RIA VR80 coming in 2019

[meeesterpaul]

I load 1⅛ oz loads to about 1150. If I were to go to a 1 oz load I would expect to run much faster to get a match on the Power Factor.  A 1 oz load would have to run at 1290 for an equivalent Power Factor. 

I haven't run any 1 oz loads in a while so I forget whether that's what actually worked. If I wasn't use e3 powder I'd try some 1¼ loads at 1040fps. 

 

[gerritm]

12 hours ago, Boomstick303 said:

 

I am looking for some but have not had any luck yet.  I think I may have found some Federal at Optics Planet.  I intend to only buy 1300 fps (max) slugs moving forward.  I have about 50 Federal slugs running at 1500 fps.  I may just try to sell those.  We are looking for rifled slugs correct?  Not slugs designed for rifled barrels. 

 

I also had a question if there is any choke that we should not use with slugs?

 

Thanks for all of the help.

Look at Freedom Munitions for 1300fps rifled slugs. I have shot these and they work & are accurate. Also Midway had Fiocchi reduced recoil 1300fps slugs'

https://www.freedommunitions.com/12-ga-2-3-4-x-treme-slug-reduced-recoil-plain-lead.html

 

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1836644566?pid=918352

 

One other caution. I have tried the loader you all recommend. It works OK. Problem is if you are not careful when you push the shell to seat it in the mag it can jump over the round under it and cause the dreaded rimlock in the mag. Which is a beast to clear. Round has to be in front and above the lower round. Had a problem with my big mag during a stage and when I unloaded it there was several rounds rimlocked. My fault not watching, but went back to hand loading rounds and checking each one. 

 

gerritm

 

Edited February 2, 2022 by gerritm
Add info

[Boomstick303]

Do guys have a preference of what brand choke they buy?  I see that my VR80 only came with Cylinder, Modified, and a Full choke.

 

From the research I have done it would seem that the Benelli/Beretta Mobil fit the VR80.  Is that the case?

 

[Boomstick303]

16 hours ago, CO3Gunner said:

More clays = SK, more steel = IC. 

 

Are you using a Modified Choke when Slugs are not involved?

[CO3Gunner]

2 minutes ago, Boomstick303 said:

Do guys have a preference of what brand choke they buy?  I see that my VR80 only came with Cylinder, Modified, and a Full choke.

 

From the research I have done it would seem that the Benelli/Beretta Mobil fit the VR80.  Is that the case?

 

 

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.  

 

 

[CO3Gunner]

5 minutes ago, Boomstick303 said:

 

Are you using a Modified Choke when Slugs are not involved?

 

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! 

[Boomstick303]

19 minutes ago, CO3Gunner said:

I have had good experiences with Carlson's chokes.  

 

What chokes would you have on hand? What choke are you using when you you do not have to shoot slugs.  I imagine if there were a lot of clays you would stick with the skeet choke, but if no clays and no slugs do you use a modified choke or another one?

 

I am currently on the Carlson website when you replied.

 

Point-able works for me.  I make up my own words often.

Edited February 2, 2022 by Boomstick303

[Boomstick303]

3 minutes ago, CO3Gunner said:

Hope that helps, and your mileage may vary! 

 

Thanks for the help.  Looks like you might be shooting out at Ben Lomond.  Hope to see you out there this year.

[CO3Gunner]

Just now, Boomstick303 said:

 

What chokes would you have on hand? What choke are you using when you you do not have to shoot slugs.  I imagine if there were a lot of clays you would stick with the skeet choke, but if no clays and no slugs do you use a modified choke or another one?

 

I am currently on the Carlson website when you replied.

 

Point-able works for me.  I make up my own words often.

 

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!).  

[CO3Gunner]

2 minutes ago, Boomstick303 said:

 

Thanks for the help.  Looks like you might be shooting out at Ben Lomond.  Hope to see you out there this year.

 

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? 

[Boomstick303]

12 minutes ago, CO3Gunner said:

Have you shot Big Ben 3-Gun? 

 

Not yet.  Long story on how I got to this point.  I was intending to shoot 3Gun years ago, but was diverted by life and USPSA.  I belong to HPPS club that runs the USPSA matches out there.  I figured USPSA was a good way to understand how matches run, and get some practice in while I got me equipment the way I wanted before I jumped into 3Gun.  Glad I did.  I was originally going to shoot a VersaMax, but I really have zero interest in learning on how to quad load.  I have also participated in a bunch of the Tactical Rifle matches out there testing the ARs.

 

I have spent the last year gathering equipment to participate in open and getting stuff ready.  I intend to attend at least 2 3Gun matches this year.  Maybe more if things go well.  

 

I tuned my VR80 mags last night, and it was amazing how free they are after taking those lock back tabs out.

 

Edited February 2, 2022 by Boomstick303

[CO3Gunner]

17 minutes ago, Boomstick303 said:

 

Not yet.  Long story on how I got to this point.  I was intending to shoot 3Gun years ago, but was diverted by life and USPSA.  I belong to HPPS club that runs the USPSA matches out there.  I figured USPSA was a good way to understand how matches run, and get some practice in while I got me equipment the way I wanted before I jumped into 3Gun.  Glad I did.  I was originally going to shoot a VersaMax, but I really have zero interest in learning on how to quad load.  I have also participated in a bunch of the Tactical Rifle matches out there testing the ARs.

