Montana3gunner
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Posts posted by Montana3gunner
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As bad as this platform needs a drum, I can't believe that anyone would try to rain on the parade of a vendor who is trying to make technological advances for the betterment of the MKA (and yes, to sell products). Whether it is FB, TN, or whomever....we need to be helpful and supportive or the MKA won't be around long.
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If you are using it for 3gun, the whole idea is that whatever it weighs....ain't going to be there long. It better be downrange asap.
More important is that the damn thing works....really well.
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Jim, that is flat out awesome. Love it. Can't wait to find out more.
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I had hoped maybe this would feature an upgraded magwell, so someone could make plastic mags like for the Saiga. You are correct though, the weakness in this platform is the steel lipped mags in my opinion and experience. But to be fair, some of the same issues are seen in the Saiga platform as well, feeding shotgun shells ain't easy out of a mag no matter how you look at it.
Totally agree. And, in past posts I've mentioned that even the non-mag fed Open guns have their fair share of problems. However, this year I've been impressed with the Versas.
I'm a crappy shotgun loader, so I'll stick with the mag fed shotguns but just try to keep an eye on the mags.
Maybe we need a jig of some kind that you can insert the MKA mag into so you can quickly verify the mags feed lips are ok.
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I did shoot under the spools sideways. It was the only option other that turning the shotgun upside down. The spools we shot under were small, so you didn't have enough room for a long mag like the 23. My 15 barely fit and frankly caused me some problems. There were targets in about a 150 degree field of fire from the spool. Thankfully, I had staged my 10 rounders and ended up grabbing the 10's in the middle of shooting the stage.
This pic will explain it better. This is one of my friends and squadmates shooting his Versa under the shotgun spool. I also had problems with turning the gun sideways and catching the bolt on the bottom of the spool. I shot a lot left handed too to get the targets on the right. I think I would have been better off crawling as far as I could under the spool (the rule was no further than your chest equal with the bottom of the spool) and using 10 rounders rather than shooting sideways.
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As long as that failure isn't a double feed, and it's on a 23 round mag every 69 rounds, I'll take it. Many times it only takes about 1-2 seconds to clear an FTF, a simple rack in or out on the charging handle. It seems to me that most of the Saiga drums experience the same amount of issues - and those are the ones that run well. We had 3 Saigas with drums in my squad, and they had a couple FTFs per day, at least.
I was really impressed with how the Versas ran as a group. They had very few problems. Granted, most are heavy modded and have a lot of Benelli parts in them, but our squad had very few issues. So, I guess that's another option for Open shooters...there are guys shooting the Versas, with the longest mag tube they can find and using the load two technique.
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I was hoping it would be a little more forgiving with magazines, but it sounds like they still need tuning and tweaking to run.
And the mags need maintenance. 2 of those issues were with my most reliable 15 round mag. I need to check the feed lips, I bet they got bent a little somehow.
I don't think I can blame the gun at all for any of those 3 feed issues. Especially the double feed. Not much the gun can do there. The other two were FTF, one where the shell was presented high and right at 2 o'clock and caught on the outside of the chamber port. Again, I don't think that is a gun issue.
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Damn, that looks like fun! Any reason you don't run a brake on the Firebird A1?
BTW, you probably don't remember but we met a few years ago at the Prickly Pear range. I had a cnc guns AR45 I was testing.
Hey SB, hope you are well. Always good to hear from a local. You'd have to ask Jim why FB went away from the brakes, that's how the A1 come from them. He may have already addressed this somewhere in this forum, but I seem to remember it might have to do with the inconsistencies in the barrel...but I could be remembering that wrong. I'm all about reducing recoil - so whatever works, as long as the gun will run!
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Just an observation, you spend way too much time standing still. You may be saving time reloading but the time spent being encumbered by that mag is costing you.
The Iron Man stages are (as you can see) big. The shotgun targets are a mix of targets from easy to hit plates to tiny little bastard KO plates. I was using my IC choke, which was pretty tight for some of those small targets at closer ranges and wanted to make sure I didn't miss those little guys. If you put a wider choke in, many times you can't knock down the KO's or bigger plates esp. at longer distances, and at the IM you'll see all of that on pretty much every stage...so pick your poison.
Both Stage 9 and 10 had shotgun targets on both sides of the shooter in a "gauntlet" type bay. They do a good job of tucking some of the targets behind others and/or obstacles so that some are hard to see and it's easy to walk by them (I did this twice with the pistol on Stage 10). I think they try to suck you in to going fast with some easy targets, and then get you with some tough/hard to see targets that are easy to blow by. The stages are so big, it's hard (at least for me) to memorize all the targets.
