Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Shotguns that feed from a box magazine have come and gone over the years, but they’ve recently had quite the resurgence in the last few years. Magazines have gotten better, and that seems to be one of the deciding factors in their success, as well as a general resurgence of shotguns. Mag-fed shotguns have also been quite popular due to the popularity of modern rifles. 

It’s easy to move from an AR or AK-type rifle to a mag-fed shotgun. That’s opened some doors for the concept, and with some decent sales, the market has responded. With that in mind, I gathered some of the best magazine-fed shotguns on the market, and I’m doing so because there are a ton of crappy ones. With that in mind, before we do that, let’s examine the strengths and weaknesses of the box mag-fed shotgun concept. 

Mag-Fed Strengths and Weaknesses

The main strength of these guns is that they are often easier and faster to reload than a standard shotgun. It’s much faster to fully reload an empty shotgun with a magazine than thumbing shells into the tube. Slapping a mag in doesn’t take much time at all and is as simple as it gets. 

Some of these magazines can also hold way more ammo than a tubular magazine shotgun. Capacities range from five to 25 rounds, so they can be fairly obnoxious and ridiculous but also outperform tube magazines. You also aren’t stuck with whatever capacity your barrel length allows. 

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Having various magazines also makes it easy to swap ammo types on the fly if that’s a concern. You can swap from buckshot to slugs quickly and keep shooting. 

The downsides to mag-fed shotguns are also somewhat numerous. The magazines are massive and also occasionally expensive. Leaving the plastic hulls of shells loaded in a magazine will deform the shells and cause failures to feed with long-term use. You can also not top off a mag-fed shotgun like you can with a tube-fed shotgun. 

The other downside is that so many of these guns are cheap, imported crap. That’s sounds mean to say, but it’s true. So many crappy guns get imported these days, and many are using the box-fed shotgun format. 

The Best Mag-Fed Shotguns  

With all this in mind, let’s look at the best mag-fed shotguns out there. 

Iron Horse Sentry 12 

The Iron Horse Sentry 12 is one of the few American-made, box-fed pump action shotguns designed from the ground up to be a mag-fed shotgun. This gun takes a few ques from the AR design with an inline stock, AR-like controls, and a long top rail for optics and accessories. The controls are completely ambidextrous and very easy to use. The upper is a monolithic upper receiver. 

Iron Horse ships the gun with two five-round magazines, and they also make eight-round magazines to boot. The gun is fairly modular, but to be fair, Iron Horse hasn’t done much in the way of accessories yet. The barrel can be easily swapped, and with a tax stamp, this becomes a nice short-barreled shotgun. I do wish there was more than the top rail for accessories, and the pump is a little small and meek, but a little grip tape goes a long way. 

Mossberg 590M 

The Mossberg 500 series have been kicking around for decades and are some of the most successful pump shotguns ever created. They entered the mag-fed era a few years back with the 590 series and initially released three guns: two standard 590s and a Shockwave variant. These guns use a double-stack magazine with capacities ranging from five to 20 rounds. These magazines are absurdly reliable and surprisingly robust. 

They lock in like AK mags and offer you tons of ammo on tap. They are easy to swap and are pretty pain-free. Like every other 590, the gun is crazy reliable and has no issues with various load types and shells. The 590M series does have some of the more expensive magazines out there, but they are quite robust and fairly short due to their double-stack design. 

Fostech Origin 12 

If money isn’t an issue, the Fostech Origin 12 is likely the best magazine-fed shotgun ever created. The Origin 12 takes a crazy amount of inspiration from the Kalashnikov series of AK shotguns and rifles with a long-stroke gas piston system. The gun is much more modern, with enhanced ergonomics and control, unlike any other AK out there. The modular nature makes optics and accessories an easy add-on. 

The Fostech Origin 12 has magazine capacities ranging from five-round mags to thirty-round drums! While they are Saiga-like, they are an Origin 12 design which is maximized for reliability and easy mag swaps. The Origin 12 is a beastly gun that’s heavy at 9.2 pounds and also heavy on the wallet with a fierce price point. 

Kalashnikov USA KS12T

With Saiga imports cut off, we’ve seen a rise in AK shotguns from China and Turkey, and they all seem to have varying quality problems. The desire for AK-type mag-fed shotguns hasn’t necessarily declined. The AK pattern design works well with twelve gauge ammunition, and the mags tend to be cheap and relatively reliable. Kalashnikov USA put an American spin on the KS12T. This means there are no 922R concerns, and the gun can take most Saiga accessories, including the magazines. 

The KS12T has proven to be a reliable 12 gauge AK shotgun option without the quirks and weirdness of foreign-made copies. We also get modern furniture, including a six-position stock and a railed handguard. It’s a little more modern, but it’s similar enough to the Saiga to satisfy that itch, but also a little more advanced. 

VR-80 

I’ve complained about cheap Turkish shotguns quite a bit and will always do so, but that doesn’t mean they are terrible overall. There are some standouts. One such standout is the Rock Island Armory VR-80. The VR-80 series shotgun is an AR-type mag-fed shotgun that mimics the layout of the AR, including most of the controls and the handguard. 

You can also remove the silly fixed stock and add an AR grip and AR stock as well. Underneath that fixed stock is an AR carbine tube that makes it easy to attach whatever stock you want. These gas-operated guns are solid and quite reliable. They even cycle reduced recoil ammunition. The price is attractive, and magazine capacities vary between five and 19 rounds. There is also a surprisingly nice aftermarket for the VR series guns. 

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Blasting Away With Mag-Fed Guns

Mag-fed shotguns aren’t for everyone. There are plenty of tube-fed purists who admittedly rightly hold their ground. Mag-fed shotguns offer some serious advantages, especially for those who believe capacity is king! Luckily, there are choices for everyone, and hopefully, you have a better idea of the mag-fed shotguns out there just for you. What do you think? Are you a fan of the concept? Or is this not for you? 

Let us know below!  

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