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

Any luck with the mag modifications? Maybe I just got a bad batch, are they covered under the warranty?
 
jify said:
Any luck with the mag modifications? Maybe I just got a bad batch, are they covered under the warranty?
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There are only "two batches" of mags, all the guns were shipped with two mags and then we ordered extra spare mags that do appear to have a different finish, so yes we could call them a different batch. So everyone is using the same mags. Yes mags are covered under warranty if returned in good condition and we find them faulty. Our experience has been very good with these guns. Most complaints on the mags are based on two facts, tight in the gun and hard to load the last rd, only in extreme cases would this be covered under warranty.

We have been offering advice on how to improve the performance by "tweaking" the magazine, it is still early to say what the best spring length is going to be.

There are several factors that can effect feeding and they are not all mag related. The overall performance of the guns do appear to improve after they are "run in" by that I mean having fired a few hundred rds cleaned and well lubed.

I suspect that some shells having softer hulls can also cause problems, but we need to research this more.

If you are having problems and think you may want to return mags under warranty for exchange please first e-mail Sales@wolverinesupplies.com make your tittle line 15 SA mags and detail your problem, we may be able to solve the issue with you not having to return the mags. Warranty does not cover shipping so a DIY fix may well benefit you. No returns are accepted with out you first ben given a Return Authorisation Number.

Having set all the above I am not trying to duck out of our support to you just solve any issues the most expedient way. At this point in time I think we have about a 1% failure rate on the guns which is extremely good.
 
Anyone got the solution to jamming and not feeding? The range i use only allows 00 buckshot and the only ones i have are federal 00 buckshot 2 3/4. Loaded both mags with 4 shells and could not get it to feed at all. Was only able to get it to feed once after 10 minutes.
If someone can provide pictures on what needs to be modified and changed that would be great!
 
Navicular said:
Anyone got the solution to jamming and not feeding? The range i use only allows 00 buckshot and the only ones i have are federal 00 buckshot 2 3/4. Loaded both mags with 4 shells and could not get it to feed at all. Was only able to get it to feed once after 10 minutes.
If someone can provide pictures on what needs to be modified and changed that would be great!
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Please e-mail me with a detailed explanation of exactly what was happening, send to John@wolverinesupplies.com For example: Did the first rd chamber? Did she extract? Did she eject the empty? How far away did the empty case land? Did the bolt ride over the next rd? Did the rd present to the chamber to low or to high? Was gun well oiled? I need all this info before I can even start to guess what the problem might be, once we know the problem then we can fix it.
 
Mr Wolverine said:
Please e-mail me with a detailed explanation of exactly what was happening, send to John@wolverinesupplies.com For example: Did the first rd chamber? Did she extract? Did she eject the empty? How far away did the empty case land? Did the bolt ride over the next rd? Did the rd present to the chamber to low or to high? Was gun well oiled? I need all this info before I can even start to guess what the problem might be, once we know the problem then we can fix it.
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Thanks John, I'll send an email.
 
Mr Wolverine said:
Mag spring length: I am having discussions with the factory on magazine spring length and will report back ASAP.

Make sure the bent "tail" of the spring is in the notch in the floor plate insert and that at the top of the spring the high end is to the rear of the mag. We are experimenting with shortening the spring, will post results ASAP.

With the mag follower make sure the body is smooth (nicely rounded) at the rear under the spring loaded follower.

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Ok finally had a chance to break out my mags and do a little work. First off looking at the pic wolverine posted above I think I've discovered at least one of the contributing factors....the springs in my mags are too long, I know I've said that before. Counting the angles in the spring ( wolverine has 10right or left including the top of the spring) and my first mag has 12 which adds about 2+ inches to the spring. See below. The short spring is from the powder coated mags which were included with the shotgun. The long spring is from one of the extra blued mags sold separately. Pulled all my springs and only one of four has the long spring. I'll be trimming all my springs down and will post my results.

Edit: so I cut all my springs down to 9 angles and loading them up with five rounds was a breeze and all cycle (manually) nicely through the shotgun. So in the morning I'm hitting the range and I'll report back as to how they were running.
 
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I found one of the longer springs in mine as well a couple days ago and sent a message to Wolverine about it as there is a fair bit of damage to the inside of my receiver now. The longer spring is formed with the base plate loop at both ends and it was inside one of the extra mags that I ordered ...not in one of the dull looking ones that came with the shotgun.


I believe the damage on the bottom of the bolt and inside of the receiver near the front is caused from the shells getting jammed .








There is a groove cut into the receiver now from the top of the bolt rubbing .I have fired aprox 100 shells through it so far .
I haven't taken the bolt out to inspect it for any signs of wear on the top yet . I was waiting for Wolverine to contact me before cutting any coils out
( They have been great to deal with by the way) ...
Glad to hear yours is feeding well now Outcast .
 
