CO3Gunner

Also, there are some good pictures of the A3G extended handguard on the Advanced Tactical website, so you can get a visual idea of what it looks like: https://advancedtactical.com/vr80-extended-carbon-fiber-handguard-by-a3gmunitions/

Because I ordered a custom shorter handguard, I chose "Handguard Only."

Apologies for taking this long to get back to you. It is from A3G Munitions, only I had them cut their extended carbon fiber hand guard back to ~12.5" to make clearance for gas ports I drilled into the barrel. It does not contact the piston or gas system. If I did not have the ported barrel, I would simply go with the stock extended carbon fiber version because it does lighten-up the front end quite a bit, making it easier to point. https://www.a3gmunitions.com/product/vr80-cfhg/

My solution was to reach out to A3G Munitions for a custom carbon fiber handguard with MLOK slots, which provide the ability to add various accessories including rails of any size. See photo for how it looks/works. Mark Leeber was extremely helpful (and patient) with me

Lots of magazine discussions, so thought I would add my 2-cents. Here is what works for me with magazines and related: Remove the last round bolt hold open tab. Lightly sand down the bottom corners and edges of the follower. For 19-round magazines, loosen the magazine body connector and then retighten, but not too tight, use Blue Locktite. Sometimes they come too tight from the factory, causing the follower to catch. Steps #1, #2 and #3 help the follower move freely up and down the long banana of the magazine body! I put skateboard tap on the outside mags and cover the slots to prevent dust/dirt from getting in. The extra grip helps seat the magazine into place with hot, sweaty hands, especially on a closed bolt. If needed, lightly file down the front lips of the magazine and/or the rear corners of the mouth. On some mags, the bolt will hit/graze the top of the magazine (you will see bright metal on the magazine as evidence, if it is occurring). It will wear down eventually, but in the meantime can cause various malfunctions (e.g., double feeds, etc.) A few times a year, use spray graphite lubricant on the inside of magazine body. Disassemble first, of course! Give it ample time to dry before reassembling (about 15-20 minutes, just follow directions on the can). Once a month or so, depending on conditions, disassemble the magazine and run a microfiber cloth through the body. I find a one-piece cleaning rod useful for pushing the cloth through the body. If you drop a mag in the dirt, do this at the range before your next stage! It is easy for fine dust or grit to get between the follower and the mag body, causing all many of problems. Once a month or so and on older mags, I will gently stretch the springs out a bit and put them back in. Replace the springs after a year or so. Replace the plastic end plates with metal ones. If you drop them just the right way and the bottom of the magazine hits something hard (i.e., a rock, hard floor, etc.), the plastic bottom will crack. Worse, it can simply fail resulting in 19 shot shells flying out the bottom propelled by spring tension. It is spectacularly funny to watch, but not so good for your stage time . I prefer Taylor Freelance magazine extensions. In addition to removing a risk of failure, the heavier extension also helps the mag drop freely when performing a mag change. Replace the stock magazine release spring with a lighter weight spring from A3G Munitions. They offer replacements in light, medium and heavy. Medium works great for me. I suppose you can clip a few coils, but for ~$5 it is worth the peace of mind having the A3G spring: https://www.a3gmunitions.com/product/a3gmunitions-magazine-release-spring-for-rock-island-armory-vr80/ Hope that all helps, and I am sure others can add to this list.

Will do, and thank you!

I have been searching for months, I can not seem to find them on their website. Maybe they are keeping them in stock for their own guns? If you have a good link, please send along!

I have experienced a lot of weird malfunctions and failures, but that is a new one to me! I ran a TNL trigger for years and never experienced that particular problem. When they run, they are great. But, VR80s seem to have a way of rattling themselves apart. Turkish engineering just isn't up to par with European and American manufacturing standards. That said, I use blue locktite on just about every screw to help mitigate issues AND I check tightness of all screws after each match. I have two Oops Kits, just in case, as it includes the parts you will need to make a permanent (or semi-permanent) fix.

Posting this here because I know there are at least one or two Colorado shooters on this thread. If you live in the Colorado Springs / Denver area and have been thinking about getting into 3-Gun, SoCo (Southern Colorado) Shooting Sports will be putting on an Intro to 3-Gun Class this coming Saturday, April 2 from 11am - 2pm at the Pikes Peak Gun Club. Best part is that there will be a match the next day to put your new skills to work! This will be a great basics class to get started. Cost is $50, plan to bring 40 rounds each of birdshot, pistol, and rifle ammo. Guns & equipment are optional, bring what you have or use any of our demo guns & equipment. A full 3-gun stage will be set up for attendees to learn and work on their 3-gun skills. Sign up on Practiscore: https://practiscore.com/soco-3-gun-intro-to-3-gun-class-june/register

Hey All, As promised, here is the new VR80 setup for 2022 with build list. Big thanks to A3G Munitions for the custom carbon fiber handguard. The shorter cut means I can use the barrel shroud OR the short nut. The front end is much easier to swing and it puts the center of gravity further back on the gun. Although the vertical grip screams "My first AR" it allows me to push the butt stock firmly back into the shoulder pocket every time. Dot movement on the RDS is near zero. Other little things you can't see: - Polished feed ramp - Material removed in lower receiver to ensure good fitment of hammer springs (springs lay flat on either side) - Gentle polishing of the extractor cut on the barrel extension to prevent shells from hanging up on it - Flex-honed barrel to smooth out the the barrel ports - Ported barrel (6 holes), did it myself Compared with a muzzle brake, I believe the barrel ports combined with the ability to pull the gun into my shoulder better with the vertical grip does more to reduce perceived recoil. After two matches, it is clear this gun will run!

That there is some scary sh*t!

Whoa! What is that?