If you get in a hurry and walk by one you either have to come back (which burns a lot of time), blow it (and get a hefty Fail to Engage penalty) and/or risk breaking the 180. You heard the RO warn me on Stage 10 on the 180 when I leaned back to pick up that 2nd pistol target I walked by. I've learned that it's best for me to make hay where I can, but not to take chances or get in a hurry. Other shooters will shoot it differently, with different results.
Moving faster would be great, would love to! Both of these stages were examples of total shit shows for me, and I've learned when that happens, to slow down 10% and just get through the stage...don't get in a hurry and make things worse. These videos aren't indicative of my best shooting, but I thought everyone would want to see the gun/mag in action. Also keep in mind that all the shooters from this part of the country are just getting into the swing of things. We don't shoot 3 gun over the winter and by the time we go to the IM we've only shot a couple local matches. We're different shooters by day 3 of the IM, and this was day 1. Combine that with the fact that I'm crappy with a shotgun, and that's what you see.
I've only been DQ'd once, and it was at the Iron Man 2 years ago. Spending all the time and money to go to a big match only to end up DQ'ing really sucks, and frankly I'm a shooter who's probably going to end up somewhere between 8th and 15th in Open (lower if all my stages were like 10), so it doesn't make sense to get in a hurry and take chances or risk breaking the 180.
On both stages 9 and 10, I don't think the length of the mag limited my movement. It was more about stage design and my game plan.
Good to hear your report, I can't get the photobucket vid to load.
The mags(all of them, 5's 10's 10+) do need tuned for specific guns, as there are small differences in how the shell is presented.
On shooting through a low port, the 23 works fine just turn the gun sideways. The last big match we shot, had a stage specifically designed against mag fed SG's
A low port, the TOP of the port was 8" off the ground, 17 targets, Joshua had the 2nd fastest time, I had the 3rd out of about 120 shooters.
Also shooting on the move with a SG will shave tons of time off your run.
ETA; we beat both Jerry and Kay M. Joshua actually beat Jerry in overall match time (15.27 sec) but Jerry won in match points. Jerry got 3rd, Joshua got 4th in open
I did shoot under the spools sideways. It was the only option other that turning the shotgun upside down. The spools we shot under were small, so you didn't have enough room for a long mag like the 23. My 15 barely fit and frankly caused me some problems. There were targets in about a 150 degree field of fire from the spool. Thankfully, I had staged my 10 rounders and ended up grabbing the 10's in the middle of shooting the stage.
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Similar to my last post, I would also like to add that the 23 round stick mag I used at the Iron Man was from Tooth and Nail. In my first tests, I had some FTF and other issues, and had to "tune" this mag (per Jim's video on mka mag tuning). Since then, It's run really well. I did have one FTF that I think was mag related, but that was out of 69 rounds. Pretty darn good for a shotgun mag. It sure helps having the extra rounds on the big stages, but holy smokes is it long. And yes, sometimes that is a problem. For example, Stage 8 of the Iron Man, you had to shoot all the shotgun under a wire spool turned on it's side. No using the 23 rounder on that stage. The Saiga drums worked much better on that stage. The mag is not a problem on dump tables and MGM dump boxes...but barrels are another thing. It's fine if you are abandoning the gun, another if you are retrieving it from the barrel. You'll have to load your mag on the clock, whereas the shooters with drums and shorter mags will not.
You can see this mag in the video links below, it's hard to miss.
You can see on this stage, the Tooth and Nail mag ran great, with both slugs and shot:
The mag problem at the end was caused by me ramming the mag in too hard, overriding the mag catch. That is user error and man it was really stuck this time. I was about to tell the RO I was done, but it came free on my last yank.
In the next video, the Tooth and Nail mag ran well great as well. My apologies to Tooth and Nail for directing you to a competitors Facebook page. For some reason, Photobucket keeps cutting off the shotgun portion of this video (at the end) and I'd like everyone to see the 23 round mag in action. T and N - PM me and I will send you the video if you like, or post it on your page/youtube, whatever you'd like. Again, sorry.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=789134927794115
In this video, you can see that on my next mag (a 15 rounder) I have a double feed. That mag has been super dependable, but I need to check the feed lips, I bet they've gotten bent a little bit.
In short (no pun intended), these are worth the cashola if you are a competitive shooter. They might need a little TLC (feed lip tuning) just like every other MKA mag, but so far this mag has been as dependable as my other mags, and gives me an extra 8 rounds over the 15's.
