

My initial observations of the stoppages is mag related and that brutal feed ramp.
The mags have seriously strong springs which I think is putting so much force on the shell that it's getting pushed hard against the feed lips on the mag. When the round is stripped it's causing the round to flip nose first into the top of the chamber causing a stoppage. I think this is why the Dominin arms slugs ran good because of their hard rounded roll/crimp. The other rounds were all crimped.

With another 100 rounds or so I think the action will smooth out considerably. The mags I'm going to try and work the springs a bit either leaving the mags loaded for a week and to possibly cut the spring down.

I think the shotgun has great potential and a few hundred more rounds will be the real test. So far I'm ok with the shotgun as long as I can get it running reliably. Right now right out of the box id give the shotgun a C+. I'll update this thread as I get more range time and different rounds. This shotgun would be monster if I can get it to run the Dominion arms slugs reliably.

So am I happy?? Sure why not. The shotgun looks cool, works pretty well out of the box and let's face it, it's a $555 semi auto NR. I dont mind tinkering around a bit, and I'm confident it will break in more.

Kudos to Wolverine supplies for bringing these in at a kick a$$ price point. And as usual the customer service from Wolverine has been awesome.
 
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Took mine out today for the first time and also had trouble feeding Winchester 3" bird shot, but Score 2 3/4 slugs were flawless! not a single issue with them. Friends were lovin it.
 
Thanks for taking the time and Great review. One thing that seems to be consistent reading thru the various threads , 400-600 grit to get rid of those edges on mags and lower well, and a good cleaning which is common sense. Think I will ballistol the hell out of mag springs and let them sit loaded. Have not been home to shoot mine yet but thanks for all the tips guys..... Big help
 
It's a non-restricted AR look alike in a 12 gauge semi, that sold me. I can frolic around my grouse grounds hunting birds that are stupid enough to give me enough time for unjammin, if need be.;)
 
I purchased a BR99 CL1 and had problems initially with lighter loads. After just over 100 rounds of mixed 2 3/4 inch slugs, 2 3/4 inch buckshot and some 3 inch birdshot it is running much better and is now functioning reliably with Federal 2 3/4 inch heavy field loads. I am sure the SA15 will improve once fully broken in.
 
This is very similar to what I had going on with mine today..
Took it out for the first time today and it seemed like the exact same thing with the mags, too steep for them to feed.

Used slugs strictly as my range wont allow anything else down range. I tried 20 rounds of the Score 2 3/4" 1 oz. slugs.. 10 of Federal 2 3/4" 1 oz.... about 40 of Winchester 2 3/4" 1 oz.. out of these there wasn't really anything that fed reliably, was a hit or miss.
Tried 10 3" 1 1/8 oz. Winchesters and they just wouldn't feed, had to load them individually without a mag, otherwise the shells were just getting damaged.

What you're saying about the rounds being loaded in the mag and having the rims not lining up, I know exactly what you mean. I noticed this with all but the score slugs.
Going to clean and relube mine now, hopefully it'll go a little more smoothly next time.
 
Sadly I had almost the same issues. Yes it's only $555 but I want a semi that shoots right out of the box and don't feel that I should gunsmith the heck out of it before.
 
Thanks for the review but my neck is sore from the pics. ;)
Something to look forward to when I get my gun straightened out.
 
Also as a potential buyer, thank you. I'm thinking about putting a down payment on this for the next shipment.

Also a little off key. Your range bag in the picture. How do you like that? I been looking at ordering that bag.

Once again

Thanks!
 
Also as a potential buyer, thank you. I'm thinking about putting a down payment on this for the next shipment.

Also a little off key. Your range bag in the picture. How do you like that? I been looking at ordering that bag.

Once again

Thanks!

Range bag is just a patrol duty bag I had laying around. Works great for what I need. Built well lots of pockets and the main compartment holds a lot.

Edit,,, lol, I went back and looked at the pic and thought maybe you were referring to the rifle bag. Voodoo tactical rifle bag. Fits two long guns easy, can hold 12 AR mags and 8 pistol mags I think. Plenty of room. Built solid and easy to carry. Purchased mine from Wanstalls
 
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