Shotgun velcro sidesaddles?
 

I have looked all over this site without any luck and searched several different ways, but if this has already been addressed I apologize. If you could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.

Has anyone worked with a velcro sidesaddle on a shotgun? Remington says that it ships the MCS 870 with a velcro side saddle, S.O. Tech and SKD seem to be making them, along with Vang Comp. I am a medic deploying with a shotgun (not my choice) and I am looking at the best way to carry extra ammo. The removable sidesaddles seem like an amazing idea, but I am worried about how well they hold up, how well the velcro stays attached, how does the elastic hold up under recoil, etc. I have reservations about velcro in general, but I know some of the medic bags and removable IFAKs use velcro a lot. I have not had any issues with my M9 aidbag pouches coming out when I did not want them to, but those are on the inside of a pack that is closed almost all the time and they are not constantly being rubbed against stuff. If anyone has any better ideas on how to carry extra shotgun ammo please feel free to chime in. The thing that has me the most attracted to the velco idea is that I can put the extra "strips" in issued double mag pouches and also be able to swap out the whole sidesaddle if I needed to get more ammo on board. I checked with my unit and they are cool with me doing whatever to the Mossberg 500s, so if anyone has any suggestions in that vein please feel free to respond to that as well or send me a PM. Thank you so much for your help.

http://www.skdtac.com/Esstac-Shotgun-Card-p/ess.106.htm

http://www.cobratactical.com/SOTech-...ST_p_4341.html

http://www.shop.vangcomp.net/product.sc?productId=45

I would go with a hard Sidesaddle, and put the loose ammo in a Claymore bag. Could use a dump pouch if you had to.

The stock mounted units are okay, but require more movement to reload.

I would get a similar gun with several boxes of cheap ammo and go practice shooting while reloading.

Don't wait till you are empty to top it off. Reload while under cover, and make sure you are topped off before moving.

TR

I vote no to the dump pouch. I hate fumbling for shells or making a shick shick noise when I run. I say no to side saddles and yay to butt cuffs. Side saddles interfere a bit with my peripheral. Esp. since peripheral is most important for sensing motion. Depending on where the thing is mounted it can interfere with the often sticky tang mounted safety. (esp. if a lefty)

Esp. relevant as a righty but also applicable to lefties is:
Under stress when doing a speed or combat reload it's easier just to slide the shell forward and under in one motion and tracking a clear visual path to the mag or port instead of having to switch over your hand to the other side of the receiver to shove it in the port for a combat reload or even worse, tilt the gun on it's side etc like with a side saddle. With a butt cuff you can start with the shell on the right side of the gun and use your support hand to keep the weapon on target (easier than trying to hold it from inside the trigger hand) while your trigger hand (probably your more skilled hand) does the reloading. If you need a demonstration I have a 590 I can show you with.

But when I reload, no one's life hangs in the balance so feel free to errr call the shots on this one (pun fully intended) :p


So yeah, just some velcro on the right side (if you are a righty) side of the stock should do just fine. Or if you are looking for something more secure, a neoprene butt cuff or similar. And then some on the shotgun cards. You have more options that way.

BTW: out of my own personal interest, do you get slugs :D I take it you are a Navy Corpsman unless this is a recent thing for the 68Ws

Magpul dynamics (i.e. Chris Costa / Travis Haley) have a good instructional video on shotgun manipulation, reloads, slug changeovers and the like. While I personally think the Velcro is OK, tactically, its noisy and you run the risk of dumping the rounds out of the Side Saddle on your belt. I will have to buy one and try it before passing final judgement.

TR speaks the truth, if you ain't shooting it, you're loading it.

Link removed

IMHO: I would advise that you do not post links to copyrighted material(s) that is/are otherwise unavailable on the publishers site. Aside from the moral and ethical issues, the posted links could implicate PS.com is some otherwise unsavory business.

My .0002

There are several velcro side saddle 12 ga caddies out there and they are not all created equal, most are crap. I am only aware of 2 out there that are what I would consider recommending and what I've use/used. The first is made by a company that makes gear for competitive shotgun/3 gun events. The name eludes me at the moment but if I can recall/find it I'll post it.

What I highly recommend is SOE's 12ga micro rig, it holds shotgun shells but can also hold M4 magazines if you don't need shotgun shells for a specific load out. If the rig itself is more than you want, they also sell 12ga shotshell pull out trays/pouches that can be used in your typical magazine pouch or in one they make that allows for one in the pouch and one on the outside. This gives you the ability to carry 24ea 12ga shotgun shells in the space two M4 mag pouches occupies. The flexibility of the shell cards is that is allows you to carry one on the side of the shotgun if you want and once its empty you can peel it off and put another one on off of your kit so you always have something on the gun. Check out both products here.

