Wasting money on shotshell holders

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Doug S

New member
Word of advise to other shotgun newbies around here...listen to the guys with experience. I'm been trying to figure out a way to have a good amount of defensive shotgun ammo on hand on or near the HD shotgun. So far I've purchased the buttstock shell holder that holds 9 rounds, a sling that holds 10 shells, a 56 round bandolier, and a little tackle box looking container that holds 50 rounds. Well, having now received all of those items, I have to say that the only one of real usefulness (in all but the most extreme of situations) is the buttstock shell holder (and I guess the little box will be good at the range). Otherwise the others are heavy, unwieldy, and cumbersome (things I should have known already, or researched beforehand), and most likely will see very little to no use. So a word to the wise, save some money by keeping it simple (and specific to your own realworld purposes), and don't get caught up in gimmicks (or Internest war game scenarios).:eek:

Just thought I'd share for those who are less inclined to waste money.

Edit to add: that I didn't buy all of these at once with the intention of filling them all up (because I thought I needed THAT much ammo). They were purchased one at a time in an attempt to rectify what I perceived as the inadequacies of each one's predecessor.
 
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Many of the guys building HD shotguns tend to think they will be in a on going war.

I think the truth of the mater is most gun fights last only a few seconds or so.
 
I've always thought that if the eight shells in the gun didn't end the fight, four more in a speed-feed stock or eight on a cheap elastic pouch wouldn't help me much.

Granting the butt stock holder has a certain visual appeal, I've found that it screws up with cheek weld and balance more than anything.

Only actual use I ever saw for shotguns were for breaching rounds and less lethal alternative deployments.
 
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Bandoliers seem like a good idea but nylon ones for shotgun shells don't work very well.

For upland hunting, I use a strap vest with no elastic on it but integrate a shotshell belt with it. I put 2 to 5 shells in the 25 shell loops at a time. That helps me do one or two quick reloads before fishing around in the pockets but pockets hold shells MUCH more securely. The weight is spread out over shoulders and waist better and it is less unwieldy.

This config comes after 30 years of walking fields and dropping shells occasionally!

For home defense, a buttstock 5 shell holder works fine. You don't need 50 rounds for home defense and slings get really annoying fast.
 
Thanks for the comments, everyone. This is turning into an "educational" thread for newbies like myself.
 
Back when I regularly hunted deer with buckshot, I had a five round elastic shell holder on the stock of my Mossberg. I don't know that I ever had to draw a shell from it, but it was handy to have them right there.
 
Yeah, we tend to spend money on things that we later find are not as useful as they seemed when we were fingering them on the shelves or looking at them online. I've tried them all. Sidesaddles, buttstock holders, slings, you name it, I've tried it.

After three decades of carrying a cruiser shotgun, I'm down to an elastic buttstock holder with ammo in it, and I've never really needed the ammo I carry there, but I'm more comfortable with those extra five rounds. My hunting shotgun is devoid of ammo holders. When I'm hunting with a shotgun, I wear a standard hunting vest with a box of ammo distributed loose in the pockets.

Handguns are even worse. You should see my holster drawer. It's filled with things that seemed like a good idea at the time.
 
I've found that the neoprene butt cuffs will pull hair out of my face under recoil when I get a bit scruffy. That gets your attention. I have a bolt-on side saddle for my 870, but it doesn't always wear that. When I'm guaranteed to do a lot of shooting in a hurry, like squirrel or varmint hunting with the 12, I will put it on. Otherwise, it's just an old 4+1 Wingmaster.
 
I do like the buttstock shell holder, and I can position it so that it doesn't pose any problem shooting, but I agree about the rest. All good comments above. Thanks for sharing.

That said, On another note, though, after playing around with the bandolier a bit, I can see some very limited usefulness for it, at least in certain situations. It's nice to be able to grab a variety of ammo, that you can see visually, all with the same orientation. So in other words in a grab and go situation, a bandolier could be convenient. Otherwise a simple ammo can would probably be more useful for storage and range use.
 
Many of the guys building HD shotguns tend to think they will be in a on going war.

I think the truth of the mater is most gun fights last only a few seconds or so.
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Now you've done it. You'll anger the SHTF crowd with that kind of crazy talk. They're convinced the zombies are coming and they'll need as much extras on their tacticool gun as possible to guarantee their survival.
 
You mean like this?

158039_TactiCool.jpg
 
Buttstock holder is the only one I see as useable. Having a puond or so swinging from your sling is no good, bandolier is just silly, and you can't carry a box of shells in one hand and shoot w/the other.
 
I just keep them in my pockets. When bird hunting I can carry a box of shells in my pockets. :) got the vest right there by the shotgun full of 00 buck and sabot slugs, 30 or so rounds in teh vest....
 
As far as hunting goes, I'm the poster boy for falling for fancy marketing in regards to vests.

I got a duck hunting vest, a turkey hunting vest(with built in butt cushion), and a "upland fowl" hunting vest.

Can carry plenty of shells in those.
 
ammo on the gun

For a hunting gun, I want no part of any ammo on board aside from what's in the magazine and chamber. These days I'm looking at how to make my guns lighter, not heavier, as I hoof it to and fro. I'm even carrying fewer arrows in my bow quiver!!!

For a HD/SD, patrol shotgun, ammo on board makes a bit more sense.

We had a run in my outfit on "sidesaddles" and everybody was quick to screw one on the side of their patrol shotgun. Then they realized that the gun often no longer fit in the rack in the vehicle. We also had some folks get carried away installing the bolts and tightening same, pinching receivers, stripping the mounting bolts. It was also a pain to dismount the whole side saddle to do a thorough cleaning of the trigger group, and if the bolts were stripped, you had to get creative to get the thing apart.

For me the sidesaddle lies right where I want to grip the gun in a casual, trail type carry. Your not always in a tac sling, or at a ready stance, you've got to carry the thing some distance, sometimes.

The elastic cuffs never hold up very long for me. The stuff gets loose, ammo drops out on the move, over bumps, I ended up going through elastic cuffs on a regular basis.

I ended up taking a stripped out sidesaddle and screwing the poly plastic fingers onto the Choate stock on my gun. Solid as a rock, and holds ammo great.
 
Yes

m looking at how to make my guns lighter, not heavier
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YES!
Absolutely. If it weighs more than 6 and a half pounds, it stays home.
The three guns that I carry afield regularly are all less that number. Two are less than six. No shell holders. The other is a muzzleloader. No shells.
Why add stuff?
Pete
 
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