Mag Fed – Shorty 12G Shotguns
- Thread starter Ice431
- Start date
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
I have some 7.62 nato/.308 Tactical tailor mag pouches and a couple other no name 7.62/.308 mag pouches that fit 12g mags nicely.
Both suck, and are generally considered not worth buying. The grizzlys are infamous for being unreliable. And the SAPs are infamous for being unreliable AND having poor durability. I eventually settled with a new $400 Valtro PM5 which is an Italian manufactured mag fed pump. I kid u not my PM5 has probably fired 1000 cheap challenger brand shotshells, and 100s of 3/4" slugs and NEVER JAMMED ONCE. 100% reliable, the catch being the 7rnd bullet proof mags cost a staggering $80+ bucks and are becoming hard to come by. They are uncommon shotguns to stumble upon but so far ive yet to come across a owner who said anything negative about its reliability!
Other options to consider would be the new Remington and Mossberg mag fed shotguns which I have no experience with....
Absolutely yes.
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
Honestly, the mag fed grizzly’s failing is the mag. The rest of the gun functions no different than the tube fed version, like all Norcs they benefit from some de burring and polishing. When you tune the mag (which isn’t hard.) you end up with a reliable mag fed pump gun, I hunted grouse last season with mine and it was flawless with 2 3/4” loads. I’ve got it feeding 3” shells better than ever but that’s the limitation of the magazine again and I doubt it will ever reliably feed 3” loads, with the polishing and mag tuning it’s had I wouldn’t hesitate to trust it now.
From all accounts the 870DM has put to rest any of the issues that the mag fed grizzly has due to mag issues, if I wanted another mag fed pump gun I’d buy an 870DM. Ones enough, I prefer a tube fed pump anyway.
I've been enjoying my mag fed grizzly but I honestly wouldn't trust my life to it. Especially with the plastic mags. They seem fragile and can be prone to dumping shells when they are in mag pouches. Anyone any experience with the metals mags. It was mentioned that they may need gunsmithing to work which was a turn off for me.
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
If you can use fine sandpaper a pair of pliers and a hammer and punch you can tune up the metal mags to be reliable, all they need is some fine tuning to be reliable with 2 3/4” shells. Take the mag fully apart, remove any burrs or rough edges with 600-800 wet dry sandpaper. I had to shorten the mag spring with my pliers/cutters by a coil or two to match the 1 metal factory mag it came with, I bent the mag lips so the shells were held snug but not tightly when loaded in the mag. This stopped them from popping out, lips too wide and the shells pop out, lips to tight and you get some feeding issues.
That ultimately was all I needed to do but I went a couple steps further, I dimpled the nose of the follower upwards with a punch and hammer. The dimple sits under the nose of the shell, it’s gives a higher angle (1/8”-1/4” higher) to the shell as it comes off the follower eliminating nose diving and jams as it hits the feed ramp and enters the chamber, this really eliminated any fail to feed jams I had. I then took the mags apart and with my bench polisher I buffed and polished the mag lips and followers and lightly lubed them before I put them back together.
All in all it took me 1-2 hours max and my mag fed grizzly loads, feeds and shoots any 2 3/4” shells I throw at it. I wish I could get it to feed 3” shells better but that’s just a limitation of the mag I’m going to have to live with, I used it grouse hunting last year and it didn’t skip a beat. The biggest issue with the metal mags, especially the aftermarket metal mags is they’re over sprung, roughly machined, and the angle of the follower is a bit low. Tweak those issues and you’ll have a gun that works quite reliably, I will say if I was in the market for a mag fed pump action I would just buy an 870dm. It seems like Rem came out with a good mag design, which is the mag fed grizzly’s real flaw. The rest of the gun is no less reliable than the tube fed grizzly, thankfully I like to tinker so tuning mine was not an issue.
Even though I prefer Mossberg to Remington in a pump shotgun, I chose the Rem 870 DM instead of the Mossberg because of the cost of magazines. I have 2 870 DM and they seem to hold up just fine and are reliable as hell. One has stood up to a couple of thousand slugs so far, with no hiccups. My only complaint is the magazines can be a tight fit, really need to yank on them to remove. And also, the mags don't retain the shells that well. So if you dropped the mag, you might have one or two shells fly out.
It's possible the Mossberg has a better mag system, and of course they offer 5/10/20 round mags and the Remington is only 6 rounds. I would like to try a Mossberg at one point.
MKA is great in a semi, as is the Derya. But I've had both fail with parts breaking after heavy use. By heavy, I mean thousands of rounds of buckshot and slugs. I think most regular users would have no problem with them. The advantage of the 870 is easier to find parts. As far as I can tell, it's just a 870 that happens to feed from a mag.
It's possible the Mossberg has a better mag system, and of course they offer 5/10/20 round mags and the Remington is only 6 rounds. I would like to try a Mossberg at one point.
MKA is great in a semi, as is the Derya. But I've had both fail with parts breaking after heavy use. By heavy, I mean thousands of rounds of buckshot and slugs. I think most regular users would have no problem with them. The advantage of the 870 is easier to find parts. As far as I can tell, it's just a 870 that happens to feed from a mag.
