My New Box Magazine Fed Shotgun

I just got my new 12 gauge Grizzly shotgun today. I was excited to get, as I find the fact that it feeds cartridges from a box magazine instead of the standard tube magazine pretty cool. This shotgun is a Dominion Arms manufacture, and likely not available in the US (at least not yet). This shotgun is a copy of the Remington 870, and is gaining popularity up here in Canada.

Opening the Box. The box and manual both have the YJ12-2 designation, which reminded me of a Norinco naming scheme from a Ithaca clone I owned years back. Unlike the SKS I purchased years ago, the shotgun was not entirely covered in grease or cosmoline. Everything was packed great. It arrived with the stock folded, and the complete unit wrapped in a sealed plastic bag, all packed in ample styrofoam.I was pleasantly surprised to find a couple little goodies two. The supplier, Canadaammo.com,  provided me with a stack of targets and a free trigger lock. That's a nice touch. I love surprises.

The Shotgun Itself. What can I say? I find it to be a thing of beauty. I immediately took it down to the gunroom for a strip, degrease, lube, and reassembly job. I have been looking online lately and found some YouTube videos handy in the disassembly/reassembly process. I also have the AGI videos, so that helps someone like me who hasn't owned an 870 (or clone) before. The shotgun is great looking. The dark black parkerized finish looks really nice. SSince it resembles teh Remington 870, stripping it was easy. I did find a few surprises though. The shotgun lacked the maching marks I am accustomed to in Chinese made arms. The reciever was excellent, smooth and free of unwanted maching marks. Another surprise was the slide plate unit. It is held onto the breech bolt via some sort of bracket or holder. It can still slide back and forth under the bolt, but is limited in movement by the retainer. All my 870 research showed slide plates that were entirely seperate from the breech bolt. I am curious why this plate is attached. Once I had the bore cleaned I found it nice and shiny. The chamber does show some very slight grinding marks, but nothing that caused me any worry. I don't expect issues with extraction, but if necessary, I will simply polish the chamber lightly if I encounter anything. I was also found the trigger to be quite nice.

Notice the slide plate is retained by the screwed on device at the front bottom of the bolt?

The Obvious. Of course there is no follower visible in the tube mag, as that area is completely covered to allow for the box magazine. There is no carrier attached to the trigger group either, as it is unneeded.

The Stock. The folding stock is solid and locks in position tightly, requiring a proper amount of effort to depress the stock button. I am thinking that the small size of the butt will make for some sore shoulders when firing the big stuff. I plan on saving for a Knoxx Specops anyways, so this isn't going to be a big issue.

The Manual. Wow, it is actually in decent readable english. Some of the Chinese made manuals I have encountered in the past were actually pretty funny in their use of english. This one was actually pretty good.

So there you have it. It seems like I got one very nice shotgun. Unfortunately the weather here sucks, so perhaps in a week or so I will hit the range and try out some birdshot, 00 buckshot, and some Federal slugs.