That is funny, because I wanted to try my hand at USPSA and got hooked (diverted) into 3-gun. I learned how to quad load and got pretty good at it, but what a massive pain. Had a VersaMax for a few seasons, but it was never 100% reliable, so I switched to a Stoeger M3K (the "poor man's" Benelli). I still have M3K, it just runs and runs, but I couldn't resist the VR80's siren song! You know the disease, once you choose a VR80 that means you're in Open and the arms race begins. So, yeah. Gerritm's advice on mag tuning is spot-on. Magazine issues are the #1 source of VR80 malfunctions, at least in my experience. If and when you come out and play 3-gun, let me know! Half the fun of competition is building community around the shooting sports.

Indeed! I'm a BLGC member and I'm out there 1-4 times a month depending on what's happening and the weather. Have you shot Big Ben 3-Gun?

I carry Full, Modified, IC, SKT and Cylinder Bore in my bag. 90% of the time, I'm using Modified. When using slugs, 100% of the time IC. Notable exception would be a close-in bay stage with lots of clays, where I would favor IC or SKT. If there's a spinner on that stage, I will lean IC (damn those stage designers!).

In almost all cases, yes. If there is a bay stage with lots of clays, then I will opt for the IC or SKT, depending on the stage design. With multiple clays in the air close to each other, the SKT improves the probability of hitting more than one simultaneously Other than that, the Modified choke seems to get the job done, especially on spinners. I sight-in my VR80s using low recoil slugs at 50 yards using an IC choke. That zero/combo seems to put a lot of lead on target anywhere from 10 to 50 yards using Modified. Hope that helps, and your mileage may vary!

Yes, the VR80 uses the Benelli/Beretta Mobil choke thread pattern. The chokes that come with the VR80 aren't bad, and I still use them on my backup gun that has a muzzle brake. This season I decided to move away from the muzzle brake, go with a ported barrel and carbon fiber hand guard to reduce the front-end weight and make it more "point-able" (is that a word?). As a result, I prefer to use extended choke tubes for ease of changing them out between stages, as appropriate. I have had good experiences with Carlson's chokes.

I hear ya! I'm scouring the Interwebs weekly to find my preferred SG ammo.

Reply to Boomstick303: The light piston will be just fine with any slug. Yes on rifled slugs, that is what you want to shoot out of a smooth bore barrel (like the VR80). That is what they are made for, as the rifling on the slug allows for some deformation of the projectile as it travels through the choke tube. You can shoot sabot rounds out of a rifled barrel, but not recommended for smooth bore. Generally speaking, you want to use Cylinder Bore (C), Skeet (SK) or Improved Cylinder (IC) for slugs. I have gotten away with Modified (accidentally), but as a rule I try to stick to IC. If you use Modified or higher, the slug is going to blast through the choke tube, but your accuracy will not be as good and obviously it puts a lot of wear and tear on the choke. As a rule, for a stage that involves slugs I will use an IC or SK choke, depending on how close the other targets are and/or if there are clays involved. More clays = SK, more steel = IC.

"... never shoot something different in a match 200 miles away." Ain't that the truth! I have drilled out the gas ports on both my VR80s and found that the "sweet spot" for them is 1200-1250 fps. Although it can run 1145s, I don't find that there is enough of a difference to risk the reliability. For 1400+ fps, you will need the heavier gas piston, otherwise the action will cycle too fast and the bolt won't pick-up the next round (as you discovered).

Hey All - here is some information on slugs that may be useful. I like the Fiocchi 7/8 ounce low recoil slugs (1300 fps), mainly because I bought a can of them a few years ago and still have them (yeah, I know the handwritten info on the target says 1150 fps, that is inaccurate). These are fairly soft shooting with a noticeable reduction from the 1500 fps full strength loads. The orange target spot is the point of aim for both 50 and 100 yard distances, using an IC choke. At 100 yards, getting about a 6" drop. I have achieved better accuracy in the past, but for an IPSC or ABC style target, that is plenty accurate enough without having to make much adjustment. Compared to my Stoeger M3K, which required various holds up to the right, the VR80 is a straight shooter. I put the final touches on my new VR80 "race gun" and will post soon. Hope this helps!

I envy you guys this time of year, not so much in August

Hmmm, good point. I never thought to look before. After a quick visual inspection, however, I can see that some some small particles have stuck to the sticky side. Interestingly enough, they are inside the slot and do not protrude into the magazine or otherwise interfere with the follower. Probably because the follower rides on the indentations created by the stamping pattern. It would take ALOT of gunk to get that bad! It probably helps that I try to give each magazine a cleaning once a month and for sure after a particularly windy or dusty match. That routine entails taking the spring and follower out, then running a microfiber cloth down the magazine. I used to use one of those triangular toilet cleaning brushes, but found that a clean microfiber cloth picked-up more of the fine grit. That probably keeps the buildup to a minimum. I suppose at some point I should replace the tape, but for now there doesn't seem to be a reason.

Here is a picture of a 19-rounder with the skateboard tape for reference. The simpler solution would be to cut the strips larger, but I wanted to conserve the tape. I don't know what to say about the magwell issue, that is weird. That said, Turkish manufacturing tolerances are not as stringent as those in the U.S. or Europe. If it continues to be an issue, I would contact RIA and see if they would provide a replacement. Frustrating, for sure.

Thanks for the report, gerritm! Sounds like a miserable, windy day. I had a similar experience a year back at a match here in Colorado. The berms at this one gun club have silty/sandy dirt and when a thunderstorm rolls through off the mountains it kicks up the sand and it gets into everything. I cut some strips of skateboard tape to cover the slots in the VR80 magazines, which serve two purposes. First, the tape keeps the sand/grit out of the mag. Second, the rough texture provides a much better purchase on the magazines with slippery in sweaty/wet hands, when jamming a magazine into the magwell.