12ga micro rig
12ga pull out trays


The great thing about SOE is if what you see doesn't fit your bill, they will modify /make the item you need.


Edit: the link to the first caddy I mentioned is made by 3gungear.com the peel off version can be found HERE

I took a standard Side Saddle, cleaned it up and attached industrial strength velcro to it and mounted it on my Remington 870 SBS. It's been there for over a year now and I have had zero issues.

I think it has its merits, especially if you carry a spare / reload side saddle on your belt, you can swap them out quickly where the hard sides ones have to be filled one shell at a time.

Do you carry an spare on your kit?

My overarching opinion about gun kit, from slings to holsters to magazines to sights is that they are like shoes, you need specific ones for specific jobs and mine may not fit you worth a flip but are great on my feet.

Most consulting is merely a collection of common sense packaged into a set of useable tools. That and actually being taught to do something effectively and having the time and opportunity to learn to do it, as opposed to being a youtube commando.

The thing I liked the most was the slug changeover.

Ditto on the pirated sites.

No, I didn't download the link, I bought the disks.

I've used the 3gungear velcro sidesaddles in 3 gun competition and found that they work quite well. over time the elastic will give out, but over time, a hard plastic sidesaddle would likely break or lose tension as well. Also there are a number of belt mounted "speed stripper" carriers for shot shells such as those made by California competition works, that could work well mounted on a molle vest or rack. They take some practice to perfect but are the fastest reasonable solution I have found for reloading a shotgun.


Good times,
Blake

I have had really bad luck with elastic loops for shotgun rounds. Poorly designed loops are too loose from the beginning, and rounds work their way out when you walk, run, jump. Better designed loops wear out quickly, with the same result.

I don't know if you have access to a good sewing machine or not, and whether your unit would let you modify your vest. If possible, you might take a look at the shotgun speedloaders on the vest at the link I'm attaching. These speedloads do not lose ammo. Also, they feed downward, so you can reload with one hand. Each loader holds 4 rounds, and when you remove a round from the top, gravity moves the next round into place.

I'm not sure the best way to attach something like this to webgear/vests---that would be for a good guy with a sewing machine to figure out. But, I do know that if my main gun was going to be a shotgun, I would damn sure have a way to speedload it.

I have also used old SAW drum pouches to hold shotgun ammo. They actually work fairly well when affixed to your vest, hold quite a few rounds, easy to get into, easy to close, and don't lose any ammo. Trap and skeet shooters often carry a similar pouch.

Sorry to send you to a "cabelas" link, but it was the 1st place I could think of that would have the speedloader design I was thinking about.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cloth...3Bcat104058180

My shotgun isn't a duty weapon so it hasn't been run hard. I use it for recreational shooting, backpacking, etc,...

I am a 68W in an MP unit. MTOE has me down as only getting an M9, but I was taught repeatedly in all the medical courses I have taken and in Iraq that the best battlefield medicine is fire superiority. I am not by any means as experienced or as good as many of the members of the board here, but I do not see how to "gain and maintain fire superiority" with a pistol. Sure, not having a rifle to worry about would make patient care easier, but I do not understand the Army logic of issuing me a rifle when I was in a clinic unit and then giving me a pistol when I am going to be out on the road more. In short, the compromise with my unit was that even though they could not give me an M4 I could at least have a shotgun. It is not a great compromise, but it is what it is.

For the rest of you, thank you for your time and input. You guys have given me a lot to think about. I need to replace my TacStar sidesaddle on my personal home defense shotgun, so I think that I am going to try a velcro sidesaddle on it and use it/abuse it to see how it handles in addition to trying some of the other methods. I have a while before we leave, so I will let you guys know how it goes and anything that I learn from comparison along the way. Thank you again.

What is the proper way to deploy those pull out trays? I have heard of people tying the bottom loop to 550 cord and then running a stopper knot through the drain hole in the bottom of the pouch. It seems like it would work, but wouldn't they flop around and turn around on you? As far as the Micro Rig, I have thought about getting that since we are supposed to be in ASVs and I am a big guy to start off with, even when I am working out as much as I am supposed to. I want to keep my kit as small as possible. If the front is on velcro and the back one flips out onto the velcro, couldn't you use the rig in conjunction with a velcro sidesaddle platform? It seems that the front tray is attached just by velcro and then has a dummy cord type thing on the bottom, is that correct? Would that mean that it would also work as a sidesaddle, or I am stretching too much there?