Mark Roth is a competitive shotgunner and an inventor. His company Roth Performance has been quietly making innovations in the shotgun world at their Kaukauna, Wisconsin location for years. Their XRAIL is probably their most well-known product – a rotary tubular magazine capable of holding a box of shells.
They also make extended shotgun magazine tubes and other items. Recently the company introduced the XB3G Quad Vacuum Port shotgun receiver, which is competition ready right out of the box.
Competitive shooting disciplines tend to drive innovation. In the quest to shoot quickly and accurately, winning and losing can be measured in tenths of seconds and fractions of inches. In 3-gun matches, shooters use a rifle, a pistol, and a shotgun. Any of the three present challenges, but loading a shotgun quickly tends to be a skill that separates those who win from those who do not. In particular, quad loading is a skill that top competitors possess. Quad loading is what it sounds like – grab four shells and stuff them into the magazine tube. There are many videos online for how to do this, and even Keanu Reeves’ quad loads in his latest film John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.
To execute a quad load, the shotgun’s loading port must be opened up substantially from its stock dimensions. Up until now, shooters sent their receivers to a qualified gunsmith to have this work done, or they broke out the Dremel and did it themselves. Speaking from experience, the DIY route is nerve-racking (I’ve done this three times). It is an unnatural act to take a Dremel to a perfectly good shotgun receiver knowing that at any moment you could ruin your gun. Now there is a better way.
Roth Performance makes prepping your shotgun for quad loads quick and easy. With some simple tools, you can swap out your Benelli M2 or Breda 12 receiver for the new XB3G Quad Vacuum Port receiver. Instructions are printed on the inside of the box under the foam and they are straightforward. I used a padded vice, a crescent wrench, a heat gun, a punch, a hex wrench, some thread locker, and a coin. The whole process took less than an hour.
The XB3G receiver is available with a machined rail for attaching a red dot sight. Doing so typically puts the competitor in the Open class of a match, but it makes accurate slug hits much easier. Often times other red dot mounting solutions are awkward and an afterthought. This rail was designed in and it is perfect for a low profile red dot sight.
As mentioned above, putting this receiver on my Benelli M2 was very easy. Though I have not yet taken this gun to the range I have practiced loading it. Previously I was a “load 2” guy, meaning I would grab two stacked shells at a time to load. I hadn’t been able to quad load. I can’t say the XB3G vacuumed up the shells, but I was able to quad load on the first try as long as I was able to pick up four shells. This was a surprise. My bottom line on this receiver is it is a great piece of engineering and very well thought out for 3-gun or any competitions involving shotguns. Pricing for the XB3G QVP ranges from $375 to $899 depending on options. At the low end of pricing, there is no rail included, but there is a dovetail cut for a rear sight. At the high end, you get the dovetail, the machined rail, and any one of several bold colors of anodizing. All options ship to an FFL as a serialized receiver.
Can use 3-inch bullet for this Roth Performance XB3G QVP Receiver?
With the magazine tube so much longer than the barrel, I would have concerns that shot pellets would hit the tube. I don’t compete in 3-Gun shooting, so I’m not sure what loads are used. The article mentions slugs, so perhaps that’s the only round used?
Pellets hitting the tube are not a problem. You would have to be probably a foot or more out before the shot spread was enough to hit the tube.
The pellets are just getting free of the wad this close to the barrel.