Running mags as reload devices

[Kentactic]

Ive been kicking around the idea of running shotgun mags as in the ones used in the Saiga 12's in pouches on my plate carrier. When I need rounds I can swipe them off the magazine. One grab location every time. Swipe, feed, swipe, feed. I cant think of any real down sides. What do you guys think?

[Chief Brody]

Interesting idea. I wonder how one of the elastic and velcro side saddles might do in that role. Doesn't have the benefit of a follower pushing a round into the same position every time, but it would be lighter weight, less bulky. Could also look into the cost of these vs. the Saiga mags.

[Kentactic]

Many run the elastic loop exposed rounds on their chest. In my opinion its not great. Your ammo is exposed to the elements and you will likely lose some of them if you wear the rig long enough. However if you like that style then look into the SOE chest rig.

[Zebra62]

Its a great idea, Ken. Same concept as using a 4 or 6 round caddy and less likely to drop a round when perfoming the tactical spider web karate move so common to many of us this time of year.

The only drawback I can see, and not that big of an issue, is that stripping from a stacked magazine in this manner would limit you to only one round at a time like what you would be doing anyway for breech loading. Strip, load, shoot, strip, load, shoot....With practice you could get your shots down to below a second and make Mr. Badguy's night very bad. A stripper type caddy allows you the benefit of grabbing multiple rounds, depending on the size and coordination of your hand, to be able to reload the magazine. Being able to top off your chosen HD weapon mid-fight can aslo tell Mr. Badguy he picked the wrong house to burgle.

Gypsy has been practicing with her caddies a couple times a week doing port loading and magazine loading since we got them and she loves them. I only bought two and hung them on her belt for her 20 gauge. I made a few caddies for my 12 gauge out of 9 gauge wire using plans I found here on the forum. I am now trying to engineer one to fit my molle vest. Just gotta get the wire bent right.

www.saiga-12.com has 12 round magazines as low as 44.95 and 10 round magazines for 34.95. Be sure to check your local laws concerning capacity as thier website clearly states where they cannot ship.

[Kentactic]

Yeah ive never been a fan of those caddies for a couple reasons. One is exposure to elements. The second is that if you pull one round the rest are now able to fall out. And from what ive seen they can be quite noisy.

Aa far as loading multiple rounds from your hand at a time, I feel its not really needed in a fighting shotgun. While training ive even been forced to drop a single round when the call of threat or whatever is made. You dont know when you'll have to shoot again so risking multiple rounds to the dirt is a bad idea in my opinion. In addition to that if you did have that system setup could you even perform it with totally numb hands? Feeding and controlling a single round will be hard enough as it is.

[Zebra62]

Yeah ive never been a fan of those caddies for a couple reasons. One is exposure to elements. The second is that if you pull one round the rest are now able to fall out. And from what ive seen they can be quite noisy.

Yes, they expose your rounds to the elements, rounds can fall out,and they can be noisy. The caddies we have are from California Competition Works and they came with a couple plastic shims to take up addidtional side space created by diffent lengths of rounds. These shims can be attached via velcro dots supplied with the caddies or in our case by industrial velcro I picked up from Walmart. I also took strips of the pile side and attached them to the inside of the caddy at the back to provide a little extra friction to keep the rounds from jumping around so much. We haven't dropped a round out of the caddy since. Exposure to the elements is battled with the addition of clear 10 mil vinyl I picked up from our local sewing store. I cut the vinyl the width of the caddy and about three times longer. Screwed it to the back with the same screws holding the belt clip on and used the same velcro from Walmart to secure it around the perimeter of the caddy. At the top, I put a brass grommet in and added a paracord tassle so Gypsy can grab the tassle, rip it open and access her rounds.

It isn't a better way than anyone else's way and seems like a lot of addidtional effort, but it is what we have and it works for us.

Aa far as loading multiple rounds from your hand at a time, I feel its not really needed in a fighting shotgun. While training ive even been forced to drop a single round when the call of threat or whatever is made. You dont know when you'll have to shoot again so risking multiple rounds to the dirt is a bad idea in my opinion. In addition to that if you did have that system setup could you even perform it with totally numb hands? Feeding and controlling a single round will be hard enough as it is.

I agree that port loading is the most expeditious way to get a fighting shotgun back into action. After firing your last round, take cover, scan for threats, load a round into directly into the breech and chamber it. You are back into the fight. Scan for threats and engage as required. Shoud you be fortunate enough to have a couple extra seconds, get a couple rounds into the magazine. Scan for threats again. Engage as required. This is all standard stuff. Everybody teaches it almost the same way. Different terms for different actions, but it is all the same.

The difference comes from what you pull your rounds from. The most common is of course a carrier with elastic straps holding your rounds to a belt, a vest or directly on your weapon. We also have Mesa Tactical Carriers on both our 870's. I find pulling from a carrier in this manner slow and cumbersome. With the caddies we have, we can grab a couple rounds for a magazine top off or a single round for breech loading. Only takes a couple of seconds. Pulling from an elastic strap carrier takes a few more prescious seconds to get those couple of rounds in. It is the way we practise. We have dropped rounds before and we will drop rounds again and I cannot say that in a SHTF situation we will come out victorious. Too many variables.

I am not saying pulling from a magazine mounted in an M-4 pouch is wrong. It does have advantages. If you have several of these magazines, you could have one or two M-4 pouches with Siaga mags installed and a dump pouch with your remaining loaded magazines. When your M-4 mounted mags are empty, slip them out, drop others in, get back into the fight. Or if you happen to be lucky enough to actually OWN a Siaga...well...that would be a no brainer.

Anyway, valid points. Our way is not better. Its what we have. Use what you have, make your plan and PRACTICE.

[Kentactic]

Yep everyone is different. I currently run two of the 12 round pouches with the elastic loops inside http://www.lapolicegear.com/maxpedition ... pouch.html The rounds are very secure, safe from the elements(you could spray the nylon and make it very water resistant if you wanted but this pouch is already treated) and ive shown that you can be fast pulling from there. As fast as pulling from exposed loops actually.

When I said pull one round at a time I didn't mean to port load it. I meant to feed the magazine. If im port loading 00B im in bad shape. You dont want to run a pump shotgun dry. Its the biggest weakness it has. Low round count and slow reload. If im not shooting, I'm feeding my weapon ammo into the tube. I also have a mesa 6 round side saddle. That has all slugs in it. If I need a slug I port load those. Otherwise I feed 00B from my person. Certainly if I run my gun dry I would first port load a round before feeding the tube but thats not where I want to be.

[DaveC]

Seen this?
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2014 ... indiegogo/

[Zebra62]

Seen this?
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2014 ... indiegogo/

Bitchin' sweet concept! Does anyone know if these are in production yet or is he still collecting money? I like the fact he designed them to be molle compatable, unlike the California Comepetiton Works caddies we already have, althought they can be re-engineered to be. I haven't done ours yet.

[Chief Brody]

I just came here to post that link haha Gentlemen, it's good to see we're all on the ball.