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I posted the below review of my recent experience with the Firebird A1 at the 2014 MGM Iron Man on the Firebird facebook page and thought I would post it here as well. Also posted are links to a couple videos of me shooting my first few stages (and not very well...I never do well the first few stages). Full disclosure - I am not sponsored by Firebird and am in no way affiliated with them.
Video of me shooting Stage 10 -
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=789134927794115
Shooting Stage 9 -
Posted on the Firebird page:
I'm a little behind on this, but wanted to post my experience with the new Firebird A1, and shooting it at the 2014 MGM Iron Man.
I received my new A1 the week before the IM. It is an amazing piece of work. The workmanship is really impressive. Everyone that picks up this shotgun immediately recognizes it as completely different animal in terms of quality of work.
I headed out to the range for a couple test sessions. The A1 ran 200 rounds of various ammo with only 2 malfunctions, both of which were mag related, not gun related.
Taking it apart is fantastic. I clean my shotgun after each day of the IM, (or any big match) as the grime can get fairly bad. I was so thankful that the A1 disassembles like it does.
I was super impressed with the tests, but the IM would be the true test. The first day, the A1 ran super. It was amazing. I did have a couple malfunctions (1 double feed, 2 FTF), but again, both were mag related. I think I've figured out that I need to tune a couple of my previously dependable mags. There was a lot of interest in the A1, as soon as word got around that I was shooting one, I got frequent visits from those that wanted to see it. As soon as they picked it up, I usually heard "wow".
Unfortunately, I was injured on the last stage of day 1 and that ended my 2014 IM. I will try to post a some pics and video of the A1 in action at the IM.
I would not hesitate to recommend the A1 to an Open shooter. For the money it is a fantastic option. -
Watch the 2nd Video, the interview. That pretty much explains it all. I' don't know how you can argue with any of it.
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Jim - you go! Good for you guys. Are the using control flight buck in the A1?
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Up. Still have the lower, HEOS, and Hand guard.
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You can use this HEOS on either XN or Pre-XN. It will work on both.
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I don't believe so. I think they will work for any MKA. You do need to make sure the HEOS and the Hand Guard are the same length though, and the ones I have for sale to work together.
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XN MKA is SOLD
FB Trigger parts are SOLDStill available:
FB Lower
FB Handguard
FB HEOS
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Price Drops -
NIB MKA XN - $530SoldFB Lower - $300
FB Short Handguard - $215
FB HEOS Gas System - $75
FB Trigger Group Parts - $80SoldBuyer pays actual Shipping.
Thanks for considering.
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And..for those of you looking to upgrade your hammer and trigger parts, I have a brand new set of FB internal parts for sale. $82.50 including USPS shipping. It includes the following:
Firebird hammer and spring, disconnector and spring, trigger and spring, and safety assembly
I also have an extra set of JP springs that I will sell to the buyer (not selling them separate, sorry). They fit with the hammer and trigger and bring the trigger pull down to 3-3.5 lbs.
PM me if interested.
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I have the FB trigger group and hammer in my MKA, and use the JP springs. I've run couple thousand rounds at least with that combo with no issues. Lowered the trigger pull to 3-3.5 lbs.
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That's awesome. Good for you guys.
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Thanks for all the questions. I've gotten a couple of questions regarding which parts are included with the lower and which ones are included with the parts kit, so hopefully this will clarify -
The receiver comes from Firebird with anti-walk pins, safety detent/spring/cup, feed ramp, bolt lock roll pin and assembly bolt (which attaches the lower to the upper). All of those parts are included with the receiver I have for sale.
The mag release catch plate and spring, and bolt catch are not included with firebird lowers, and I don’t think they are included with their parts kits either. I think you use the factory parts from the donor gun for those. FB might have some they can sell you though, you'd have to check with them.
The mag release button and bolt, grip screw, upper/lower bolt, are included in their new parts kit, but it was not included when I bought mine with this lower. FB has mag release buttons are for sale for $14.25 and I'm sure the grip screw as well if you need it. The new upper/lower bolt comes with the lower.
My parts kit includes: Firebird hammer and spring, disconnector and spring, trigger and spring, and safety assembly. Everything shown in the pic above (except the bolt catch roll pin) - $90. This parts kit originally cost me $150. The bolt catch roll pin shown in the pic is going with the lower.
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Funds didn't come through, so Handguard and HEOS back up for sale.
Derya Mk-10
in MKA-1919
Posted
Anyone seen these? What's different about these from the MKA? The article doesn't mention the gas system.
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/02/03/derya-mk-10-ar-style-shotgun/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheFirearmBlog+%28The+Firearm+Blog%29