12 Round SGM Tactical VEPR 12 Magazine Review

[plouffedaddy]

Just in time for Christmas my SGM Tactical mags showed up last week, here's what I've found...

Pros:
-Lightweight polymer design
-Modular design. They can be cut along the ribs to make 10, 8, ect... round mags
-Even fully loaded they still balance well in the gun
-Reliably feed variety of loads
-Did I mention they give you 12+1 capability?
-Easy to disassemble/clean
-Cost. They can be purchased for around $50
-They lock up solidly in the gun


Cons:
-They make firing from the prone awkward
-I've fired 96 rounds of bulk Walmart Winchester 8 shot loads---one time it didn't lock the bolt back. It only happened with that load so most likely it wasn't the mag but just noting it for others in case they experience it.

Here's a video with some shooting, a breakdown of the mag's properties, and a discussion of the pros and cons:

SGM Tactical VEPR 12 12 Round Magazine HD Video Link

[LHS]

[IMG]
-I've fired 96 rounds of bulk Walmart Winchester 8 shot loads---one time it didn't lock the bolt back. It only happened with that load so most likely it wasn't the mag but just noting it for others in case they experience it.

I've had some issues with the Wally-World Winchester 100-round value pack shit. My buddy's 870 just will not extract them. I have to mortar the buttstock against the ground to remove them, and it bends the rim of the case pretty fierce. I think part of that is either a rough or otherwise out-of-spec chamber, but it doesn't happen with other ammo, and I even had my old 870P do it once with that load.

[doodi1]

Great review of the mags. Thanks!

[plouffedaddy]

I've had some issues with the Wally-World Winchester 100-round value pack shit. My buddy's 870 just will not extract them. I have to mortar the buttstock against the ground to remove them, and it bends the rim of the case pretty fierce. I think part of that is either a rough or otherwise out-of-spec chamber, but it doesn't happen with other ammo, and I even had my old 870P do it once with that load.

I'm putting the blame on the ammo at this point. Went out yesterday with it again and ran Speer through it without issue.

[plouffedaddy]

Great review of the mags. Thanks!

Thanks.

[twistedcomrade]

Great review. That video really makes me want one of those VEPRs. I would hate to see what one is selling for now.

[plouffedaddy]

Great review. That video really makes me want one of those VEPRs. I would hate to see what one is selling for now.

Classic had them for $1200 last week. They obviously didn't last at that price...

[LHS]

I finally got to run my SGM 12-rounders this weekend. A friend of mine wanted to do a round of sporting clays, and I figured, why not do it with the VEPR?

The clays range mandates a maximum of 2 rounds loaded at any time, so I started out with only that in my 12-round magazine. The gun ran fine, though I did notice it was very iffy about locking back when the mag was empty. It seemed to depend on which direction the gun was canted, as gravity moved the magazine laterally in the well. After a while, and a few curious onlookers asking what kind of shotgun that was, I said "screw the rules" and loaded up a full 12-round mag. I ran the rest of the course with all my magazines full, and had no feed issues (using Federal general-purpose #8 shot). The gun ran like a dream, though the mags still were spotty on locking the bolt when empty.

On a related note, I had a hell of a time actually hitting anything. I started using my friend's off-the-shelf-at-Walmart 870 Express, and was knocking them down left and right. I switched back and forth between the shotguns a few times until I figured out the issue: with an Aimpoint Micro mounted on the dust cover, my head was just off the buttstock to see clearly through the optic, and I had no cheek weld. I need to look into getting some kind of stock riser to rectify this.

Finally, I was pleasantly surprised by the reaction to the shotgun. I expected dirty looks and disapproval by the 'Fudds' with their fancy over/unders, but I was generally met with curiosity and interest (other than the one know-it-all who was pontificating to his friends about the "AR15 shotgun" ). One fellow seemed particularly interested, so I offered to let him shoot a few birds with it. He gleefully accepted and proceeded to bust several clays. He handed it back with a grin and asked, "So where can I get one?" It ain't 1994, folks, we've made a hell of a lot of progress.

[plouffedaddy]

other than the one know-it-all who was pontificating to his friends about the "AR15 shotgun" .

There's always 1

I've shot mine a good bit more since the video was made and I've had it not lock the bolt back a couple more times but it probably locks back 90% of the time (rough guess). I haven't noticed the angle aspect of it but I'll be paying attention to that for sure now.

Thanks for the report; glad you finally got them in.

[LHS]

I love shooting clays with a VEPR You can see in the picture how high my face is off the stock to see through the Micro clone, which resulted in a piss-poor score. It's amazing just how important a good cheek weld is for this game. I guess you don't know what you got till it's gone. Still, a day spent outside in the cool desert spring, touching off shotshells with friends, is a good day.



And here you can see just how positively it ejects shells. That's with #8 birdshot, folks. This thing chews through them like a champ.