IHMSA15151

Are they "in stock"? Website says pre-order only. Will they fit a VR80 with a Advanced Tactical mag well?

Has anyone actually seen or tested one of these unicorns? I did the "pre-order" thing. When it comes I'll add to the write up.

My .02 worth. Blockader is pretty much correct. That being said, a lot comes down to your expectations. If you're not too serious about your placings and just want to have some fun in Open class or give it a try without going with a mag fed shotgun, the tube fed guns will work well for you. It also depends on where you shoot and the stages they run. I have run a Win. SX3 with the Arrendondo speed loader for about 3 years now. I have both the 4 & 6 round tubes. I already had a shotgun that could be converted so that was one of the reasons I went that route as apposed to buying a whole new gun. I put an extension tube (12+1) and for a while a tube holder with a few tubes would be fine for most 3gun stages. As the mag fed guns became more popular it seemed that stage designers started increasing the amount of rounds required. I think the biggest advantage of the mags over the tubes is the round capacity and ease of loading. The mags can hold 10 or 19 where the tubes are limited to 4 and 6. It is also much easier to reload with a mag than the tube unless you practice a lot. If you are off a little bit on the alignment of the tube you get the "popcorn effect" where a couple shells go in the gun and the rest pop out onto the ground. There are some down sides to the mag guns also. The mags are HUGE and a pain in the butt to carry on your belt. Most folks have some type of jamming issues at least once in a while and they take some tweeking to make them run well. They can also be expensive, but the new VR80 that Rock Island Armory has come out with has helped somewhat with the price point. I just bought one a little while ago and have been going through it a doing some mods. (See the posts about the VR80 in the Shotgun Technical thread). One other plus will be as more folks transition to mag fed guns, more used speed loaders and tubes will come up for sale and you can probably get a good deal. Mine will be hitting the classifieds shortly.

I use some soft rubber rail covers. I'm thinking of putting on a hand stop also. My first match with it is next week so I may be changing things up after a real day of shooting it.

I was able to find a VR80 a couple of weeks ago and while I was awaiting shipment I started sorting through the 30+ pages in the Enos posts about the gun and researching online for all the options, mods and problems that have been associated with this shotgun. So I have finally settled on my configuration (at least for now) I thought I would list some things pro and con as to help anyone else making some decisions. The folks that posted in the earlier post were a great help, Thanks! 1) The shotgun: Overall I am very pleased with it for the price. Mine was $599 before tax. You do have to break it in and it took about 80 rds of highbase 6's and some 3" magnums. After that it runs pretty much flawless with the 5 rd and 9 rd mags using the cheap bulk Federal from Walmart. I did take it apart and cleaned it a couple of times during break in and found some minor rough edges to smooth and oiled the bolt. I also rotated the right side safety lever 180 deg. because it ripped a hole in my index finger after the first 10 rds. of break in. 2) Mags: The 5 & 9 rd mags functioned fine right out of the box (after break in) but I still took them apart and deburred the follower a bit. They are showing wear signs on the paint in some areas so I will probably buff the paint down or off, to smooth things up a bit. One of the 9 rd ones I chopped the base plate off to hold 10. It runs fine like that also. I highly recommend getting the Amarok mag loader, it really makes things easy. I bought a 19 rd mag also and had a few issues with it not feeding well when it gets down to the last 5 or 6 shells. They were jamming into the top of the chamber. I thought it was a case of less spring pressure and allowing the shells to be at a steeper angle to the bore. I later noticed that some of my older shells were flat or almost flared out at the end. The newer boxes of the same brand has a better rolled edge and when I loaded those the jams were minimal. (see photo) More testing is needed with the 19 rd. None of my mags will drop free when empty. Not sure if the paint removal will help or just because they curve so much and are pretty light. Something to work on later. 3) Handguard: The handguard was a bit sharp up in the front so I put some rail covers on the sides. Helped a lot and I might add a hand stop to the bottom later. You do get a small amount of gas out the sides where the gas piston sits so getting your grip forward is helpful. 4) Buffer, tube & spring: I replaced the buffer tube with a mil-spec carbine one so I could use a carbine stock I had. The stock spacer ring doesn't fit a mil-spec tube so I used a Dremel tool and opened it up. I also ground off the sling tab. I installed a Taccom buffer with a cut carbine spring and it does reduce felt recoil. The issue with the Taccom buffer is that the secondary spring makes it difficult to pull the bolt back the last 1/2 inch or so needed to engage the bolt stop. Not a big issue but a pain in the butt if you need to lock the bolt back quickly. 5) Magwell: I got a RIA factory magwell and it is pretty nice. Looks good, mounted up easily and does help with getting those awkwardly large mags in the gun. 6) Muzzle break: I decided on the RIA small break. It came with the short lock ring that replaces the barrel shroud. I actually like the look better without the shroud. It does reduce felt recoil and I am thinking about taking out the Taccom buffer to see if the break works well enough and then not have the issue with locking the bolt back. Still a work in progress. The break did change the point of impact for the gun but didn't effect the actual pattern. It patterned the same with or without the break just more to the left, so I adjusted my dot. It does make it difficult to replace choke tubes but there are extended wrenches on the market that will work. 7) Trigger: So the trigger on these guns is HEAVY. Some folks are reporting 9-10 lb. or that their gauge doesn't go high enough. Mine actually breaks pretty clean without a lot of creep but is heavy. I have seen some improvement in mine with use, not a huge improvement but it is obviously wearing in some. I have a JP spring to try and there is always the option of a Tooth & Nail trigger but they are pricey and not in stock. I need to run a couple of matches with the JP spring first. All in all it's been a fun build and gets me into a mag fed shotgun for a lot less money than the current offerings. The biggest question is how it will run in a match. So the next 3 Gun match should be interesting.

