RIA USA VRF14 12 gauge firearm

[Rastus]

Don't leave the 19 round mag loaded.

It doesn't do well when loaded and left.

[Big Frank]

Thanks for that, Rastus. Any advice on the 5 and 9 round mags?

[Big Frank]

For now I have the NcSTAR Aluminum AR15 Vertical Grip on and it feels pretty good. I may just stick with this one. I didn't think it would work out because the screw isn't enough to keep it secure on the rail. I looked in my bowl full of bolts and machine screws for something to put through the cross-holes, but nothing fit. Everything was either too large in diameter, or too short. I had number 10 screws that dropped in and went halfway in on each side, but no number 12 screws which would have fit tight. I did have one gold colored bolt with a matching Nyloc nut and washer that screwed in on one side, but it was WAY too short.

Then I saw a hot-dipped galvanized 10d nail lying there on my workbench and stuck it in the hole, and it was a pretty good fit. So I lopped it off with the bolt cutters, ground it down until it was just below flush and filed it smooth, and filed the two little gusset shapes off under the head of the nail that were there from when they made the head of the nail. Then the nail went all the way in and fit tight against the side, and the other end is either slightly below flush, or flush. I used a ruler as a straight edge and still can't tell. I chamfered the end and after I hit it with a paint pen it looks a lot like one of those custom 1911 slide releases. I did that after I put the big screw in the bottom of the grip and tightened it against the nail. I'm going to unscrew it and put blue Loctite on before I put it back in. I may smooth out the head of the nail too, just for GP.

[Rastus]

Thanks for that, Rastus. Any advice on the 5 and 9 round mags?

The 5 round seem solid.  9 rounders I don't know about.

[Big Frank]

Good to know. With the +2/3 extensions, I don't know if they'll have any less tension on the springs, or more when they're fully loaded.

After I took some pics, UPS showed up with my muzzle brake, and another 19 round mag. I got the Taylor Freelance +0 baseplate directly from Taylor earlier today, and it took 5-10 seconds at most to swap them out. The muzzlebrake didn't go back far enough on the barrel to suit me, the 1st pair of screws were in front of the muzzle, so I cut the forend off at the back of the first Picatinny notch. Then I cut it at the front of the second notch, when I realized it's made like a vent rib barrel, and I had a little rib hanging off the end. I didn't notice that when I had it in the vise, looking down at the top. I squared it up, good enough for government work, with a file, put the brake on and called it day.

Yesterday was when I finally got my gun. I went to get it a week earlier but was delayed, after going in Tuesday that week and the NICS system being down. So much for "instant" background checks. First it didn't work, then when I was delayed, the dealer never got an answer. After 3 gubmint business days of waiting they let me have it. I read about one state, I think it was Oregon, where people were saying they never heard of a dealer in that state letting a gun go until the transfer was approved, no matter how long it took. If the instant check was delayed and took six weeks, you waited six weeks to get your gun.

My new gun dealer only charges $15 to transfer a firearm. My older brother said Williams Gun Sights wanted $50. Well, that's a no-brainer, even for him!

I cut and filed the bottom rear of the rear sight base just enough to square it off. That way I could butt it up against the sling mount and have it completely on the receiver, instead of the front of it extending onto the handguard. Because of the way everything on the sight base is angled it sticks out just a bit past the receiver, but not the part that's clamped down.

P.S. When I was working on it yesterday, I took the front sling swivel off, since I didn't plan on using it. The small screw with captive washer has a Nyloc nut, just like the swivel did. I wanted something to plug the hole and it fit.

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

The only reason I bought another 19 round mag was Advanced Tactical had them on sale. They had the 9 round mags on sale too, really cheap. The 5 round mags weren't on sale, but I have another 5, a 9, and 2 more red +3 extensions coming. They should be here Tuesday. I would have bought black mag extensions, but I'd have to buy them from Taylor for full price plus shipping, like the +0 baseplates, instead of cheaper prices and free shipping on every order, except my gun. That was FedEx 2-day air, so it cost me, more than I'm used to paying to ship anything.

