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12 Best Box Mag Fed Shotguns – 2024

Mossberg 590M Box Magazine shotgun
Magazine fed shotguns are the future, but is the Mossberg 590M the best of the new breed of tactical shotguns? Read on here...

Last updated February 15th 2024

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Winners at a Glance

Image Product Detail Price

Mossberg 590M

  • Overall Winner
Price

Kalashnikov KS-12T

  • Best AK Style Shotgun
Price

Rock Island Armory VR60

  • Best AR-12
Price

ATI Bulldog

  • Best Bullpup Shotgun
Price

You may know I have a fetish for high-capacity shotguns and I think now is the time to buy mag fed shotguns. That is the tech that has won the day.

Grandpa used to grab his trusty double barrel. Now? The trusty AR-15 or even more trusty AR pistols offer 30 rounds and unerring accuracy.

The 12ga tactical shotgun was in danger of becoming a forgotten memory.

Novelties like the new age double barrel Kel-Tec KSG and triple barrel Tavor TS-12 showed the way back to relevance with radical and yet complex designs. This is simply the combination of age-old tech that we know works to create an obvious future for the best tactical shotguns.

Here are the best magazine fed shotguns, in our humble opinion.

1. Mossberg 590M Series

Best Overall

PriceCapacityReliabilityWeightPrestige
4.5/55/54/54/53/5

The Mossberg 590M mag fed pump action shotguns comes with an optional 20-round mag.

Really, 20 rounds of 12 gauge venom in a double stack magazine, and then you can pop in another mag and start firing again.

It also means you can load up an ammo belt with buckshot and slugs, so this tactical pump shotgun suddenly becomes versatile.

One of the Best Shotguns On the Market

The shotgun holds a lot of when the chips are down, especially when there’s a reservoir of 12 gauge shotgun ammunition in front of that synthetic stock with integral recoil pad.

You can fit ghost ring sights to these mag fed pump action shotguns, a heat shield and a whole host of Mossberg accessories to create the classic high capacity shotgun. It’s soft shooting with low felt recoil, a classic pump action shotgun that you can reload in half a second. What more do you really want here?


2. Kalashnikov KS-12T Tactical

Best AK Shotgun

PriceCapacityReliabilityWeightPrestige
4/53.5/53/53/53/5

Kalashnikov is so far ahead of the game right now that only the Mossberg’s familiarity factor and the price means this is number two.

This Kalashnikov semi-automatic shotgun is a versatile work of art.

You can now get an official Kalashnikov that looks like an AK-47 to the untrained eye. I mean, why wouldn’t you want that? These are the best tactical shotguns 2.0

It is the spiritual successor to the Molot Vepr 12 and the old Saiga shotguns. Really this semi automatic shotgun is that good and a lot of the parts & accessories fit too.


3. JTS M12AK

Cheap Shotgun

PriceCapacityReliabilityWeightPrestige
5/52/53/53/51/5

The JTS M12AK is a simpler, cheaper version of the Kalashnikov benchmark for the mag fed shogun sector.

It has also won rave gun reviews from the people that really matter: owners across the land.

Check for yourself, then get a great AK-platform for bargain-basement money with a simple stock and pistol grip.



4. Rock Island Armory VR60

Best AR-12

PriceCapacityReliabilityWeightPrestige
5/52/53/54/51/5

RIA and Armscor, it’s all basically the same thing with shotguns. This is the Colt M4 clone, the tribute to the classic 70s military icon that doesn’t really work but is a very usable workhorse.

With the 19 round extended magazine, it’s an absolute weapon of war when it needs to be as well. It even gets the cute carry handle.

Apart from it handles largely like an AR-15, which is the point for this semi auto shotgun. Fit a good optic up top and you have got a very solid hunter with the right slugs in the single stack magazine.

The Rock Island Armory VR80 is another option and a longer shotgun for hunting. And we love RIA gun deals.


5. Black Aces Tactical Pro Series M

Cheap, Good Value Shotgun

PriceCapacityReliabilityWeightPrestige
3/54/53/52/52/5

In the old days, the company made the best mag fed shotgun from Mossbergs and Remingtons. Now it has used all that experience to move on from third party conversions and build its own firearms.

Now they have a whole line and you can orderr pump action shotguns or a semi auto shotgun with a big magazine. And the gun deals range from kinda pricey for this brand to absolutely sensational.

The company built its guns around Saiga magazines, which means you can strap a 100-round drum magazine on and shoot until it melts. Just flick the box magazine release with a finger, slot home the next mag and you’re good to go.

You get an AR-style safety and charging handle, Benelli Mobile chokes, ambidextrous oversize charging handle and other neat features. It’s soft shooting, costs less than a Hi Point, and is so much better.