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So I hit the range this morning and ran 150 rounds through the shotgun. To date I've run 250+ rounds and I'd say she's broken in really well. I haven't stripped it or cleaned it, all I've done is drop some oil in the action and the bolt.

So after playing with my mags last night I now have three out of four running perfectly. One is still being a bit of a douche so will need a little more attention.

I ran 50 rounds of Dominion Arms low recoil 00 buck and DA low recoil slugs and it ran great on my three mags.
I then ran 100 rounds of Federal field loads 2 3/4" which I have never been able to get to run in anything including my Benelli M4. The SA15 ran like a champ and I could dump a mag as fast as I could pull the trigger. I was running a cylinder choke after running the flash hider last time. I'll be stripping and inspecting the shotgun and giving it a full clean and lube job today.

The issue of the round getting stuck at the top of the chamber is still occurring with my one douchbag mag, but I'll get her fixed up I'm sure. May have to drop the spring just a little ore on that one.

After today's outing I'm pretty happy with the shotgun. After messing with the mags and getting it running pretty damn good I'm giving the shotgun a B+ ... And if it maintains consistency that grade could be bumped up. For those of you who are having issues, like I said before, this shotgun runs, any issue is going to be mag related. And just for info, my mags insert and drop free perfectly and the mag release button is smooth as silk.


Issues with one mag forcing the round to the top of the chamber


Seriously pooching the rounds


Slightly out of spec on the mags. Couple mm difference which may have something to do with feeding



And finally my pile of spent shells... Just for the hell of it.
 
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Any wear spots or rough spots I noticed after initial firing and then the strip and clean after I used some emery cloth and smoothed them out. A quick scuff lightly with emery cloth did a world of good I think. I have 1 mag that feeds reliably 100% pretty much and the other is about 70%. I have stripped and cleaned and oiled both mags twice now. Both springs are the same length pretty much. The gun needs its break in and smooth out like most semi shotguns I have owned. The problems as outcast pointed out are mag related mostly and mine was a bit picky on ammo but even that has seemed to get better with use. I have had it out 3 times now and have put about 300-400 rounds through it. All kinds , score , federal , Winchester , Remington etc.. Slugs , target and field loads. No buck shot yet though. Good guns and good value overall I think so far. They need a little attention and some TLC here and there but that's all right. When mags are ironed out and 100% reliable this thing will be my go to 12GA.
 
Great work Outcast. I think my mags need trimming too but I am going to wait on the official word from Wolverine first... just in case.
 
I received a reply from Wolverine today in regards to some questions about mine .The advice was to trim all my springs to 9 coils in length.
So I will try that on a few of mine and see how they work.

Quote from Wolverine : Thanks for the detailed photos! After discussion with our gunsmith, he has suggested to shorten the springs to nine full coils in length and ensure that the springs are inserted correctly with the higher end of the spring towards the rear of the follower.
The scuffing you sent photos of appears to be fairly regular and should not be of significant concern. If you have any other questions or comments, just let me know!

Regards,
 
I have the same issue, Occasionally a round will feed high and hit the top of the chamber and shotgun shells being plastic they smush and so they jam up.



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chalkriver said:
I received a reply from Wolverine today in regards to some questions about mine .The advice was to trim all my springs to 9 coils in length.
So I will try that on a few of mine and see how they work.

Quote from Wolverine : Thanks for the detailed photos! After discussion with our gunsmith, he has suggested to shorten the springs to nine full coils in length and ensure that the springs are inserted correctly with the higher end of the spring towards the rear of the follower.
The scuffing you sent photos of appears to be fairly regular and should not be of significant concern. If you have any other questions or comments, just let me know!

Regards,
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Awesome! Wolverine can you confirm that we aren't voiding any warranty by cutting our springs down (and thank you for the detailed reply earlier)? Sounds like this could solve a lot of issues. Thank you Outcast!
 
Just to make a comment,shotgun shells are rimmed just make sure when loading you have rims ahead on next one if not it will jam
And could be why it tilts the shell up ��
 
220 said:
Just to make a comment,shotgun shells are rimmed just make sure when loading you have rims ahead on next one if not it will jam
And could be why it tilts the shell up ��
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Ya I found that out on the first range trip... If the rims actually over lap you won't even get the round to strip out of the mag. With the lighter springs it makes loading soooo much easier and this issue can be avoided.
 
Outcast said:
Ya I found that out on the first range trip... If the rims actually over lap you won't even get the round to strip out of the mag. With the lighter springs it makes loading soooo much easier and this issue can be avoided.
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I was never able to get more then 4 rounds in my mags so out comes the file and cutting them down
 
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