Thanks for the info, I think I have a JP spring set in my junk box. I'll give it a try. The complete trigger sets are $120 and out of stock, so if this helps a little that would be great.

Is it a JP spring kit? Where did you get it?

Is there a way to check to make sure your bolt isn't hitting the back of the upper receiver? I called Taccom and they said there is supposed to be some added force when locking back.

I would like to get some feedback from anyone who has replaced the stock buffer tube, buffer & spring. I went to the range today and did some more shooting at various types of targets to get use to using a dot sight on a shotgun. Up until this point I have always had some type of front bead. Anyway, the gun ran great with the mild ammo and wasn't all that unpleasant to shoot. When I got home my Taccom buffer, milspec tube and spring were waiting for me. I'm wondering if I should just leave it stock or go ahead and swap everything out. It seems some folks have had issues after this upgrade. Would like to hear everyone's experiences. Thanks, Steve

Their website says it includes "hammer, trigger and disconnector" and that everything is USA made. That would lead me to believe they are aftermarket parts not just some springs on RIA triggers. I have never dealt with them so I don't know if they push the limits of advertising or not.

Yes, mine seems to get better the more I shoot it. I ran about 70 old corroded high base 6's through it and had a few that didn't eject and one jam that locked everything up to where I could hardly get the mag out. So for right out of the box with less than stellar ammo I was optimistic. Then I ran 10rds of 3" #2's, had one jam and my shoulder had had enough. Took it home swapped out the stock with a magpul and JP grip, mounted a dot on it. Cleaned it real good, put in the light load gas piston. Went to the range today and it ran two boxes of Walmart Fed. bulk pack stuff at 1200 fps through it with no issues using both the 5 & 9 round mags. My 19 rounders and a muzzle break are on order. Let the fun begin!

Thanks

I could use that, can you provide contact info? Just got my Taccom buffer in the mail today and the new tube and spring should arrive Monday.

So I pulled the gas system apart to clean and then replace the gas piston to try some lighter loads. When I looked at the exploded parts diagram to make sure I had things correct, I noticed the drawing shows a sealing ring and a gas block o-ring. My gun didn't have either of these parts. So is there a design change or did mine come missing parts? It actually functioned pretty well for the first run. I was using Win. Super-X high base 6's and only had a few issues. After about 75 rds it was running great with the 5 & 9 rd. mags.

Thanks