The charging handle is a Hayes Custom Guns Oversized Charging handle for VR80 shotguns. It's .130 longer and .075 larger diameter than the factory part, made of 303 Stainless Steel, is dimpled on both sides so it doesn't matter which way you put it in, and has 2 little tabs on the shank to prevent over-insertion. It also has greater texture over the factory part, and it's made in Texas, not Turkey, where the VR80, VR60 and other RIA shotguns are made. On the shotguns that are made so the bolt handle can be inserted from either side, if you lay it down on the side with the bolt handle down, it can force the bolt handle in too far. I don't know if that locks up the action or not, but it sounds like something you should try to avoid. The tabs on this bolt handle let you lay it on the "wrong" side if you want to.

https://hayescustomguns.com/

[Big Frank]

They say it takes 200 rounds of high velocity ammo to break in the VRF14 and shotguns like the VR60 it's based on. So Monday, before I came home from a long weekend up at my friends' cabin, I drove over to the woods where I used to camp and small game hunt. I found some targets of opportunity there, AKA a bunch of junk dumped in the forest, and fired 255 rounds of buckshot at it. Mostly 00 Buck, but also some No.4 Buck. 10 rounds, maybe 15, were tactical buckshot (reduced recoil), but the other 240 or 245 were full power loads. I don't think it would have been possible to shoot anywhere near that much without the muzzle brake. I had a lot of failures to feed the first round of a magazine, but it worked a lot better when I pulled the bolt back and released it, instead of pressing the bolt release. It needs the little extra oomph that the longer stroke provides. The bolt released itself several times when I inserted a new mag, and I would have to pull and release the bolt handle to get the shell to feed the rest of the way. I also shot 4 12 gauge red flares I had with me. I flipped the sights up and aimed those, and recoil was non-existent. Not even a little kick like a .22 LR. Of course I had to manually work the action, but the stubby little shells all fed. That was really surprising since it's such a long way up from the magazine to the barrel. Unlike a regular shotgun with a shell lifter, there's just a very steep feed ramp. I had a bunch of birdshot with me too, but had enough shooting for one day. After having a couple of drinks and watching the bonfire I started with the flares, I packed up and went four-wheeling.

[Big Frank]

I have a 500 lumen tactical light on the left forend rail, my old Streamlight Scorpion on the right side, and a red laser on the bottom rail ahead of the VFG. Having the VFG angled 45 degrees to the left made the gun more comfortable to handle. I had a piece of a red filter from a G.I. crookneck flashlight, cut to size and super-glued to the Scorpion light, but the muzzle blast blew it off. I had a THYRM CLENS Protector on the VISM tac light to keep it clean, but that got blown off too. I can move the light back 1/4" farther in its mount and that's about it, but the muzzle brake is badly smoking up the first inch of the light. I don't know when the CLENS Protector came off, but it really worked until it did. That one didn't stick well after I removed it and placed it back on the light. It seems like a great product, if you get them centered on the lens the first time. I'll use some glass cleaner to clean my lenses off, put new CLENS Protectors on both lights, and move them back in their mounts. I have a flip-off red lens cover somewhere in my living room that I think fits the Streamlight Scorpion. I need to look for it again, so I can have an eye-friendly light on one side again, and the dazzler on the other. 

https://thyrm.com/product/clens-protector/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6NTTsyKS-Q

[Big Frank]

This could be an alternative to the Knight's Armament Co. Masterkey, with a magazine capacity greater than 3 rounds. The barrel could probably be shortened a few inches and the weapon still function.

[Big Frank]

5.11 makes backpacks my shorty shotty will fit in. The non-tactical blue colored one doesn't look much like a gun case. Too bad there are so many negative reviews about the case. It's too thin, the gun prints right through it, there's no reinforcement for the muzzle, and nothing to hold the muzzle in place, so it will wear a hole in the case, they used to be good but now they're crap, or something like that. It was probably 2 weeks ago when I looked at it and I can't remember much for that long.