6. ATI Bulldog

PriceCapacityReliabilityWeightPrestige
3/52.5/53/52/52/5

This American Tactical Imports Bulldog is another one of many bullpup shotguns in 2023 and it’s basically a clone of the IWI Tavor bullpup rifle layout, tweaked to take 12 gauge shells. The action and the mag sit behind the trigger and it’s surprisingly fun, durable and solid.

There isn’t much innovation here and it is generic, but it works and the layout means it’s great for inside the home. It’s short enough to swing your home and yet nestles into your shoulder to help absorb the recoil and straighten out your shooting technique.

The 5-round mags switch out for a 10-round alternative, which means it can mix it with anything here.

Go Tacti-Cool With Shotgun Accessories

You can also get a solid grip on this black synthetic polymer frame with a rubber recoil pad. There’s a long rail for red dots, iron rear sights and tower front that comes with the package or other -cool madness.

That fixed front sight is kinda fun, but we think we’d be looking for something more substantial in terms of a red dot sight.

It’s not the most prestigious here, but the bullpup mag-fed shotgun is showing just how to make friends and influence people with great reviews on gun sites and user reviews on the sites online.

It might be a bit of a mongrel, but we kinda like it. Apparently so do you.


7. EAA Akdal MKA 1919 Match Pro

Best Cheap AR-12

PriceCapacityReliabilityWeightPrestige
5/53.5/53/52/52/5

The MKA 1919 Match Pro has achieved the seemingly impossible. It’s a well-proportioned Colt M4-style shotgun that doesn’t look completely ridiculous. In fact, it’s kind of nice.

EAA bills this mag shotgun as an out the box low budget competition shooter. Features include an extended bolt release and mag release. You get two gas rings, and can use 3″ Magnum loads or 2 3/4 inch shells and slugs.

And the upper receiver looks basically right, from a distance, with a Picatinny rail up top.

This is a solid 3-Gun Competition mag fed shotgun for less than $500. If that’s what you want, you don’t have a huge amount of options. It’s also accurate, reliable and a solid 12 gauge semi auto shotgun with a mag that works well for home defense.

Watch a 25-round mag dump here in just 3.42s. That’s not bad…



8. Standard Manufacturing SKO Shorty

The Standard Manufacturing SKO Shorty was a box magazines shotgun before they were a thing. It’s an AR-style semi auto shotgun. What’s not to love?

In its time, this was really something, but the compact Kalashnikov USA and Mossberg magazine fed shotguns have rendered the Standard Manufacturing SKO Shorty semi auto shotgun largely redundant. But it’s still cool.

The receiver is machined from billet aluminum and the Standard Manufacturing was well know for cycling reliably thanks to the overengineering that went in to this AR pistol style 12ga.


10. Fostech Origin 12

The Fostech Origin 12 is one of those rare weapons that started life as a gaming creation and actually turned into a winning recipe in the real world.

Yes the Fostech Origin 12 box mag fed semi auto shotgun is expensive, but it’s a modular system that gives you a variety of different weapons in one. This is several high capacity shotguns in one.

Go for an AR pistol style that can mix it with the Kalashnikov, or go for the longer barrel and turn this Fostech Origin 12 into a 12 gauge slug firing marksman’s rifle.

The Fostech Origin 12 can do it all. And if you want the best shotgun in the world at any cost, you just might be looking at it.


11. Panzer Arms BP-12

We are getting down into the new breed now, which you will either love or instantly dismiss as a novelty. When you break it down, though, the Panzer Arms BP-12, that’s BullPup 12 Gauge, has a lot of positive features.

This is compact with a detachable box magazine, which nestles in the shoulder by design. The barrel is long enough to take it on a turkey shoot, although people might stare, and yet it’s one of the most intriguing options here.

Put a reflex on that top rail and a strobe lamp and you’ve got more or less a home intruder’s worst nightmare. As defense shotguns go, it’s an almighty weapon out in the field, too, especially with larger 10-round mags that you can obviously source pretty easily.

Panzer Arms has a solid rep at a sensible price point, and this is a decent semi automatic shotgun.


Beyond the Magazine Fed Shotgun? Check Out These

These are cool guns, but by definition you won’t get all the top guns in a post devoted to the best magazine fed shotguns. That leaves out a lot of design options for shotguns for home defense.

So if you’re looking for a gas operated Benelli, Smith & Wesson or a turkey blaster, well you’re shit out of luck here. But we want to make you happy too, as well as sell you magazine fed shotguns, or a pump action shotgun and drum mags.

You could also go for tube fed shotguns like the SRM 1216 and Kel-Tec KSG. The Tavor TS-12 is another high capacity tube fed shotgun, but the SRM is the only one you can actually switch out the mag.


Author

  • Nick is a lifelong gun enthusiast who has a simple mission. He wants to find the best deals for guns online and help you make the best choices with weapons your life may depend on one day. Nick won a minor league shooting competition at the age of 11 and it all went from there. Now he runs one of the biggest firearms websites on the net and his work has featured in Playboy US, Tatler Asia, Forbes and a whole host of national magazines and websites.

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