Thanks for sharing the article; but oof, it's even uglier than I thought it would be...
I'm sure this'll find a market, but I just don't see an overall benefit for practical applications (range toy duty, sure, go nuts). With rifles, going from tubes to boxes takes you from 5 - 7 shots to 20 - 30 rounds or more (plus more flexibility in bullet design), and that's a big difference. With this, you're not really gaining any capacity; shotshells are just too wide. 6+1 (or 5+1, depending on how it's defined) is pretty much the status quo, considering a traditional tube'll get you 5+1 under a 14" barrel, 6+1 or 7+1 under an 18/18.5", and 7+1 or 8+1 under a 20" - and in a
much more streamlined package. Yeah, reloading from zero is a bit faster, but there's a lot you're giving up for just that one minor advantage.
Obviously, you can't top off the magazine without pulling it, but you also lose port-loading & changeovers, the ability to attach any saddle-mount accessories, and tube space ahead of the fore-end for mounting weapon lights & sling attachments (I guarantee we're going to see folks putting mag extensions on these just to mount accessories). Good luck trying to shoot this off a low bipod or rest, too. These are also looking like they're not going to work with anything but a short fore-end.
And we still don't know how well these mags handle different shell lengths, or whether they avoid the shell deformation & rim-lock issues that have shown up in other mag-fed shotguns. Hopefully they'll at least accept other standard 870 barrels, otherwise you might as well give this gun a completely different model name.
John A. wrote: ↑Tue Dec 05, 2017 2:37 am
Knoxx did that years ago with the Mossberg and box fed mags.
Knoxx no longer sells them. Some other company owns the rights to it now, but that's what it reminds me of.
You talking about the Sidewinder kits for the 500s? At least Remington's approach looks less ghetto-rigged than that mess.
By the way, I like how the photos of that kit are all taken with the fore-end in the rear position, to try to hide how uncomfortably far forward the fore-end has to be moved to make room for the magazine.