 

I have spent the last year gathering equipment to participate in open and getting stuff ready.  I intend to attend at least 2 3Gun matches this year.  Maybe more if things go well.  

 

I tuned my VR80 mags last night, and it was amazing how free they are after taking those lock back tabs out.

 

 

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. 

 

[slappyjack]

 Boomstick303    I had asked some questions from the  Derya factory in Turkey they advised that the heavy piston was for 40gr+&3'',   and IC was the tightest choke to use on slugs. They consider  light loads has a 24, 28, 32, 34 grammage.

 

[CO3Gunner]

On 2/2/2022 at 2:34 PM, slappyjack said:

 Boomstick303    I had asked some questions from the  Derya factory in Turkey they advised that the heavy piston was for 40gr+&3'',   and IC was the tightest choke to use on slugs. They consider  light loads has a 24, 28, 32, 34 grammage.

 

Whoa! What is that? 

[Boomstick303]

On 2/2/2022 at 2:34 PM, slappyjack said:

I had asked some questions from the  Derya factory in Turkey they advised that the heavy piston was for 40gr+&3'',   and IC was the tightest choke to use on slugs. They consider  light loads has a 24, 28, 32, 34 grammage.

 

Ouch!!  Thanks for the info.  I do not ever intend to use 3" shells and found some slugs at 1300 fps so I should be fine using the IC or Skeet Choke for slugs with the small piston.  Need to get out on the range to sight in the optic and figure out dope for the slugs.

[Boomstick303]

On 2/2/2022 at 11:13 AM, CO3Gunner said:

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. 

 

Yup! For certain.  I will be out there at least a couple of times this year for the 3-Gun matches.  Looking forward to them.

[meeesterpaul]

fyi;  1⅛oz at 1080fps cycled and held the bolt open. 

(15.8grains of Alliant e3 in AA 2¾" hulls with Winchester 209 primer with 1 ounce Claybuster wads. Gas ports stock, only deburred. No barrel end compensator or buffer other than Adaptive Tactial EX Perrformance stock with honeycombed buttpsd. Hornady One Shot lube on a well used gun. 50° day, Chrono ar 10ft. 

[slappyjack]

On 2/11/2022 at 1:54 PM, CO3Gunner said:

Whoa! What is that? 

From what I was told it was a loose choke that had slugs shot through it!

 

[CO3Gunner]

5 hours ago, slappyjack said:

From what I was told it was a loose choke that had slugs shot through it!

 

That there is some scary sh*t!

[gerritm]

I put together a Briley compensator choke for my T&N MKA 1919. they sell the choke base in whatever constriction you want and then add the comp & clock it to where you want and use red loctite to keep it in place. Looks just like a regular compensator when done. 

 

Shot a slug thru an IC Briley comp choke and I believe the wad or could have been the slug hooked on the comp cross bars and bent it over & in and actually tweaked/bulged the barrel right by the choke threads, Replaced the barrel & choke and never used them for slugs again.

 

gerritm

[mpmo]

Had something a bit strange happen with a new 9 rd. magazine.  It failed to feed a round.  When I removed the mag, I saw that the lip of the top round was behind the lip of the one under it.  This happened twice with the same mag.  Did I somehow load it wrong? Or is something in the mag causing it the round to shift to this position?  Hasn't happened with any other mags.  

[Boomstick303]

1 minute ago, mpmo said:

Did I somehow load it wrong?

 

Did you ensure you loaded each round where the lip was in front of the round you are loading it on top of?  Its been mentioned before in this thread to ensure you prevent this while loading.  I loaded an upper round where the lip was behind the round below it.  I just removed it and installed the round again to verify it was loaded correctly.  

 

I do not have enough rounds through the gun to know if there something that happens in normal operation if the rounds were loaded correctly to cause this malfunction.  

 

As of now I have not had any failure to feed issues.  

[Don_B]

Pretty sure it happens when loading the mag. I pay attention to each round as I load it to make sure they don't get behind the lower round after I had the same thing happen. 

[mpmo]

Ok.  I'll check that.  I need to figure out how to search better.  I spent maybe 5 mins searching for the answer before I posted.  This thread is crazy long!  

[gerritm]

1 hour ago, mpmo said:

Had something a bit strange happen with a new 9 rd. magazine.  It failed to feed a round.  When I removed the mag, I saw that the lip of the top round was behind the lip of the one under it.  This happened twice with the same mag.  Did I somehow load it wrong? Or is something in the mag causing it the round to shift to this position?  Hasn't happened with any other mags.  

This is called the dreaded rim lock. If you are not careful when loading the mag the next round will go over and behind the lower round and prevent it from feeding. I tried that VR80 loader you all recommended and it has happened several times when you push the next round in, it slides over the lower rim and rim locks behind. I now load each round by hand and check it. There is a video out there on a technique. There is a way to unlock the rim by hitting the bottom of the mag hard by hand or bouncing it off something and the upper round will jump up and over and then feed. Kinda sketchy to do.

 

gerritm