Attachment 67270
several weeks back a P-Fer posted about the Wilderness belt, have to say the info they posted was spot on, it is very well made belt.
Attachment 67270
several weeks back a P-Fer posted about the Wilderness belt, have to say the info they posted was spot on, it is very well made belt.
Vang Comp makes an improved ejector housing that is designed to help keep a loose magazine cap/magazine tube from destroying the ejector housing in the gun. It looks like this: The nose on the ejector fills the alignment cutout in the barrel more fully and keeps the barrel from wiggling around. The barrel is only held to the receiver by the force of the magazine cap/magazine tube. That will work loose in a remarkably small number of rounds or when bumping around in the back of the cruiser. It's wise for anyone using a shotgun to frequently check the tightness of the cap/tube before, during, and after a shooting session. The Wilson and Vang mag tubes seem to be much, much better about this than the factory magazine caps, though. Whether the new ejector housing does anything to prolong the life of the ejector spring itself, I don't know. The springs can stick out a bit or they can be more laid down even with the ejector housing as you see in the picture. The real tell, though, is whether or not the gun is properly ejecting. 870's can also fail to eject positively if the extractor spring and plunger aren't moving freely.
3/15/2016
I sent my two guns to Vang immediately after they came in to my FFL. I had them re-armor the guns and refinish them in Cerakote Burnt Bronze with NP3 coating on the working parts. The only thing I don't like about them is the porting. Porting is unnecessary if you are using solid recoil mitigation technique, the port holes tend to hold on to fouling and crud making it more difficult to clean the bore, and most importantly the rear-most port holes are perfectly placed to get the tip of your thumb if you aren't using the Surefire forend. One actually needs the old school SF forends that came with these guns to act as a hand stop.
3/15/2016
I've come to appreciate the ports on 18" or longer guns, they tend to make any muzzle flash divert off to the sides, leaving a clear view to the target and sights. But yeah, my big ol' paws tend to get close to them on 14" tubes so I have omitted them on M'Bogo. The Surefire forend does seem to ameliorate the issue, at least in dry-fire handling. The proof'll be in the pudding when I get it to the range.
Matt Haught
SYMTAC Consulting LLC
https://sym-tac.com
Needs to be where the 14" is available to an allegedly free people and not prohibited 'cause "reasons".
I thought it would probably be fine.
I was running a demo for some private instruction and in the midst of a string of fire (shot as rapidly as possible...because it's what I do) I had to stop and take a look to make sure the end of my thumb was still intact.
As lovely as the guns are, I can't put one of these in the hands of a client because of those ports.
3/15/2016
They are far enough forward on the longer barrels that none of your digits end up in the kind of proximity that nipped my thumb.
I'm still not a huge fan because it seems to make the barrel harder to clean and if schmutz accumulates around the ports it seems to grab at the wad for Flight Control...at least on some barrels.
Besides, with solid recoil mitigation the ports aren't necessary. But they are loud as hell.
If I had my druthers I'd skip them...but I'm not going to throw rocks at anyone who chooses to get them.
3/15/2016
Thanks. I did not know they made those, a marked improvement of the original it would seem. I've replaced a few of those on LE shotguns where they are not too particular about the appearance of the rivet heads - I can get them fairly smooth, good enough to cold blue and cover with a side saddle. Always wondered if a guy could work something out with button head cap screws.
ETA: that color looks perfect on those shotguns, nice looking machines!