Sidewinders for shotguns?

[eurohacker]

What are your experiences with these? Seem damn cool to me!

The ones I've read about hold 10 shells, would be nice to have more than that...

Do they work with semi-autos?

 

[Third_Rail]

They seem very well made. When I have the money one will be going on a shotgun (to be purchased specifically for this)


Knoxx has some good videos of the function on their website, though I believe 10 the drum which is the biggest they have.

Nope, pump action only - no semi-auto.

 

[GunGoBoom]

I had one. Installed it. Let's just say their customer service is *most outstanding* at Knoxx Industries - they refunded my money no questions asked when I returned it. Well made, but didn't cycle rounds reliably, and the drum mag didn't seat with nearly enough contact and authority to inspire confidence. They said that I probably had not installed it correctly. I disagree. Although it was infinitely more difficult to install than the instructions and marketing would indicate, I *was* able to do it, and did do it right, I believe. Have them install on your gun if you are adventurous enough to try it - don't just buy it and do it yourself. It's one of those no-gunsmithing-required things that isn't. But with their outstanding customer service, you have very little to lose - perhaps I just got a lemon. Only works with Mossy 500/500A/590 series pump shotguns. Supposedly a Remington model is soon forthcoming, on a send-in-your-receiver-only basis.

 

[mattw]

They seem like a fun "blasting" peice but they are pretty ugly looking and I decided that they had no real purpose because you could have an 8 shot mossberg that was 10 times more reliable and i don't see much advantage to being able to use magazines or drums on a shotgun.. THEY ARE HUGE! where would you carry spare drums?! maybe thats what the guy in the ad was wearing all the load-bearing gear for!

 

[CaCrusin]

They seem like a fun "blasting" peice but they are pretty ugly looking and I decided that they had no real purpose because you could have an 8 shot mossberg that was 10 times more reliable and i don't see much advantage to being able to use magazines or drums on a shotgun.. THEY ARE HUGE! where would you carry spare drums?! maybe thats what the guy in the ad was wearing all the load-bearing gear for!

While you may be able to load 8/9 rounds into your tube...once you have expended them it takes several minutes of handling individual shells to reload. Cavalry Arms used the Sidewinders in competition and shaved 40 seconds or more off their match times. In competitive shooting, that's a lifetime. As to reliability, once the system is properly installed and broken in (remember, you're replacing half of the shotgun) it is highly reliable and extremely durable. The Six round mags fit in M14 pouches and the drums fit in shell bags. Custom drum pouches are showing up at matches all the time. The only small arms weapon the military uses that is not magazine-fed is the shotgun...for now. Magazines make sense in shorter reload time, safe ammo storage, and home defense. Where do you carry your spare ammo? In the box it came in?

Preconceived prejudices hold back progress. It may not be right for you. That's okay. It may be right for others and has proven to be so.

As to installation, you can view the entire process on the
Sidewinder Technical Support Page of our Website. There are step-by-step instructions with clear photographs identifying every part of the process. We do strees from the beginning that if you are not comfortable doing it yourself that you take it to your local gunsmith. If there is a roblem with the installation or the kit, we want to see it here and ask that the gun be shipped to the factory.

CaCrusin

 

[mattw]

Oh yeah?! Well they're UGLY!

 

[dfaugh]

I want one

..also because if I use 3" shells, my 8 round gun suddenly becomes a 6 round gun...Just haven't scraped together the cash,and probably won't for some time...

 

[RTFM]

How well do these modifications stand up in court?
A bone stock shotty like a LEO has in his car VS: the evil drum magazine fed home altered gun?

Any feed back from anyone that uses your product?

 

[Third_Rail]

I don't know how many times and to how many people I've got to say this...


Using a solid black firearm with a bayonet and the word "MANKILLER" on the side, as long as it's a legal self-defense case, doesn't make it suddenly an illegitimate case.


Likewise, shooting people randomly with a pink fluffly gun that is shaped like a bunny doesn't suddenly make it ok to do.


This, to me, is like the myth of using reloads for defense being a bad idea - back it up with caselaw, even a single case. Anything?

 

[RTFM]

But with the right POS lawyer trying the case your MANKILLR will get you life (or death) OR if you have the better shark than the family of the recently deceases the Mr. Pink bunny special will make you look like a hero of the community.

My question stands, CaCrusin any reports on it being viewed as the evil gun mod?

 

[GunnySkox]

I'm looking at Knoxx's website, and I can't really tell, is the sidewinder's magwell made of metal, or of plastic/polymer. I ask because in one of the videos, the guy wiggles the mag release to show where it is, and it looked like the whole magwell was moving to me, so is is polymer, and the whole thing just moves a little to let the mag fall out, or is it like an M14/M1A/Mini-14/30 in that there's a spring loaded, hinged little metal widget that releases the magazine?

~Slam_Fire

 

[mattw]

Using a solid black firearm with a bayonet and the word "MANKILLER" on the side, as long as it's a legal self-defense case, doesn't make it suddenly an illegitimate case.

Hilarious!

 

[Correia]

I tested one of these for an upcoming SWAT magazine article.

I won't go into a bunch of detail, as Denny hasn't published it yet.

The mag well is metal. The mags were solid. I did have malfunctions, but none of them were mag related, rather the ring that holds the pump in place had not been pressed on at the factory. The folks at Knoxx told me that was an error, and that normally they were pressed on before shipping.

It does exactly what it advertises that it does. It is up to the shooter to decide if that is what he is looking for. Loading was fast and easy. Functionality (other than the mentioned problem) was fine.

RTFM, other than Massad Ayoob pontificating about it, I'm not aware of any otherwise righteous self defense shoot where how the gun looked was any sort of factor at all. That is really kind of asinine if you think about it, since pretty much any type of gun can be twisted into something that it isn't.

 

[Third_Rail]

RTFM, other than Massad Ayoob pontificating about it, I'm not aware of any otherwise righteous self defense shoot where how the gun looked was any sort of factor at all. That is really kind of asinine if you think about it, since pretty much any type of gun can be twisted into something that it isn't.

No kidding. That match 1911 is a "man-killing murderer's weapon with a hair trigger, that you have to cock the hammer to start killing". Pump shotgun is a "arm-actuated over-50-caliber street sweeping assault weapon".


It's all too easy to say things like that and have people believe them.